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Staff page - Stuart
Hi
My name's Stuart Howie I was born on the 11th of August 1983 and I live in Bothwell, which is a small town about half an hours drive from Glasgow in Scotland. I've always been obsessed with music. I believe the first album I ever owned was Jason Donovan- Ten Good Reasons. But please don't hold that against me!
When I was younger I was fairly unadventurous when it came to music. I'd listen to whatever rock and pop stuff was in the charts and not really delve past the stuff that was on Top of The Pops. But I did have 3 bands that I got into via my parents record collection who I listened to obsessively. This holy trinity was Queen, Meatloaf and Bon Jovi. Which really is not a bad was way to start really is it?
Growing up in Britain in the mid 90's there was one form of music that you couldn't escape from, no, sadly it wasn't Heavy Metal but Brit Pop. It was everywhere, from the music press to the nightly news programmes. Oasis, Blur, The Charlatans, Cast and a whole other host of bands whose names should never appear on a metal website were my drug of choice. My proper musical awakening came in 1998 when I bought myself that album despised by a whole host of metal fans because they believe it destroyed their genre..Nevermind by Nirvana.
From there on in it was a slippery slope as I got into a whole host of bands that the mainstream press just didn't really want to cover. From American indie like Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr, Smashing Pumpkins and Pavement to Punk like The Clash, The Ramones, The Misfits, The Sex Pistols via Goth like The Cure, Bauhaus and Joy Division to older stuff like The Who, Bruce Springsteen, The Velvet Underground and many, many other bands.
Some of my friends were getting into Iron Maiden, Metallica and things like that but it didn't really interest me cause I was off on my own trip at that point. I think metal was always at the back of my mind though cause I used to read Kerrang and get exposed to that kind of stuff even if I didn't listen to it. The first proper metal album that I owned would have to be Midian by Cradle of Filth which I bought at some point during 2001. This lead me on to some proper Black Metal when I bought Prometheus-The Discipline of Fire and Demise by Emperor the week it came out. Not long after this I started borrowing those Metallica and Maiden records off my friends.
I was pretty much hooked on metal from that point on but the two albums that made me follow one particular Metal path above all others were Awakening The World by Lost Horizon and the Manowar best of The Hell of Steel. I just loved the way that not only did you get the power and aggression and speed of your standard metal band but also a unique sense of melody and beauty in the singers voices. It could be angry but completely uplifting at the same time. I also loved the fantasy element of the lyrics and there seemed to be a strange kind of humour underlying the whole thing. I mean as serious and powerful as the song "The Crown and The Ring" by Manowar can be I still can't help smiling at the line "Saddle my horse as I drink my last ale" or be left with a massive grin when Danny Heiman screams "How do I know? I'M A GUARDIAN OF TRUTH"!
It was actually an amazing time, my friends and I would be discovering a new, utterly astonishing band every other week due to the wealth of fantastic music on offer. Even to this day when I listen to and know about a hell of a lot of metal bands I can still be knocked sideways by some previously unheard of group that I discover through a friend or on a website. Really that's what I love about Metal; it's so wide and varied that it never, ever gets boring.
I find it rather difficult to combine my love of metal and more indie music together on one definitive list so here are my top ten metal records and my top ten of everything else:
Top Ten Metal Records:
1. Iron Maiden- Iron Maiden
2. Manowar- Battle Hymns
3. Black Sabbath-Black Sabbath
4. Lost Horizon-Awakening the World
5. Judas Priest-Painkiller
6. Dio-Holy Diver
7. Nevermore- Dead Heart In a Dead World
8. Falconer-Falconer
9. Burzum-Burzum/Aske
10. Blind Guardian- Imagination from the Other Side
Top Ten of Everything Else:
1. The Clash- The Clash
2. Joy Division- Unknown Pleasures
3. Manic Street Preachers- The Holy Bible
4. Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness
5. Velvet Underground-Velvet Underground and Nico
6. Meat Loaf- Bat Out of Hell 2
7. The Cure- Pornography
8. The Ramones-The Ramones
9. The Misfits- Famous Monsters
10. R.E.M- Up
Aside from listening to music I also dabble in the playing and recording side. I play Guitar in an Indie/Punk band called Vague Space. I'd be up for one day starting a metal band but to do that I'd actually have to learn more the 5 or 6 chords so I don't see it happening any time soon. If you are interested in the works of Vague Space please check us out at www.vaguespace.co.uk
In addition to music I also find that various other things are important to me. And if you are interested here's another quick list
Favourite movie - Withnail and I
Book - Catch 22
Comic - 2000 AD
Simpson's quote: "We'll all be rich, rich as Nazi's!"
Alcohol - As much beer I can handle (anything but Tenants)
Pub - The Solid Rock in Glasgow (where my obsessions with both beer and metal can be satisfied)
Pub quizzes - The Bon Accord pub quiz with Bill Brown
Drinking Game - The Portrait of The Soul drinking game
Metal Vocalist - Eric Adams
Bad movies - I can't choose between One Man Force and Shark Attack 3
Football - The Glasgow Rangers and Scotland
Spinal Tap quote - "As long as there is sex and drugs I could do without the Rock and Roll"
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Revgoomba (Member) - Thursday, October 18, 2007 | 
View Profile
Comments: 20
Ratings: 0 | | Awright ya bawbag! I see you finally made it into the Revelationz squad! Well donez!
I suppose you'll be getting tshirts and special privilages... remember who your friends are!
Posted by Revgoomba
Thursday, October 18, 2007 |
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