Ruby, the Metal Years

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Dude!

I was feeling rather poorly last weekend, so I piled up on the couch and proceeded to watch all four-plus hours of The Metal Years on VH1 Classic.  While I did not agree with the documentary editorially – Megadeth was slighted, Deep Purple was left out altogether; “Smoke on the Water,” anyone? – it was a rousing trip down memory lane.  You see, as a young girl, Ruby was an unrepentant metalhead, and this was liking looking at your high school yearbook, only less traumatic.

I’m not sure how I came to embrace metal, but I’m sure it had something to do with my young appetite for Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.  At any rate, by 13 I spent most of my time holed up in my room listening to Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica, Motorhead, the Misfits – well, you get the picture.  I wasn’t especially angry or anything, I just liked this kind of music.

You can imagine how popular this made me at school.  While most other respectable girls were listening to Slaughter and Warrant, I turned my nose up at these posers.  I was a magnet for any boy with long stringy hair and an Iron Maiden t-shirt.  Especially the ones with “bands.”  I put that in quotes because the best I could gather, there was only one “band” at my first high school, and it had a revolving door policy, meaning that when you graduated, a new guy took your place, because the only place these guys ever played was a school dance or two, and I think they were pelted with rotten fruit then.  But I digress.  I was one of about three girls in the whole school who actually understood the concept of headbanging, and since I could read music, even better.  I was the dorkiest cool girl in school, with my black leather jacket and shit-kicking boots, nevermind my own Iron Maiden t-shirt.  I got quite a few marriage proposals from boys who just couldn’t believe that a GIRL liked such HARD SHIT.  It was the apogee of my high school career.

By the age of 15 or 16, I’d moved on and further widened my musical tastes, but for a brief shining moment, metal was mine.  Here are a few choice selections from Ruby’s Metal Years…

Anthrax – Got the Time

Anthrax was one of the coolest bands around during Ruby’s Metal Years.  They rocked hard and fast – just like I liked it.  But they were a little more interesting than most of the metal bands of the time, which is why I still listen to them.  I’d been playing piano since I was four, and naturally loved Joe Jackson, so I thought it kicked ass that Anthrax would cover a Joe Jackson song.  I mean really – you wouldn’t see Metallica or Slayer covering Joe Jackson, now would you?

Megadeth – Poison Was the Cure

I was one of the few hardcore fans who preferred Megadeth to Metallica – especially after Metallica freakin’ sold out with the black album.  Trash, people.  Megadeth were always more rhythmic, and Dave Ellefson will go down in history as one of the best bass players EVER.  He propels this song, which somehow manages to be superfast and superfunky at the same time.  Leave it to Megadeth.

Funny story: my baby brother is ten years younger than me, which would have made him about three or four during my metal phase.  He LOVED Megadeth, and told everybody his name was “Dabe MusTANG, dude!”  My mother was mortified, naturally.  He would lipsynch “Hangar 18″ and “Peace Sells” by standing on the living room table and singing into a remote.

Queensryche – Jet City Woman

Queensryche were HUGE for about an hour in 1990-1991.  I’d loved Operation:Mindcrime, and was fully expecting to be disappointed by Empire, but that was not the case.  It was a little less metal, a little more melodic, but it was still heads about Slaughter or Trixter.  “Jet City Woman” should have been the hit that “Silent Lucidity” was.  It was a much better song, in my opinion.

Another funny story: when Empire came out, Queensryche toured behind it, and played Operation:Mindcrime in its entirety during this tour.  I somehow talked my mother into taking me and about three or four more dorks to see them.  I’m pretty sure we were the only relatively sober people in the place, because we only smoked one joint shared amongst us.  Most of the audience did not have the patience to sit through Operation:Mindcrime, including at least two of the dorks with me, having come to hear “Silent Lucidity.”  It was an awesome show, though.  But my mother, who sat in the lobby, didn’t much appreciate it.

And here’s one more surprise…

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Tags: Anthrax, Megadeth, metal, Queensyrche