Every month this year, I’m dedicating myself to getting into a new band.  By ‘new band’, what I really mean is an old band who I’ve known of for awhile but have for one reason or another never checked out.  Maybe they were a genre I wasn’t into, maybe they were the favorite band of someone I didn’t like, maybe I was just lazy.  Whatever reason, I’m going to spend the month trying to get into them.

If, at the end of the month, I find myself enjoying the music I’ll buy an album.  And if not, I’ll save my money for something else.

I missed September. I had had every intention of running this feature straight through the move, but then I went half a month without internet and the whole thing just became a kind of debacle. So, I skipped a month. Oh well.

My New Band for October is:

AC/DC

From the wiki page

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who have remained the sole constant members. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal and are sometimes classified as such, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply “rock and roll”. To date they are one of the highest grossing bands of all time.

My personal history with AC/DC:

This is one of those bands that is so massive and so popular, both nationally and internationally, that it’s kind of ridiculous that I’ve never listened to them. Unlike, say, Metallica or Van Halen, I don’t have an instinctive repulsion at the mention of AC/DC. I’ve just never given them the time of day. It’s purely a case of genre bias: I don’t listen to Heavy Metal.

There are a variety of reasons for this, though probably the most important was that by the time I was old enough to pay attention to such things, Heavy Metal had turned into Hair Metal (at least, on the radio), and I find that to be, perhaps, the worst category of rock music ever.

My first real dive into harder rock (in other words, not the 60s rock of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) didn’t occur until the 90s, by which time Nirvana and their grunge brethren had usurped the big hair and ridiculous posturing of the 80s rock acts. Now, just like Heavy Metal, Grunge Rock led to its own share of generic, radio-ready hacks riding on the wave of better bands (Nickelback and Creed are the worst offenders). I feel it’s important not to blame a genre for the crap that it’s originators never could have predicted, so I’m going to give Heavy Metal a shot here.

Of course, I’ve heard my share of AC/DC songs. “Back in Black” is fairly inescapable, and that rift is undeniable. Pure badassery, there’s no denying it. I’m sure there are even more I’d recognize, though that’s the only one I can name off the top of my head. I’m not of the impression that by the end of this month I’ll suddenly be into Metal. But I think I could come to appreciate the gold standard of the genre, and I think most fans would list AC/DC as one of the best of the best.

So, I’ve got my devil horns cocked and my black t-shirts all laid out. If you’re like me and never gone full metal jacket, maybe give AC/DC a chance this month with me. And if you’ve long been on the bandwagon, comment and let me know what songs and albums are must-listens.