Heavy metal, rock on! \m/ \m/

Heavy metal began between the years of 1968 and 1974. This genre of music was mostly influenced from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. Although this music to some may be classified as "Satan's" music, it the usage of loud distortidely tuned guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass and drum sounds, and vigorous vocals. Another band that came around was Judas Priest, most famous for the song Painkiller. But soon, the metal branched into different metals, going from the screaming of black metal, the growling from death metal to the "gruff" style of Motorhead or Metallica. One important aspect that came from metal is what is called a power chord on the guitar. And it is also said that only music that is metal is "sad and depressing" but it is a heavier and headbanging way to listne to music!

Eddie Van Halen, Guitar God!

Eddie Van Halen, born January 26th, 1955, born in the Netherlands. He is known as one of the most talented guitarist for his style of hard rock guitar playing. Although Eddie had first wanted to learn drums, his brother Alex had learned them faster and better than him, so Eddie decided to learn guitar. In 1974, they met the rest of the band, who was David Lee Roth, the vocals and Michael Anthony, the bassist for Van Halen. Soon after the small gigs that they were playing, they became something famous in California and people would crowd into small smoky bars just to watch them play. But the bands break was from Kiss's bassist Gene Simmons noticed them at a local club and financed their music to record it. The self titled album, Van Halen, was released 1978 and went platinum six months after releasal. And not only that, but the album 1984 is released. But tension struck between the band, and Roth left in 1985, leaving the band without a vocalist. In the best perspective though, in 1996, the Van Halen went platinum ten times over, and 1984 went platinum nine times over.

Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Rock and Prince of Darkness

Ozzy Osbourne, known as the greatest rocker(in my opinion best rock group although Metallica was said to be across the world) was born December 3rd, 1948 in Aston, Brimmingham, England. His first appearance in a band was the band Black Sabbath, which was the group that had spawned black metal in the music family. They released the self-titled album, Black Sabbath in the 1980's. His music career began in 1968, and he was known as the Godfather of Black Metal, along with The Prince of Darkness. During his youth, he was a thief and was sentenced to go to jail for six weeks, which is where he had created his infamous tattoos, O-Z-Z-Y on his left knuckles, and two smiling faces on his knees to cheer himself up with. Doing so many drugs and being constantly drunk, Ozzy was saved by his now wife, Sharon Osbourne, and by his guitarists Randy Rhoads. With Rhoads as the guitarist, Ozzy released the two albums which is the Blizzard of Ozz, and Diary of a Madman. Around this time is when Ozzy became infamous for biting the head off of a real bat! But during the 1980's between the 1990's, Ozzy was conflicted with two things, losing Rhoads and coping with his addiction with trying to stop with drugs. In 1983, Bark at the Moon is released, and later in 1986 The Ultimate Sin is released. In 1988 Zakk Wylde joins Ozzy in the gorpu and in 1990 No More Tears in released. Then in 1995 Ozzmosis is brought into the world, and released. Ozzy's largest financial success which was released in 1990 was Ozzfest, a collection of many bands together in one venue. The Down to Earth album is released October 16th, 2001. Then the Prince of Darkness released in 2005. Then the release of Black Rain happens May 22th, 2007. And his most recent album, Scream, is released June 15th 2010. He is, the greatest vocal inspiration the world has ever known to rock!

HIM, the "Finnish" Band

The band HIM, His Infernal Majesty, is a band that comes from Finland that was formed by Ville Valo who is the vocals, in 1991, with the other band members guitarist Mikko Lindstrom, bassist Mikko Paananan, and the drummers Juha Tarvonen and Juippi. Their albums goes as follows, Greatest Love songs 666, (1997-1999). Then next was Razorblade Romance (1999, 2001). Following next after this album was Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001-2003). The fourth album by HIM is Love Metal (2003-2005). The fifth album released is Dark Light (2005-2007). The sixth album is Venus Doom (2007-2009). And the final album is Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice (2009-present). This band has become very famous acorss the United States, and they have millions of fans! But what makes them unique is their band logo, the Heartagram, which is where the two highest points of a pentagram is rounded, like combining a heart and a pentagram, created by Ville on his 20th birthday.

The guitar, what it is and how it works!

The guitar, a 6-stringed instrument although the strings can be 6, or 12, is an instrument that uses chords in order to play music. From the top string to lowest, they are called. E A D G B E, with the first E being low and the last being the high E. There are two main types of guitars, acoustic and electric. An acoustic guitar are hollow bodied guitars, in which the tones and sounds of the guitar are manipulated through the vibrations of the strings, with a hole underneath the strings, which acts as a resonating chamber. The resonating chamber acts like a "tone catcher" and the sounds go into the guitar and are change through the guitar. Acoustic guitars can either just be played or used with an amp. An electric guitar is a guitar in which electricity is used to manipulate the tunes and sounds of a guitar through an amplifier. Without an amp, an electric guitar is basically useless, and would not be heard if you played it. There are also complicated ways in making a guitar. Some people prefer to make their own guitars(which would most likely be acoustic), but here are the main parts in which make up a guitar. The headstock, where the strings lay on and are held down by tuning heads, and tuning heads hold the strings and tune them at the same time. The fret board, where you make the finger combinations that make the sounds the guitar makes. The body, which has the bridge, possible whammy bar, and the body serves as the holding place of the guitar. You would play the strings at the body of the guitar, and nowhere else(well, at least thats's the proper way). The guitar is not an easy instrument to learn, it takes years and years of practice, and alot of pain to go through to learn. But if you think you are dedicated enough, you can learn how to play to!

The Rise of the Greatest Rock Band of all time, Metallica!

Kirk Hamment, born November 18th, 1962 is San Fransisco, California, is Metallica's guitarist. The vocals and second guitarist of Metallica, Jaymz Alan Hetfield is born August 3rd, 1963, in Los Angelas, California. The first bassist who had stayed with the band for the first three albums was Cliff Burton, born February 10th, 1962. Their current bassist is Jason Newstead, born March 4th, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. And finally, Metallica's drummer, Lars Ulrich, is born December 26th, 1963 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Metallica was first formed on October 15th, 1981 by the first members Jaymz Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. But beforehand, Jason Newstead had already created a band, named Diamond, which consisted of Kevin Kendrick, Todd Smiedendorf, himself and Tom Depoy in Niles, Michgan USA. At the same time of this happening, Jamyz Hetfield started at his high school, which met Roy McGovney, who would in turn in the future become Metallica's first bassist. In the year 1978, Jamyz Hetfield joined his first band, Obsession but had to shortly quit and move to L.A. California after the death of his mother.
In 1980, Jamyz had created his own band, called Phantom Lord which lasted until he had met Lars Ulrich. At the same time, they had then formed Metallica, and began recording at Metal Massacre. March 14th, Metallica plays their first gig at Anaheim in California. After the joining of Cliff Burton and relocating to California again, Metallica plays at the stone, which is now a legendary venue for Metallica to play at. But a funny part about all of this was that Kirk Hamment, who would eventually join Metallica, opened first to their show, with the band called Exodus. April 1st, 1983 Kirk Hamment was then asked to join the band and he accepted. Late 1983, Jason Newstead formed the band Dogz until he was asked to join Metallica. But at the time, Metallica released Jump in the Fire, and then soon Fade to Black when their equipment gets stolen. February 20th, 1984, Metallica begins to record the CD Ride the Lightning. Master of Puppets was finished December 27th, 1985. July 1988, Master of Puppets is released Platinum. September 5th, 1988, the ...And Justice For All CD is released. August 12th, 1991, The Black Album is released. June 4th, 1996, the Load album is released. March 20th, 200 the No Leaf cover is released. February 11th, 2001 St. Anger album is released. And the final album, Death Magnetic is released September 12th, 2008. And that, is the rise of Metallica, known to be the greatest rock band to ever play!

Zakk Wylde: Guitar Inspiration to many!

Zakk Wylde, or Zach Adams, was born January 14th, 1967, in Bayonne, and was raised in Jackson, New Jersey. Beginning to play guitar at the age of 8, Zakk Wylde had quit playing it because he grew bored from playing it. Although, he had started playing again at age 14, while attending Jackson Memorial High School, and learned guitar from the football coach's son, LeRoy Wright. Then he studied classical guitar with a guy from Freehold, New Jersey, and made his first band called Stone Henge. Zakk played at parties alot, playing mostly Ozzy, Black Sabbath and Rush(the irony of playing Ozzy, because he became the guitarists for him later on). Around that time is when he began to date his classmate Barbaranne Caterina, who would later on in life become his wife. After graduating high school in 1985, Zaak is 18 and began working at a supermarket, did roofing and played small band gigs. Then he joined a band called Zyris and started calling himself Zakari Wyland. His named appeared all over television and the band played at the Stone Pony, which was made famous by Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. Zakk heard that Ozzy was auditioning random guitarists, and he wanted to go, only thinking it a dream to play with Ozzy. He had gotten word that he could audition, and went and played for Ozzy, playing a few of his songs, along with some acoustic and classic, and returned home. Thinking he would have never made it, he received a phone call from Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife, saying that Ozzy wanted him to join the band. Zakk had joined with Ozzy on May of 1987, and played in the Hard Rock Cafe, which debuted Ozzy's new talent. He became recognized across the world! Ozzy had started from a no one, to small gigs, top large arenas and venues filled to the brim with people. Around 1990, they toured for the No More Tears album, and Ozzy was at his best, and sober(discluding the fact that he was popping pills) and had the energy of a small child! While with Ozzy still, Zakk formed a band called Lynyrd Skynhead which was a southern rock band. 1995, Ozzy came out of retirement and re-recruited Zakk for his next album, Ozzmosis. Around 2002, Zakk started playing with Guns N' Roses for a short time, and now today he goes to every tour, and still writes songs with his life long friend Ozzy Osbourne!

Slash: The Making and Start of one of the worlds best guitarists!

Slash, the lead singer AND guitarists for the band Guns N' Roses, he is known to the world as one of the most talented guitarists to ever play. Born July 23rd, 1965 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. His family was made of artists, and they had moved to Hollywood where he started playing guitar, and met Steven Alder, who was the first drummer of Guns N' Roses. Both together had made a band called Road Crew, but the music never shot off like they had hoped. But through making this band they had met the other members of the now band called Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses first debute was July 1985, and had received the notorious view of alcoholics and drug abusers far before Appetite for Destruction (follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appetite_for_Destruction). As the band grew famous though, Slash had made himself known as being the "visual image" for the band. At the live performance in 1990, Axl Rose, Guns N' Roses singer, had made it clear he would leave the band if some of the band members, who was Slash and Adler, had not stopped doing heroine.Slash stopped but Adler didn't so he was kicked from the band. Later on in the year of Slash's recover from heroine, he married actress and model Renee Sorum, but the marriage only lasted for five years. Releasing two more albums, entitledAfter the Use Your Illusion and The Spagetti Incident?, Slash had started a side band called Slash's Snakepit which consisted of the following members, Matt Sorum (Drummer), Gilby Clarke (Guitarist), Mike Inez (Bassist) and vocals Eric Dover. They released an album entitledIt's Five O'Clock Somewhere. But as rumors were spreading it was true that Slash left GNR, and went on to continue on with his guitar career, and to be known as one of the greatest guitarists to have ever walked the Earth.

Most Expensive Guitar and Guitar Pick in the World?!

To this day, many guitarists know the big names out there. Eric Clapton, Eddie "Van" Halen, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Kirk Hammett, and so many others. But could you guess how old the most expensive guitar is? I guarantee you can't, because it is not that old! The 2004 Standard Series Stratocaster, named "Blackie"(which is Eric Clapton's favorite mid-career custom Stratocaster) has netted over $3.7 million dollars(although it's worth is estimated about $5 million at least). But why is such a newer brand guitar worth so much? Well, after the tsunami hit, Eric Clapton wanted to help fundraise money to give away to the tsunami survivors. But how did he do it? He mostly likely thought, wow what would interest guitar players? It was decided to create(well, sign) this guitar. But his signature was not enough. So he called many famous guitarists, such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus and Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams!
But not only is this price expensive, so is the most expensive guitar pick in the world! Made of meteorite(yeah, you read that right) it is worth approximately $4,674 and the meteorite used for the maerial is about 4 billion years old!

New Year

A new year of ISP, a new fresh start to school. But does it matter if it's a new year if it is as tough as last year's? Yes, it does because it's going to be a new learning experience for every student. Yes, it is a new experience for all the freshman who are new and coming in, but this is an experience that we all need!

The Civ Project

Why?

What's the point in using our civ project for the big project anymore? There is one team, the Templars who in which two students do all the work, and they are Juniors! What is the point in a game when there is basically no rules to what people can do. But what does this mean for the rest of the student body, when many people struggle while the Juniors doing Freshman work ask the teachers for help on the work they did years ago. Why is this fair?

How is this SH?

The question I have heard from many people is, how is hugging sexual harassment? Even though I myself was not here on the day of May 5th, 2010, I heard that our entire class had a talk about sexual harassment. But why isn't it "safe" to hug a friend? Basically, thoughts I have heard from people are things like, "It's not like we are hugging strangers," or "It's not like I'm getting naked and doing things." So why exactly is it? Possibly because the world isn't as "free" as everyone says it is? If they take away hugging, what's next? I agree with many people, that hugging is the kindest form of a "hello" anyone can give. It's like saying, giving a friend a handshake is sexual harassment because it is contact between two people. I can see from a standpoint that hugging is unbusiness like, but what's the point? Are you suppose to be afraid to hug your own mother, is that sexual harassment? I know not of one person who I've ever hugged to be uncomfortable with it, so why should everyone else? Everyday I constantly hear people complain about seeing people in relationships hug and kiss, and hear people say "get a room." But then I turn around, and they are doing the same thing. Is it really sexual harassment to them, or a cry for attention?



-A Dark Corridor