Nostalgia is a powerful force,
isn’t it? It has never failed to amaze me, how a sound or smell can transport
you to another place and another time.
I first discovered metal back when
Napster was a thing. I’d look up songs from bands I’d heard of and browse through my
brothers’ CD collections trying to find anything and everything that appealed
to me. Songs that made the cut got burned onto a blank disc. By the time I
stopped doing this, I had around twenty “mixed tapes,” put together willy-nilly
with no rhyme or reason that probably only ever got listened to a few times
before they were forgotten forever.
All of them, that is, except one.
To be fair, Metal Music Disc 4
didn’t survive in all its original glory. I’ve made some changes along the way.
You’ll notice that a couple songs on the playlist weren’t even out in the early
2000s. But this particular playlist was born from some of my oldest, original
favorite songs, from some of my oldest, original favorite bands, and it is tied
to a particular period of time in my life: autumn.
A great deal of the autumns of my
youth were spent at our cabin (quite like a Finnish kesämökki) nearby Delburne,
which was a 45 minute drive from town in the middle of nowhere. I’d pop a CD
into my CD player and stare out the window to pass the time. When we’d get to
the cabin, there wasn’t a lot to do but walk through the woods, and the CD
player was my constant companion, and so were those songs.
I’ve always loved autumn. I love
the way the air starts to cool. I love the colors when the trees change. I love
the birds migrating. I love the animals that come out to prepare for
hibernation. I love the smell of approaching winter. It’s always been my
favorite season.
All of these songs, individually,
have never brought me back to this specific place in time, but when they are
gathered together in a playlist, I am instantly transported to the Hunting
Hills and the Red Deer River valley. I can see the old tree forts we built in
the forest, the beavers building their lodge, the deer grazing in the field,
and the Vs of geese soaring overhead. It gives me a sense of inspiration and
tranquility, like the world could end tomorrow and I would die at peace.
Since technology has improved in
the last 10 years or so, those tracks have turned into a playlist. Some tracks
left, and new tracks have been added, but everything on The Delburne Playlist
gives me a certain chill that is both energizing and peaceful when brought
together.
So without further adieu, here
are some of my favorite songs from autumn, around 15 years ago, and their
successors that joined them as the years went on:
The Delburne Playlist:
1.
Bruce Dickinson – Broken
2.
Bruce Dickinson – Wickerman
3.
Bruce Dickinson – Silver Wings
4.
Bruce Dickinson – Tears of the Dragon
5.
Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark
6.
Fates Warning – In Trance (The Scorpions cover)
7.
Helloween – Mr. Torture
8.
Helloween – If I Could Fly
9.
Blind Guardian – Nightfall
10.
Blind Guardian – Thorn
11.
Blind Guardian – Born in a Mourning Hall
12. Kamelot – Love You to Death
13.
Devin Townsend Project – Sky Blue
14. Machinae Supremacy – One Day in the Universe
14. Machinae Supremacy – One Day in the Universe
15.
Type O Negative – Love You to Death
16.
Bruce Dickinson & Godspeed – Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover)
17.
Bruce Dickinson – A Tyranny of Souls
Text/Photos: Amy Wiseman