Category: BEHIND THE SONG
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Raining Blood: The Riff Jeff Hanneman Refused to Forget
Some riffs arrive with a warning: record this now, or lose it forever. That was Jeff Hanneman’s reaction when the central idea for “Raining Blood” appeared. Years later, the Slayer guitarist remembered thinking the riff was good enough to grab his recorder immediately, before it disappeared. He built out a rough version on his small…
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THE VOICE THAT OUTLIVED THE MAN
In “Defender,” Orson Welles plays an absent father whose words remain for his son. Years later, fiction and reality would collide in a way no one could have planned.
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BLACK SABBATH: THREE NOTES THAT CHANGED HEAVY METAL
Three notes. A midnight apparition. And a sound that would become inseparable from heavy metal. In 1970, Black Sabbath opened their debut album with a song unlike almost anything that had come before it. But the story behind “Black Sabbath” is even darker — and one of metal’s most famous legends isn’t quite what it…
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Painkiller: The Drum Intro That Announced a New Era
One drum intro. No guitars. No vocals. In 1990, Judas Priest opened Painkiller with a statement that sounded like a machine coming to life. The man behind it was Scott Travis — the band’s new drummer — and the intro was born far more organically than its precision suggests. A NEW DRUMMER. Scott Travis joined…
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Holy Wars: A Song Born From a Divided Land
On May 11, 1988, Megadeth took the stage at the Antrim Forum in Northern Ireland, during one of the most volatile periods of the Troubles. Before the show, Dave Mustaine encountered someone selling bootleg Megadeth shirts. When he asked where the money was going, he was told it supported “the Cause.” Mustaine later explained that…
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Ace of Spades: The Riff That Almost Didn’t Exist
The story behind the Motörhead classic — and how one of rock’s most recognizable riffs wasn’t even there when the song began.
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The Trooper: The Charge Behind Iron Maiden’s Classic
In 1983, Iron Maiden turned one of the most infamous military disasters of the Crimean War into one of heavy metal’s most enduring songs. The Trooper throws the listener into the chaos of a cavalry charge — not from the perspective of a general watching from safety, but from that of a soldier riding directly…
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Master of Puppets: Who Is Really Pulling the Strings?
Behind one of Metallica’s most iconic songs lies a story about addiction, control and the moment the puppet becomes controlled by its master.
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The Birth of “Non Serviam”
“Non Serviam” — “I will not serve.” From an ancient declaration of defiance to one of Rotting Christ’s defining statements, discover the story behind two words that became a symbol of rebellion.