#Megadeth. “Peace Sells.” 1986. The Token, Detroit. The most iconic bass intro — after Black Sabbath’s “NIB” of course — but what makes the performance so special is that these were the early days and everyone was so psyched up. We really were spoilt rotten, it was just glorious.

#Slayer. 1991. The best thing about seeing bands in their hey day is the setlists were gold top-to-bottom. None of the crap to sit through after they’d peaked — so what we have here is Slayer playing “Raining Blood” pivoting into “Black Magic”, I mean come on just look at this!

#Opeth. “Bleak.” 2006. The Roundhouse. I’m fairly certain I say the same thing any time I post an Opeth clip — Michael Åkerfeldt at one point had the best cleans & harsh vocals in the business. His transitions were seamless. Autumn is upon us, is it not… 🍂

#Savatage. “Strange Wings.” 1990. Jezebel’s Nightclub, Anaheim CA. One of my favorite ‘Tage songs w/ Ray Gillen — he sang backing vox on the album. Much can be said in hindsight about Ray; or Criss’s death just 3 years later, but for this one moment all was good in the world 🕊️

Skid Row. “Darkened Room.” 1992. *sigh* My 2 cents: this would be a reunion for the ages. Yes it’s been 30 yrs & no one’s getting any younger. Do 3 gigs as a test run. Put egos aside. Travel separately. No rehearsals. No one cares. Just do it 1 more time before Gen X is dead. 💀

#Death. “The Philosopher.” 1993. The song to close out ITP — though one of the few that doesn’t feature a magical Andy La Rocque guitar solo. Nonetheless, we have Steve Diorgio playing all that fretless bass — an instrument that still finds its way into modern tech death metal.

#Death. “Overactive Imagination.” 1993. Here’s 30 seconds of 2 musical worlds colliding for the first time in metal history: Death & King Diamond — Chuck Schuldiner’s death metal riffs furiously pivoting on a dime for Andy La Rocque to summon the ghost of Abigail ⚰️

It is impossible not to love this man. #MikeMuirForPresident #ST

Judas Priest. “Beyond the Realms of Death” 1991. Rock in Rio. I was genuinely surprised at how good Tipton & Downing sounded on the Painkiller album —they weren’t exactly known as shredders but boy did they shred— and so when you apply that PK tone to a 70s classic, you get this:

Gary Moore just ripping that “Still Got the Blues” solo at Hammersmith Odeon in 1990 — the tone, the sustain, the vibrato, the emotion. Hope you didn’t need your face today ‘cause it’s about to get melted 🌋

Bon Jovi. “Dry County.” 1995. I know many write them off as another 80s hair band but honestly, Richie Sambora laid down some srsly underrated solos — and what’s ironic is that he didn’t actually peak until the mid-90s, when he cranked this mofo solo out at Wembley Stadium 🏟️ 🔥

Uli Jon Roth. “Sky Overture.” If you’re not familiar, UJR has this 35-fret, 7 string guitar he calls his “Sky Guitar” — and this is a really sweet instrumental, a fantasia of sorts, that showcases how he uses all 35 of those frets… oof 😮‍💨

This is how Dario Argento lit his night scenes in 1977. It is yet to be surpassed. #Suspiria

Crimson Glory. “Lonely.” 1988. 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦… sᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɴsᴍɪssɪᴏɴ ɴᴏᴡ… *R2D2 sounds*

uh oh — if any of my moots can see this, I’ll be on the lam