This time around we feature the CD collection of Joshua Haun, creator of and author at The THKD Experience, an extreme music and pro wrestling blog and Youtube channel.
The first CD I ever bought with my own money was…
Oddly enough, it was Led Zeppelin II. Growing up in the Midwest meant growing up with classic rock radio and there was a local station that would always play “Heartbreaker” and “Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman)” back to back (shout out to KGGO!). Those sweet, sweet Jimmy Page riffs blew me away and I was pretty obssessed with Zep in junior high prior to getting to into heavy metal and punk. To this day it weirds me out when I hear “Heartbreaker” somewhere and “Living Loving Maid” doesn’t immediately follow it; those two songs go together like chocolate and peanut butter.
The CD that made me want to make music was…
Well I’m really not a musician at all and I haven’t played in years, but the album that most made me want to pick up a guitar was probably Nirvana’s Bleach. There’s a primal simplicity to that album and when I was younger I really felt an urge to tap into that energy. I was never in a serious band or anything, but I have put a few different noise projects out there over the years and those were all inspired by Merzbow’s Venereology; if you’re a metalhead that’s looking to get into noise, that CD is ground zero along with Masonna’s Inner Mind Mystique.
The CD I’ve played more than any other is…
At this point it would probably be Melvins – Houdini. I’ve owned that CD for twenty-five years and that it still plays perfectly after all this time is a testament to how indestructible the CD format is. The Melvins discography is vast, but Houdini is the first one I heard and remains my favorite of theirs to this day; I can put it on and enjoy it no matter what type of mood I’m in and never get tired of it.
The CD that always make me feel good is…
One that’s been making me feel good lately is Michio Kurihara’s Sunset Notes. Most metalheads will know Kurihara from his collaborations with Boris, but he’s been a part of the Japanese psychedelic underground for a long time, playing in bands such as Ghost and White Heaven. Anyway, Sunset Notes is his first solo album and it’s just a really nice, mellow psych rock record, perfect for driving around on a sunny day or just to chill out with at home with.
The CD I turn to when I’m feeling down is…
I like a lot of gloomy shit, but for this I’ll go with Katatonia – The Great Cold Distance. It’s dark and introspective, but it’s also catchy as hell and you can sing along easily, which can be comforting when you’re in a shitty mood. Just about any Katatonia is great for when you’re feeling low, but I think The Great Cold Distance is probably their finest hour.
The CD with my favorite cover art is…
It’s gotta be the cover of Celtic Frost’s To Mega Therion. I mean come on, everybody loves H.R. Giger’s art and that image has got to be one of his most iconic works. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Celtic Front kicked an ungodly amount of ass on that album, which makes the cover image that much cooler. I also adore the Geiger pieces that adorn the covers of Triptykon’s two albums.
The strangest CD I own is…
Probably The Wrestling Album, which is a CD the World Wrestling Federation put out back in 1985. It includes Rick Derringer performing Hulk Hogan’s theme song “Real American,” which pretty much everybody has heard, but it’s also got weird shit like Mean Gene Okerlund singing “Tutti Fruitti” and Roddy Piper covering the Mike Angelo & The Idols song “Fuck Everybody” but with all the profanity removed and re-titled “For Everybody.” Personally, I recommend the Junkyard Dog’s song, “Grab Them Cakes.” Fun fact, “Real American” was originally the entrance song for a tag team called The U.S. Express, but it was passed along to Hulk Hogan after the they broke up.
The rarest CD I own is…
I have no idea, but if I had to guess I’d say probably the Crebain / Leviathan split CD that tUMULt put out back in 2004. It’s limited to only 666 copies and features some really great material from Crebain that makes me sad he was never able to release a full length. The Leviathan material is good too of course, but Crebain blew him out of the water on this split and I think we’d be talking about Crebain in the same breath as other great one man black metal bands of that time such as Leviathan, Xasthur and Striborg if he could’ve just managed to get an album out there.
The last CD I bought was…
I recently picked up a copy of Possessed’s Revelations of Oblivion, which is one hell of a comeback album after thirty years. I also picked up a copy of Onslaught’s Power from Hell, which is a very underrated slab of UK thrash with death/black metal overtones; it actually came out the same year as Possessed’s classic first album Seven Churches.
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