Musical background

Before I launch into my first music review posting, I'd like to share with you my musical background.  I started listening to music at a very young age, but my first memories are back when AM radio actually played music.  Today, it would be called "Easy Listening": John Denver, Barry Manilow...things like that. 
I don't exactly know how I started getting into "Rock", but I remember listening to Yes, Tears for Fears, and Motley Crue (Theater of Pain era) on the local rock station.  This was when I was in about 5th or 6th grade.  At that time, I started playing violin, then upright bass through school. 
I was in the junior high and high school orchestras, along with the Seattle Little, Junior, and Youth Symphonies.  I also picked up the bass guitar in high school and was in the school jazz band.  In late junior high and into high school is when I really got into rock: Guns n' Roses, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, etc.  I was still in the symphonies, orchestra and jazz band, but had moved away from ONLY listening to that music.  In late high school, I also joined a local chamber group and an operetta company for a couple seasons.
I auditioned for, and was accepted into the Navy School of Music after high school.  Problem was, I had to learn how to play the tuba and march in a band...neither of which I had done before.  I didn't learn it well enough or fast enough, so was dropped from there and went to an A-6 squadron (but that's for another post).
In the 20 years since graduating, my musical library has grown to damn-near 1000 CDs, and I'm proud of the fact that I have every musical genre represented: country, rock, classical, metal, easy listening, rap, jazz/swing, gospel...the list goes on.
My ultimate favorite musical genre is metal, and I'll review a good chunk of albums from that category.  However, I will also throw in some classical, world, jazz, and others in once in a while for flavor...and so that no-one gets bored from just one thing.