The Sound of Music
S'funny how much my bands have changed over the years. I looked at some Billboard stats last week, and Stricken was number four on the rock chart. Photograph was tearing it up on all sorts of charts. Even Taproot had an appearance or two. These, along with many others, are bands I've listened to since I gained taste in music; some as long as six or seven years. I've seen them mature, put out record after record, and gain popularity, or in some cases, lose it. Some bands of mine, like Adema, Alien Ant Farm, and Crazy Town, have fallen from stardom to the "Where are they now?" category. I don't listen to them any less. Some of my bands, namely Disturbed and System of a Down, along with Nickelback, Taproot, MuDvAyNe, and Linkin Park, have grown immensely in popularity since I began listening to them. And I don't listen to them any more than I otherwise would.
Incase you were wondering, calling them "my bands" isn't a phrase of possession, rather, it's one of affection. Anyone who knows me knows that I hold a strong love and appreciation for my music.
A classic case: Arch Enemy. In August 2003, I saw the music video for We Will Rise on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball at 2:30 on a Sunday morning. I fell in love with the video, the song, and the band. I bought Anthems of Rebellion(their then-current album) within a month, and was amazed at their raw talent and innovation to the metal genre. I started telling my friends about them and got quite a few interested. Back then, they were pretty well-known in the die-hard metal community, but not at large, and mainly toured in Japan and Europe. It was a pure stroke of luck that their video made it onto the latenight programming of an underground metal show, and even more lucky was the fact that I came across that video. Flash forward to summer 2005, and they're cutting riffs on the Ozzfest stage in America; the biggest name tour in all of rock. Period. I mean, they're swapping guitar solos with the likes of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and about ten other huge bands. How friggin' sweet.
I'm not trying to prove that I don't suck musical preference from the mainstream like so many do these days. I don't need to prove that; I've had to in the past to many people and I'm done with that. Let people think what they want to think. I'm not trying to say that it's destroying your individuality and degrading to your taste in music to start listening to a band that you heard on the radio; I've done it with a few bands, everyone that listens to the radio has. That's what it's there for. To establish musical taste for yourself, then to analyze a song's compatibility with that taste on the radio, is admirable. To establish musical taste from hearing only what is fed to you through mainstream radio, however, is detestable. I'm not trying to prove that I have the authority to deem what is good and bad music, or what is defied as mainstream music. There are genuinely talented bands that have made it, and there are those that have not. In contrast, there are equally untalented bands that have made it, and there are those that have not. All I'm presenting is my take on gaining one's taste in music, how my own music has changed over the years, and what I feel is important in this matter. Let me think what I want to think.
Think about your own music. Think about the first band you ever liked, and the first CD(or tape) you ever bought(mine was the Backstreet Boys' "Millennium"). Think about the first song you ever sang along to on the radio, if you can remember(mine was Doo-Wah-Diddy). Now think about all the bands, singers, or groups you listen to today. Think about which ones have gained popularity since you started listening to them, and think about which ones have lost it. Have any broken up, or retired? Think about the bands you've listened to since the beginning, or at least since their debut album. And now, think about how you gained your musical taste. I'd like it if you told me what you think.
And, most importantly: rock on.
"I'm just sitting in my car, and waiting for my girl..."
Incase you were wondering, calling them "my bands" isn't a phrase of possession, rather, it's one of affection. Anyone who knows me knows that I hold a strong love and appreciation for my music.
A classic case: Arch Enemy. In August 2003, I saw the music video for We Will Rise on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball at 2:30 on a Sunday morning. I fell in love with the video, the song, and the band. I bought Anthems of Rebellion(their then-current album) within a month, and was amazed at their raw talent and innovation to the metal genre. I started telling my friends about them and got quite a few interested. Back then, they were pretty well-known in the die-hard metal community, but not at large, and mainly toured in Japan and Europe. It was a pure stroke of luck that their video made it onto the latenight programming of an underground metal show, and even more lucky was the fact that I came across that video. Flash forward to summer 2005, and they're cutting riffs on the Ozzfest stage in America; the biggest name tour in all of rock. Period. I mean, they're swapping guitar solos with the likes of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and about ten other huge bands. How friggin' sweet.
I'm not trying to prove that I don't suck musical preference from the mainstream like so many do these days. I don't need to prove that; I've had to in the past to many people and I'm done with that. Let people think what they want to think. I'm not trying to say that it's destroying your individuality and degrading to your taste in music to start listening to a band that you heard on the radio; I've done it with a few bands, everyone that listens to the radio has. That's what it's there for. To establish musical taste for yourself, then to analyze a song's compatibility with that taste on the radio, is admirable. To establish musical taste from hearing only what is fed to you through mainstream radio, however, is detestable. I'm not trying to prove that I have the authority to deem what is good and bad music, or what is defied as mainstream music. There are genuinely talented bands that have made it, and there are those that have not. In contrast, there are equally untalented bands that have made it, and there are those that have not. All I'm presenting is my take on gaining one's taste in music, how my own music has changed over the years, and what I feel is important in this matter. Let me think what I want to think.
Think about your own music. Think about the first band you ever liked, and the first CD(or tape) you ever bought(mine was the Backstreet Boys' "Millennium"). Think about the first song you ever sang along to on the radio, if you can remember(mine was Doo-Wah-Diddy). Now think about all the bands, singers, or groups you listen to today. Think about which ones have gained popularity since you started listening to them, and think about which ones have lost it. Have any broken up, or retired? Think about the bands you've listened to since the beginning, or at least since their debut album. And now, think about how you gained your musical taste. I'd like it if you told me what you think.
And, most importantly: rock on.
"I'm just sitting in my car, and waiting for my girl..."