I have seen countless live shows. I have a drawer full of ticket stubs. I follow artists online like a stalker. I own over 200 albums. I call them albums.
I have an unhealthy obsession of pre-Phil Collins Genesis that I'm sure all of my friends are tired of me talking about at every chance I have. I have a tattoo on my arm of the logo from "The Lamb Lies Down on the Broadway". I've seen a tribute band recreate the entire album without missing a beat. Twice. I drove over two hours one way to see them.
I listen to music, my iPod, Pandora, Spotify, r.dio, and even elevator music at work.
One of my two internships in college was at a non-profit radio station.
I had a radio show at undergrad for over three years. It never had popularity due to the station's inability to promote itself (and sometimes even stay away from dead air). But I loved the show. I treated it as my own, and I had a co-host that was a perfect match for me and how I talked on radio. I loved the show much that I didn't let my fear of talking to a live audience dissuade me. Did I sometimes studder or hesitate? Sure. But it's music. It's my passion.
Do I have excellence taste? No. I know that I should really try to stay away from progressive rock and branch out more. But I have. And I do. I own more than ten thousand songs on my iPod - it's not all progressive rock. I have everything from rap to blues to jazz or alternative rock to country to southern rock to NPR podcasts.
The point is that music is who I am. I have often judged people and girlfriends for their tastes (or lack) in music. If someone says, "I like everything" this tells me that they listen to whatever is on the radio because they don't have preference. You have to have a preference! You can't say "I like it all" and actually believe that! You either don't like it and therefore are lying to yourself, or you are lying and just like the background noise. We all have opinions.
My opinions? Well, I feel like I was born in the wrong decade. My aforementioned love for progressive rock doesn't have a lot of of suitors in my age group. If I even mention the genre I usually get blank stares, and then start the fruitless conversation of explaining myself. I've come to the point of just saying "Y'know, Pink Floyd" and hope for the love of God that they at least know what Comfortably Numb is so we can change the subject.
If I could, I would have grown up in the 70s. It's when all of my favorite albums were created. From Genesis, to Zeppelin, to Floyd, to The Who, to King Crimson, to The The, to Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf, and Soft Machine. These are the bands that made me realize that there is so much more than the Top 40 radio station hits. These are the bands that made me biased against everything that everyone else listens to because I am full of myself, and think that what I have in my earbuds is the best. If it's not a complex mixture and creation of sound with eight different layers I will scoff at it. Am I wrong for doing this? Sure I am. But it's how I was raised.
In middle school I rotated in my Sony Disk Man for two years the soundtrack of The Matrix, Blink 182's "Enema of the State", and Peter Gabriel's "Security". If this doesn't give you a hint of how my tastes can fluctuate then God help you.
Gabriel in my eyes, is the best creator of lyrics in music.
 |
| He also used to have hair. |
To get back to the main reason for creating this post: be prepared for a lot of ramblings about whatever found its way into my ITunes library. The album of the week. Song du jour. I could easily be obsessed with something as light and insane as Skrillex just as much that I went to a used music store and bought a record player simply because I found a Miles Davis album on the side of the road. I also can't guarantee that I won't gush about prog rock or Genesis or Gabriel; this is because I know I will. I have to. Hearing the first taste of "Security" blew my mind and changed what music was to me. It would be a disservice to not. If you are a real life friend to me, you've probably read or heard this from me before. Just feel free to fast forward to a video game review or something.
I'll end with I am listening to the last bit of "Supper's Ready" in my Sennheiser surround sound earphones right now. Still sipping on the pale ale mentioned in the first post. Supper is a 23-minute epic of a song that has only been rivaled by a couple Dream Theater songs. Surpassed? No. It's still king. Goes from quiet to intense within seconds, and doesn't let up until you are already tired and spent from the emotions that just ravaged through you.
"Walking across the sitting room, I turn the television off
Sitting besides you, I look into your eyes
As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,
I swear I saw your face change, it didn't seem quite right.
And it's 'Hello babe. With your guarding eyes so blue...'"
I'll end with I am listening to the last bit of "Supper's Ready" in my Sennheiser surround sound earphones right now. Still sipping on the pale ale mentioned in the first post. Supper is a 23-minute epic of a song that has only been rivaled by a couple Dream Theater songs. Surpassed? No. It's still king. Goes from quiet to intense within seconds, and doesn't let up until you are already tired and spent from the emotions that just ravaged through you.
"Walking across the sitting room, I turn the television off
Sitting besides you, I look into your eyes
As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,
I swear I saw your face change, it didn't seem quite right.
And it's 'Hello babe. With your guarding eyes so blue...'"
No comments:
Post a Comment