Defending My Taste In Music

I recently had a conversation with someone that I dated a while ago during which I was asked if I was still into "all that weird music that I used to listen to." Not the most flattering way of describing someone's music taste, huh? She also said that adapting to my music taste was one of the hardest parts of our relationship (that word being used extremely loosely.) I guess a long drive without Ke$ha, Kid Cudi, Rihanna and Pit Bull is an offense worthy of damning my soul to an everlasting hell. Of all the questions that someone could ask me during a first date, "What kind of music do you listen to?" is by far my least favorite. In a perfect world, my response to that question would be, "I listen to music that moves me, makes me feel something and makes me think." But, I know that more questions would follow and we'd be back to square one. This is a topic that I've talked about quite a few times with my good buddy Jake who's reaction to these types of conversations can be found here. Here's an attempt to break down why I listen to what I do.

Musicianship

Quick story. My parents bought a Monster Truck Bloopers video that I completely wore out when I was a little kid. I loved seeing the wake of twisted metal that these massive trucks would cause as they flew over rows of cars. I'm not kidding when I say that I watched that VHS hundreds of times. I completely forgot about that old video until I was 15 or 16 years old and listening to Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind for the first time and "The Trooper" played. I knew immediately that I had heard that song before and it wasn't long before I connected it to that old monster truck video. Looking back at it, I'm sure that I loved that old video for the soundtrack every bit as much as I did for the trucks. How does that connect to whatever else I'm rambling on about? Iron Maiden played a big role in shaping my music taste. Most of Maiden's work was powered by powerful dual guitar harmonies, a driving, intricate bass line and complex drumming. I'm sure that almost any progressive metal outfit today is influenced in some way by Iron Maiden.

I probably focus more on the instruments that make the music than I do the vocalist. I find myself at times visualizing what it would take to play the notes/beats I'm hearing. If a band or artist is boring or simple instrumentally, I get bored with it really easily. This is one of my biggest problems with most of the music that the media pushes on us. Complex guitar, bass, and drum parts are replaced by boring computer-generated beats. That's not really music to me and it definitely can't replace the atmosphere that a full band can create.

Lyrical Content

Before I wrote this section, I took ten minutes to read through the lyrics of Billboard's Top 10 Songs of the Week and the absolute shit that people sing along to completely amazes me. One, most of today's popular artists don't even write their own lyrics. Two, the overwhelming thought that I had as I was reading through the "Top 10" lyrics is that I could pull any lovestruck girl out of high school, give her 15 minutes, and she could come up with something similar or better than what popular radio plays for us. For whatever reason, we are completely infatuated with the concept of love. Almost every popular song, book, and movie focuses on it. Is it a bad thing? Not at all. It's the most universal of all human feelings. But, doesn't it get a little boring hearing the same words rehashed in slightly different ways all the time? Even worse is most popular hip-hop music. Pick a catchy line, repeat it 200 times, and you've got yourself a best-selling song!

We live in a society that has trained us to live for instant gratification. The songs that most people listen to follow the pattern of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. The chorus (which usually carries the most intellectually challenged lines) is repeated over and over so that it gets caught in our heads. Catchy sells! And it takes away any chance of you thinking and interpreting songs your own way. It is part of the reason why people prefer Twilight or The Hunger games to Fight Club or No Country for Old Men. Does that mean that all songs that follow this ABABCB pattern are terrible? Not at all! I like plenty of these types of songs. At the same time, I'm perfectly content to listen to a 15 minute long song that doesn't ever repeat itself. I like the challenge of trying to figure out what a song is about rather than having it shoved down my throat.

I'm tempted to include excerpts of some of my favorite lyrics but I'm trying to keep this short and cohesive so I'll link another blog to this at some point.  

Concepts

When you look at my iPod, you'll notice that I don't have any stand alone songs. Every song that I have is surrounded by every other song on the album. I think that's how it should be. When the music industry decided to start heavily promoting singles, it allowed artists to come up with one good (or catchy) song and round out the rest of the album with filler. I have no respect for artists that have adopted this way of thinking. I think that albums should be strong enough that they can be listened to front to back without being tempted to skip half of the content.

This is one of the reasons that I love concept albums. I'm intrigued by bands who will take an idea or a story, embrace it, and build an entire album or discography around it. That way, every song plays an integral role in the overall theme of the album. One of my favorite examples of this is a band called The Dear Hunter. Their album The Color Spectrum is a 36-song journey that is split up into nine different four-song EP's represented by different colors. The songs on each of the EPs are their interpretation of what that color would sound like. The four songs on the Black album are heavy, dark and industrial sounding while the four songs on the Yellow album are more light, positive and care free. It was an ambitious undertaking but they pulled it off and in doing so, The Dear Hunter have created something a lot deeper and long lasting than most contemporary music.

I don't want anyone to get the idea that I like music because of its exclusivity. I don't adopt the hipster mentality that it's only good if nobody knows about it. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm more than willing to suggest music for them to get into. One of my favorite feelings is recommending a band that I've come to respect and love and see someone take it in and develop that same relationship. I'm also not saying that everything played on the radio is terrible. I just think that most of the time, those artists have one goal and that it to make as much money as possible. I have a lot more respect for artists that are in the industry to share an idea.

Now, on the subject of screamed vocals, I have heard just about everything.

"That doesn't take ANY talent. That's not music."
"That drives away the spirit of God!"
"That makes my ears bleed!"

Here's the deal. There are good screamers and there are bad screamers, just like there are good and bad singers. It absolutely does require talent and, believe it or not, takes practice just like anything else. To me, vocals are just another instrument. Some music fits together better with a vocalist that screams. Some music doesn't. I know that there are moments in some of the music that I listen to that are undoubtedly more powerful because of screamed vocals. I also know that it's not for everyone. But, just because I personally don't like the sound of a trombone, doesn't mean that I would be ignorant enough to claim that all trombone players are talentless hacks that "make my ears bleed." For the record, bands with screamed vocals make up *maybe* 20% of my discography.
(A list of 15 albums that have shaped my taste in music can be found here.)

So, once again, why do I listen to the music that I do? Because I like music that makes me feel something, music that is a catalyst to action, music that creates an environment that allows for new ideas and thoughts, music that allows me to escape. It's more than just another form of entertainment, it's a deeper relationship than that. Why do you have the music taste that YOU do? Think about it. I'd love to hear the reasons since you took the time to read this far.

I guess all of this is a long-winded response to a simple question. But, now I'll have something to refer someone to when someone asks me about my taste in music.