Sunday, March 7, 2010

Blog Riffing Challenge: Topic # 3


The question is: "What did you hate in high school that you now love? Vice versa?"

My answer is:

Hated: Most rap and hip-hop, for starters. Music was not as easily accessible when I was in high school as it is now. I didn't have a home computer and internet until after I graduated, so I couldn't search for music and skim articles for new things. I also didn't have a lot of friends that were into hip-hop. The ones that were liked the pop garbage you hear on Top 40 radio. When I went to college, I discovered Outkast, The Roots, Goodie Mob, and Q-Tip. When I met Kris, he introduced me to a lot of good indie hip-hop: Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, and El Producto. The entire Definitive Jux label has a great roster of guys you won't hear on the radio.

I also hated female singers. I've revised this over the years for the likes of Shirley Manson, Beth Gibbons, and a handful of others. I still don't like most of them, but that's an improvement upon the zero I liked in high school.

Loved: SmashMouth. I loved Steve Harwell's silly personality and bouncy lyrics. I bet I'd probably still like parts of Fush Yu Mang if I heard it today, if for nothing else but the nostalgia factor. After hearing them on every children's film soundtrack for the last ten years, I quit giving a damn.
Sugar Ray. Hmm. I don't even know how to explain that one away. Haha.
Counting Crows. I think my love for them began to fade when I saw them perform live for the first time. Adam Duritz doesn't just take liberties with his songs, he completely rearranges the composition when he plays them live. I've never been one to want a live performance to be a note-perfect rendition of the album track. But can it at least sound like it's in the same galaxy?
Pearl Jam. I know I'll get a fight on this one from the diehards, but I quit caring about their music three albums ago. I'm not the a-hole that thinks Ten is their best work and their only listenable material. Quite the contrary. Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield all have great tracks and shining moments. Maybe I outgrew them. Maybe they outgrew me. Sorry, Vedder.

What do you listen to now that's different from your tastes when you were younger?

Ed Note: The photo included in this blog was taken my Sophomore year of high school, at Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando.

2 comments:

  1. Vitology is the best Pearl Jam album, I don't care that I haven't HEARD the last 3? 4? 5? Don't care. You can't beat Vitology. I was lucky enough to spend most of my free time, and eventually work in, a record store in high school, so I was exposed to a lot more music than I would have been otherwise. And I had the marvel that was WKPX. But... going to school in the ghetto where most of the populous hated me, I shunned ALL urban music. As close as I got to hip hop of any description was The Beastie Boys. I have my friend Brian to thank for my exposure to Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest. I think Chuck D and Q-Tip are two of my favorite voices around.

    Strangely, though, I still really love most of what I listened to in high school. I can still listen to Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Possum Dixon, Smashing Pumpkins, dinosaur jr, Tool... and I still really enjoy all of it. Even Guns N' Roses. Which is kind of what lead to my other question of stuff from that era not sounding dated. At least not to me. I always said I think I should like Blink 182 better due to my love of Possum Dixon... but I don't. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, and Sugar Ray- Lemonade and Brownies was such a good, inventive, and underrated album. What happened after that, they KNEW what was coming- what an album title like 14:59? Oh yes, they were prepared... but Lemonade and Brownies, still one of my favorite records ever.

    ReplyDelete