The one where I avoid hijacking Trena's blog

Trena posted this and I started to respond... but it quickly got long winded and so I've turned it into a post.

I like Jessica's explanation... not changed, just expanded. I still live by the "if it screams I like it" mantra, but so many awesome and different bands have come out since HS. The Killers, Muse, etc. I still list Metallica and Korn as my favorites of all time, but my "current" faves have shifted to Killers, Morrissey and Muse from 311, PM5K and Depeche Mode. Doesn't mean I love the others any less, they're just not as high on my playlists right now.

Plus I've always appreciated 80s rock but didn't have as much access to it then as I do now. I'd heard The Cure, Smiths, New Order etc. but I only had access to what was played on the radio... not that I'm complaining. ;)

I went through high school during an amazing time for music. I know just about every decade says that, but we have a one up on the 80s or 70s kids... we had the benefit of those types of music too. Thusly why our music rocked so much. Those bands we had were influenced by the older styles.

When you thrive on music like I do (Trena MUCH more-so than I), you always look for the new and exciting. I firmly believe that 90s grunge & alternative will always feel like home to me, but I will always listen to contemporary music stations. Even when KROQ starts a 90s station, I'll always try to keep up with what's new. Granted there will be periods of timewhere I can't stand what they're playing and will jump around, but I'll always come back. Winter '06- winter'07 was a period where if I heard that STUPID 30 Seconds to Mars song ONE MORE TIME I'd have gone postal on some random emokid on the street. Not a happy time for music IMO.

During that rough year, I was constantly checking back to see if it had gotten any better... no? Okay maybe in a month...

I can't stand the thought of missing something new and cool. I've never been willing to go digging around for underground stuff. Granted, it may be better at times, but I really do believe in the free market and feel that the good stuff will eventually get there. There IS crap on the radio. I've bought CDs due to the heavy marketing of said crap and can look back and say some purchases were mistakes. That being said, I still enjoy said mistakes, but I just realize that it's mindless crap (Limp Bizkit for example). There's stuff that I love now, that I know Trena probably doesn't, that leads me to belive that it will also be a mindless crap mistake that I love anyway.

Then there's the mindless crap that I hated at the time but years later I'm able to go back and love it for what it is (or vice versa). You wouldn't have caught me dead watching, listening to or buying into the Spice Girls way back when. I now own their movie and have downloaded songs and videos since. There, I said it... I ENJOY the Spice Girls! Britney Spears? I bought her first album. I saw potential there. Never again. Gave that sucker away about a year later. It goes both ways for me.

When all is said and done, I don't think your taste changes. The bands I like now are influenced by the bands that I liked 10 years ago. I think you just keep looking for that similarity (ask any Grannie, they'll tell you that Squirrel Nut Zippers or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is great music). Easy listening in your older years only uncovers the fact that you didn't really mind it back when, it just wasn't a priority to you then, and now it is. I listened to KBig and Kost as a kid/early teen. I didn't start listening to KROQ until 10th grade. I've been making up for it ever since, but I'll never deny liking to listen to Phil Collins and The Police either. Or Dire Straits and the Beatles. My parents had much more influence on my music tastes in those days and it shows through on my iPod playlists (as I've posted here in the past). Hell! I'll even listen to GOOD country music (none of that Honky Tonk Badonkadonk crap... classic Garth Brooks or Johnny Cash!) on occasion.

Old age just makes you less rigid to what you'll listen to at that given moment. When you're a teen all caught up in angst and anger, that's all you want to hear, when you're older and your moods diversify more, so does your playlist.