I had a realization on the way to class today. It dawned on me that the only thing that has remained slightly constant in my life over the past decade has been music. From the time I was sixteen to now, I have graduated high school, met the woman who would become my wife, start college, moved twice, bought a new car, gotten married, left the country for the first time, as well as little things that just don’t seem to be jumping out at me right now.The only thing that is the same in the life of sixteen year old me as it is in the life of twenty-six year old me is just a small amount of music.
When I was sixteen, I was sadly into the whole “nu-metal” movement, for the most part. There were some exceptions, though. I liked some punk and pop-punk, too, as well as some more, for lack of a better term, traditional metal. So, walking to class today listening to Slipknot, it hit me that I have been listening to their music for at least a decade. It got me to thinking about who or what else I listened to then that I still listen to today, and have listened to on a pretty constant basis over the last ten years.
The list it pretty short, though. There’s Slipknot, whose first album continues to blow me away just as much as their newest album. There’s New Found Glory, who I saw in concert for the first time about eight years ago and have seen several times since. Marilyn Manson has always been in heavy rotation for me, too. Antichrist Superstar is probably in my top ten albums, and Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood are two great albums in their own rights. Nirvana is by far my favorite band now, and they were pretty high up there ten years ago, too (In Utero is my favorite album from anyone).
Going through my iPod, not many other artists are standing out to me. There’s Ben Folds, and I liked Ben Folds Five and I still listen to most of Ben’s solo work, so I guess he counts. I want to count Blink 182, but I just can’t I haven’t listened to them in I don’t know how long, even though I think their self-titled album is amazing. I was just starting to get into more indie music when I was sixteen or seventeen, so I don’t think I can count Bright Eyes. The Smashing Pumpkins fit the bill. I liked their music in middle school, actually. Hell, I remember my sixth grade science teacher (Mr. Bear, or was it spelled differently?) playing Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins on his acoustic in class for us. That might be where my appreciation for grunge and alternative music actually started.
That’s it though. I can’t think of anyone else. Even the musicians who I listen to regularly now, whose music I love, I can’t count. Neutral Milk Hotel I just discovered in the past three years. I didn’t know Brand New until Tiff introduced me to them when we first started dating. I found Pavement in the past two years. I know we all change as we get older, and I know I’ve changed quite a bit since high school, but I didn’t think my taste in music had changed as much as it has.
