A Journey into Sound

"This is a journey into sound." And so begins Anthrax's Sound of White Noise. Music has always been a part of my life. And though trends come and go, the essence of music hasn't changed. I continue looking for the next thing to challenge my perception of what music can achieve. Music is a journey and like many things in life, the road itself is as valuable as the destination. My goal is here is simple: to share my own exploration of music.

My earliest exposure to music came from what my parents listened to. Whenever we traveled as a family we would ride in the car. Whether it was just for a day of fishing or a trip to New England I was always in the car. I don't remember listening to the radio much, but instead my parents would rotate through a collection of cassette tapes. They had more tapes, but I imagine that they were trying to select those that would be age-appropriate for passengers under the age of 10. I remember Roy Orbison, The Monkees, Mamas and Pappas and Blood Sweat and Tears. We would listen to these over and over again to pass the hours of driving. Even today, if I hear Orbison's ‘Only the Lonely,’ I find the words returning from some vault deep in the recesses of my memory.

The radio choices in my hometown were equally as limited as my parents’ cassette tape collection. The classic rock station seemed to only have a handful of bands and apparently those bands had only ever recorded two or three songs. I simply don’t remember what was played on the popular music station. As 90’s grunge and post-grunge took over popular rock, I eventually started listening to music that was written after my birth.

My musical world began to expand rapidly. I was soon old enough to have a job and therefore purchase CDs without begging my parents or waiting for my birthday (especially since letting your parents know the music you like was definitely uncool). Another fortunate thing was that the local music store was only a short bike ride away. I wasn’t old enough to drive and a bike trip to the mall would surely have resulted in being hit by a car or worse: suffer being grounded by my parents if they found out about it.

This musical and financial freedom allowed me to explore. I would wander around the store looking through the rows of CDs for a band that I had only heard of in passing, saw at a friend’s house, or just had awesome cover art. A friend once said that it was probably good that I didn’t listen exclusively to the stuff on the radio because those CDs were always more expensive. Maybe I was just cheap.

Early on in this new exploration there were a couple of CDs that changed my musical life. The first was a free sampler from the local rock radio station. It had a bunch of songs from bands that I’d never heard of but were supposed to be the ‘next big thing.’ This included songs from Godsmack, Kid Rock, Monster Magnet, and Korn. The other was the soundtrack to the movie Scream 3 (I didn’t buy it because of the movie - horror movies are not my thing, but maybe we can talk about that later). This album introduced me to Coal Chamber, Slipknot, Finger Eleven, Dope, and System of a Down. I’ve never looked back.

I started to discover music that pushed the boundaries. It tested my perception of rock and metal and what sludge-laden guitar riffs, bombastic percussion, and poetry could do in their own unlikely marriage. The multi-dimensionality of metal is what keeps me coming back. Sure jazz, classical and pop have a lot to offer. Personally, I listen to a little bit of everything. But I love finding all of those elements and more in metal. If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll find the influences and references in everything. Metal itself is difficult to define. Just when you think you have it figured out, something comes along which alters the reality of the genre. It’s elusive and ever-changing. And that’s why I enjoy the journey. There is always more to discover; a band that’s been around for 20 years or a new song on YouTube. That’s why I’m here. This is rock. This is life. What are you listening to?

So, I'm going play around with this blog thing and see how it goes. I'll put a post once a week - at least that's my goal. Thanks to eMusic, I'm always getting new music, so I'll throw in some feedback on whatever I've just downloaded. Feel free to contribute, disagree, or make your own suggestions. Stop by anytime and offer your insight and experiences.