tisdag 30 Maj 2006, 18:31

Growing up, I was a slave to the mainstream. In high school, mainstream Gangsta Rap was my thing, along with angst-filled Alternative. What can I say? I liked it then, I identfied with the shallowness of it. But since then I have started to look at my own life, had to reflect on it, and try to muster some direction from it. There is certain music out there that has helped me do that. Some songs just make you think - maybe not so much about the direct subject matter of it, but about how it applies to your life. Any idiot can put together a sappy love song or a vengeful breakup song. And alot of them are.

I have learned to appreciate a good lyric like one of the great Bob Dylan. His timeless songs transcend his own life and career. Songs like All Along the Watchtower made famous by Jimi Hendrix, and lesser known ones like One More Cup of Coffee are all worth a listen. Many themes can be found in his body of work, from the racist injustice manifested in Hurricane for example. Though the subject of the song, Rubin Carter, may or may not be innocent of the crime he was charged with, the song still represents a higher meaning from this one isolated incident.

But no, I don't just listen to folksey rock. In fact, quite the opposite. I also happen to love many other types of rock. One of my favorite albums ever would have to be "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" by Derek & the Dominos. One might look at the album cover or the name and think, "oh great, another soft rock album", and turn away. But no this is not the case. This is a fusion of blues, psychadelic and hard guitar-driven rock that is another of the many brainchildren of Eric Clapton in the '60s. I'm not a big fan of his work after he went solo in the '70s and onward, but I respect him all the same. Songs on this album included such classics as the now infamous Layla and the great Bell Bottom Blues. Who could forget the Hendrix classic Little Wing which Clapton's Dominos remade into the memorable unique cover that it was. There is also the hard, raw guitar-driven Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad. Clapton, by the way, had other great projects in the '60s such as Cream and their classic albums "Fresh Cream" and "Disraeli Gears".

There is also something special about the works of Ozzy Osbourne. He and his legendary guitarist Randy Rhodes put out two albums before Rhodes' untimely death: "Diary of a Madman" and "Blizzard of Ozz". Both are a staple in any major rock collection. On "Blizzard", there is, of course, the ever-played Crazy Train, but other classics like Mr. Crowley which people still to this day debate the true meaning of (being about a controvercial, renound ocultist Aliester Crowley). Goodbye Romance is another worthy mention, as well as Suicide Solution, a song made famous after a 19 year old guy killed himself listening to it.

But enough of the classics, because I can go on and on forever, and talk about the greatness of Led Zeppelin, the psychadelic half-nonsense goodness of Pink Floyd, the groundbreaking of angst in Nirvana, or even the good times jams of Van Halen before David Lee Roth left (and was replaced by the no less talented but totally different Sammy Hagar).

I've heard alot of people say music is dead, killed by the music marketing machine and "evils" like MTV. I say to those people, look harder at what's in front of your face. Enter The White Stripes, for example, whose rock minimalism of drums 'n guitar (and occasionally keyboards/piano) resonates with alot of people these days. Everyone heard the catchy Seven Nation Army and the memorable Hardest Button to Button. Check out their songs like Ball and Buiscuit and Passive Manipulation as well.

A newcomer on the popular music scene is Wolfmother. Look for great things from them, if "Dimensions" is to be of any judgement (they have an awesome song called Love Train in a recent iPod commercial).

So I hope you've enjoyed this brief look into my own personal taste and possibly give some of these musicians a spin if you haven't already.