Just a few thoughts about music, and what I listen to.
Listening to Eminem’s “Rap God” at the moment, I am still impressed with his abilities—the words come so fast, and the rhyme scheme is so complex. What a talent: it’s too bad that he offends so many people, who will never quite understand what makes him a special artist. It occurs to me once again that, no matter what they end up listening to as they grow, I really doubt either of my girls will discover any music that is harder or more explicit than what I currently listen to. There’s not a whole lot that could shock me. I’m sure they may end up enjoying some music that I don’t like, but I can’t picture anything that wold offend me. What has been my favorite music lately? Well, I was on a Queen kick a couple weeks ago. Now I feel like listening to something a little harder. Thus, the Eminem...and now Ice Cube. I remember what a revelation Ice Cube, Ice-T, and the other gangsta rap of the 90s was to me “back in the day.” I had never heard anything that edgy, that explicit, that lyrically powerful and angry. I had seen some rappers defending free speech on Donahue or Oprah something (right around 1990), but when I heard Ice-T’s O.G. Original Gangster, I loved it. I still have a soft spot for 90s rap, gangsta and otherwise. I may listen to The Cure a bit today. That was another group that was totally different from the more lighthearted fare I had been into before that time. When I heard Disintegration, I thought it was dark and lovely, totally different from Duran Duran, Queen, and the rest. The early 90s were significant in my musical listening development: that’s when I discovered The Cure, metal, rap, and Zappa. I got into prog rock back then, too. King Crimson and Yes, particularly. As much as I’ve enjoyed singing classical music over the past dozen years or so, I don’t really listen to classical music for enjoyment. (Except Bach...I love me some Bach.) No, it’s usually rock music for me, with some other stuff (such as the aforementioned rap). Even though I first discovered metal in the early 90s, I really expanded my metal tastes and knowledge shortly after we moved to Nashville. Funny, isn’t it? After moving to a city synonymous with country music, I discovered metal in a big way: Dio, Iron Maiden, Nightwish, Judas Priest, and more. Looking back on when I first began listening to popular music in the 80s, there’s not a whole lot from that time that I still enjoy regularly. Oh, I still think Thriller was the best album ever recorded (next to A Night at the Opera, maybe). But other than Michael Jackson and Prince, there’s not a whole lot from the 80s that I listen to regularly. And come to think of it, I didn’t really get into Prince in a big way until Diamonds & Pearls came out (in the early 90s). Whenever I really look at my music collection on iTunes, I almost surprise myself with the variety of music I find there. There’s metal, rap, pop, Christian rock, Christian metal, classical, prog rock, and more. A lot of guitar-oriented stuff, despite my fairly limited guitar skills. There’s most of Zappa’s catalog, there’s an awful lot of Queen, Yes and King Crimson. There’s a large amount of rap, lots of music that would probably surprise people who first meet me. I almost forgot, there’s plenty of musical theatre in the collection, including a plethora of recordings of Jesus Christ Superstar, one of my earliest musical fascinations. Eh, I like what I like...what can I say?
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Corybantic(adj.) wild and frenzied; from Greek κορυβαντες (Korybantes) Archives
June 2022
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