Was thinking a couple days ago, about why I started listening to certain musics, and such. I came to a realization that the main reason that I found my self wading around in the 80's genre was because of a girl sophomore year in high school. Actually more so freshman year, the end of it. During the start of freshman year I was starting to find pop-punk like Green Day, and dare I say them now, Good Charlotte. Just because I was listening to them doesn't mean I wasn't going to eventually wind up at Rise Against and bands like them. I also liked hard rock.
Around that same time I found out about Velvet Revolver, who, back then, I saw more as a punk alt rock band than the classic rock that they were. I was also against screaming in music, then again look at the kids I was around at the time. In 2004/2005 around PV high school there were a lot of these emo/screamo bands, which is a big reason I detested screaming. I gave that stereotype to screaming bands, no matter what. It was the people that were into them too I hated. Didn't help that I didn't know anyone who was into "real" punk at the time.
The first time I remember hearing Rise Against was in 2004, "Give it All." Strangely enough I don't remember having anything against the video, or song, but just Tim's hair. I think if I remember right I actually looked for that video on MTV, or VH1 at like 6am after I woke up. It wouldn't be until 2006 that I heard from them again. I was in a baseball clubhouse and one of my teammates was singing, "We live on front porches and swing life away/We get by just fine here on minimum wage." I distinct memory. Meanwhile I was still really into the 80's stuff like Def Leppard, and Guns N' Roses.
The summer of 2008, they came back again. This time, strangely enough, was because of a girl. She showed me "Re-Education (Though Labor)" and my first instinct was that I liked it. I though it had a good sound, and really liked it. I think it was at this point my musical taste was changing from the 80's rock to a more punk rock, thanks to Against Me!. First found out about them in 2006, after seeing their music video for "Don't Loose Touch," and seeing the album cover for "Re-Inventing Axl Rose" pop up when I would look up Mr. Rose. Then I heard "Thrash Unreal," and was hooked. Saw them with the Foo Fighters at the start of '08, and then again at Warped Tour that year, the start of the change. By the end of 2008 I had downloaded all of Rise record "Appeal to Reason," plus like 10 other random songs of theirs. Nonetheless, I was hooked, finally.
To get where I am now probably started sometime freshman year in high school, when exactly, I just don't know. That seems to be the stem if it all. But what I have now is a realization, and a revitalization of where I should be.
I learned that my 80's rock thing was just a phase, and I was always meant to be in punk rock. After all, I was raised on early 90's alt/punk rock on MTV. As I see people try to bring back the 80's sound that has basically gone extinct. As scientists will say, you can clone something to look, and feel just like something that is extinct, but it genetically isn't the same creature. Same goes for any band trying to bring back that sound. Then again, most haven't heard that before. Just food for thought. I rather be living in today and face my problems head on, than try to hide in the past and ignore the glaring facts.
So what have I learned. Freshman year in HS was more important than I realized, and 80's music is dead. Thank you and god night.-SP
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