THE EMPIRE
Through talking to a lot of musicians I have become interested in the progressions that have taken place in regards to what people listen to throughout the years.
Some go the classic and consistent route of being exposed to their parents music early on such as Black Sabbath, Queen, AC/DC, or The Beatles which definitely puts them in a good position from the start. Other times its based on what gets forced upon us from a young age which for me came from the pop realm in the early 90’s.
My personal journey as a listener goes something like this – Early on I remember the first album I ever bought was Backstreets Back by The Backstreet Boys and ever since then this “band” has held a special place in my collection and i’m not sorry to say that I still know most of the words to those early albums. After my boy band binge I made the natural shift over to Metallica which was heavily influenced by both of my older brothers, I wish this change cam sooner but it wasn’t until the late 90’s that this change came about. Then in the early 2000’s I broadened my horizons a bit to include Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory, Korn – See You On The Other Side, Papa Roach – Infest, Mudvayne – Lost and Found, Disturbed – The Sickness, and Breaking Benjamin – We Are Not Alone. Still staying in that Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal area but still largely influenced by what was on the radio or music TV. I didn’t get in to any of the classics until much later, after I finished high school really and picked up playing guitar, this is when Guns ‘N’ Roses came in and Metallica returned to the forefront. Playing guitar also introduced me to the metalcore and screamo genres with bands like Killswitch Engage, Unearth, and Asking Alexandria. Initially I got in to it because I loved the music and melodies but the more I listened the more I started to enjoy the heavy, screaming vocal elements too and the emotion that can be drawn from them. These bands are what drew my musical attentions away from what was being played on the radio and more to what else there was around the place as a lot of that music never featured on anything remotely mainstream in New Zealand, besides The Axe Attack (RIP).
Now my musical tastes have broadened greatly over the years but my general interest still lies around the Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal/ Metalcore genres but can dip in to pop at times and still gets in to the much heavier regions quite frequently. I feel like my early pop origins has made me more willing to accept the chart toppers of today but my interest in guitar and then the more alternative musical styles definitely broadened my horizons and appreciation for most types of music. One area I have never really delved in to is Hip-Hop/Rap and I havn’t gone too far into Electronica either although some of what I listen to does have those elements so i’m sure I would enjoy it if I did give it a try, I guess that could be whats next on the list!
So after all that, tell me your story as a listener! Where did you start where are you now?
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