My First Post

I love music. That is probably the most obvious statement of the decade. Not that it came from me, but everyone loves music. I guess everyone loves music different ways or for different reasons. But for me, I love the passion, the drama, the emotional pendulum that is found in the great rock album. It tells a story, reads a poem, paints pictures, takes snapshots, lights a scene and performs its parts to perfection while the only visual element involved is the album cover (if you still buy the actual album). Sometimes the dramatic arc is obvious; sometimes you can create it with your own imagination. The album, specifically the “rock” album, seems like an antique in this era of information NOW! and quick (moreover quickly forgotten) pop hits. Because of this, the musicians of the new millennium who work under the construct of the well-worn album have become, in fact, unintentional historians. As we progress into this vast future and finish up the “00’s”, it is up to us who cherish music to keep this increasingly unsupported artistic medium alive and well. And like all historical moments and ideas, we keep it alive by remembering, nurturing and giving to the next generation.

And let’s be honest, the music of the 90’s was, in large part, a drag. Nirvana, et al, blew up radio music and gave us the culmination of all their influences draped in wails and mumbles of anguish and hammering, this-one-goes-to-eleven power rock. Instead of raising the bar and opening artistic souls, sadly we were inundated with poor facsimiles of the real thing. There was good, even great, rock-based music, but you had to dig past the corporate ranks or jump ship to the maturation of hip-hop. Thank God for the new decade, century and millennium so we could shake off those stale shackles of ROCK and reveal all of the pretenders for who they really were.

I hear a lot of people limiting themselves by saying they don’t enjoy this style or that sound; they just like basic rock music. To me, that is like saying that you only like the color red. There are lots of nice shades and tints, but essentially, it’s still just red. I say put a little blue and yellow in your music and bring some new color to your ears.