Music makes my world go round

I was playing Rock Band with some of my friends a few weeks ago when I requested that we play Zero by the Smashing Pumpkins. I was on the guitar and I really wanted to rock out. Sadly, the person who is singing gets to choose the song, so we ended up playing something else.

After I requested the song, one of the guys asked me, in a smug way, how long I’ve like the Smashing Pumpkins and what the first Pumpkins album I bought was. I knew what he was doing. He was testing to see what kind of fan I was. If I was a bandwagoner or an oldschool fan. I told him that I honestly never bought a cd and that I always burnt them from my friends. He gave me a stupid look and then ended the conversation.

Who is he to decide what kind of fan I am? Ok, so Smashing Pumpkins first CD (Gish) came out in 1991 when I was 6. Did I buy it? Of course not.

Their second one (Siamese Dream) came out when I was 8. Did I buy it?

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness came out in 1995. You do the math.

Ador came out in 1998… we are getting a little closer…

I was first exposed to Smashing Pumpkins my freshman year in high school (1999). In 2000 they came out with Machina. One of my track buddy loves the Pumpkins and she bought their album. From then on I really liked them. And in college, one of my roommates, Coleen, listened to them all the time and this helped rekindel my love for their music. So it took me 9 years to become a fan. Does that make me any less of a fan? Come on now.

You know who else is in my top 10 favorite bands (I have to have a top 10 'cause I can't choose just one)? REM, Grateful Dead, Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Modest Mouse… to name a few…

The Dead and Pink Floyd were formed 20 years before I was born. So does that mean I can't be a fan now?

Metallica started touring 4 years before I was born.

It just drives me insane when people are so overprotected of their bands. If you like them so much then your shouldn't care if other people do too. I love it when I meet people who love REM just as much as I do. That way we can talk about them and our favorite songs. I don't care if you just started to like them of if you've liked them since before you were born.

So what now? Im only allowed to like bands that came out when I was alive and that I bought their first cd. So lets see…

I’m allowed to only like Brittany Spears, Nsync, Backstreet Boys, and Ricky Martin. Even though I've been listening to the Eagles since I was a kid I can't like them.

I think one of the best music lovers I've ever met is my co-worker. He loves Phish. From the frist day I met him, I knew he was a “Phish-head” and that I would be exposed to their music. He talks about Phish a lot, and not just their music, but the lives of the band members. Does it bother me? Absolutely not. I love the fact that he loves something so much that he wants to share it with everyone around him. Now he's got me into Phish. I have a few of their shows. I also have some of Mike Gordons and Trey Anastasios solo albums. So am I gonna run off and go to their concert in March? No. Do I like to listen to them in the car? Yes. Does this make me a fan? Yes. And you know what? That's fine.

I appreciate good music. You may not think so but I really do.

This is what I have listened to in my car or at work over the last few days:

The Wall – Pink Floyd (1979)

The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd (1973)

The Green Sparow – Mike Gordon (2008)

Automatic for the People – REM (1992)

Wicked Soundtrack (2003)

Rent Soundtrack (2005)

Absolution – Muse (2003)

Mellon Collie – Smashing Pumpkins (1995)

Plans – Death Cab for Cutie (2005)

Best of Andrea Bocelli

Black Album – Metallica (1991)

Can't Love Can't Hurt – Augustana (2008)Clone - Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon (2002)

Hell Freezes Over – Eagles (1994)

American Beauty – Grateful Dead (1970)

Viva la Vida – Coldplay (2008)

Wildflowers – Tom Petty (1994)

The Worst of Jefferson Airplane – Jefferson Airplane (1970)

So who are some of your favorite bands? Do you have any recommendations for me?