I was driving to work a few mornings ago when Slayer’s album Reign in Blood came onto my stereo and I thought, dang, what a great album.
I remember thinking how cool it must have been to be a metal fan in 1986 when that record dropped. I wasn’t even a year old yet, you see, and thrash in a sense was just emerging.
Albums like Reign in Blood were not only revolutionizing the subgenre of thrash, but metal as a whole, and paving the way for bands that would ultimately encompass the bulk of my musical taste.
That thought led to another and I remembered a time when I was hanging out with someone, I can’t remember who exactly, but I mentioned a song I liked and they said, “Pfft, that’s old. Who cares?”
They acted like just because the song had been out for a while it somehow excluded it from being valid and sounding good.
I’ve come across people with that mentality more than once and I don’t really understand it.
The point of view isn’t exclusive to heavy metal, and I don’t expect many of you to be fans of Slayer, but it would be like saying Free Bird is garbage because it came out in the 70s or Paint it Black is no good because it was released the decade before.
You don’t have to be a fan of any of these songs, but if you say they’re garbage just because they’ve been around a few years, well, I’d say you’re wrong.
In my opinion, there hasn’t been much in the way of decent contemporary music in a long time, not because it’s all been new, but because I don’t like how any of it sounds and it simply doesn’t turn my dials.
If that’s how you feel about older stuff, fine, but you shouldn’t say it isn’t decent because it’s old.
People who do say that should also remember the new stuff they like so much was heavily, if not completely, inspired by yesterday’s artists.
The Rolling Stones’ influence can be heard in the sound of most contemporary rock bands, shaping many of the guitar riffs you still hear today, and without Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock definitely wouldn’t be cashing in on that single of his I’m still hearing on the radio.
He’s singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long and right to the bank.
A lot of people seem really out of touch with even the most historic artists from previous decades; a certain anecdote involving a picture of Kanye West and Paul McCartney after a collaboration comes to mind.
“I don't know who Paul McCartney is, but Kanye is going to give this man a career w/ this new song,” read one of the tweets associated with the picture.
I didn’t know whether to shake my head, laugh, or dive into a pool with a live wire wrapped around my waste.
We’re getting a little off topic here, but would it hurt for fans of new music to give even the most cursory search into some of the biggest artists in history?
That might help to diffuse the notion that only the newest of the new is acceptable and all else is rubbish.
It just seems boring to me to be obsessed with only the cutting edge, even if it does change frequently, because reaching back and experiencing the classics of anything - music, food, cars, even home décor, if that’s your thing - can be rewarding and give a better appreciation of the modern versions you love so much.
Maybe I’m just getting old and out of touch, trying to understand a generation that’s now way cooler than my own.
“Kids these days think they invented it all,” I shout at the clouds, shaking my cane, my receding hairline exposing the liver spots on my scalp.
One day Kanye will be in his mid 70s and maybe he’ll collaborate with whomever’s considered cool in 2050, “I don't know who Kanye West is, but Whomever’s Cool is going to give this man a career w/ this new song,” will read one of the tweets.
And maybe there’ll be someone else who won’t know whether to shake their head, laugh, or grab onto a livewire and head for the pool.
