With a bit of rock music, everything is fine

It started with jk and I chatting on YM, discussing songs to download for our iPods, when she said, "hay nako hindi tayo magkasundo sa songs". She listens to Hiphop, R&B, pop, and a bit of rock, while I...I listen to rock. Hehehe. Just rock and its different flavors. This difference in musical preference doesn't affect us much (only when it comes to deciding whose iPod to play in the car), but it led me to reflect on why I've been a devoted rock fan.

I remember first being exposed to rock with the influence of some classmates during the early 90's, Metallica/Guns n' Roses/Nirvana era. Listening to rock music at this point was a means of feeling wild and tough, like most wimpy kids would want to be. Then during the mid-90's it was my cousin Manay Candy who was my main source of alternative rock influence, like Silverchair, Bush, and Garbage.

In high school, I learned to play the drums and tried playing with different bands formed with neighbors and classmates. I explored the heavier flavors of rock, testing my threshold for noise to the limits with artists like Black Sabbath, Pantera, Sepultura, Slayer, and other bands some people would never dare listen to due to aesthetic or religious reasons. I guess rock music in that stage of my life was an outlet for my self-created "teenage angst". It's amazing how I got to appreciate and find melody in those really loud songs. I felt that, "if I could listen that, I could listen to anything."

Upon entering college, I've had a clearer understanding of my musical preference; I choose my music based on the way the songs make me feel and not what the artist is trying to convey. To hell with lyrics and what they mean (though it's nice to know the lyrics of your favorite songs, hehe), it's the vibe I get when I hear the song that matters. For example, a Dave Matthews ballad however cheesy it may be, could make me feel nostalgic and the least bit romantic. Blink 182's Stay Together for the Kids, although obviously about a broken family, is really my stress-relieving song. Weird, but that's how it works for me. That's why I'm grateful for other genres that have been incorporated into rock, like jazz, funk, reggae, blues, etc. But once in a while, you might see some Hiphop, R&B, pop, and even novelty songs in my playlist -- because rock can't always capture a certain mood I'm in.

But at the end of the day, it's mostly rock. Nothing gives that "edge" like good ol' rock n' roll. Anyone who agrees gimme a scream like Fred Durst! Oh...maybe not. =P