Inspired by writer Jennifer Hillier to do so ,let me present you the soundtrack of my life. Those songs who bore serious importance in my development as a human being. Now, unlike Jennifer, I'm a child of the 90s, so the catalog is a little different and interestingly enough, it's often linked to memories of a video. I spent way too much time during my youth, watching Musique + (the french-canadian MTV). Irony of fate, I'm working in their building today.1991. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana: My first ever contact with angry music. And I remember it scared the wits out of my eight year old self. The song itself was really catchy and appealed to something I couldn't name, but felt present in me, but look at that clip? What's wrong with that crowd? They look like a bunch of mongoloid aliens trying to mosh-pit. Terrifying for a kid who's worse life conflict so far was battling his sister about watching G.I Joes or Carebears on Saturday morning.
1992. Let's Get Rocked by Def Leppard: A safer version of heavy music I guess. Well, let's not exaggerate and say "amplified" music. A necessary transitional period I'd say. The main think I had about Def Leppard was my admiration for Phil Collen and the manliness of guitar players in general. There's nothing else manly about this band. Manly, or admirable, or any good at all. Adrenalize in general has contributed to make hair metal die a painful death. I have fond of memories of buying the album, but not of listening to it.
1993. Mouth For War by Pantera: My first true musical revelation. I was ten years old, maybe eleven. Once again it's tied to the clip. The impression of anger, power and virility that Phil Anselmo portrayed, gave me something to look up to, to shape myself from. He looks a bit goofy now that I rewatch it, but the song still gets to. Over eighteen years, it didn't grow old. Boooones, in traction...hands breaks to hooooone raw energy...
1995. Dittohead by Slayer: I fell in love. The speed, the anger, the pure headbanging factor, by that time, four years after I first listened to Nirvana's song, I had fully learned to master my anger and embrace it, like the angsty, teenage, dark Jedi that I was. This song is so chaotic, it has some light-hearted headbanging grace.
1996. Hit 'Em Up by Tupac Shakur: This song has so many awesome things about it, I don't know where to start. First of all, this is where I found out about the storytelling power of hip-hop. In that time, it wasn't about cars, chicks and hoes all the time, it was about the problems of being a young black male left to fend for himself in America. This song also happens to be one of the most brutal verbal ownage I've ever heard.
1997. Tragedy by RZA: This song made me find out about a more intelligent aspect of music, based on storytelling and social commentary. Showed me you could do a lot with four minutes if you put the maximum effort in it. Probably an early omen of writing for me. To me, RZA is the hip-hop equivalent of Clint Eastwood (or his maybe characters, per se). A role model that sadly, no one follows anymore.
1999. Killed By Death by Mötörhead: I was a late guest to the Mötörhead party, but a steady fan for the last ten years. Lemmy has to be the most graceful, most uncompromising rock star I have ever seen. The man lives in a perfect state of peace (or so it seems) with his lifestyle. Killed By Death might just be the very embodiment of that. I'm a lone wolf ligger, but I ain't no pretty boy. I'm a backbone shiver, and I'm a bundle of joy...
And what about you readers? What is the music that shaped you?
