Tomorrow May Come, Tomorrow May Never Come Again

So, I was listening to the radio last night and the DJ was discussing a list that Rolling Stone magazine put out regarding the top 25 guilty pleasure bands or something like that. He listed off some of the artists which I can safely say I take no pleasure in guilty or otherwise, but then he mentioned that the number one guilty pleasure band of all time is none other than that Canadian power trio Rush. The DJ went on to say that he didn’t consider Rush to be a “guilty pleasure band” and that he was unaware of any Rush fans who were embarrassed to admit that they dug Rush since they were legitimately talented rock musicians. That’s when I bowed my proverbial head in shame because I realized that I could be one of the “secret” Rush fans to which the list was alluding.

Even though I haven’t listened to Rush regularly in years (at least since high school), I still have tons of Rush albums stashed away and could still readily list off my favorite tracks, albums, etc from the band. I’ve seen them in concert a number of times. I will attest to the musical virtuosity of each of the respective members, and would not be afraid to list Neil Peart as one of the best drummers of all time. Plus, he writes a lot of the song lyrics as well. Only a real geek would know that. And maybe that’s the problem. Listening to Rush is often equated with being a geek. It is hard to pretend to be a hipster and listen to all the cool, hipster artists and yet have 80s prog-rock albums in your collection. It’s contradictory. But then again, isn’t being hip really about not trying, not caring, and actually embracing things not generally considered “hip” by the mainstream? So, wouldn’t listening to Rush by that definition actually be a hip thing to do? Can I really crank “By-tor and the Snow Dog” without fear of shame by my peers?

Eh, I didn’t think so.

But it did make me wonder what other albums that I have stashed away in my collection that I would be equally embarrassed by should the hipster police come calling. I don’t have my CD collection in front of me right now, but I do know that it contains some of these treasures:

Stone Temple Pilots. My friends and I LOVED this band in high school. I have very fond memories driving around in my buddy Troy’s T-bird cranking these guys. We even saw them a number of times in concert. I never did understand why they were accused of ripping off Pearl Jam. They sound nothing like them. But still to this day, if you claim to be a STP fan, you get dogged on because of it. Sure, they weren’t the best grunge band (that title goes to Alice in Chains), but they are still a fun listen. Plush is a bit overplayed, but “Crackerman” is a great volume-cranker, and I still have a fondness for “Big Empty.” So there, I admit it. What else…

Ok, Hank Williams Jr’s Greatest Hits. Wait... come back I can explain. You see, I spent almost 10 years of my life in Tennessee, from first grade until just before my sophomore year in high school (please don’t hold it against me). Back in the late 80s/early 90s Hank was huge. Well, at least down south. He was entertainer of the year like three times in a row, singing MNF theme songs and selling out arenas everywhere. In fact the first concert I ever paid to see was to a Hank Jr show. Believe it or not, my friends and schoolmates were very jealous that I got to go. So, even though that CD hasn’t been spun in at least 15 or more years I still hold onto it just for that memory. And for the record, no, I don’t listen to country music of kind. And no, I will not explain why I saw Hank twice, or why I have also seen Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, Lee Greenwood, or a handful of other country concerts either…

The Cars. Does this count as a guilty pleasure? When I was a sophomore in high school they were a permanent fixture in my CD changer. However, after about a year or so of countless listenings, I haven’t listened to them since. Even when they come on the radio I kind of shrug. I keep the disc around though just in case I get a biting case of nostalgia and need to hear “Let’s Go” immediately. That’s never happened, but you know, if I ever got rid of it you know it would.

There are many more like that, but I think I am getting off-track. Technically, for it to be a “guilty-pleasure” it has to be a band that you secretly love but you are embarrassed to admit that you love them. Do I have any bands like that… hmmm… let me see… you know, once during a music conversation at a past place of employment, I was dogging on AC/DC. I don’t consider myself an AC/DC fan by any means (does every single song have the exact same drum beat or what?), but a buddy of mine called me out and said that he bet that when I am all alone in the car that if an AC/DC song came on the radio I would be cranking it like everybody else. Sad thing is, years later, I have found this to be true. I will be driving along absent-mindedly and notice that I am in the middle of “Who Made Who” or “Shoot to Thrill” and totally cranking it. And don’t even ask me about singing along to “Big Balls”…

But the biggest guilty pleasure that I can think of right now has to be early Van Halen. I know, they totally cheesed out with Sammy Haggar and then (even worse) with Gary Cherone of Extreme. Yes, I know they put out a whole bunch of really crappy records in the late 80s and onwards. However, back in the David Lee Roth days they totally rocked. Ok, I know I’ve just lost all of my hipster credibility, but listen to their first two albums and then tell me that Eddie Van Halen doesn’t deserve all of the guitar god praise that he gets. But bottom line is that the songs are fun to listen to. I don’t put in a VH album very often, but you can guarantee if I hear some classic VH like “Unchained”, “Hot for Teacher”, or especially “Eruption” it’s getting cranked. Guilty as charged.

Inspired by True Events on Movie Screens

I am a music junkie. I want to qualify that statement because it is not a claim I want to make lightly. I’ve known and befriended many a music aficionado in my day, but I doubt very few would consider listening to music as an addiction. They probably consider it just a pleasant way to pass the time or to enhance his/her enjoyment of life. However, I show all the signs of obsessive behavior. The advent of digital downloading has only compounded this compulsion. I am constantly looking for new music, adding to my collection, and expanding my exposure to new sounds. When I hear one album, I’m on to the next. I don’t just listen to one release. If I like what I hear, I go for the whole discography. If I really like it, then I’m onto the influences and contemporaries of that particular selection. When I’ve exhausted that, I’m on to the next thing and the cycle starts all over again.

I had a buddy in college who understood this addiction more than any one else I’ve ever met. You see, he was also afflicted. We spent many an hour in long conversation regarding the topic of music appreciation, and while our tastes often differed, we both had a mutual respect for each other’s passion. However, there was always a friendly difference of opinion on how one should store his/her music collection. This difference of opinion was known as the “Crate vs. Rack” debate.

My buddy Nate had a lot of CDs. I mean A LOT of CDs. He stored these CDs in a number of plastic milk crates. In order to find a CD to listen to, one would have to sort through all of the crates until that individual found the desired selection in which he/she wanted to hear. Personally, I found this to be a huge pain. Nate, however, loved the randomness of it all. Instead of searching for a particular CD, he would think “Hmmm, what should I listen to?” and then dig around until something struck his fancy. Kind of like a physical disc “shuffle.” Or to paraphrase Forrest Gump, “life is like a crate of CDs, you’ll never know what you’ll find…”

Now, a system like that (if you want to call it a “system”) would drive me completely nuts. I’m the kind of guy who has to have a specified order and know exactly where things are when I need them. If my brain all of a sudden gets a hankering for “Strokin’” by Clarence Carter, I don’t want to have to spend a half hour digging through CD crates. I want to go to my rack, find the letter “C” and then pull out the disc in question. Yes, I put my CDs in alphabetical order, then chronological by release date. I know that according to High Fidelity that cataloguing in this fashion is extremely amateur, but again, I want to know exactly where things are when I need to find them. Sure, I miss out on being able to roll my eyes in snobbish exasperation when I explain that my albums are placed in the order of the studio name in which they were respectively recorded starting with Abbey Road, but really, I’d take convenience over that rarely-occurring pleasure of elitism any day.

So which way is better? It is all subjective, I guess. Neither Nate nor I ever came to a conclusion of our debate, but we could both recognize the merits of both. I supposed with the advent of the iPod and the digital music revolution that the point has finally been rendered mute out of obsoletion, however, I would still like to hear everyone’s opinion. So sound off. Which is better: the “crate” or the “rack”?

Like Trying to Hide Daylight from the Sun

Ok, faithful readers, I know I’ve been way behind on getting a post out, but I’ve been really busy with the new job. It’s going really well. Actually, it’s been better than that. I’m super digging it. Sure, it’s only been two weeks but so far this job is WAY better than my old one. Maybe it is still the honeymoon period of doing something new, but this change has been very positive for me. The department I work in is very laid back and I assimilated immediately. I have been told by several of my co-workers that they think I am a “good fit” and one of them even went out of her way to tell me that she was relieved because she was worried that they would hire some kind of “stick in the mud.” What? You mean not all auditors are goofball smart alecks?

Yep, everything so far has been good. It has been more of an ease-in process vs. the “throw you in the fire” training that I’ve had in my past few positions, so that is pretty cool. I did start to finally do some auditing analysis stuff on Friday afternoon, so perhaps I can start getting into the real meat of the job now. That’s another thing I don’t like about starting a new job. You have to depend on people giving you odd tasks to do, or worse, ask other people for something to do instead of just coming in, sitting down, and doing what you need to get done. Eventually it will get to that point and the sooner the better. I hate puppy-dogging people around asking them if they have any busy work for me to do for them. Sure, it helps familiarize me with stuff, but I want to already be familiar with it all. I just don’t like all of that new guy awkwardness.

Ever notice that the word “awkward” actually looks awkward?

Anyway, sorry everyone for waiting two weeks to finally get you all the new job update, but I’m actually trying to make a good impression by not blogging on the clock or anything like that, like I did at my old job. At least not yet… But I’ll try to do better. This blog is probably going to have to take a new direction since I won’t have to blog about how much my job sucks if my job doesn’t actually totally suck. Maybe I’ll go back to blogging about music. People seemed to like that. Have you all procured a copy of the new Modest Mouse yet??? Better get on it, you don’t want to miss out on the MM gush fest sure to take place…