I grew up on arena rock, hair metal, and contemporary country -- with a healthy smattering of top 40 pop. I graduated high school in 1992, just as my beloved hairband scene was being killed by grunge. Over the years, I did expand, getting into Blues, the Stones, and Sinatra.
At age 39, I discovered I was bored with music. A few months back, for whatever reason, I listened to
Temple of the Dog, one of the few grunge albums I loved back in the day but haven't touched in almost 20 years. It held up so well that I thought I would sample some stuff I didn't know from the era: Mudhoney's
Superfuzz Bigmuff and the Green River CD.
Mind. Blown.
So much raw energy. I ended up revisiting Nirvana and appreciating it so much more than I did when it was Top 40.
Following that experience and a reading of Patti Smith's superb
Just Kids, I felt inspired to take a look into Punk and its antecedents (Stooges, MC5, Dolls, Dictators, etc). So for the last three weeks, I have immersed myself in the discovery of all kinds of punk and punk-inspired music. (although strangely not The Clash yet) I have been watching documentaries and punk-era movies, following albums of all kinds on spotify and youtube, and just yesterday picked up my first two books on the subject.
And I love it. There's so much variety of sounds and themes. So much energy. It's so RAW. (I know I already used that word before, but I can't help it.) So much to discover - I haven't even scratched the surface of what's out there.
I don't know that people get into something like punk in their later years. But all I know is: I have enjoyed music more in the last two months than I have for the last 20 years.
