S O U L

Since birth, or at least as long as I can remember, music has been my raison d'etre.
Most of the time it is the lyrics that embrace the whole song's significance
for me; however, there are a few cases where the beauty lies in the melody itself,
painting mental images and capturing emotions that no words can. Allow a moment
of your day to acknowledge these artists so essential to my existence.

Some deserve such a spotlight, a couple perhaps, do not. In either case, each of
these artists shaped who I am today. There is music not represented here that is
still quite important to me. It just did not 180 my world. To be continued...

Some of the music I love I found on my own; most was introduced by others.
People may come and go in my life but the music they introduce into it springs eternal.

"boys come and go, but music lasts forever"..?

(click images to enlarge)

The Clash.: Further signifigance to be added. Every pore of mine is obsessed. My life is changed.
Big Audio Dynamite.: I'm not forgetting you babe.
TSAR.: New description to be added soon.
Def Leppard.: Through every change, theirs and mine, my lifelong favorite. There is no one single event to signify their appearance in my life; it seems as if they've always been there. I suppose I long for that familiarial consistency. Even when the lyrics have not reflected the strife going on in my life, they bring the comfort to it. Also some of the most brilliant guitar work that never gets its credit. Steve Clark has gotten a smidgen of credit-due, but explain to me why Phil Collen is "the guitarist in Def Leppard" and not a name to stand on its own in the guitar hero hall of fame. Yeah, he's that good. Vivian is quite the talent too; they compliment each other well. That would be Vivian Campbell, the man in the band for almost ten years now and no one knows it. If you're about to say, "Isn't that the band with the one-armed drummer?" I'll pop your kneecaps. There's more to them than that, and there's more to them than "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Even their own fans give them grief at times, jeez. I'm sorry but I'm proud of them for Slang. The best lyrics Joe wrote in his life. Oh yeah, and they do sing real back-up vocals. Very well in fact. And they don't hate Jesus either. This band has always had my heart. All musicians are just people to me now, that adolescent idolization is gone; but this would be the one band I'd be shaking in my skechers to be around!
nine inch nails.: One of the many artists I gathered up in my post-high school alternative music discovery; this stands out because you do not readily find album perfection like Pretty Hate Machine. It pains out every experience in love and life I've ever survived. Survival because this album exists.
Tori Amos.: Late summer 1994. My grandfather died. My friendship with my closet companion died. My spirit died. I also discovered Tori. With my head buried in flamboyant american rock n' roll the last years of high school, I was blown away that a female voice could say the things she's saying. Little Earthquakes changed my perception of what music could be, and it found my voice, even if I had no one to share it with. Under The Pink captured my depression within her haunting piano on that album. I listened to this everyday walking between classes my first year of college. I started to write again. I dyed my hair red.
Marilyn Manson.: I dyed my hair black. But to not be so superficially cosmetic, this group helped me channel depression into anger. Anger into power. I felt alone in the world, yet part of a community as well. A very strange time. I crafted some of the most brilliant nonfiction essays I had ever written in my life, and read a lifetime of philosophy. It is also because of the online Manson community that I was introduced to my best friend Shannon. This group is not as evil as the world thinks, then again, maybe they just are. I old-time village-esque verbally sparred with many a so-called Christian at the concert. I sent in a letter to Senator Lieberman expressing my disgust at his public misrepresentation of them. My FBI file grew thicker.
Metallica.: Sure there can be sound arguments presented for their unradness as of late, or even since 1991 (I know I know). But in the late 80s, they were one of the handful of bands that saved my life in junior high. So I have to give props where props are due. I immersed myself in their albums, and in my constant daydreams that I was anywhere, the 7th layer of hell, with them rather then sitting in class attempting to ignore the constant verbal and physical abuse. Guess I'm just another Fade To Black cliche. Their addition here should not be viewed as the shine I want to give to say, Tsar; however, I didn't slit my wrists did I.
Enuff Z'Nuff.: I did not have MTV at the time. I did not fall prey to the slick marketed images of this group. I simply had a few songs off of their debut album played for me in the car on the way back from Pizza Hut or something equally mundane by my friend Valerie on her birthday. I guess no one else in the vehicle heard what I heard, but my ears discovered something quite new. It was quite a change from the Metallica I had been drowning in the previous year, but a welcomed one. They brought color and optimistic politics to my life. A strict metalhead all my life, they introduced me to the Beatles, Jellyfish, Queen, and other grand melody makers that I had never given a chance. And besides, finding them at the explosive age of fourteen, Donnie Vie was my most significant teenage girl crush. They were my Backstreet Boys I guess. Don't believe me?
White Lion.: Say what you will, I don't care. Lump them in with the hair bands, I don't care. I did not, nor did my basis for liking them rest on Mike Tramp's appearance in the Wait video. Actually I never saw it, no MTV remember? Along with Metallica, their lyrics both kept me alive and awakened political awareness in me. Between Metallica's Blackened and their Little Fighter, I became quite the little recycler/Greenpeace advocate. My most vivid memory of this band is of my friend at the time, who liked them even more, who called me wanting to end her life, listening to Lonely Nights over and over and crying. I told her to keep listening and listen to Don't Give Up instead of rewinding. It worked.
Pearl Jam.: In the midst of liking many a hair and glam band in the early 90s, in early 1992 something made me watch their MTV (yes I finally got it back) Unplugged performance. Standing out to me were Black and a pre-single Jeremy. I didn't need the video to understand. How could I resist a band who captured these emotions so fluently? So what if they were grunge. However, I kept my favor of them underground until after 1994. Then I was out of high school, away from judgment, and left alone to openly proclaim adoration of alternative music. In 1995 they quickly became one of my most adored bands. They are here for being the first alternative artist I loved, and the most influential on my attitudes, both personal and political in those early college years.
Jack Off Jill.: This band needs to still exist. What I love about nine inch nails and Marilyn Manson with a female voice: How brilliant is that? And wanting more than anything to be a rock singer myself who doesn't quite fit the mold, Jessicka is my hero. If I ever can get myself on a real stage, I will find the strength to do it by thinking of her. It is beyond a shame they are defunct. If you want to rage or cry or both, go find yourself copies of Sexless Demons & Scars and Clear Hearts, Grey Flowers.

music is my lorax...

Somewhat abbreviated listings.

Other artists. Impacting. Vital.

Favorite songs. Lyrical journies.

Concerts. Visual souvenirs.