The concept behind the Favorites series is
a simple one; this series allows antiMUSIC writers and occasional guest
rock stars to share their favorite albums and tell us why that particular
album has made a lasting impression on them.
To kick the series off Zane tells us how
U2s Achtung Baby became one of his all-time favorite CDs, and Greenmuse
tells us how Operation Ivy saved him from the clutches of the evil Marilyn
Manson.
Note:
Due to the nature of this series, the reviews are more in the first person
than found in music criticism.
U2 Achtung Baby
by Zane Ewton
It was when I turned 11 years old that
I really started getting into music. My grandfather always had music
playing in the car when we traveled. He loved George Jones and Hank
Williams. My uncle was also into music, but he steered more towards
Ozzy and Metallica. Those were my two initial influences to music,
country and heavy metal.
My mom had bought me a Rip magazine,
and I came across one of those ads for the music clubs that offer 10 cds
for the price of one and I was suckered in. I had picked U2s Achtung
Baby, mostly because I thought the video for Mysterious Ways was
cool.
I didnt know very much about U2 and when
I listened to the album I wasnt exactly blown away. It wasnt until
a few years later that I completely rediscovered this album. Something
clicked and the music just knocked me down. For the first time I
felt like I had some music that was mine.
I was probably 16 years old and Achtung
Baby hit me right in the forehead. Every song felt important,
and every song grew in meaning, pushing and pulling at my emotions.
Over the next few years, Achtung Baby just kept getting better.
The songs were tragic, romantic, and emotional.
It is the beginning and end of everything I love about music, but was unlike
anything I had ever heard.
I have since listened to all of the U2
albums and I always find myself going back to this one. Achtung
Baby is the closest that U2 has come to making a perfect album.
One is the closest they have come to making a perfect song.
My conversations with people are mostly
about music. The people that I have spoken with almost always have
their own point of reference for when music became important to them.
My grandfather tells me about discovering country music and being able
to feel the loneliness and longing in the songs.
Music can be more than just a good beat
to dance to. There is music that can really inspire people and holds
deep feelings for them. Achtung Baby is uplifting, healing
and celebratory for me. It is every emotion at the end of every spectrum
rolled into one package.
Where I grew up my home was far from other
houses. There were miles of untouched land. Mostly just bushes,
weeds and broken barb wire. I would take my headphones and walk through
the bushes at night, singing along with Achtung Baby as loud as
I could. It was my therapy, it was escape and all of my dreams
could be poured out in the dirt and were free to roam.
Achtung Baby changed me.
Listen
to samples and Purchase this CD online
Operation Ivy
by Greenmuse
This is the album
that made me the man I am today. If not for Operation Ivy, I would
probably be arguing with Hobo about slipknot being the most metal thing
to come down the pipes since Black Sabbath. For me this album was that
scarce musical experience where time slows down and a chorus of heavenly
angels sing halleluiah to let you know you have something really special
on your hands. For those yet to experience this thrill, think back to the
first girl whose girly chest bits you got to feel. It felt exactly like
that(emotional wise, not texture wise).
I received my copy
from a girl I met on the internet--AOL to be exact. To be even more exact,
I met her in a chat room called "I hate it when
" I forget exactly what
transpired but she promised to send me some good punk rock to take the
place of my (now embarrassing) love of all things Marilyn Manson. Months
and months passed before it finally got to me, supposedly the package was
misplaced under her x-mas tree, which hindered its departure from New York
to Destin, Florida. But finally it arrived and from the very second I heard
the first chords of "knowledge", I knew that I would never be the same.
Suddenly Mr. Manson was a sham, everything I knew musically was a sham,
but THIS
this was what music should be! Fast, simple, and above all passionate.
the album is poorly recorded by most standards. The thing sounds like it
was recorded in a tin room and Jesse Michaels is nearly hoarse on some
of the tracks. Plus the tuning is slightly off at times; so it is perfect.
The lyrics are extremely well written and sung with a frantic energy, as
if the world is going to come crashing down at any time, yet there is a
positive message, an unwavering belief that music can change the world.
Even on its own the music is impossible to sit still to, "bankshot" is
a great example of this. Not many punk tunes can stand on alone as instrumental.
To top the undeniable greatness of these tunes, these guys were mere kids
when they made this music.
To this day, I can
never thank Tara enough for sending me that cassette so many years ago.
Listen
to samples and Purchase this CD online
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