I remember when people actually talked to each other online. We can still get that…on Facebook. I haven’t seen it on any other platform, including this one. Every other platform seems to be about putting someone on a pedestal where their adoring fans can all pretend to have a private conversation with them while ignoring all the other fans. It’s tiring.
Facebook won.
I’m becoming less and less ready for any and all social media. It just isn’t what it used to be.
Some big media account on Twitter asked people what they think the best music album ever was, front to back.
While some albums are more iconic than others, the fascinating thing about the question is how it tends to be a sign of what era someone came of age in (i.e. which decade they grew up as a teenager), and what cultural part of that era they were more in line with. Sure, some people go back and find older iconic music and appreciate it the most, the absolute greats of the past, but the more typical outcome is that someone finds music from their coming-of-age years to be what somehow sticks out.
For me it was rock in the 2000s, and my mental answer to the question of "best album?" was Meteora by Linkin Park.
While it was a very popular album and also well-remembered, it doesn't generally go down on the ageless list of greats. In other words, it's always kind of a top two or three genre item. I could argue why other more iconic albums are better, and why they "should" be my answer. For example I could go a little bit before my time, but still close enough, and say Nirvana's Nevermind was better. That would poll better.
But basically, as a product of my time, Meteora is just the one that struck the right chords at the right time when I was a teenager. It's the one that spoke to me. I would listen to it casually, and then also listen to certain songs in it before martial arts tournaments to get myself in the combat zone. Even as my musical tastes changed over time, that's the album I listened to the most of all time, and so when I hear it in the present day, I still appreciate it a ton.
The fact that they crossed genres appealed to me a lot. Their main vocalist, Bennington, struck their melodic and emotional aspect. The other vocalist, Shinoda, was their hip-hop guy, with a rougher or more practical aspect. Mr. Hahn brought an electronic aspect, and Delson brought the rock guitar aspect. Some of their stylization was anime-aligned, and I was into anime at the time. Basically whatever vibes I might be feeling as a teenager at the time, there was something in Linkin Park that spoke to it, with Meteora being among their best and which came out at the right time when I was 15. It's like Bennington would speak to my emo aspect and help me acknowledge it, while Shinoda and the others would pump me back up, and tell me to not fuck around and get back out there, and boost my confidence. Yin and Yang.
Another reason I thought of this is that here in 2023, Linkin Park released a 20th anniversary edition of Meteora, which included a couple songs like "Lost" that didn't make it into the original. It all hits a bit harder for us fans based on the fact that the lead singer, Chester Bennington, is no longer with us. RIP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NK_JOkuSVY&ab_channel=LinkinPark
Anyway, I’m doing a series of “real thoughts” uniquely on Nostr, and this is the second one.
Conclusion: Sometimes what hits harder subjectively is worth appreciating, rather than just whatever can be argued to be the best objective answer. Somewhere on that border between "objectively good" and "came out at the right time and hit the spot for you and imprinted itself" is your answer that is worth exploring and sharing.
What's your answer?
I’m always forced to give the same answer: NIN Downward Spiral. And I listen to everything from the 40s on up, multiple genres.
I’m always a little envious of my grandma, who got to watch computers get invented first before she bought one and got online in the 90s. Now we video chat regularly. We got my great grandma on a computer too before she died.
I should follow more people but, honestly, I kind of like coming here and only seeing about 5 or 6 different posts. I’m starting to see the wisdom in maintaining an incredibly tiny follow list.
Half happy ending: we got them to pay up, in the tens of $k.
For me it was getting audited three times while not having done a single thing wrong, and being literally coerced a 4th time with something that turns out might have been illegal but that my gov tax authority did to me anyway. My spouse got audited about as many times too. ENOUGH.
A professor named Glyn Davies wrote a 1,000 page book about money and one of the Amazon reviews was:
I’m sorry but that’s actually funny. I hope the author got a good laugh. 😂
I haven't stepped foot into a bank since 2018 when I needed a fat stack of cash to buy a motorcycle.
I can’t set foot in a bank. They all closed. 100% online.
Herpes adjacent? Lol I had to think about that for a moment because I could only imagine the simplex algorithm.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplex_algorithm
No idea what the social network or whatever is but maybe I can at least help you stop thinking of diseases. 😂
My favorite current rock band is the Warning, for probably three years straight now. Three young Mexican women that know what they're doing, especially the singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlOy0XbFVlM&ab_channel=TheWarningVEVO
Thank you for enriching my Spotify experience.
Dunno if this is true for Amazon but for some other companies, as long as one customer pays for expedited shipping then they’ll stuff the truck full and lots of other people will have a good day.
100% agree. His resorting to ad hominem after he was specifically quoted about requiring stronger arguments than that was surprising and sad.
Can’t wait to read your article.