What Ten Years As A Critic Has Given Me, Musically

Earlier this year, I reached the ten-year anniversary of when I became a semi-official part of the music scene. That prompted some thought about all the music I have listened to in these last ten years, and all the words I have written about it. To think that something that started with me jotting down some thoughts about an All-American Rejects album has led to probably close to hundreds of thousands of words chronicling my journey as a music fan is something rather remarkable.

One thought I had was to ask myself what this has all meant. The most obvious answer there are the friendships I have formed with a few select musicians. That is the biggest takeaway that has made all of the time spent pounding out words on this keyboard with it. But I was also interested in the musical takeaway. I was already someone who sought out and listened to as much new music as could interest me, so finding what albums I only found because of my role as a music journalist was a tougher question than I might have thought. I know I could not have listened to everything without being prompted toward it.

Here's what I came up with:

Graveyard

The most substantial entry on this list is Graveyard. I remember reading my colleague's review of "Hisingen Blues", giving it a quick listen, and then tossing it aside. It was only the next year, when he assigned the task of writing the review of "Lights Out" to me, that I heard and understood the greatness the band was offering. If left to my own devices, I likely would have seen the album pop up and dismissed it as being 'that band I didn't care for'. It would have been one of the biggest mistakes I could have made, as Graveyard continues to echo in my head as being what I keep looking for out of modern vintage rock bands. As much as I love especially their first three albums, I don't think I would have ever heard them, let alone embraced them, if I wasn't in the right place at the right time to fill in and write a review when the schedule necessitated it.

Michael Monroe - Blackout States/One Man Gang

I knew the name, and I had heard of Hanoi Rocks, but I never had interest before in listening to Michael Monroe's music. But as I was looking for something to fill out a day on my schedule, I had "Blackout States" sitting in front of me, so on a whim I gave it a listen. What happened didn't change my life, but it did remind me that taking chances is an important thing to do, because we never know what is going to happen. Despite being something I shouldn't have loved so much, I did, and I nearly thought it was the best album of that year. The follow-up continued to show me there was more to dirty rock n' roll than I usually assumed. A whim and a prayer, right?

Myja - Myja

I'm not sure how many people even heard of this record when it came out. With an odd name and a grayscale cover, it was not an appealing package. The only reason I ever gave it a thought was the press release that came along with it that mentioned a familiar name who was responsible for an album I quite loved. Without that press release, I would have never heard of Myja, which would have been a shame. The record is a wonderfully weird mix of power-pop and melancholy atmosphere, which is the sort of thing that tends to speak to me. So far it has been a one-off, and rather forgotten, but I remember. That means something to me.

Zakk Wylde - Book Of Shadows II

I had never given Zakk Wylde any thought. He was Ozzy's guitarist, and I hated Ozzy. He led Black Label Society, and I hated his overuse of pinch harmonics. I had seen enough guitar videos to also know his personality rubbed me the wrong way. That is to say, there was no reason I should have been listening to this solo album of his. In fact, the only reason I ever did was because it was sitting in my inbox, and I was going through a fallow period finding new music. I was looking for something to catch my attention, and for no other reason than that boredom, I pressed 'play'. As it turns out, Zakk is entirely different when he isn't playing into the metal stereotype, and I'll be damned if this acoustic-based record isn't something I needed in my life.

Harem Scarem - United/Change The World

Bands like this confuse me, because I hear many of them get talked about as having been popular years back, but I had never heard of them. I suppose my idea of what popularity meant is different, but it was not their band's history that made me listen to "United" when it came out. No, that was simply that I was in a place where I was reviewing as many albums as I could, and since I had access to their label's hefty roster, I listened to practically everything they were putting out. It was a good thing, as "United" reaffirmed me belief in melodic rock, and then they followed that with an even better record. I'm not exactly a 'sunny day' kind of person, but Harem Scarem's two most recent records as just that. They make me happy in a way other rock music doesn't.