A Penny for Your Songs (8) - Something...borrowed?

Week 8

Hey guys, what's up? Hope you've had a great week! Mine has been lively, even though I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately. Must be the seasons changing. It's also been quite busy, which is why I decided to postpone this post to Sunday (usually I post on Saturday, but that would have meant writing at about 2 AM last night, which is not something particularly wise, especially when writing long stuff in a non-native language, right?)

Anyway, although the title from last week was kind of instinctive, at this point I feel like it would be a wasted chance not to continue the saying. I know it's supposed to be about weddings, but what can I say...you might think it's a form of OCD, but it just bothers me not to complete it. Which means I'll probably have to come up with something blue for next week, right? Whatever that means.

So welcome back to A Penny for Your Songs, the weekly post where I share the music that touched me in a special way. As always, I'm looking forward to you sharing your own music, so don't hold back!

Mainstream is not always bad

It was kind of hard to come up with "something borrowed". Half of the albums I like have been the result of a suggestion, such as "Hey, you like X so much, you should listen to Y", or "have you heard to the latest from Z?". But, by the self-imposed rule I came up with just before writing, those don't count, because I had to actively go search and buy those CDs. I didn't just want a metaphorical borrowing, but an actual one. Then I remembered something that was just perfect for this occasion.

It was very early in my metal-head years, I must have been about 13 or 14. As a matter of fact, I still was learning about rock and metal, mostly listening to Blind Guardian and Metallica (as I already established earlier in this series). My next-door neighbor back then was a dude with some musical experience, and one of the greatest David Bowie fans alive. I think he must have had more than 300 albums, special releases, dvds and bootlegs in his collection. If David Bowie farts and someone accidentally records it, I must have it. His words. Of course he listened to a lot of other stuff. When he noticed that my taste in music was changing, he came to me with two albums which he kindly lent me for a few days: the first, October Rust by Type 'O' Negative, was very dark and very different from what I was expecting, and it didn't do much for me, although I would learn to appreciate them later in life. The second one, Ten by Pearl Jam (1991), has been one of my all-time favorites ever since.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I'm the biggest expert on Pearl Jam on the planet. Truth is, I've listened to most of their following stuff, but nothing ever came close to the perfection of Ten in my book. For a long, long time it has been my go-to cd for when I didn't have anything else I wanted to listen to. That album you just throw in the stereo and you know you can't go wrong. Hell, some days it was already in the stereo from the day before. To me, Ten is one of those rare releases where I can't find a single weak track, or even one I don't love completely. As such, it's extremely hard to single out a favorite, something that makes sense to post here as representative of the whole experience. I guess I should either follow my ear or follow my heart when choosing a track. But then again, why don't do both?

The first song I'm going to post is Alive. I find it's just musically perfect. Its the reference Grunge song, to me. Gritty, strong vocals, amazing guitar work. Grunge is about attitude, and this song has tons of it. It just takes you back to the nineties, doesn't it? This style has had a huge impact on the way I feel about music, about myself, even on the way I like to dress. The meaning of the track itself is quite...odd? Crazy? Grim? I won't get into it here because I found out about it much later, but you should definitely check it out if sick situations are your thing.

The second one, on the other hand, is called Black, and it is one of those songs that is very closely linked to emotional turmoil, and as it often goes, to a very specific heartache in my case. Again, won't get into it (ancient history, believe me) but it's very cool to remember the sheer amount of times I listened to this song when I was 17-18, and the times I picked up my guitar to sing my sorrows (with mixed results, to be fair; quite easy to play, not as easy to sing as effectively. But then again, if I had Eddie Vedder's voice and talent, I wouldn't be here talking about music, would I?).

Please, send help

For the bonus song of the day I'm going to post Leprous. Again. They came up with a new single 2 days ago and I've listened to it...like, seventeen times. I require help. A meeting. An intervention. This might as well be their most pop-ish sounding song ever, half of their fans are revolting...and yet I can't seem to stop listening to it. Einar is just perfect here. This feeling of melancholy and hope at the same time...it's so freaking powerful and effective.

SO how about you guys, you ever borrowed an album that stayed with you forever? (metaphorically of course, you always return borrowed stuff, right?) Feel free to post your own songs, no need to follow the week's thread either...just share whatever's on your mind, if you feel like it.

And have a nice week!