Midlife Crisis

Pretty much the only place I listen to the radio is in the car.  Lately the station I've listened to the most is CJIQ, the station on Conestoga College.  You might think I'd be intimidated by the young people's music.  But actually, these kids really like their heavy metal. So it's not that different from my own high school experience.  And now that Black Sabbath has a new album out, I have the odd experience of hearing people twenty years younger than me tell me about music made by people twenty years older than me.

I also get the experience of looking at music with a new context.  During the first wave of 60's nostalgia in the 80's, I remember my parents struggling to explain to me why they found it odd to see Herman's Hermits playing on the same bill as The Who.  Well, now I understand where they were coming from.  Today I heard them play Faith No More's "Epic," followed by Linkin Park's "Faint."

At first, that shocked me.  First, you have a song from my high school days, by an innovative and influential band with a cult following.  Then you've got a song from almost a decade later, from a massively popular band in the leading style of the day.

But when you look at it from the student-DJ's perspective, free of the context, it makes sense.  You see that it's two songs mixing hard rock with hip hop, also incorporating some classical keyboards.  So now I'll just have to wait a few more years for their inevitable joint concert tour.