Simply judging based on what you hear is missing the idea completely. Making snap judgements and comparing, to me you all just sound like music snobs... Narrow minded and quite honestly, it makes me sad.
I listen to a variety of music. Old, new, rock, pop, jazz, country, hip hop, etc... I am saddened by people judging fandom as bad musical taste. You're missing the point entirely: it's more than just music. It's something we relate to. I don't choose my favourite bands based on critical appeal or commercial success.
I choose my favourite bands based on what speaks to me. Who ever speaks to me, whoever touches my soul, makes me smile, makes me cry, lifts my spirits, and helps me grow... I'm open to anyone that can see into my mind and help me feel more comfortable in my skin... That's something I can relate to. And that is what draws me to them. I hear past the music. I hear past the lyrics. I try and identify with the place that music comes from as much as I listen to the music itself.
The reason I listened to My Chemical Romance was because I was browsing the internet one day and I saw the title of a song by a band that I had never heard of. That song was "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" - the reason it appealed to me was because (obviously) I was not okay.
I suffer from depression and anxiety and I didn't understand my emotions at the time. I wasn't able to talk to anyone about it because everyone in my life is pretty well adjusted and just don't understand why anyone could be unhappy. Let alone someone like me who has much to be grateful for. Guess what, telling someone like me all the reasons that they should be happy, only makes us sadder. So much to be happy about. Then why do I feel this way?
I felt guilty, depressed, misunderstood, and alone. I cried behind closed doors, alone in the dark before I went to sleep, I took painkillers to numb the pain daily. Perhaps I feel too much. As much as I wish I could... It's not something I can control.
If it weren't for artists like Incubus, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Rise Against, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Blink 182, Green Day, Hoobastank, 30 Seconds to Mars, Evanescence, Papa Roach, Good Charlotte, Paramore, P.O.D., Three Days Grace, Flyleaf, Taking Back Sunday, Sevendust, Eminem, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, etc. I'd never have made it through my childhood, my teenage years, my early to mid twenties, NOW! I wouldn't be alive today without music... I know this. I believe this. Because if it weren't for music I would have been consumed by sadness.
I know that list may make most people puke. Note that I didn't say that that was all I listen to. Also note that some of those names now also make me want to puke too because they're no longer what I need to get me through. But I owe them a great debt. I listen to Nirvana, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, (Frank Sinatra and Marvin Gaye even), and I adore them. Had I lived through a time where their music was "now" they'd probably be what saved my life. But I was too young for Nirvana or the Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Metallica or Beastie Boys to have that sort of life saving effect on my life when I was going through troubled stages... I am older now, and I can understand them better and appreciate them so much more now.
But they didn't find me when I needed it most. I've never been able to choose what affects me most as it comes to me randomly and when I least expect it. I can't explain it except to say that when I need it most, the music finds ME. Even artists that I have massive admiration for such as Jack White, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine have had a HUGE impact on me. Made life sweeter perhaps. They have a song or two that could save my life. But it didn't find me when I needed it most. Not yet at least.
I was quite depressed on the day I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers live, guess which song appealed to me most that day? "Under the Bridge" - again, I didn't expect to be moved to tears by that song as I hadn't lived through those years (where that song influenced the masses), I lived through the "Californication" period (during high school) and was too young to appreciate everything before. So I was pleasantly surprised when that song hit me the way it did that night.
"You only hear the music when your heart begins to break..." Perhaps that's my trigger, and the MCRmy/Killjoys/Echelon's trigger. We needed "something" / "someone" and there they were. I'll even throw in the Maggots, Juggalos, Little Monsters, Glamberts and Barbiez... The Beliebers, the One Directioners Etc. They are all getting something they need from the artists they admire. I don't judge. No hate. No judgement. Respect.
If it makes you happy... If it speaks to you, if it makes this life worth living. I'll respect it. Respect each other. To each his own. Put an end to the hate.
xo
Me
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