Chronology of a Music Fan

Who is your favorite band?

It's not a hard question to answer. Either you can take the "band I can't stop listening to right now" angle or the "all-time greatest band, even if I don't listen to them that often anymore" angle. I think I prefer the latter, only because I would feel a little silly defending the merits of Metric. Even if they are terrific.

Why does it matter? I guess there's something comforting in being able to answer that question with certainty. Favorite football team? Check. Coke or Pepsi? Check. Favorite movie? Check (more or less). It simplifies things when you can give an honest one-word answer to every question in a survey.

Well, I don't know who my favorite band is. I know there are a lot of bands I really like, but as a self-proclaimed "music fan," I feel like I need a number one. So I'm going to list all the bands who have served as that answer over the years, and hopefully after this exercise, things will be a little clearer. All dates are approximate.

Bon Jovi/Skid Row/Warrant/Def Leppard/Poison/Slaughter/Motley Crue/et al (1986-1992): The formative years. I can still remember seeing the video for Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" for the first time. Ditto with Motley Crue's "Wild Side." And as little kids go, we were pretty passionate about our music. It's amazing that we were so oblivious to one of that genres most integral elements (sex). We weren't idiots. We knew "Cherry Pie" wasn't actually about a cherry pie, but we also didn't pay much attention to the wink-wink metaphors that permeated most of those songs. Chalk that up to being nine years old, I guess.

Metallica (1992-1994): As much as I wanted to lump them in with the first group, that would have been a little dishonest. Because from sixth grade to eighth grade I would've told you without question that they were my favorite band. I guess this was a step forward. As for as heavy metal goes, they're much more credible than Slaughter. It also led to an interest in other heavier bands like Megadeth and Slayer (who I still think is awesome to this day).

Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains (1992-1994): Okay, so there was some crossover. If you'd forced seventh grade Robert at gunpoint to pledge his allegiance to one band, it probably would have been Metallica. But I certainly wasn't exclusively a Metallica fan. Older music fans (hell, even older teenage music fans) probably settled into one of two groups: rock dudes and grunge dudes. Somehow I straddled the line, enjoying and appreciating both equally. This is probably because I stuffed myself into the all-inclusive "headbanger" category. I enjoyed the freedom. Other bands from this period include Ministry and Body Count (Ice T's rock project, which, upon re-listening to it, is completely unlistenable).

They Might Be Giants (1995-1997): Don't be mislead by the short period of time they spent in the top spot. Between 1995 and 1997 I listened to nothing but They Might Be Giants. I would cycle through the albums continuously, and each album was my absolute, hands-down favorite while it was in the rotation. Ira Glass from This American Life says it best in the documentary "Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns." He says (and I'm paraphrasing here) that "there's something about their music that is unimaginably clever to a fourteen year old." Which is why I loved it so much. It was melodic, catchy, fun, funny and unbelievably clever. Note: during this time period, I also discovered the Barenaked Ladies' "Gordon," which always felt like TMBG-lite to me - sure, it was clever and catchy and quirky, but not life altering.

MU330/Blue Meanies/Less Than Jake (1997): Thus began my gradual evolution. First ska, then punk, then emo, then indie. I'm sure lots of people have taken the same path.

Lagwagon/No Use For a Name/NOFX (1998): And now the tadpole has legs.

Texas Is The Reason/Get Up Kids/Jimmy Eat World (1998-2004): The punk-to-emo transition was probably facilitated most by Hot Water Music. It was crunchy and loud, but also complicated and gut-wrenching. Then in the Spring of 1999, I bought "Clarity" by Jimmy Eat World and I was addicted. I played that album for anyone who would listen, and ended up getting damn near the entire floor of my dorm to buy it. Of course, I tried diving headfirst into the whole emo scene (Jets to Brazil/Promise Ring/Braid/etc.), but none of it was nearly as palatable as "Clarity." I still love that album.

The Shins (2004-2006): This was my most recent answer, which started about two minutes after I heard "Chutes Too Narrow" for the first time. It felt like a good answer. It was a cool answer. I sincerely enjoy(ed) everything they did. But I don't know if they were ever really my favorite favorite. There was also a short period of time in which the last five sentences would be true if you replaced "the Shins" with "Belle and Sebastian" and "Chutes Too Narrow" with "Dear Catastrophe Waitress."

So here we are. Do I feel any closer to an answer having spent an hour on that list? No. I need another musical epiphany. It's overdue.