August 2014 Music Nostalgia Trip

This month I decided to share some old albums that struck a sentimental chord. Growing up with a radio station that increasingly plays dance and pop music, I longed for rock music that was raw in emotion instead of focusing on partying, drugs, and drinking. When Youtube was still on its way to become more popular, amvs (anime music videos) were quite popular and often times became my source of discovering new material to listen to. There were so many different people with very different music tastes and to me, it was like discovering a treasure trove.

Once Nightwish

 

If it weren't for this random amv about Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, I would have never known about Nightwish. The song used was "Nemo", but if I remember correctly it was edited with some parts from the orchestral version making it unique for the video. I have no idea where this video is now on the web, but I do know that it's probably at least 7-8 years old. To reinforce my interest in Nightwish, a goth girl I met at school was really into Nightwish and suggested that I listen to their Phantom of the Opera along with other songs. Like many fans, I was very upset when Tarja left the band, but Nightwish never lost their touch of combining metal and orchestra.

Fallen Evanescence

 

Back in the day, everyone knew "Bring Me to Life". That song was all over the place including tons of amvs. Even to this day, it's one of my favorite songs from Evanescence. So many of us really liked the broodiness of the lyrics and its rock sounds. Even a couple of guys I knew would sing along to it. This debut album featured a lot more of well known Evanescence songs like "Going Under" and "My Immortal". As the face of the band, Amy Lee has the charisma as a strong woman. I admired how all these years she did not fall victim of becoming a highly sexualized figure to whims of a company.

Rising Sun DBSK

 

 

When they were still the five, DBSK was pretty much the only kpop I would listen to. In the early days of kpop, I don't think the fandom had gotten so notoriously insane. I caught a glimpse of DBSK on TV when I was on a vacation in China and had seen their poster hanging on a shop window. They had better dance music and ballads than what I was listening to so I switched to DBSK's music for a long time until they announced their split. I regret not being able to get their debut album, Tri-Angle, and Rising Sun is the earliest one I have of theirs.

Hybrid Theory Linkin Park

 

When you're making amvs, you can't fall short of Linkin Park. Songs like "Faint"and "Crawling in my Skin" are often used and I learned more about music at the time. I wasn't aware of the many sub-genres in metal and rock and simply referred to Linkin Park as rap-rock. Linkin Park was something every kid listened too when they felt angry or misunderstood. I think the lyrics are very honest and to the point. I couldn't think of any way to express better myself.