I'll be spending the last week of October in the New York City area, going on as many interviews as possible as I try to land a job in the publishing industry. Wish me good luck!
As part of my early preparation, I'm adding more music to my MP3 player. I'm ripping songs off of my CDs, mainly from my collection of European Heavy Metal. But I'm also revisiting some other CDs that I haven't listened to in a while. I play some songs, or parts of songs, in my car on the way to or from work.
Today I listened to The Very Best of Asia. I mostly find the classic output of the band can be summarized as "Geoff Downes dumbing down the talent of John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer," but there's individual songs I like quite a bit. Only Time Will Tell is probably the best known of their hit songs that I actually like. Open Your Eyes is another good one, and I'm sure Sole Survivor and Wildest Dreams will make the cut. I'm still not sure whether I'll add The Heat Goes On.
Listening to the Asia CD this morning had the same effect it has had on me on other occasions. It left me "itchy" inside. I had the uncomfortable feeling of needing to listen to something heavy and ass-kicking, something with some bite! I found the right song for the moment in The Will to Give, from Woods of Ypres' The Pursuit of the Sun and the Allure of the Earth CD.
I find very heavy rock and metal music to be extremely soothing. I thrash around on the inside while listening to it, and that becomes therapeutic. Conversely, calm and peaceful music, even upbeat tunes like Asia's, fill me with pent up energy looking for release. I have friends who experience music the same way, but my impression is that the majority of people actually find aggressive music to be agitating, and gentler music to be calming. As a guess, Metalheads may be more likely to share my reactions, while non-metal/punk fans may be the opposite.
Regardless of hows and whys, I know what works for me, and most of the songs I'll be adding to my MP3 player kick serious tail!
As part of my early preparation, I'm adding more music to my MP3 player. I'm ripping songs off of my CDs, mainly from my collection of European Heavy Metal. But I'm also revisiting some other CDs that I haven't listened to in a while. I play some songs, or parts of songs, in my car on the way to or from work.
Today I listened to The Very Best of Asia. I mostly find the classic output of the band can be summarized as "Geoff Downes dumbing down the talent of John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer," but there's individual songs I like quite a bit. Only Time Will Tell is probably the best known of their hit songs that I actually like. Open Your Eyes is another good one, and I'm sure Sole Survivor and Wildest Dreams will make the cut. I'm still not sure whether I'll add The Heat Goes On.
Listening to the Asia CD this morning had the same effect it has had on me on other occasions. It left me "itchy" inside. I had the uncomfortable feeling of needing to listen to something heavy and ass-kicking, something with some bite! I found the right song for the moment in The Will to Give, from Woods of Ypres' The Pursuit of the Sun and the Allure of the Earth CD.
I find very heavy rock and metal music to be extremely soothing. I thrash around on the inside while listening to it, and that becomes therapeutic. Conversely, calm and peaceful music, even upbeat tunes like Asia's, fill me with pent up energy looking for release. I have friends who experience music the same way, but my impression is that the majority of people actually find aggressive music to be agitating, and gentler music to be calming. As a guess, Metalheads may be more likely to share my reactions, while non-metal/punk fans may be the opposite.
Regardless of hows and whys, I know what works for me, and most of the songs I'll be adding to my MP3 player kick serious tail!
