If you had to only listen to one genre of music for the rest of your life what would you choose and why?

[PetterssonOrPeterson]

This is something I never even once pondered about when I'm thinking random things but wow, this is actually really tough to answer.

 

I like all music, being a creative myself I think all forms of expression through music has its own unique charm and genius artists in every genre. 

 

Simply can't choose.

 

 

[johngould21]

I never appreciated Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly, Everly Brothers, or Little Richard, until I finished watching the McCartney 321 series today. All of these artists were covered by the Beatles. Lennon and McCartney might just be the greatest singer/songwriter/musicians of all time. So my go to music playlist would span the early 60's Beatles, Stones, right through to the early 70's when the Eagles, Floyd (Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon) Stones Sticky Fingers, Mothers of Invention, Bob Dylan, Cream, CSN &Y, Deep Purple, Blind Faith, Dave Mason, Led Zepplin, and I have to say I have a soft spot for Carol King. Is there any other music out there??? 

[Chickenspear]

1 hour ago, buddhahoodlum said:

This is a question I've often contemplated. Actually contemplated is the wrong word because there is only one answer for me- heavy metal. I've been a fan of this music since '83-84 when I first heard Ozzy Osbourne's Bark At The Moon. Up until that point I had only ever listened to pop music and Top 40. Soon after hearing Ozzy, thanks to Good Rockin' Tonight with Terry David Mulligan's heavy metal special I got to bang my head to videos like AC/DC's Nervous Shakedown and more importantly, Judas Priest's Love Bites, for the first time. I found out heavy metal was often as much about the spectacle as the music. I reveled in this stuff. Now days I enjoy rock, pop, country, folk, classical, medieval, punk, reggae, jazz, disco, and hip hop as well , but back then for me it was metal or nothing. Heavy metal provided a form of escapism, different from books, in that I could escape while doing other things (or avoid doing things, like homework). Heavy metal could transport me to a world of sword and sorcery a la Ronnie James Dio, provide a history lesson more exciting than any stuffy textbook courtesy of Iron Maiden, scare me with serial killers and Satan the way only Slayer could do, or just open my eyes to pressing social and environmental issues as almost every thrash band of the day did.

 

Heavy metal woke something inside of me. More importantly, it gave me something I had been missing in my life up until that point- an identity. I belonged to a tribe. We were called rockers! And boy did our music rock. My high school years (1985-1990) were a golden age for heavy metal. Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Ozzy, Metallica, Anthrax, and Guns 'N' Roses, to name but a few,  all released monster albums during those years. Metal bands routinely sold out stadiums. I would be glued to MuchMusic (Canada's version of MTV for you Americans) from 5-6 PM for the awesome Power Hour! Of course I had to sit through more Poison and Motley Crue than I would have liked, but when Danzig's Under Her Black Wings or Sacred Reich's American Way or Overkill's Hello From the Gutter came on, it was more than worth it. Thrash metal eventually took over from the Accepts and Judas Priests of the world by playing faster, harder and with far less cheesy lyrics.

 

I'll admit I was late to the black metal party, but when I heard it, I fell HARD for it. Where had this music been my whole life? Raw, aggressive, emotive, and fierce, this wasn't your dad's heavy metal. I say I fell hard, but that's not quite how it happened. When I returned to my job after a 3 month practicum they had hired on another metalhead. But he wasn't just "another" metalhead. When he discovered I was a fan as well, he immediately played me Dimmu Borgir's Progenies of the Great Apocalypse on YouTube. HOLY SH!T! That was the most epic 3:36 of my life! Funnily enough I couldn't get into the vocals at first. Maybe not so funny, as the shrieks and gurgles can be an acquired taste. But the music was awesome! The blast beats, the guitar playing (which I now know is called tremolo picking), and the vocals I had never heard done like that before. And to top it off the whole black metal aesthetic was so, well, EVIL. After a few more listens, I decided I really did love the shrieking. It suited the lyrics and music to a T. I can't say I'm a black metal purist (it's called TRVE KVLT) or an elitist, like many of this niche sub-genre's fans. In fact, I don't care if it's blackened thrash, blackened death, black 'n' roll, symphonic, folk, medieval or "castle", psychedelic, melodic, atmospheric, avant garde, industrial, or the tried and true orthodox Norwegian black metal. As long as it's got those piercing, shrieked screams of a soul in apparent torment, it's probably going to stir my blood and put a smile of ferocious joy on my face.

 

And that's where I'm at today. As far as the traditional heavy metal and thrash goes, I prefer the bands of my youth. But thanks in part to the hard work of the people behind such sites as No Clean Singing I'm always on the lookout (or is that listenout?) for new black metal sounds. I'm fascinated how this small sub-genre , which nonetheless has legions of fans across the globe and so many talented musicians among its ranks, has grown and taken their music into so many unpredictable directions. And unlike other genres (I won't name them here) I don't think black metal will grow stale any time soon, with all the genre-pushing.  Yea, I'm a heavy metal lifer. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Some people look down on my music as fit for only dumb kids. Others call it noise. And yea, it's noisy and when I listen to it I feel like I'm a teenager again, full of energy, anger, and excitement. So in that respect I suppose they're right. 

 

It's funny, what started out as a simple question, to myself as much as to others, has morphed into a multi-paragraph love letter to heavy metal music. What's even funnier, I've barely even scratched the surface. But beneath that surface beats a metal heart. 

 

 

 

 

Really well put. I was born in '88, but my dad listened to a ton of that older metal/rock (has about 20 or so milk crates full of vinyl), so I feel like I didn't miss a thing growing up in the 90's listening to it with my dad. Playing hockey, it was always Metallica, Marilyn Manson, AC/DC in the locker room pre-game. Hit high school, made a few friends who were metalheads and got my introduction to Slayer/Pantera/Opeth, and some heavier s**t, like Dimmu Borgir/Emperor/Cannibal Corpse, and spent hours listening to the 'black metal radio' website (circa 2001ish).  I've been listening to black metal ever since. Definitely my one music genre, though I'm loathe to disparage the others I enjoy.

 

Country and anything with that auto-tone(tune? IDFC) can go die a slow death.

 

 

 

[Heretic]

Pink Floyd.

 

 

/thread

[fanfor42]

Rush.  Huge number of albums and songs.  Can listen to these guys forever!

 

Best Canadian rock band of all time by a mile.

 

Their genre is prog rock/hard rock. But really they are a genre of their own.

 

 

[Jack Fig]

Jazz ..... particularly hard-bop. 

[Curmudgeon]

Blues all day and all night. Joe Bonamassa, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Clark Jr., but also little known folks like Dave Alvin, Blues Bones, Brothers Landreth or Eric Bibb. Love all forms of music with two exceptions: old-time country and virtually all jazz. I'm good with pretty much anything else.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Alflives said:

Listening to horses whinny, cows moo, goats bleat, and all farm animal noises is the cacophony I enjoy.  

Cats purring is probably equivalent to porn to you isn't it?  

[John_Guest]

YouTube cover songs.

 

Not sure if that's a genre or not but that's pretty much all I listen to these days.

 

For driving it's sports or that new comedy channel.

[Cromeslab]

Blues rock,stands the test of time

[Angry Goose]

Elevator music

[Googlie]

Pentatonix for me.  There's something about an acapella group that's captivating  - the instruments their voices can emulate, the  beatboxer's repertoire, the harmonies they produce

 

I don't,  but could, waken every morning to their "Hallelujah"  (630 million views on their YouTube release!!!!) ... what an uplifting rendition.

 

Yes. - I am a Pentaholic. 

[4petesake]

This is a choice I could not make. I like some from every genre but not all from any one genre so I think my ears would start to bleed before too long without variety.

 

Gun to my head I’d go with Mississippi blues and wait while music evolved all over again.

[Nuxfanabroad]

blues

 

As I toss away calendars, it makes more & more sense.

[hammertime]

Probably hiphop because of the diversity. You've got super chill to super hype, you've got soul, reggae, jazz, you've got instrumental, accapella, gospel, big band, blues, shudders even country there's a playlist for just about any mood. 

[Whaleroad Train]

Not so much a genre of music but a musical instrument is my weakness.  When I was young my sister introduced to an early album of Rick Wakeman and with that I fell in love with the sound of synthesizers. 

[buddhahoodlum]

6 hours ago, Chickenspear said:

Really well put. I was born in '88, but my dad listened to a ton of that older metal/rock (has about 20 or so milk crates full of vinyl), so I feel like I didn't miss a thing growing up in the 90's listening to it with my dad. Playing hockey, it was always Metallica, Marilyn Manson, AC/DC in the locker room pre-game. Hit high school, made a few friends who were metalheads and got my introduction to Slayer/Pantera/Opeth, and some heavier s**t, like Dimmu Borgir/Emperor/Cannibal Corpse, and spent hours listening to the 'black metal radio' website (circa 2001ish).  I've been listening to black metal ever since. Definitely my one music genre, though I'm loathe to disparage the others I enjoy.

 

Country and anything with that auto-tone(tune? IDFC) can go die a slow death.

 

 

 

If you're talking country pop then yes I agree. But there is some great country music out there that's so emotive and authentic. I really favour the stuff where it's just a guitar and the singer. You should check out Steve Von Till. He sings in the metal band Neurosis, but his solo stuff is acoustic, dark, and haunting. But as they say, different strokes for different folks. 

[buddhahoodlum]

I will say this, I do enjoy most other genres of music. Gospel and EDM/electronica are two styles I hate. But whatever non-metal music I'm listening to, whenever I return to metal, it just sounds that much better to my ears. I'm not disparaging the other genres. I can't explain it, but it's like falling in love with your girlfriend over and over again. 

[Captain Canuck #12]

Why early 80's SCTV-style punk rock of course!

[Ilunga]

As a regular contributor to the what are you listening to threads I love all forms of music.

 

From orchestral to metal.

From gamelan to the didge, from Muddy Waters to Doris Day ,music is an integral part of my life.

 

I started off buying records and cassettes,then on to CD's.

When i- pods came along it was incredible,I could cart a chunk of my music collection around in a little "box".

Now with blue tooth, streaming and my big ass speakers I can listen to any song anytime and blow the neighbours away.

 

If I was absolutely forced by some mystical power to choose only one form of music it would have to be Punk including all its genre's.

It is still evolving.

At its heart it is pure DIY.

 

I have quite a few friends who are members of what can loosely be described as Punk rock bands.

 

It's not just the music,it's the lyrics.

Bands like NOFX.

Mike Burkett is a lyrical genius.

 

However I don't want to live in a world where there is only one form of music.