It's not uncommon for my current playlist to go through substantial shifts in genres and/or eras. My playlist isn't always a direct reflection of my mood. I rarely use music to deal with emotional swings. My selection of songs is more accurately a reflection of the activity I am participating in while listening to my Zune or laptop.
Recently, I have been revisiting bands who were at their peak in the 1990s; the mid to late 1990s is a more accurate as most of these bands were at their height of stardom while I was in high school or early college. Most of the bands of that era have a "Best of" album on shelves. Instant top 40 gratification.
Currently on rotation on my laptop are The Cranberries, No Doubt, Stone Temple Pilots, and Eve 6's first two albums. The latter band pushes the playlist into the new millennium but the style of music is still very late 1990s. So far the mix has been quite enjoyable; non-radio favs are always fun to rediscover, even 10-15 years later.
I'm still waiting for the Bush "Best of" album to drop. Perhaps Gavin is too busy with his new pop album or just wants to forget about the glory years; however, I wish there was a concentrated playlist of Bush singles and best songs. Most of the time I find a song on a compilation album I didn't even know/had forgotten was sung by that artist. (E.G. "Days of the Week" by STP)
As more and more nineties bands seek to recapture their former glory (Candlebox, Alice in Chains, STP, Gin Blossoms, Smashing Pumpkins) it's nice to revisit the reason for their successes. From time to time I try to forecast which songs and bands will make up the future "oldies" stations. Green day seems an obvious choice given their popularity 15 years later. The remaining potpourri is a bit more ambiguous. Regardless, my sojourn back in time has been a nice break from the modern day top 40 cycle that gets overplayed on free-radio these days.
August 9 - "L.T.'s Theory of Pets"
15 years ago
