Classic Rock Comfort Food

I am normally turned on by anything new and different in music. I get bored easily, so if there isn't something there to pique my interest, I lose interest quickly. Yes, I do know there are few, if any original ideas in the world of popular music, but there are still creative ways of putting it all together that do cross original ground. There is an exception to this rule though, when I don't want to seek out little bands on lonely college radio ststions or NPR. Sometimes you need it to go down easy, to just sit back and enjoy something for the gut feelings it engenders instead of the complexities you search for on a Radiohead or Arcade Fire record.

With two audits coming up in my day job, everyone up and down the corporate ladder wanting something and now, I'm stressed. There is little or no comfort at home, with practices, bills, chores, and all that stuff. My only relaxation is the drive home, and the stereo in my little corolla. I can listen to talk radio, but it just makes me more pissed off and agitated. There is "adult alternative", but the angry female folk singers and the denizens of Chad Kroeger and Dave Grohl drive me nuts also. Ventura County doesn't get good reception for the L.A. area alternative stations, so I can't get those. Even when I do, it's a mixed bag of some good stuff with the third-rate Green Days and guys that sound uncomfortably close to Fred Durst. Don't even bring up Top-40, and although I can respect some of it, I don't listen to hip-hop or R & B that much. I'm a almost middle-aged white dude. What can I say? What does that leave? Classic Rock.

Alot of that is nonsense too, but when "Highway Star" comes on, I'm transfixed, listening to Ritchie Blackmore's racing guitar, and Ian Gillan's garage opera vocals, I'm taken away, and I don't have to think about it. Same thing hearing some Mick Taylor Stones or the soaring "Kashmir" by Zepplein. It is pure escapism. I do not care that the music critic in me may trash some of this stuff, but like Mickey D's you know it's not good for you, but it's fast, cheap, simple, and satisfying. there are things in that format which are mediocre in every stretch of the imagination, and force me to switch to the angry folk singers, but when it's in a groove, there is nothing like listening to the old 1960's and 1970's rock on the drive home.

It's not all comfort food. Zeppelin, the Stones, and The Beatles, to name a few, made unquestionably timeless music that still resonates. Look how well the Van Halen and Police tours did. Look at the Stones recent touring grosses. People are slobbering over a potential Zepplelin tour. At that time of the day, however, I don't want to debate in my mind whether Physical Graffitti or Presence was my favorite Zep album. I want to bang my head to "Achilles Last Stand", or be taken away by the Beatles "A Day in the Life". I may not remember what I heard two hours from now, but I will feel much better when I'm doing the dishes at home.

SB