Day 16 - which was actually yesterday but I was too busy lazing around, eating a lot and then having an awesome time at the Decemberists - was supposed to be 'A song that you used to love but now hate'.
I thought about this quite a lot, but couldn't come up with anything. Used to love but now hate? That's pretty extreme. I can think of some tracks which might fit in the 'guilty pleasure' category, as in stuff you listened to when you were younger and now find a little embarrassing, but the category otherwise doesn't make much sense.
I think if you loved a particular band years ago, and you've now gone through your extreme metal phase, your bleepy electronica phase, your hates-all-music phase, your nothing-but-Led Zeppelin phase and now you listen to Radio 2, you might be a bit more po-faced and slightly ashamed of what you used to like, but that doesn't necessarily mean you hate something you once loved - just that you don't listen to it any more. Example:
I don't hate Limp Bizkit, I just don't listen to them any more. I liked them a lot when I was in school, and if this track came on my iPod now I might well listen to it just for a wry smile at the memories.
How else could the category work? Perhaps if you loved a band but then they changed their ideals and, well, sold out. But even then could you honestly say that their political stance or attitude to the record industry actually changed your appreciation of the music they made before that point in time? Just the music? Example:
Lostprophets, when they first appeared, were a pretty exciting (nu-, maybe) metal band from Wales. I saw them a couple of times, once at an awesome show with Pitchshifter and earthtone9. Then, as I understand it, on the verge of their second album, they were given the choice as part of a big record deal: go into the studio and record album #2, or go back and revisit album #1, putting in all kinds of stupid hip-hop overdubs and stuff that would make them appeal to a wider American (pun intended) audience. The fact that you've heard of this band means you know which option they chose. Look at them in this video. They look like twats. They are twats. That's pretty much the definition of selling out, but I'm not sure I can honestly say it makes me hate the original recording of the first album.
What this category should be, in my opinion, is a song that you used to hate but now love. That's much more challenging and much more meaningful. I can't think of anything which fits the bill perfectly, although it's true that I hated Rage Against The Machine for a long, long time, and now I rather like them, and some of their stuff I like a lot. To bring my mini-rant to an end, though, let's take this:
I was never that fussed by Biffy Clyro until Puzzle came out - Puzzle, the much more mainstream and radio-friendly album was the one that caught my attention. Maybe it's me that sold out after all. I don't like their more recent stuff, though, so I'm not handing in my punk licence just yet.
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