HEMISPHERES BY RUSH
This may come off as an odd choice. I mean, it’s Rush. Yes, progressive rock isn’t
exactly the most “Lucas” thing ever. However, I think Rush was one of the most
important bands for my musical growth this year. I didn’t get into much more
prog, but rather they opened up the door for me to listen to bands that were
far outside of my comfort zone. Also, my roommate’s favorite band is Rush, so I
was going to be listening to them whether or not I really wanted to. Hemispheres is my favorite Rush album,
and it’s what I listened to before a lot of football games. So I associate this
album with football season, which was a pretty intense time for me. It was a
mix of feeling grateful that I’m still playing football and being stressed out
all the time because I had no time to do much of anything besides homework when
I wasn’t at practice or a game or whatever. Let’s move on to more “traditional
Lucas” picks.
RADIO CITY BY BIG STAR
If there was a defining band of my freshman year, it would
be Big Star. They’re probably the band that I listened to the most, and they
quickly became one of my favorite bands throughout the year. #1 Record or Third/Sister Lovers could probably make this list, but Radio City brings back the most memories
for me. It also might just be my favorite Big Star album, but that can change
depending on my mood. I started listening to Radio City right at the very end of my first semester, but I didn’t
really “get” it. I listened to it throughout winter break, and it finally
clicked with me. I continued to dig it into the beginning of the second
semester. This album particularly makes me think about hanging out with my
friends over winter break, after not seeing them for four months. It was one of
the happiest times of my life. However, I also associate this album with my
return to college after break. I didn’t particularly want to go back, but once
I did get back, I had a sense of calm. Everything would be okay, and I would
not be lonely. Even if my college friendships weren’t fully solidified yet, I
still had my buddy Alex Chilton that I could spend time with when I was feeling
down.
GOOD KID, M.A.A.D CITY BY KENDRICK LAMAR
Kendrick Lamar is one of those artists that I would hear
about a lot, and I always was like “yeah I’d probably like him, I should listen
to him,” but I never got around to it. Per request of my Kendrick-worshiping friend at college, I gave good kid,
m.A.A.d city a spin. What I expected was a really good modern mainstream
hip-hop album. What I got was a masterpiece. good kid, m.A.A.d city is the album that I listened to the most freshman
year, and I’m tempted to say it was the best (okay so there’s also On the Beach, but we’ll get to that
later). Kendrick Lamar is a genius. There’s really no other way to say it. He
might be the greatest storyteller in all of hip-hop. Hell, he might be one of
the greatest storytellers in all of music, rivaled only by The Boss himself.
This album was pretty much my go-to album to listen to for almost any
situation. I think that Kendrick Lamar is the pinnacle of not just modern rap,
but modern music in general. If I could pick one artist of the last decade to
be remembered, I would pick Kendrick Lamar. I don’t know of any other modern
albums that have received as much critical acclaim and mainstream popularity as
this magnum opus. Honestly, the entire second semester is connected to this
album for me. This is what I would listen to with people that I now consider to
be great friends. However, I also think this album can’t be restricted to one time
of my life.
THE SILVER GYMNASIUM BY OKKERVIL RIVER
I’ve been listening to Okkervil River for a while now, but I
didn’t really get into them a lot until last semester. They were going to be
playing a show near me, so I started listening to them a lot in anticipation.
They put on a great show, and I continued to spin their albums a lot after the
show. I dug several of their albums, but The
Silver Gymnasium has the strongest connection to this time of my life. It
was right after spring break that I started getting into this album. The second
half of last semester was my favorite time of college so far, and this album is
the soundtrack to a lot of my favorite times: getting closer
to my new friends, taking cool classes, and pledging a fraternity. Second semester was the most
wonderful and surprising and interesting adventure I’ve ever been on, and I
often had “Down Down the Deep River” stuck in my head during this great
journey. The Silver Gymnasium is the
perfect “fun” album to represent what was one of the most fun times of my life.
ON THE BEACH BY NEIL YOUNG
I’ve always been a Neil Young fan. After the Gold Rush is an album that I’ve liked for a very long
time, and I also recently came to appreciate Everybody Knows This is Nowhere and Harvest. However, I never really thought that Young had done
anything truly incredible. That is, until I listened to On the Beach. I had decided to listen to it on a whim one day,
since I felt like some Neil Young but wanted to try something new. I was blown
away on first listen. I wondered if it was some sort of fluke, and I listened
to it a second time a day or two later, on a Saturday morning. I was floored. I
instantly knew that On the Beach
would become one of my favorite albums of all time. This album has a strong
meaning to me because that very Saturday ended up being one of the best days of
freshman year. Maybe even the best. That weekend was a festival at our school.
There are games and a crappy DJ and basically it’s all an excuse for people to
get drunk during the day and make noise outside my dorm while I'm trying to do homework. I have never in my life gotten “crunk” or “turnt up”,
so I was dreading the weekend, to say the least. I needed to find a way to get
off campus. After being sonically pleasured by Neil Young, I went downtown with
a friend to walk around and browse some record stores and cool antique stores.
It was nice being away from the insanity taking place on campus. When I got
back to campus, I hung out with my other friends, who I expected would want to just
keep partying. But we ended up just hanging out and talking for hours. It was
one of the chillest days I’ve ever had. And when I think of the day, I think of
On the Beach.
RENTED WORLD BY THE MENZINGERS
The Menzingers are a very special band to me.
They’re a local band and I love them. I was super pissed off when I missed the Rented World record release show, but
I was relieved when my CD finally arrived in the mail. Anyway, this is one of those few albums that I listened
to every day when I first got it. I’m not sure if there’s anything inherent in
this album that I associate with the end of my freshman year, or if it just
happens to be what I was listening to the most at the time. By the end of my
freshman year, I had made my friends, and I was happy about that. But what I
came to realize is how much I enjoy being alone. The last several weeks of the
year, I just sort of kept to myself and listened to Rented World. And I loved every second of it. There’s something
about living in isolation that gives me a certain calm. However, there were
also a lot of negative feelings at this time because I was dreading the end of
the year. I love the college experience, and I loved all my classes. I didn’t
want it to end. I didn’t want to have nothing to do. As summer break is under way, I have come to find that this dread was not without good reason. Now that I’m on summer break, I can’t wait until my sophomore year
starts. Then I can get into more new albums and write another blog post.