500 albums later

I got a feeling… I mean, I Got a Feeling, by the Black Eyed Peas, was my favorite song as a kid.

I started listening to music voluntarily at the beginning of high school, and what I wanted out of music was for it to be a stimulant. It was tough waking up at 5:30am and studying for 12hrs day after day. My first playlist was an EDM playlist. That was coffee for me. I was a fan of Tiesto, Alesso, The Chainsmokers, Alok, and Alan Walker, among others. Years later, in my college years, I was fortunate to see Tiesto and The Chainsmokers live.

I then started listening to artists and bands I had heard of but had never been exposed to much. Those were mostly rock bands from the last century. I started with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Kiss. Some stuck, some didn’t. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd are some of the ones I kept.

In the middle of college I realized that I was pretty ignorant when it comes to music. I thought of listening to whole albums because they are meant to be appreciated as a whole. So I looked up and found a list of the 500 best albums according to the Rolling Stone magazine (not the band). My approach wasn’t to sit down, study the lyrics, and read about each album. That would take more time than what I was willing to invest. I decided to listen to one album per day while showering. I just wanted to get exposed to the music and know a little bit about the context of the album and the artists involved. Around two years later, I was done listening to 500 albums.

That list was a good sample of music from the last 80 years. I found new bands and artists that I now like, such as Bad Bunny, Tame Impala, and Stevie Wonder. I still do not understand why Bob Dylan is so acclaimed; maybe I should have stopped to study the lyrics.

What do I listen to now? It’s hard to define. One day I’m listening to Joe Hisaishi and Peggy Gou, the next it’s Nujabes and System of a Down.

Here for the next 500 albums.