The Four CDs Left In The Stereo When We Put It Away

When my partner first moved in and we struggled to find the space for everything in my tiny one-bedroom, the old 5-disc changer stereo got put away for a stretch.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved that stereo. Much as I enjoy being able to log onto Youtube and track down pretty much any musician I own, there is a part of me that will always be attached to physically owning the media that means a lot to me: Hardcopy books, DVDs of beloved movies and shows, CD and LPs of the music that really speaks to me.

Good art is an experience that changes your worldview, but the great art that you truly love is more than that. It’s presence in your space is a statement–this is me; these are the things I love. Online spaces offer the space to do something similar, but it’s never quite the same thing.

Earlier this week, I set up the stereo again because it fit into the new work space. I am, once more, able to listen to entire albums while I work instead of searching for playlists. I get the physical pleasure of stopping something and putting it away.

And it seems that I’d left a bunch of media in the CD player back when I packed it away, so I kicked off my first work day by listening through those four discs.

DISC ONE: THE BEST OF COAL CHAMBER, COAL CHAMBER

My partner–who is into metal on a level that I will never match–could well decide to rethink our cohabitations when I say this, but there is a part of me that will always have a soft spot for late nineties and early naughties Nu-Metal.

That said, I spent the first half of this disc wondering when Korn released a new album, and it wasn’t until I hit Loco that I actually remembered who Coal Chamber were, that I actually owned one of their CDs, and that they’d been successful enough to actually merit a Best Of CD.

I started off thinking this was totally not the best argument for buying things in physical media, since this is one of those albums that I would happily have skipped in an era when I could just listen to Loco on Youtube. Then I realised how much work I was getting done while it played in the background, simply because I wasn’t getting distracted by the lyrics or familiar singles.

DISC TWO: SLIPPERY WHEN WET, BON JOVI

It’s easy to forget just how good this album is. Largely because Bon Jovi spent the next twenty years moving towards ballads as their dominant singles, and Jovi himself started becoming increasingly twee in his music choices.

That said, the run of Let It Rock, You Give Love A Bad Name, Living on a Prayer, Love is a Social Disease, and Wanted: Dead or Alive makes for one of the best A-sides in classic rock history.

DISC THREE: APPETITE FOR DETRUCTION, GUNS ‘N’ ROSES

So apparently I was in the mood for a particular era of music when I loaded the CD player last. Or, possibly, I was looking at writing more Keith Murphy novellas, since they were basically written to an 80s Hair Metal and Hard rock soundtrack.

It’s kinda weird that this showed up, as my partner and I were having an in-depth conversation about Slash and his awesomeness over the weekend, largely prompted by the rise of rock biographies after the success of Motley Crue’s The Dirt. It led me to an important realisation: my ability to enjoy the bands I loved in my early teens is largely dependent on not learning anything about what was going on behind the scenes, as they’re invariably assholes when their 80s rock excesses are viewed up close.

That said, I still love the cover art for this one.

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DISC FOUR: SHOUT AT THE DEVIL, MOTLEY CRUE

Right. Holy shit. That’s where that CD went.

Motley Crue were the second band my partner and I bonded over. The first was Van Halen. The third was the Darkness. But Crue were the band we bonded over hardest, and they’re one of the handful of places where our musical tastes intersect in a meaningful way. I attempt to load up the car with Crue albums every time we take a roadtrip, as it’s an easy choice we’re both going to be happy with, but had been unable to find my copy of this one for two years.