-WORDS BY: CHAD “BUDDAH” CARDINAL

“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands — literally thousands — of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

-John Cusack (Rob)- High Fidelity (2000)

Every September I am always reminded about how old I am in comparison to the incoming frosh class.  When I hear things at The Wall like, “I have never listened to Nirvana,” or, “Who is Shannon Hoon?” I feel like crying.  I know that every generation claims that music was better “when they were kids,” but I can’t say that I entirely agree with that.  I fully appreciate and admit that the Beatles, Zeppelin and Dylan are the best of all time within their genres.  I can also say that, without a doubt, I have explored enough music in my life to make such a statement.  But guess what; music is all about personal taste.  Music should be judged on the way that it makes you feel — on what it means to you.  For those of you who have ever seen the movie High Fidelity, you may recall that John Cusack’s character, Rob, owns a record shop called Championship Vinyl. Rob is a compulsive list-maker and music-lover who ends up documenting his life through — you guessed it — lists and music. So here I am, pulling my own Rob — documenting the music that got me through my frosh circa way back in ’95.

Jimmy Hendrix once said, “Music is my religion.” With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to my holy trinity if music and it’s 12 deciples. This is what I call music as a religious experience.

Nirvana – Nevermind

Since its 1991 release, this CD has made music history.  Rolling Stone once wrote, “No album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation — a nation of teens suddenly turned punk — and such a catastrophic effect on its main creator.”  I was one of those teens.  I was a musical mutt — a confused mix of classic rock, heavy/hair metal and INXS-like dance rock. However, when I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time, music would never again be the same for me. When I first saw the beautiful disaster that was Kurt Cobain, it became obvious to me that our generation had finally found its spokesperson; something that my generation was in dire need of. Nevermind contains three of what I would consider to be the top 20 best songs of the 90’s: “Smells like Teen Spirit,” “Come As You Are” and “Lithium.” This album is a perfect blend of outrage, desperation and beauty. It has been almost 20 years since this record first hit shelves, and it seriously still has flavor.

Pearl Jam – Ten

Everybody listens to that one band who they claim to have heard first. We all have that desire to discover the next big band. Well, Pearl Jam is that band for me. When I was young, I was lucky enough to be exposed to American MTV. I say “lucky” because it was this network that humbly introduced me to their mind-blowing song, “Even Flow.” Their legendary album, Ten, another ’91 release, acted as a bridge between heavy rock and grunge music. The bridge was later branded with the familiar title of alternative rock. This record propelled alt-rock into mainstream music with its stellar singles like “Alive,” “Even Flow” and “Jeremy.” Ten is a journey from start to finish, and is also easily listenable today.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik

If Nirvana and Pearl Jam were the Father and Son of early 90’s music, then consider The Red Hot Chili Peppers the funky Holy Ghost. This band blended the rock sound of Pearl Jam, the grunge that is Nirvana and topped it off with an entire new sound — soul.  Blood Sugar Sex Majik, the band’s fifth studio record, tops of my triangle of legendary ’91 releases. This album is the cozy abode to such ditties as, “Give It Away,” “Suck My Kiss” and “Under the Bridge.” These songs are nearly mythical in their nature, as they continue to play in the earbuds of iPods across the world today.

So, there you have it; the three albums that molded my taste in music into what it is today — the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost. And, to round out this religious trip, allow me to conclude with the 12 disciples of my CD collection.

1)     Radiohead –The Bends (“High & Dry,” “Fake Plastic Trees,” “Just”)

2)     Rage Against the Machine – RATM (“Killing in the Name of,” “Bombtrack,” “Bullet In the Head”)

3)     Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (“Today,” “Disarm,” “Mayonnaise”)

4)     Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (“So What’cha Want,” “Pass the Mic”)

5)     Sublime – Sublime (“Santeria,” “What I got,” “Wrong Way”)

6)     The Cure – Wish (“Friday I’m in Love,” “Letter to Elise,” “High”)

7)     Hole – Live through this (“Violet,” “Doll Parts,” “Miss World”)

8)     Weezer – Blue Album (“Say it Ain’t so,” “My Name is Jonas,” “Sweater Song”)

9)     Green Day – Dookie (“Basket Case,” “Longview,” “Welcome to Paradise”)

10)  Oasis – What’s the story Morning Glory? (“Wonderwall,” “Champagne Supernova,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger”)

11)  Elliot Smith – Either/Or (“Between the Bars,” “2:45am,” “Say Yes”)

12)  Blind Melon – Blind Melon (“No Rain,” “Change,” “Tones of Home”)

Other notable mentions are Jeff Buckley’s Grace, Metallica’s Black, U2′s Achtung Baby, Bush’s Sixteen Zen, Alice In Chains’ Dirt, Foo Fighters’ The Color & the Shape and No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom.

I would also like to flex my patriotic muscle and introduce you to, what I would consider, the top-15 Canadian albums of the time.

1)     Treble Charger- Self Title (“Morale”, “Even Grable”, “Red”)

2)     Tea Party – The Edges of Twilight (“Fire in the Head”, “The Bazaar”, “Inanna”)

3)     Our Lady Peace – Naveed (“Hope”, “Starseed”, “Naveed”)

4)     Big Wreck- In Loving memory of…(“The Oaf”, “That song”, “Blown Wide Open”)

5)     Hayden – Moving Careful (“Middle of July”, “Pots & Pans”, “Choking”)

6)     Weeping Tile – Cold Snap ( “In the Road”, “UFO Rosie”, “Good Fortune”)

7)     The Tragically Hip – Fully Completely (“Locked in the Trunk”, “Wheat Kings”, “Courage”)

8)     Rusty – Fluke ( “Groovy Dead”, “Wake Me”, “Misogyny”)

9)     Matt Good Band – Underdogs ( The Whole Cd!…most notable the heart-wrenching “Apparitions”)

10)  KillJoys – Gimme Five ( “Rave & Drool”, “Today I Hate Everyone”,  “Dana”)

11)  Craig Cardiff – Judy Garland(“Judy Garland”, “Circus”, “Lion & the Dragon”)

12)  Sloan – Twice Removed (“People of the Sky”, “Coax me”, “I Hate my Generation”)

13)  The Headstones- Teeth & Tissue (“Unsound”, “Burning”, “Heart Love & Honour”)

14)  Sarah Harmer – You were Here ( “Basement Apt.”, “Coffee Stain”, “Everytime”)

15)  Pure – Generation Six Pack (“Anna is a Speedfreak”, “Drugs, Guns & Booze”, “Lemonade”)

In University or College you will no doubt experiment with and experience many things musical that may feel like a religious experience.  You will get high listening to Bob Marley’s Legend or pretend to like The Dead or Phish for some guy/girl you met playing Ultimate Frisbee.

You will get goose bumps the first time you hear Jeff Buckley’s “Satisfied Mind”.  You will (legally) download an album from The Misfits, The Clash or The Violent Femmes just because your favorite band wore their shirt or name checked them as an influence; and you will probably end up loving them more than that band you once loved.

You will watch The Wizard of Oz with the sound off while Pink Floyd’s Dark side of the Moon plays.   You will HEAR Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet and realize that “Flavor Flav” really isn’t that annoying after all.

And finally, you will discover the musical genius of Neil Diamond after singing “Sweet Caroline” at the top of your lungs one night at the Wall. The point is, always keep your ears and your mind open while you are here. You never know when that next song will become part of the soundtrack to your life.

Editor’s Note: Try sending in recommendations for the Top-3 albums from your era of music. Whichever three albums get the most recommendations will run in the next issue of Spotlight. You guys have a ton of material to work with here; Blink-182, Alexisonfire — some may even call Lady Gaga inspirational. Come on Nipissing and Canadore, hit us up with your selections at spotlight@studentc.com. Let’s have some fun with this.