MORE GEMS FROM YESTERYEAR

I wrote album reviews in the "Teen Beat" section of the Rochester Post-Bulletin (circulation: 42,500) my senior year of High School. It was actually a pretty sweet gig for an 18 year old. Classmates were paying attention. English teachers would use quotes for grammar discussion. There is also a certain satisfaction in seeing your byline in print for the first time. Free music and some extra spending money to boot ain't bad either. Although the deadlines and monotony were a little taxing. Naturally there were times when I had no choice, but listen to and write about terrible albums...

The one time I got "recognized" was in the lobby of the old BTD Sports in Rochester during a Lusus Naturae show in the fall of 2003. A girl came up to me a said "you're the guy that writes about music in the paper". With a smile on my face, and feeling a false sense pride, I replied "oh yes, that's me." With a snarl she barked back "I can't believe you didn't like the new Fuel album! What's wrong with you?" BAM! My pride turns to insecurity and I walk away. The album she was referring to was "Natural Selection" and it honestly was / is terrible. I don't have the article I wrote on my person these days, but the negative ones aren't fun to read anyway.

I picked up most of the bad albums I wrote about from a large filing cabinet at Post-Bulletin Headquarters. Like most newspapers, they get dozens upon dozens of discs sent to them from A&R folks around the world. Of course I was always free to go out and purchase an album I wanted to write about, but that was money out of pocket for the time being. I was only reimbursed after the review was printed. I took that route less frequently than the mystery bin. I remember discovering two very good albums this way: 8 Bit Monk by an electronica / psychedelic rock fusion quintet from California called WOVEN and what is now my favorite Neil Young album, Greendale.

• Young's Concept Album Features Intense Storyline (01/20/04)  
• There's No Looking Back For Rearview Mirror (09/16/03)