GROWING OLD WITH YOUNG MUSICIANS

They say that people outgrow music or, at least, certain musical tastes, and that is doubtless true. For I no longer take much interest in classical or jazz, which used to preoccupy me a great deal more than ever it does at present. I was always keen on rock music, particularly what is called progressive rock, but even that changes and one finds oneself listening to what is called heavy metal and, by contrast, electronica, meaning Tangerine Dream-like stuff which is likely to be synthesizer-based instrumental. Not that one listens to a great deal of it or all that often. There are other things besides music; but, all the same, if I had to describe my predominating tastes at present it would be heavy metal and electronica, and would include such bands as Motorhead, Iron Maiden, the Spiritual Beggars, Black Label Society, MSG, King Crimson, the aforementioned Tangerine Dream, and - yes - Arch Enemy. I don't know what it is about them, maybe a combination of factors including Michael Amott (also of Spiritual Beggars), but their music and lyrics impress me sufficiently for me to want to rate them as high if not higher than all the rest. And I'm fifty-four, for christs sake! Anyway, it seems to me that age is not really - thank god! - a problem in regard to taste and that, when push comes to shove, one would rather listen to good contemporary music, with a 2000+ date, than simply regurgitate the past or, worse, dwell on the past as though nothing else mattered. Certainly it is good to keep the faith with some of one's old favourites, and it sure as hell makes one feel better to be buying and/or listening to someone approximately one's own age who, like Alice Cooper or Ozzy Osbourne or even Deep Purple, is still, to all appearances, 'going strong' and sounding hip. But I couldn't do that exclusively, and I thank my lucky stars, or whatever it is, that I am flexible enough to change with the times and grow new tastebuds with the passing of time.