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"HEAVY ROTATION": SOUNDTRACKS THAT CHANGED LIVES

Like a discerning vinyl collector in a cluttered record shop, Peter Terzian has assembled an impressive and eclectic group of essayists to reflect on “the albums that changed their lives” in his new book "Heavy Rotation". There is much to recommend in this literary compilation, especially for those whose towering stacks of books and periodicals hover by a similarly unwieldy music library. 

The essays, which include James Wood's reflections on The Who and Daniel Handler on the Eurythmics, are often more about the authors than the albums. But in the best pieces, such as Martha Southgate's meditation on The Jackson 5’s "Greatest Hits", the music is essential to the story.
 
"Heavy Rotation" is a tribute to that special moment when an album becomes life-altering, or at least a well-timed salve. Many of the authors recount a time of disorientation or a hormonally fraught period of adolescence, when an album resonated in a very personal way. After finishing this breezy book, my first instinct was to browse my neglected stack of CDs. In one bulky, faux-leather binder I found "Ten", Pearl Jam's debut, elegised as a record that “was a matter of life or death” in an mournful essay by Joshua Ferris. Neither he nor I have listened to this album since college. 

One soundtrack looms especially large in my own record collection: "Hello Nasty" (1998) by the Beastie Boys. Like most trends in America, hip-hop began as a coastal phenomenon, germinating in the Bronx, taking root in Los Angeles and only then spreading inward. Coming of age in the midwest, I was generally untouched by hip-hop's growing influence. The Beastie Boys, perhaps owing to their pale, unthreatening faces and guitar-heavy mixing, managed to sneak their way onto the playlists of "alternative" radio stations. This is how I heard "Intergalactic", a hit single from the album, while I was in high school.

But it wasn’t until years later that I discovered the depth of sounds on "Hello Nasty". The first Beastie Boys album with Mix Master Mike, it features a stunning display of turntable virtuosity and a kaleidoscope of influences, from the futuristic stomp of "Super Disco Breakin'" to the airy, Latin jazz of "Song for Junior". Lee “Scratch” Perry, a legendary dub reggae producer, also makes a nonsensical appearance at the end of the marathon-length record. I still wonder what I would be listening to and what I would be doing today had I found these amazing sounds sooner.

At the end of the classic album "Reasonable Doubt", (released in 1996, though I came across it a decade later), Jay-Z raps, “This is the number one rule for your set/ In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets”. Echoing Sean Carter, Terzian writes that there have been “many moments when I realised that my life is rough and imperfect, but it’s mine and no one else’s…There was a serendipity that was involved that I can’t question. If hadn’t bought all those records, perhaps I would never have discovered Miaow. And if I hadn’t discovered Miaow, perhaps I would never have become a writer”. Perhaps if I hadn’t missed out on the Beastie Boys in their prime, I wouldn’t have had anything to write about, either.
 
Click below to listen to Terzian, Southgate and Ferris talk about albums that changed their lives.

 ~ CORBIN HIAR

Picture Credit: fensterbme (via Flickr)