Mainstream rock and teens

musicismylife78

there are always "cool" or even "outcast" kids who are into edgy, hip, avant garde, great music, but it seems like in middle school and high school most kids seem to be into mainstream music. mainstream rock, hip hop etc...

when i was in high school, everyone was into the whole mainstream alt rock scene, the nickelbacks, creeds, linkin parks, alien ant farm (remember those guys!), staind.

And it seems like as people get older, or in college, thats when real musical exploration takes place, and people start getting into bands like radiohead and the hip of the hip so to speak.

why is this? Is this true for all you? For those in their twenties like I am, was your middle and high school years filled with either you liking, or the school populace liking mainstream rock and hip hop?

Its funny how back in the early 90's, alt rock radio was so edgy and cool. nowadays, or at least when i used to listen to it in the late 90's and early 2000's, its filled with complete disposable garbage. alt rock isnt alternative anymore. its three days grace and seether and linkin park. and there is nothing remotely alternative about those bands

It seems almost like middle school and high school is all about mall kid culture. mall kid music. and thats what mainstream rock is.

Cradles Broken Glass

I entered high school in 99' and that was when Creed was riding high, I have to admit that I listened to them, but it wasn't all that I listened to. For the most part I stayed away from the "mainstream." I listened to The Beatles (yeah, I know, but in 99' not that many jr. high/high school kids were jamming out to them), Pearl Jam (of course), Widespread Panic, Pink Floyd (discussing the meaning of Piper at the Gates of Dawn in it's entirety with my other music nerd friends), The Doors, The Who, etc. I'm sure I was one of the few kids in my high school who even knew who Radiohead was. However, now in my 20's, I'm somewhat of a music snob. I actually tried taking out my PJ cd in the car yesterday only to hear Kid Rock blasting from the closest thing that we have to a decent radio station, I just snarled my nose and put the cd back in. Now days, I'm a sub and I work mostly at the high school (I'm working on my teacher's license so I can teach full-time), I tend to let the kids listen to their iPods as long as they are quiet and working on their school work. Sadly, I hear hip-hop, country crap, and top-40 sh!t blaring from their ear phones most of the time. About of handful of kids have what I would call "good music taste," and I spend spare time (after the work is done) talking to them about music, it's fun. I actually plan on burning kid friendly PJ and stuff to a cd and letting the kids in my class listen once I've secured a teaching job, hopefully I can lead the youth in a positive way,lol.

JL19851

To be honest, it all goes in phases. In my teenage years, I really discovered hard rock and classic rock, and at that time, mainstream was really Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, etc...and I still listen to most, if not all, of those bands.

When I hit college and into my early 20s, my conception of good music changed dramatically, as I incorporated a select amount of rap, hip hop, early rock 'n' roll, blues, and jazz into the repertoire, and slowly became more of a snob.

Now in my early 30s, I find myself listening to just about anything, but not caring as much about what is great and what is not great. I like what I like, don't like what I don't like...and care even less about what other people are listening to. Ultimately, I learned that I don't have some magical knack to know who the true great rock stars are and who's not - who's got street cred and who's a purported phony - and I don't care.

The other thing is that the definition of what is mainstream and what is "underground" has been completely shattered by the internet.

intodeep

I didn't check out jack shit of new stuff in college. It was probably my least exploratory time. I graduated HS in 96 and college in 2000. Listened to a lot of the same stuff i did in highschool late 80's and early 90's grunge/alt rock etc and listened to classic rock.
I smoked more dope in college so i got int floyd and the doors a lot.

After college with the rise of hte internet i started finding out about a lot of bands i missed and liked that were coming around. Really got into 90's Modest Mouse, Pavement, Built to SPill etc

DewieCox

If you're into crappy music in hs, chances are you're gonna be into crappy music after and even if you're listening to good tunes in hs, chances are you aren't THAT into music and you'll just lazily start listening to whatever.

samjam

I just started my freshman year of college, so this feels appropriate to reply to, as I just went through high school! Anyway, high school for me was definitely about exploration.

My dad brought me up on classic rock from a very young age (gave me a Who cassette when I was 2 years old), and I completely took to it. From a young age, I was just in love with that sort of music! Which was pretty funny, as I'd have Disney CDs, Britney Spears CDs, and The Who and Jimi Hendrix CDs all at the same time when I was young! So to say I had a little bit of a different perspective on music than most kids in my town would probably be correct.

Anyway, along with classic rock ,of course, from 7th grade to 9th grade, I loved everything I despise now- crappy 'alternative' bands like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and All Time Low. All that pop-punk stuff, I loved it! At the time, they weren't quite at their peak of famousness yet, which I thought was really cool. I can credit one band, though- Lostprophets. Their song Rooftops was the first time I really truly connected with a song, and made me feel like anything was possible. After that song helped me through some stuff, I started listening to music much more carefully, and music in general became a much bigger part of my life. So for that, I can thank this crappy genre of music haha

In 10th grade, I started to explore more- I got really into a lot of 90s and real alternative stuff- Counting Crows, Oasis, Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, RHCP- stuff I still love today!

And at the end of 10th grade, I discovered Pearl Jam, and my life definitely changed for the better! Never had music affected me like that. And the rest is history!

Throughout 11th and 12th grade, I explored a lot of indie music, and now bands like Band of Horses, Arcade Fire, and Local Natives are up there as some of my favorites!
And that brings us to today- I love all the music I have been listening to for basically the last 3 years, and of course, good old classic rock! Can't wait to see what I discover throughout college!