Thread:Deathstalker666/@comment-1496755-20180827202615/@comment-1496755-20190816232645

Emotional intensity is definitely a big thing. Without it, a song is just noise. But when it works, it turns into an experience. Perhaps the more social people use interactions with others to vent their excessive emotional charge... Another thing I really appreciate is relatable lyrics - one of the things that got me hooke up on Linkin Park back in the day was exactly this, the fact they sang about the stuff I was going through. I felt like they understand and the experience becomes shared. It's a way to vent these emotions and be relieved... for a while, at least.

I believe gaming does something similar too - it's not the violence that attracts me, but the emotional impact. There are plenty of modern games that have violence, but they are pretty dry emotionally. Then playing them just feels like going through the motions without really doing anything meaningful. Playing as "dark" characters can count as well - being "dark" isn't as important as the chance for them to play meaningful roles, above and beyond the "dark" stereotype.

It is true, nu metal fell victim of its own excesses (exemplified by Limp Bizkit and their clones). Only bands that could evolve and leave behind the teenage-like mentality could survive. And they were very few. LP changed their style quite a bit over the years as they sought to move on, but they also made an album that goes back to their nu metal roots and it sounds great because it's done right (from the standpoint of their more mature age and greater experience as artists). It's a demonstration of lessons learned and properly aspplied in practice. They even threw in a song that sounds much like punk as well, which was an interesting surprise.

I don't think I've ever truly listened to Van Halen - they weren't part of my folks' playlist, so therefore they weren't played at home. Same applies to Rolling Stones - we never had any interest towards them, even though people have often told me how great they supposedly are.

Woo, a boring week is over, and (more importantly) that problematic tooth is fully repaired now. I still shudder when I remember the agony it caused me a few weeks ago.