Okay, please bear with me as I talk about another person I know (run away - not another story about one of this guy's friends!) because I don't really know how to go about explaining this without explaining the situation/scenario:

Anyway, as long as I've known my neighbor he has been into various types of Heavy Metal: Death, Goth, Nu - all that scream at the top of your lungs stuff. While I like heavy metal music myself (I typically focus on that of the European persuasion) I find myself at odds with his taste. It's not that I have a problem with his taste, but when he talks about WHY he likes this type of music I have a hard time believing he really likes it - his explanations and passion for/towards it seems paper thin to me, almost as if the image of and beyond the music is more important than the music itself. I'm not trying to attack or pick him apart but his "musical identity" feels fake to me, as if he's just trying to validate himself in some manner - the whole "teenage rebel/rebellion" thing. I guess what I'm getting at is I wish he just be honest to himself about this if this is indeed the case - no one needs to be "fake" and lie to themselves, pretending they like something they really don't.

"Musical identity" - that's a strange term... I think everyone has a kind/kinds of music they feel personifies themselves and their taste. You can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to...

...anyways, any and all thoughts on my various ramblings would be greatly appreciated.

Image is completely tied in with music these days. Has been for generations. There is no wrong or right in that - it just is. It's not your place to decide what someone else does, or does not, like. It's not your place to question the authenticity of his choice. It's his choice. If someone wants to let a musical choice define them, so be it. You can laugh at them by all means (as I do the emo kids), but that doesn't change a damn thing. Nor should it.

I see what you're saying. I can think of a few times I've bought/been sucked into trends I later looked back on later and wondered "what the hell was I thinking?" I still have that skateboard I just had to have five years ago when all my friends all started skating in the basement collecting dust. Thank goodness I wasn't as foolhardy when everyone got into electric guitars... only one of the people I knew that got one back then can play more than a few bars, lol.

I agree there is the feeling of fakeness in a lot of people who get caught up in their music. The whole goth/emo thing, "rebellious youth" and certain people who are into rap just immediately strike me as posers looking for something to latch onto (and it doesn't help that I have to suffer through John Cena's stupid scripted wigger-poser act every Monday). Of course, some of that might be due to what I think of the artists themselves.

But then again, there's tastes to consider...I would really feel bad for someone who tolerates music just to want to "belong" to a certain group, so I'd assume anyone with half a brain actually likes what they're listening to and are knowledgable about in order to commit to it. I mean, if I go up to someone wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt and they can't name 3 songs by the band...Yeah, you're a poser (unless it's just for the artwork, which is pretty cool).

On a side-note, I never quite got the whole "mullet" image in my head people seem to associate with a lot of hard rock. I always had more of a fantasy/anime-ish style image about it. Must be a cultural thing between America and Japan...Very odd picturing Guilty Gear characters with defined mullets.

I'm putting on my old man hat here (I'm 32 and have no idea how old you are) while I say - that's all a part of growing up. As embarrassing as it can be when you're older, there's really nothing wrong with it. I too have a dusty skateboard (yet from a fad generation earlier).

no matter how old you get,, you're always going to like the music you liked in high school, cause it reminds you of being young speeding around with the windows down and the music cranked. Granted, my winger t-shirts have gone the way of the bunny-beds, but i still have a hefty cdr collection of all my old stuff. I listen more to j-rock than anything now, but i will never look back and say "oh god why did i get that stryper cd" cause i still think that they kicked ass, its just that im too busy trying to discover (for myself) all the j-rock bands that ive missed over the past 10 years... i dont have time to listen to most of my old collection, and besides i can rattle off the lyrics to most of my high school hair metal cds in their entirely...