The intimacy of the CD fades as the MP3 emerges…and when did cell phones replace lighters?

Once or twice a month, when I was in school, I would go out to Best Buy on a Saturday to pick up the latest CDs of my favorite bands. For only $30, I could get 3 albums; a mixture of new and classics. I was striving to add all the models such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, in addition to innovative releases in order to make my assortment complete. I’ve always believed that in music, and everything else in life, you need to know the past in order to appreciate the present. Plus, my older brothers would kick my ass if I ever listened to or purchased NKTOB.

My favorite part of these Saturday trips to Best Buy, which began before I could even drive so I would make my brother drive me out there, was after the purchase. I would get in the car, attempt to tear open the impractical cellophane for each album I bought, and then decide which one to listen to. Forward on, I would play that CD over and over again until I knew every word to each song. Once it grew exhausted, I would progress on to the next. And when I was through with that batch, it was already time to go to Best Buy yet again. Eventually, I would take my pet songs from these CDs to craft mixes. As is the mantra of High Fidelity, no one can deny a solid mix.

This brings me to my point. I have an iPod, which I love, but to me, it is one giant mix. I thought that idea was fantastic at first. I treasured the idea of putting my iPod on shuffle and trialing one great song after another. Then something dawned on me while at a Death Cab for Cutie/Franz Ferdinand concert (which was surprisingly excellent by the way). I knew their music, I recognized the songs, but I didn’t know any of the words. It was at that point that I realized the idea of a concert for me had completely changed. Had I outgrown the thrust of the front rows or the impatient atmosphere of set changes? Was the dwindled attention span argument true due to endless reality television over the years? Or had I simply lost the my institution of devotion to the carnal knowledge of an album? Or is that constitution? Can I blame the iPod and MP3s? I’d certainly like to.

I purchase single songs from these bands, and on occasion I will actually buy the entire digital album. But I rarely anymore listen to an album all the way through, the way it was meant to be heard. Green Day refused to put it’s American Idiot album out for release on MP3 originally because the album was created to play straight through much like an unfolding novel of descriptive chapters with a beginning, plot twist, and end. Each song was meant to blend into the next as an art form of music, which is often overlooked these days but kept alive by others like Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, Phish, and Arcade Fire to name a few. Although the classic radio stations have slaughtered the likes of The Wall and Tommy for hits sake, they’re still a biblical comparison to the concept idea.

I no longer dedicate myself to really knowing a song, and becoming “intimate” with an album. I have to say though, that most of my listening time was spent in the car, while on my way to work and road trip. Or it was from my portable CD player that forced me to listen to only one album, without losing focus and selecting a different song from my 3,000 song collection on the iPod. Maybe it’s too many options or the way society is in the digital media age - I can’t keep my attention on a single album long enough to truly appreciate it. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’m never in a car anymore where I had the time to listen to my CDs. Now I commute via public transportation with my MP3 player, which is always on shuffle or blasting the hottest mix I compiled.

The hardest part of all this was realizing that my love of music has altered. I find concerts irresistible. It is a chance to see one of your beloved bands play, to hear your favorite songs and have a grand time with your friends. You craft memories of everyone singing along with the band and from that day on, when you hear that song, not only do you know every word, which you can relate to, but you think of the concert and its atmosphere as well.