My top 5 life-changing favorite songs
On Wednesday, Solid State Records posted on their Facebook and Twitter asking a loaded question: is there a song that has completely changed your life for the better? Yes. And coincidentally they are all by Solid State bands. So I am happy to reply. 1. FewLeftStanding - Blistered Spirit 2. Living Sacrifice - Conditional 3. Luti-Kriss - Blacksmith 4. Selfmindead - Motivation Song 5. Demon Hunter - Through the Black I dedicate this post to the label's second compilation album, This is Solid State Vol. 2, which contains #2-4. I bought it at a dinky little Christian store when I was in high school. I had just been introduced to hardcore music– maybe a week beforehand – and got excited when I saw a song by Living Sacrifice, a band for which I had received a strong recommendation. That song was called "Conditional" and after hearing the first 15 seconds, it became my favorite song for about 10 years. It was my first taste of a song that spoke about being in the world and not of it. I probably listened to it a hundred times that month. Other songs were "Blacksmith" by Luti-Kriss, where I was slapped in the face by the ruthless voice of Josh Scogin, and Selfmindead's "Motivation Song," which showed me that no matter how intense hard-core music gets, it can literally be uplifting and happy. Illka Volume's screams are the best combination of lows and highs I've ever heard to this day, and I listen to "Reason" by Benea Reach at least once a week to bring me home. When Volume 3 came out, I was introduced to Demon Hunter with #5, "Through the Black," which helped me get through my freshman year of college.
My #1 life-changing song is "Blistered Spirit" by FewLeftStanding, which is the first hardcore song I ever heard. I love it, because every time I hear it, it brings me back to the exact moment my life changed. You can read about it in my introductory post. There - 1 through 5, in sort-of order, and I hope at least one of these songs also had an impact on your life. Thank you, Brandon Ebel, for giving these bands a home.
