The follies of youth

I went to the gym this morning to do some cardio, and I brought an iPod for company. I've got a smart playlist called "Hardly Played at All," which is set to only include songs that haven't been played in the last 12 months. I figure that it's an opportunity to get reacquainted with some old friends.

But it also points up some of the mistakes of the past, and how much my tastes have changed over the years. At around the 15 minute mark on the bike, Emerson Lake and Palmer's Karn Evil 9 suite came on. Haven't listened to it in years; didn't even know that I'd ever ripped it. So I thought, "I think I'll listen to it all, just to see if I can figure out why I used to like it so much back in high school." I remembered it's about a half hour long, which was the right length for the remaining workout.

I failed. Miserably. I got through about a third of it, then the Hammond organ noodling and Minimoog "strings" just did me in. Not to mention the pretentious lyrics. Didn't even get to the "Welcome back my friends..." part.

I'm not a progressive rock guy anymore, I guess. Though I still like some mid-period Genesis...