Only about a year or two ago did I decide to jump on the Spotify bandwagon. I wanted to be "hipster" - like most things I do in life - and not give in to the fact that nearly every music junkie listened to their music via Spotify. But after a while, I got sick of converting YouTube music videos to mp3's and sucked it up: I switched over to the streaming service taking over the industry.
There are many perks of being a music journalist, and my favorite is the fact that I get to discover more music than the average person. It's literally my job to write about upcoming artists, tour announcements, and concert reviews. So, I curated a bunch of Spotify playlsts that I think are worthy of sharing on here. I'm starting a "Spotify Series" and will try to share one of my playlists each week. Of course, I have to start off with my favorite playlist, the Greatest Of All Time. (GOAT)
Now, the GOAT songs are hard to categorize. There's certain ways to go about this - musicality, genre, etc. But, I've chalked this playlist down to my favorite songs of all time, which may not necessarily mean they are the greatest musically or most popular by any means. Before anyone jumps down my throat either, this is purely based on my own opinion and musical taste.
With just over 120 songs, this playlist will forever be building as I stumble upon some of my favorite hits. In middle school, I really started to get into music after my older cousin showed me Green Day's "Bouldevard of Broken Dreams." I became obsessed. He then handed me a ripped-up piece of paper with a few bands listed on it, which included All Time Low and The Ready Set - still two of my favorite bands to this day. One of my favorite All Time Low tunes, "Outlines," and The Ready Set's "No Love," can be found on the GOAT.
Then, comes the emo-era. Break out the studded belts for this phase of my life; GOAT features Breaking Benjamin, Bullet For My Valentine, A Day to Remember, and My Chemical Romance. Linkin Park's "Numb" brings me back to my AIM tone, and Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles of The Rich and the Famous," was basically my go-to CD player tune and my life anthem. (no pun intended.) Rock out to Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life," Paramore's "Misery Business," and Sleeping With Sirens' "If You Can't Hang." This also includes the array of sad songs like The Maine's "Into Your Arms," Mayday Parade's "Miserable at Best," and Secondhand Serenade's "Fall For You."
In college, I co-hosted an indie/alternative radio show, which led to my discovery of artists like Bastille, Grouplove, Growlerz, Arctic Monkeys, Two Door Cinema Club, The Vaccines, Modern Baseball, Colony House, and Aer — all found on the GOAT. The Neighborhood's "Sweater Weather" and Sorority Noise's "Using" are two of my absolute jams. College also led to me listening to a lot more pop and hip-hop artists like Katy Perry (my queen) Kesha, Lady GaGa, Halsey, Lana Del Rey, and Justin Timberlake.
Of course, GOAT has to feature some 'oldies.' This includes Radiohead's "Creep," and Aerosmith's "Dream On," obviously, along with "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins and "I Alone" from Live. Guitar Hero classics like AFI's "Miss Murder" and The Stroke's "Reptilia" made the playlist, as well as "Float On" by Modest Mouse, "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." These are the hits that never seem to go out of style.
If you listen to this playlist, you're bound to get whiplash. One second, you're listening to former A Rocket to the Moon star Nick Santino soulfully sing "Long Way Home," and the next, you're thrown into the heavy-metal chorus of Beartooth's "The Lines." But, that's how I like my music - diverse and spontaneous to fulfill my every mood.
Check out the GOAT playlist below and follow if you're into it! More playlists in the Spotify Series will be announced shortly.