It's Critter Time!

Nostalgic, groundbreaking, those songs you've heard all your life but will never leave you. This is what music is for.

I'll start. Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop

I'm not actually much of Tea Party fan, but this song lowkey haunts me ever since I first heard it.

Maybe it's because it's just so incredibly trans-coded, but when asked for a song that feels like it's been most affecting to me since I first heard it, my mind always goes to Shield by Girls Rituals.



Noise-pop really is peak when it comes to conveying raw emotional pain, I think.

Maybe a bit more subtle, but this was a song that meant a lot to me when I was questioning/coming out. I didn't have much at the time.

If there is one song that has had the most impact in my life, it's Manic Street Preachers' "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next". Back when I was a kid, I basically only listened to bangers - if a song wanted my acceptance it had to be energetic and it had to be upbeat, and I'd skip every single ballad (and most mid-tempos) in the Now-style compilations I mostly listened to at the time.

Then this track just appears out of nowhere in 1998 and completely rewires my brain. It's sad, it's aching, it's decidedly not a banger, but it hits me. I don't understand most of the words or the meaning (non-native English speaker here) but the haunting emotion just grips me, and the wordless vocals of the outro didn't even need to cross the language barrier to sound so powerful. It opened a whole new world of music for me and the next several years would find me digging deeper into indie and alt rock, full of that pre- and post-millennium anxiety, shaping my music taste massively. It also spiralled me deeper into the Manics' back catalogue and if there's one band that defines my teens, it's the Manics.

Timelessly incredible piece of music, to my ears. The album it's from, 1998's This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, has a strong claim to be my favourite album of all time as well.

Cayman wrote: Sun Jul 13, 2025 11:45 am Maybe a bit more subtle, but this was a song that meant a lot to me when I was questioning/coming out. I didn't have much at the time.

A fantastic song from a phenomenal album! It's a cliché but "Chicago" from the same album hits me in the feels massively every single time.

I can thank my dad for introducing me to Meat Loaf (and by extension Jim Steinman) at a rather young age.



Forever turning my taste rock to be somewhat theatrical

Lolo De Puzlo wrote: Sun Jul 13, 2025 12:49 pm

tbf, it's a song about bats, which immediately gives it a +2 buff on how cool it is

Squarepusher's Go Plastic is an album that taught me the joy of letting jittery, harsh, playful, electric noise do things to your brain and still lives close to my heart. All made without the use of a PC, just fun button n' knob boxes.