Music was everything to me in the ‘90s. If not for music, I’m not sure I would overcome all the difficulties of teenage years “accompanied” by the collapse of the Soviet Union, war and transport blockade.

There wasn’t much of a choice in 1990-1992. I was mostly into classic rock: Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Doors. I knew about other bands and I was familiar with their hits, but I never listened to a whole album by, let’s say, The Who or David Bowie. Either it couldn’t be found in Yerevan, or getting a copy was extremely hard. On top of that, I loved my favorite bands to the point where I didn’t want to “waste” time listening to others.

When I learned about a new band, I would listen to one or two of their songs. I can recall clearly a day in 1993, when the electricity was given for more than usual 1-2 hours per day. The relevant authorities forgot to cut it and at 2 a.m., our elderly neighbor started knocking on the wall – she demanded that I stop playing Loosing My Religion by R.E.M., which I had recorded on repeat on an entire cassette. 

I didn’t listen to music that much as I exited the teenage period, and at some point, I actually stopped listening to any music altogether. I did not feel bad about it: after founding Mediamax in 1999 I had so little free time that there was just no room left for music.

The first round of my “return” to music was as unexpected as the “withdrawal” from it. Around 10 years ago I was spending my vacation at the seaside, and the friend I traveled with was listening to something on iPod on the beach. It sparked my interest and I asked him to pass it to me, and there was an old rock collection there. I listened to a couple of songs and just asked myself: “Why did you deprive yourself from this joy for ten years?” I started listening to music again, occasionally.

The second round occurred around six months ago, and that time too, I did not expect it. One day I got a letter from Apple saying that I could sign up for Apple Music for USD 5.99 a month. I clicked “subscribe” without giving it a second thought. I just clicked it and forgot about it. Every month I would get a notification that USD 5.99 has been taken from my card, and then the subscription would slip from my memory again. 

Some time later, the same friend who brought me back to music with his iPod sent me a link to a song. I followed it, listened to the song, and it dawned on me that I could actually download the entire album on Apple Music. It has been six months, but I still can’t believe I got a fortune: I can have any music I like on my phone in mere minutes just for USD 5.99 a month.

I walk a lot, for an hour a day at the very least: thirty minutes or so to get the office and thirty minutes or so to get back home. It means that for the last six months I listened to two new albums or rediscovered old songs that I heard last time 20-25 years ago almost daily.

My biggest discovery has been Van Morrison. I knew the name back in 1990s, of course, by I never felt compelled to listen to his songs. Besides, we recognized only one Morrison in that time – Jim Morrison of The Doors, and listening to some other Morrison would feel like “betrayal”. In recent months I went through three albums by Van Morrison: Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band, and the Street Choir is joining the list. I am simply in awe of this man’s talent. Just listen to him.

I suppose many others didn’t take Alice Cooper seriously as a musician, not just me, because we perceive him as a showman first and foremost. However, I gave it a go to his Billion Dollar Babies, released in 1973, and I can testify I was a fool – the man is a great musician.

As I mentioned, “rediscoveries” happened along the way too. I went through Deep Purple Who Do We Think We Are, which I last touched in my teen years, and every song just brought out hidden memories from my mind, which was an indescribable, almost physical pleasure. Returning to In Through the Out Door by Led Zeppelin after a long break was a similar experience.

As I turned to R.E.M., I was delighted to find out that apart from Loosing My Religion, they had other fantastic songs in the 1991 album Out of Time.

Pearl Jam was another well-known name of the ‘90s, but I only knew a couple of their songs, no more. Recently I listened to Pearl Jam’s album Ten, released in 1991, and I finally saw why it’s considered one of the best tock albums of modern times.

Being a die-hard The Beatles fan, I paid little attention to The Rolling Stones in the 1990s. I knew their main hits, but that was it. I just started discovering the band and now I understand: their Tattoo You (1981) is a wonder.

Now, let’s talk concrete songs. I found out that Start Me Up, which Daron Malakian performed during the System of a Down concert in Yerevan in 2015, wasn’t a SOAD song – it was a cover of the first song from Tattoo You! I have to say, I was really surprised.

The other case is David Bowie. Although I downloaded his The Man Who Sold the World (1970) album, I didn’t pay attention to the title. It was a Sunday afternoon, I was walking and listening to Bowie, and a call came in, interrupting the music. After I finished talking, I pressed the button on my headphones to carry on and suddenly heard Nirvana. It annoyed me as I thought I had the shuffle regime on for some reason. I thought: “Whatever, I like this song, I’ll get back to Bowie after it.” But something wasn’t quite right. I took the phone out of my pocket, looked at the screen and couldn’t believe what I was seeing: The Man Who Sold the World – David Bowie. Music experts can laugh all they want, but I really, really did not know it was Bowie’s song!

The third discovery took place this week, when I downloaded Patti Smith’s Easter (1978). I knew about Patty Smith, obviously, we reported a few years ago that she devoted “Swans” to Artavazd Peleshyan (what a nice gesture!). I have never listened to her music, though. I did this week and I loved it, and I was impressed the most by Because the Night. I always loved that song, I heard it performed by different artists, and now I know Patti composed it.

As a fan of The Beatles, I find it especially pleasing to listen to Paul McCartney’s latest album The Egypt Station on the way to work and the Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) as I walk back home, and to know that both albums are fantastic despite being so different from one another.

Actually, you shouldn’t think I only listen to “old things”. Apple Music regularly offers me new albums and I don’t refuse. Let me list the new bands (new to me) that I discovered in recent months: Cage the Elephant, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Chelsea Wolfe, Mike Shinoda, Morcheeba, Nothing But Thieves, Royal Blood. Try these, I’m certain you will like some of them.

And lastly, for several months I have been listening to Swan Songs by Hollywood Undead, which they released in 2009. It’s an unbelievably successful combination of heavy metal and rap, which helps you shake off sleepiness in the morning. I noticed “Charlie Sheen” repeating in most songs and I thought the band had a history with the Hollywood actor. I wanted to search it on the internet, but I never remembered to do it. I did for this column, and I report there’s no connection between Hollywood Undead and Charlie Sheen the actor. It turned out that all band members use stage names, and one of them was called Charlie Scene, which I just didn’t hear correctly. If you don’t have a problem with the f word (Hollywood Undead uses it excessively), I recommend the band. In general, I recommend walking a lot and listening to good music. It’s good for the body and the soul.

Ara Tadevosyan is Director of Mediamax