Metric: Review of a Lifetime Love

Picture me at forty years-old, lying on the carpeted floor, headphones on, eyes closed. I'm reminiscing of my teens through twenties. What am I listening to? What moves me and reminds me of every moment of every day? What highlights the greatness of youth adding the teeth-grinding edge of emotional hardship? Metric.

When I was thirteen, I spent a majority of my time on a website called (at the time) gaiaonline.com. At first, I enjoyed the conversation. Then, I got a tiny bit addicted to buying pixelated items at 3 AM for slashed prices and then charging twice as much at noon. I built up a lot of "gold" worth pretty quickly. I decided that pixels aren't worth much and started buying original art pieces from artists on the website. 

I met some amazing artists on the website. Specifically, I met Mirilove, 2iyo, Yuroppa and Magaly. Mirilove goes by Erin McManness in real life and is a blogger as well. I lost track of the others over the years. Where am I going with this tangent? Easy, exposure to people from different countries. 2iyo introduced me to Metric and Muse in 2003. At the time I was listening to Maroon 5, who I thought was the best band of the time. I was mistaken. 

Metric's second album Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? is to this day the most inspiring musical piece I can listen to. I still think it's groundbreaking to ask if landlords have landlords. I still tear up a little to On a Slow Night. I consider Combat Baby to be the war anthem of the apathetic. Dead Disco dusts off the idea of repetition of themes in music with a fantastic beat. 

When I was high school, Metric released Live It Out, and for the first time they were on a television channel I could watch in the US. It was exciting to see a band I love get recognition for what they do best, put on a great show. I also got a super charge because Muse and Maroon 5 grew in popularity as well. 

Emily Haines (the lead singer of Metric) released a solo album Knives Don't Have Your Back just about the time I was having a hard time with depression. Our Hell became my anthem. 

Recently, Metric was featured on the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. They released an album in 2009, Fantasies, and are rumored to be in the studio making dreams come true for 2011.

My life has been heavily influenced by the music I listen to and I'll always have my favorite bands. I have tons of favorites, but Metric was my first favorite. It's like picking your most treasured child. Sometimes, it just comes easy.