• PM Dawn: Returning to Great Music

    Some 13 years after the first time I heard “Looking Through Patient Eyes,” I find myself returning to give PM Dawn another listen. You could easily find used copies of their albums at your local CD Warehouse or Half Price Books. That I find myself returning to them is perhaps a long-awaited sign that I am indeed growing up.

    Youth is characterized by the urge to stay current with latest songs, styles, language, technology, and activities. It’s all about the cool factor. I cannot tell you how much crap I listened to as a teenager because it was cool. Marilyn Manson? Seriously?

    There were, of course, different groups and each group had its own version of what was cool. I ended up on the dark side for a time, and listened to garbage like My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Tool, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Rollins Band, God Lives Underwater, Gravity Kills, and others. Some of them had catchy tunes, but overall they left me feeling like I had been in a traumatic car accident in my soul.

    Preceding and following my dark side, there was my grunge/alternative phase: Pearl Jam, STP, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Seven Mary Three, Candlebox, Our Lady Peace, Live, etc.

    But before I really entered a “phase”, I listened to whatever music I came across that sounded good. My first favorites were Michael Jackson, 10,000 Maniacs, Duran Duran, The Cranberries, PM Dawn, Sinead O’ Connor, and yes, even Ace of Base.

    I won’t claim that all of these are artists I plan on revisiting. But I’ve been somewhat surprised these past three to five years by the artists and songs I like. It is a fascinating personal discovery, and the latest artist to be reclaimed is PM Dawn. They’re music is so smooth and relaxing. I don’t have to hate my parents or quit my job to enjoy it. So much for angst. I’m finding more and more that all the angst-ridden songs of my youth are relegated to the category of “historical significance only.”