Ah, high school: either a very happy of a very sad moment for most people, depending on your popularity level. It was personally very sad for me as I basically had no one but my family (and even then...).

Fortunately, I had a few refuges. With the expansion of Internet I was FINALLY able to listen to video game music about as clearly as if I were playing the game. It was a welcomed upgrade as the old tapes I used to record Sega Genesis tracks (mostly) were getting old. Plus, I had to listen to everything/fast-forward in order to get to the one or two tracks I wanted to listen to.

With respect to "regular" music. High school started with Canada-born country pop singer Shania Twain. I don't know why I was drawn to her (I'm not interested in women, although I will admit she is pretty); I guess her music was pop enough to be likable. The Woman in Me had very good songs (No One Needs to Know, I'm Outta Here, Any Man of Mine), but Come on Over was much better. I liked every tracks but the last one (You've Got a Way). She's even the only musical concert I ever attended. It was much too short (90 minutes or so) but I enjoyed every minute of it, despite bad sound (the "men's shirt, short skirts" from Man I Feel Like a Woman sounded terrible).

I remember being looked at strangely in high school because of that - country music just isn't a thing for Quebecers from my generation. But hey! She had a platinum album; one million Canadians can't be wrong :p.

Through high school, mostly through the influence of my older sister, I started liking rock music. Our Lady Peace, Live, Smashing Pumpkins and many others were all part of my high school years (1995-2000). There were also memorable tracks like the Mortal Kombat theme song. I never watched the movie (I hate the genre) but boy did I get hooked to that techno theme!

Towards the end (grade 10, but especially grade 11) I turned towards punk music. At first it was a complete loathing of rap music that got me there. On a school trip in grade 10 people would just put hip-hop all the way. I didn't really like the genre, but on the way back it had become complete hatred. So once again I turned to my big sister and she lent me The Offspring's Smash album. In one word: wow!

For the first time in my life there was a style of music that appealed to me. At long last there was something I could listen to in order to channel all those negative feelings years of solitude have given me. Songs like (I might not have the right title) "There's no Tomorrow", "Self Esteem", "Bad Habit" were all very good. But "Not the One", even to this day, is still at the top of my favorite songs. "The weight of the world is on my shoulders" still resonates today.

Before high school ended I also discovered Swedish (?) band Millencollin, this time through my little brother. Penguins and Polar Bears wasn't as "hard" as Smash but it still had excellent tracks like "No Cigar", "Penguins and Polar Bears" and "Fox". My favorite one though was "The Ballad": "You'll be someone they will look up to." As a loner and someone without friends, that song really gave me hope.

So, how was the soundtrack of YOUR high school years? It doesn't have to be over to comment, you know . Old geezer like me just have a head start, that's all.

That tape thing was smart, I would just turn the video game on when I wanted to listen to it. (wasteful, I know). As for my taste in music back then and now, I guess I would have to describe it as... medium. I didn't listen to any angry music or rap, I liked stuff that was passionate, and wasn't meant to played super loud or anything. Stuff I could think to is I guess what I would say. I listened to a lot of queen and orchestral music. I listened to some Nsync when it was a thing, but it didn't really stick with me, although I am listening to bye bye bye right now because I was reminded of it. :/

ender44 : It was smart but still not optimal. Once again, I was an outcast for music so when I recorded my sister would just mock me and you could hear her. I was in the basement so you could also hear ambient sounds like the washing machine . But it was the best before mp2 and mp3 came along.

I also like orchestral music, although the passion developed later on.