Ah, youth.

Ah, youth [says the seventeen year old]. I was nine years old when this album was released. I had no music tastes at all except for what my family listened to and I heard. At the time, I was living with my entire family - two aunts, my mom, and both my grandparents [no dad, though]. The earliest forms of music I heard were very clashing. My grandma loved Sinatra and Johnny Cash, among other classic artists, so I've always held an appreciation for 'oldies'. However, my young aunt who is seven years my senior was a teenager. During the 90's. So I also heard a lot of Green Day - and I mean a LOT of Green Day. My aunt was obsessed with them and had quite the crush on Billy Joel, nearly decapitating me once after I almost drew on her beloved poster of him. So I grew up listening to old classics, and all the new [at the time] in-your-face punk. But I still had no tastes of my own - I was nine, after all.

That changed one day when I got my little hands onto an old, working Walkman I had found in the basement. I was absolutely delighted and wanted to find a good CD to listen to. I looked through the basement again in search of the musical treasure, but I was tired of hearing Sinatra and Green Day. Finally, I looked into my mom's room and laid eyes on what was to become my favorite album of all time. I don't know why exactly I was drawn to 'Conspiracy of One'. It seems weird that a nine year old girl would be enticed by graphics of a flaming skull. I showed it to my mom and asked if I could listen to it. Of course, she said no. Bad words, yadda yadda. Disappointed, I skulked off and waited for her to leave the house the next day.

As soon as she was gone, I listened to that CD and fell in love. The booklet had colorful artwork inside, and I could read the lyrics [although god knows I didn't understand the true meaning behind 'Want You Bad'], so I was entertained for hours. Every time my mom would leave, I would take the CD and listen to it, as many songs as I could, before putting it back carefully exactly where it was. I felt like a rebel. I loved the adrenaline rush I got from hearing the front door open, and then scrambling for dear life to put back the CD. No one ever suspected anything - I was probably the most well-behaved child a parent could ever want.

Damn punk music for corrupting the youth of America!