I listen to practically everything, from Eurodance to Industrial music (from pretty much every era of Industrial-from Throbbing Gristle to Skinny Puppy to KMFDM to VNV Nation to Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Rammstein, Orgy, Stabbing Westward, etc.), J-Pop/J-Rock (although I'm not far enough into them to discern one style from another-except the visual bands, of course; there's a big difference between The Pillows and Malice Mizer, obviously), Alternative Dance, Post-punk, Goth Rock, New Wave, Grunge, Hardcore, British Punk, Emo, Third Wave Ska Revival, Pop-punk, some Goth Metal, some Contemporary Country...generally whatever music has lyrics/vocals/background music I like.
Usually, people I know didn't say too much about the type of music I listen to (although they would all admit I was very extreme in this sense), but they commented more on the choices I'd use for a particular mix, since they mostly would prefer something gradually leading into something else. I mean, I actually had a Sarah McLachlan song followed by KMFDM on one of my burnt mixes, and other times I would switch from Lacuna Coil right into the Gin Blossoms or Jimmy Eat World. 'Little Date' from Ranma ½ right into 'Gay Bar' by Electric Six...literally crazy, abrubt transitions from one genre to the next; I'm sure everyone thinks I'm comfortably bipolar by now.
My parents have sometimes walked into my room while I was listening to Rammstein, and my dad commented something like 'That sounds demonic', and the only thing I was thinking was 'It's sung in German, it's operatic, it's Industrial Metal, but how does that make something demonic?' I was frustrated, in the least. My mom also walked in while I was playing 'Engel' one time and asked me if I could understand what they were saying (since she couldn't), and obviously, since I had taken German for seven years and I'd also seen translations of the lyrics as well as the original German lyrics, I did know. She left it at that. Of course, my mom does look at me kind of strangely when she hears the Partridge Family or ABBA coming out of my computer speakers.
Basically, I don't think anyone can predict my tastes, and they probably don't try to even comment on it, since they're too confused by it anyway. I do think that the best music was definitely made in the 80s and early to mid 90s, though. I think what the mainstream needs is another good wave of Industrial music to come through...that should rejuvenate most music trends for a while.
