Пятница 2 Янв 2009, 16:55

About a month and a half ago, I devised a plan to listen to all of the cd's that I have (that are currently in cases). This was because I wanted to listen to things I haven't listened to in a while or ever, really.

The two rules were: the choices must be completely random (I assigned each cd a number and made my calculator choose random numbers - I know, it's quite pathetic), and I have to listen to the entire album all the way through. Other than that, I can add more cd's to the collection, it doesn't matter.

Since I started two months or so ago, the list in the first few posts won't be in the order I listened to them in - just a pseudo-alphabetical order. Anyway…

1) 3 Doors Down - The Better Life
- This was one of the first cd's I ever bought - long before I started playing guitar. When I was listening to it now, I still remembered the words, so it must have made some kind of impact on my past-child-self. However, I no longer like 90's alternative rock, so this was rather boring to sit through. Kryptonite, So I Need You, and Duck and Run are awesome songs, but everything else was hard to sit through.

2) Abandoned Pools - Humanistic
- This is a cool album to listen to. Ruin Your Life and The Remedy are really awesome songs. Actually, this band kind of reminds me of 3 only not as hard. If there's a fault with this album, it's that it seems too aloof and the songs don't grow on you.

3) Ryan Adams - 48 Hours
-This bootleg album by Ryan Adams is ok. Not even close to his best. The song Hallelujah is the highlight. Overall, I thought it was forgettable.

4) Ryan Adams - Suicide Handbook
- This is a much, much better unreleased album by Ryan Adams. Most of the songs are great. I even think Just Saying Hi (aka Answering Bell) is better than the released version on Gold. The only song that I didn't like at all was Idiots Rule the World.

5) Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
- This is an amazing album. Adams's first without Whiskeytown, and it shows that he does know what he's doing. He shows that he can cut loose with To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) and Shakedown on 9th Street but also very subdued with Amy and Come Pick Me Up. Also, My Winding Wheel is one of the best songs I have ever heard - definitely on of the best guitar solos. The only thing that's wrong with the album is that it drags during the middle, but at least it picks up at the end.

6) Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
- I thought this album was even better than Heartbreaker. This is my favorite Ryan Adams album and its surprising that some critics put it down as a filler album. Beautiful Sorta, Sweet Illusions, Magnolia Mountain, and Meadowlake Street are just a few of the highlights.

7) Aerosmith - Big Ones
- I really like Aerosmith. Honestly. But this is around the time they started to suck. Going Down/ Love In An Elevator is awesome especially with the harmonies on the vocals and Angel has a nice countryish twang that they add, but most of the other songs on this album were just ok.

8) Fiona Apple - When the Pawn
- Let me state this now: I love Jon Brion. He could do anything (and he just about has) and I would love it. Producing Fiona Apple is no different. His touches on On the Bound made me listen to that song on repeat for about an hour. Fiona has an amazing voice that makes Paper Bag and Fast as You Can two other highlights for the album.

9) The Beatles - Beatles For Sale
- By the way, I am one of the biggest Beatlemaniacs ever. So, I most likely will be biased - but I'll try not to be. For what is considered their weakest album, For Sale has a lot of great songs. Words Of Love, Every Little Thing, and What You're Doing are great touches and only add to their takes on songs. Even though everyone believes Mr. Moonlight is the worst song, I'll Follow the Sun, I think, is extremely boring. At least the former has a great vocal by John. It may not be their best work, but it's still a great album.

10) The Beatles - Let it Be...Naked
- Everyone thinks this album is better than the original. Which it might be, I don't know. I like them both. However, if they really wanted to make a better album, they should've released the Glyn Johns' Get Back album. As it is, this album (and the original) is comprised of great songs such as Dig a Pony and I've Got a Feeling. Indeed, The Long & Winding Road sounds better without the strings and I'm 90% sure that that song was the entire reason this album was released.

11) The Beatles - Please Please Me
- Recorded in one day, this album holds up as one the best of the Beatles. Twist and Shout is definitely the best track, and the only way to close the album, with a searing Lennon vocal. I don't have much to say, there's not a bad song on the entire album.

12) The Beatles - With the Beatles
- This sophmore effort from the Beatles is another great album. Following along the lines of Please Please Me, they expand upon their predecessor with All My Loving, Please Mister Postman and another great closing track with Money (That's What I Want).

13) The Beatles - Rubber Soul
-This is what I consider the Beatles' first real, mature record. Surely, everything up until this 1965 album hinted at this, but the leap they took from Help! to this was amazing. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), I'm Looking Through You, and In My Life are the real highlights. Only Wait stands out as a weak track, but that's because it was originally meant for Help!. Otherwise, an almost flawless album.

14) Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
-Andrew Bird, the indie violinist, singer, and renowned whistler, has another great album. His lyrics really stand out, perhaps because of his dictionary-like vocabulary. At times, it's a put-off, but with Imitosis and Heretics, he makes it work.

15) Cake - Comfort Eagle
- I originally bought this album on a whim, hearing it was good, but never actually listening to it. During it's random rotation I was skeptical at first, but it turned out to be really good. Short Skirt/Long Jacket is the best tack by far, extremely catchy but also good musically. It's definitely an album I have to go back to.

16) Cheap Trick - Authorized Greatest Hits
- Another one of my favorite artists. I've seen Cheap Trick twice so far in concert, and they never fail to be entertaining. Younger, I used to solely listen to greatest hits cd's because I didn't know what else to, which is why this is in my collection. Normally, I despice greatest hits albums, but this has such amazing songs, it's ok. Since every song is basically great, there's no point in pointing out everything. The one song that stands out (because it's a different version) is The Flame (live). Rick Nielsen's guitar is even more haunting on this version than the original.

17) Elvis Costello - Mighty Like a Rose
- I just recently started getting into Elvis Costello, which explains this album. I bought this while I was already into my "random experiment", and it popped up in a subsequent rotation. The Other Side of Summer is the only good song on the album, unfortunately. It's almost like Mr. Blue Sky. Everything else on the album is either so-so or is down-right horrible.

18) Miles Davis - Gold
-I'm not going to say much about this. I don't know much about jazz. This was a good album to listen to, but I barely remember it. Miles Davis has had better albums, but this is good at least.

19) Def Leppard - Hysteria
- A great album. There are no bad songs on this album. It's masterfully produced, catchy, musically talented, and just fun to listen to. Excitable, Animal, and Don't Shoot Shotgun are among the best tracks. Of course Pour Some Sugar on Me and Love Bites are the two most popular, and for good reason.

20) Def Leppard - Vault: Greatest Hits 1980-1995
-As I said earlier, I don't care too much for greatest hits collections as much as I used to, and this is no exception. This doesn't have the intimacy that Hysteria has. No, Hysteria is not an "intimate" album, but Vault is what it is - a collection of popular songs without any character. Two Steps Behind (acoustic version) and Miss You in a Heartbeat (acoustic version) are especcially without character. I, for one, don't want to hear Def Leppard going acoustic. That being said, at least the songs good, some even great, because, all in all, it still is Def Leppard.

21) Dinosaur Jr. - Without a Sound
- I originally bought this album to hear Dinosaur Jr. I had heard of them a lot before but without ever actually hearing them. I still am not a huge fan of theirs but the album is solid. Again, I'm not a huge 90's alternative fan, but this is much better than 3 Doors Down or Nirvana. Feel the Pain is the best song on the album with it's stop/start arrangement. Overall, a decent album to get aquainted with the band.

22) The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin' (disc 1 : You Just Can't Stop It)
- Again, another greatest hits album. This one, I do like to listen to - The Doobie Brothers have great songs. At least before Michael McDonald (I'm not a fan of the direction they took when he joined the group). With the vocal harmonies (Black Water), rocking songs (Jesus Is Just Alright, and softer side (Another Park, Another Sunday), this album is at least fun to listen to.

23) Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
-Apparently, I used to love greatest hits albums when I was younger. I've never been a huge Dylan fan, but the songs on this album are great. Subterranean Homesick Blues is one of my favorite songs of his, the way he adds image upon image without a lettup. And I Want You got stuck in my head for hours afterward.

24) The Eagles - The Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
-Yet, again, another greatest hits compilation. So, I won't say too much. It's the Eagles. Hotel California is one of the greatest songs ever. Victim of Love is boring, There.

That's it for the first 24 (That's how many cd's fit into the cd sleeve for the random rotation.) Now, I'll start the second post.