Neil Diamond - Hot August Nights

Album: Hot August Night
Artist: Neil Diamond
Release Year: 1976
Hails From: Brooklyn


Tracks:
1. Prologue
2. Crunchy Granola Suite
3. Done Too Soon
4. Talking
5. Solitary Man
6. Cherry Cherry
7. Sweet Caroline
8. Porcupine Pie
9. You're So Sweet
10. Red, Red Wine
11. Soggy Pretzles
12. And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind
13. Shilo
14. Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
15. Walk On Water
16. Kentucky Water
17. Stones
18. Play Me
19. Canta Libra
20. Morningside
21. Song Sung Blue
22. Cracklin' Rosie
23. Holly holy
24. I Am...I Said
25. Soolaimon/Brother Love's Traveler's Show

My Thoughts: When I was younger my dad played Neil Diamond, Mozart, and Elvis on repeat. During my summers growing up that was basically the soundtrack of my youth. At the time I hated it. Now, though I acknowledge the obsessiveness was crazy and I can blame that trait I picked up on my dad, I am also very thankful for such an amazing introduction to music. One of those guys created rock and roll, another is Mozart (do I really need to say more?) and the other is one of the greatest singer songwriters of the past 50 years. And he is still going. Hot August Nights was a mainstay of my dad's complete Neil Diamond collection. It is a live double album and when looking at it I thought I didn't know some of the songs - but upon listening I know every single one and all of the words to a lot of them. It is amazing what brain washing will do to you! Basically I was brainwashed when I was 8 into writing this blog post 21 years later. Weird.

Reminds me of: My dad. summers on Aubrey Ave.

Random Fact:
It is a double album recorded at a concert on Thursday August 24, 1972, one of ten sold out concerts that he performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
~ (wikipedia)

Cracklin' Rosie (Live (1972 Gr...

Shilo (1972/Live At The Greek ...

The Fugees - The Score

Album: The Score
Artist: The Fugees
Release Year: 1996
Hails From: Jersey Jers

Tracks:
1. Red Intro
2. How Many Mics
3. Ready or Nor
4. Zealots
5. The Beast
6. Fu-Gee-La
7. Family Business
8. Killing Me Softly With His Song
9. The Score
10. The Mask
11. Cowboys
12. No Woman No Cry
13. Manifest/Outro


My Thoughts: This is one of my favorite hip hop albums. The Fugees basically only have 2 albums, this is their second one and after it they all went in different directions, Lauren Hill's direction being -> making one of the other greatest hip hop & R&B albums ever then followed by a quick stop in crazy town, which is the rumor for why the Fugees haven't really reunited although there have been many an attempt. But this album is just amazing tour de force of three incredible lyricists and rappers.


Reminds me of: driving around in the K Car & the Bonneville.

Random Fact:
The track "Ready or Not" samples Enya's "Boadicea". Initially this sample was uncredited, and Enya was prepared to sue for copyright infringement, however decided not to when she discovered that the Fugees were not gangsta rappers. ~ (wikipedia)

Ready or Not


Fu-Gee-La

The Shins - Oh Inverted World

Album: Oh, Inverted World
Artist: The Shins
Release Year: 2001
Hails From: New Mexico

Tracks:
1. Caring is Creepy
2. One By One All Day
3. Weird Divide
4. Know Your Onion
5. Girl Inform Me
6. New Slang
7. The Celibate Life
8. Girl on the Wing
9. Your Algebra
10. Pressed in a Book
11. The Past and Pending


My Thoughts:
I think if the Beach Boys or early Beatles were to have first come out in 2001, this is what they would have sounded like. This album has always been popular with college kids but after Natalie Portman told Zach Braff that "the Shins will change your life", in Garden State they exploded on the college scene. I really like The Shins, but I feel like the quality of their albums have gone down with each one, at least in my opinion. But this album is excellent and just transports me to another time.

Reminds me of: i love making mix cds and Girl Inform Me and New Slang were on my first cds that i ever made. these songs always remind me of sitting in my basement at 2 AM on a work night feverishly searching for cool music and stumbling upon this little ditty of an album.

Random Fact:
The Past & Pending was played at Heath Ledger's funeral.
~ (wikipedia)

New Slang

Know Your Onion! - The Shins

Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance

Album: Happenstance
Artist: Rachael Yamagata
Release Year: 2004
Hails From: Virginia/New York

Tracks:
1. Be Be Your Love
2. Letter Read
3. Worn Me Down
4. Paper Doll
5. I'll Find A Way
6. 1963
7. Under My Skin
8. Meet Me By The Water
9. Even So
10. I Want You
11. Reason Why
12. Moments With Oliver
13. Quiet
14. Untitled

My Thoughts:
It was only a matter of time. There are certain moments in my musical life that I hold as defining moments, which pretty much shaped my musical tastes going forward, the first time I heard a Rachael Yamagata song is one of them. It was at Tower Records at a XPN listening booth and it actual wasn't this CD - it was the EP and the song, Collide, isn't even on this CD, but when I heard it I felt like a had found a missing piece of myself. Most of the songs from that EP are on this CD are on here and every song is great. I have spent years analyzing these songs and applying them to my own life. Rachael is such an amazing talent and I hope she has years and years of success in front her.

Reminds me of: how excited I get when I introduce Rachael music to other people for the first time. whole new worlds.

Random Fact:
Because Rachael is super fun and super random, Survivor asked her to be on the show, she declined. Rachael was originally in a funk bank called Bumpus, where she dated one of the band members. Their breakup is what inspired the song "Reason Why"
~ (my mind)

Worn Me Down:


Reason Why:


Not on the album, but you just have to hear this.

Collide - Rachael Yamagata

Janis Joplin - Pearl

Album: Pearl
Artist: Janis Joplin
Release Year: 1971
Hails From: Texas

Tracks:
1. Move Over
2. Cry Baby
3. A Woman Left Lonely
4. Half Moon
5. Buried Alive In The Blues
6. My Baby
7. Me & Bobby McGee
8. Mercedes Benz
9. Trust Me
10. Get It While You Can

My Thoughts:
This is our first example of why you should never do drugs, kids. This album includes half the songs that are on Janis' greatest hits albums. She never saw the success of it because she died of a heroin overdose before it was released. She was only 27. I love Janis and this album because she is a hard core rock chick in a world that was completely dominated by men. And she was awesome at it, despite the odds against her.

Reminds me of: Lost potential. Junior year of high school.

Random Fact:
"Mercedes Benz" was recorded once and not considered complete and there are no vocals on "Buried Alive in the Blues" because they were going to be recorded on the day after she died. Her other last recording was a birthday wish to John Lennon.
~ (wikipedia)

Me And Bobby McGee - John Cook...

Damien Rice - 9

Album: 9
Artist: Damien Rice
Release Year: 2006
Hails From: Dublin, Ireland

Tracks:
1. 9 Crimes
2. The Animals Were Gone
3. Elephant
4. Rootless Tree
5. Dogs
6. Coconut Skins
7. Me, My Yoke and I
8. Grey Room
9. Accidental Babies
10. Sleep Don't Weep


My Thoughts:
Top O the Morning to ya Kids! Today is Damien Rice because he's Irish and we haven't had any songs from my favorite genre. Singer/Songwriter. O will probably be on here at a later point just because I love Blower's Daughter and Cannonball that much - but 9 is my favorite Damien Rice. And its not because it's named after my favorite number. I love it because you can feel the emotion and passion in his voice in every single song. Especially in Elephants where I feel like I can almost feel what he is feeling. It gives me chills every time. He goes from barely singing in pain and jealousy in Accidental Babies to all out screaming in anger on Rootless Tree. It received very mixed reviews, and O is definitely more critically acclaimed, but I love it.

Reminds me of:Rainy cold weather. Standing 10 feet away from Damien at the World Cafe with Griffy.

Random Fact:
Elephants was originally going to be called "Blower's Daughter Part 2" Damien Rice was originally a part of Jupiter which later became BellX1 - which is a big indie rock Irish band right now.

Elephant:


Coconut Skins:

TLC - Ooooooohhh... On The TLC Tip

Album: Ooooooohhh... On The TLC Tip
Artist: TLC
Release Year: 1992
Hails From: Atlanta

Tracks:
1. Intro
2. Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg
3. Shock Dat Monkey
4. Intermission I
5. Hat 2 Da Back
6. Das Da Way We Like 'Em
7. What About Your Friends
8. His Story
9. Intermission II
10. Bad By Myself
11. Something You Wanna Know
12. Baby-Baby-Baby
13. This Is How It Should Be Done
14. Depend On Myself
15. Conclusion

My Thoughts:
In all honesty, some of the songs on this aren't that great, but the ones that are great are really fun and great. Also good or bad song - I know every word to every song by heart. This started my obsession with this group that lasts till today, so much so that I am watching Celebrity Apprentice, just for T-Boz.

Reminds me of: Listening to this tape in my walkman every day on the bus in 7th grade. Standing in front of my TV performing Hat 2 Da Back with TLC while my mom was outside shoveling snow. Dressing like Left Eye with Kim & Jenn for Halloween (trend?). Making socks with our names on them with Lizzy that were like the socks TLC had.

Random Fact:
Crystal Jones put out an ad to start a group called 2nd Nature with her in it. They found Tionne Watkins - T-Boz & Lisa Lopes - Left Eye and changed it to TLC. Producers later felt that Crystal Jones needed to be replaced, so they brought in Rozonda Thomas - Chili. Thanks for that idea Crystal Jones, see ya later.
To this day TLC is the 3rd most sellinginst girl group, surpassed by Spice Girls & Destiny's Child. ~ (my mind)

Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg


Hat 2 Da Back (Featuring Kriss Kross!!!!!!)

Madonna - Music

Album: Music
Artist: Madonna
Release Year: 2000
Hails From: Detroit

Tracks:
1. Music
2. Impressive Instant
3. Runaway Lover
4. I Deserve It
5. Amazing
6. Nobody's Perfect
7. Don't Tell Me
8. What It Feels Like For A Girl
9. Paradise (Not For Me)
10. Gone

My Thoughts:
Unborns, Since my obsession with Madonna didn't really start until later in life during college, this is probably my favorite Madonna album. It also has my third and fourth favorite Madonna songs on it - What It Feels Like For A Girl and Don't Tell Me. It is just so fun and the best getting ready to go out CD. It was also really important for her, because this and Ray of Light (1998) came out during a time when people were starting to discount her and say that she'll never have another hit record, these albums came out and the still reigning Queen of Pop proved them wrong. Suckas.

Reminds me of: When me and my roommates dressed up as different era Madonnas and tried to learn the dance to Don't Tell Me. I was Music Madonna.

Random Facts:
Music hit #1 in 15 countries. The opening line of the song Music ("Hey Mr. DJ, put a record on, I want to dance with my baby") features a male-sounding voice. The voice is actually Madonna's voice, heavily transformed. ~(Wikipedia)

What It Feels Like For A Girl ...

If this doesn't make you want to go to a Madonna concert I don't know what will.

Arcade Fire - Funeral

Album: Funeral
Artist: Arcade Fire
Release Year: 2004
Hails From: Quebec, Montreal - Canada

Tracks
1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
2. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
3. Une annee sans lumiere
4. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
5. Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
6. Crown of Love
7. Wake Up
8. Haiti
9. Rebellion (Lies)
10. In The Backseat

My Thoughts:
Kids, This album is a musical masterpiece. It is very inventive and different from anything else. The way it is put together is more like an amazing musical, rather then an album. It's just beautiful. In the song "Wake Up" they use 15 different instruments. Sometimes I don't even know what the guy is saying, but it could be satanic chanting and it would still be awesome.

Reminds me of: Working in Voorhees, NJ and rainy days.

Random Facts:
It was given its title because several band members had recently lost members of their families: Régine Chassagne's grandmother died in June 2003, Win and William Butler's grandfather (swing musician Alvino Rey) in March 2004, and Richard Reed Parry's aunt in April 2004. ~(wikipedia)

Wake Up - Arcade Fire

Dave Brubeck - Time Out

Album: Time Out
Artist: Dave Brubeck
Release Year: 1959
Hails From: Just outside San Francisco

Tracks:
1. Blue Rondo a la Turk
2. Strange Meadow Lark
3. Take Five
4. Three to Get Ready
5. Kathy's Waltz
6. Everybody's Jumping
7. Pick Up Sticks


My Thoughts:
Listen up kids, I love this album, it is fun to listen to when cleaning on a Sunday afternoon. I love this so much that Blue Rondo a la Turk is my cell phone ringer when its not on vibrate. Take Five is a great song and if you've spent any time in a Starbucks, you've heard it. Also the artwork on the cover of the album is pretty cool. Dave Brubeck is 88 years old and he is still performing to sold out crowds. He is the man.

Reminds me of: Driving to work at Starbucks at 3:30 in the morning and then going on a mad search to find out who the artist was.

Random Facts:
Although the album was intended as an experiment (Columbia president Goddard Lieberson was willing to chance releasing it) and received negative reviews by critics upon its release, it became one of the best-known and biggest-selling jazz albums, reaching number two in the U.S. Billboard "Pop Albums" chart, and produced one single — Paul Desmond's "Take Five" — that reached number five in the Billboard "Adult Contemporary" chart.
In 2005 it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. ~ (wikipedia)

Take Five - Dave Brubeck

In The Beginning

Hi Kids -
I posted a link on my other blog, Rules For My Unknown Son. I thought it was such a cute idea and my friend Kim told me I should make one with albums. I thought it was a fun idea and here we are. I am excited because it gives so much freedom to explore all of the albums that I want my non existent kid to know. I don't know if I will ever have kids - so you can share them with your unborn kids.
I am not claiming any musical expertise, I just like music a lot, and plus my kids have to listen to whatever I say anyway. Most likely each album touched my life in some way, or reminds me of some period or happening in my life, which I may or may not explain. I am not placing any genre restrictions, going up to any particular number and I HOPE to put one up every day. Oh, and be warned, it will be random.
Enjoy!