Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A-Z CDs - Day 35

292. Long Beach Dub Allstars - Trailer Ras (single) (last listen: never) - Another free promotional CD single, this one being from the bad formed by former members of Sublime after Brad Nowell decided to die from a heroin overdose.
293. Louis XIV - The Best Little Secrets are Kept (last listen: 3 months to 1 year) - Fantastic album. It harkens back to the days of early-'70s Bowie, Kinks, T. Rex, and Mott the Hoople. The music is raunchy and sexual (such as "Pull your skirt up a little bit / Pull down your top and show me a little tit"), earning a Parental Advisory sticker even though there is not one swear word to be found on the entire album. It's hard to pick a favorite song, so I'll just go with the first eight in a tie.
294. The Lovin' Spoonful - All the Best of The Lovin' Spoonful (last listen: 5+ years) - I'm not sure what every possessed me to buy this CD. It's not that I don't appreciate the Lovin' Spoonful, it's just that I can't ever conceive of a time in my life where I would have felt the need to buy this CD. Anyway, it's okay, I guess. As you might have guessed, it features all their biggest hits, including "Summer in the City," "Do You Believe in Magic," "Daydream," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," and "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind." You've probably heard most of them in commercials. And then there are like 10 other songs.
295. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Skynyrd's Innyrds (last listen: 2-5 years) - Every time I hear "Free Bird" I am reminded why people feel the need to yell "Free Bird" at every live music event. I, of course, have a special connection with Lynyrd Skynyrd, as half of them died in a plane crash a mere 9 days before I was born -- a mere 1,115 miles from the place of my birth and a mere 389 miles from where I would move a mere several months after my birth -- thus making me the undeniable reincarnation of either Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, or Cassie Gaines.
296. Lynyrd Skynyrd - What's Your Name (last listen: 2-5 years) - I got this one pretty much just for "Simple Man." If only it had "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" then my Skynyrd collection could be complete.
297. Makaveli - The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (last listen: 5+ years) - The first of several hundred albums 2Pac released posthumously, this one was released under the pseudonym Makaveli. A decent amount of anger on this one, with some calling out of east coast rappers and foreshadowing his death. "To Live and Die in LA" is a solid song. Then again, 2Pac could say "I'm gonna poop" for five minutes and I would like it.
298. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus (last listen: 2-5 years) - Probably the most important reggae album of all-time, it features classic Bob Marley songs, "Jamming," the title track, "Waiting in Vain," and "Three Little Birds."
299. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend (last listen: 1-2 years) - I fail to see how anyone can not like Bob Marley.
300. Dave Matthews Band - Crash (last listen: never) - I hate Dave, so I have no idea how this ended up in my CD collection. Rest assured, I didn't listen to it today, nor will I ever.
301. John Mayall's Blues Breakers - Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton (last listen: 1-2 years)
302. Curtis Mayfield - The Very Best Of (last listen: 3 months to 1 year) - Fantastic collection of Mayfield's post-Impressions work, including the theme from Superfly ("Freddie's Dead") and the song "Superfly" (which ironically isn't the theme to Superfly). I also enjoy "Move On Up," "Pusherman," and "We Got to Have Piece," although the whole CD is good soul/R&B/funk.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

entry 300 invalidates this entire exercise.

Anonymous said...

agreed...the simple fact that your goal is to listen to all of the CDs in your collection demands that you actually LISTEN to all the CDs in you collection. We all have albums we aren't proud of, but now none of us know what to believe of your ramblings.

Jalehlabad said...

I am going to have to concur with alsation and anon here, Andrew. I know I am going to be listening to some horrible things, not Steely Dan horrible but still. And listen I will.

Anonymous said...

Damn you all. I explained at the top of this thing that I was not going to be listening to classical music CDs, mix CDs, Jessie's CDs, or "the Dave Matthews CD that someone left in my room junior year (so that I can ensure no one will ever listen to it again)."

For accurate internal accounting purposes, I included it on the list. I would HATE for anyone to walk into my house, look at my CD collection and say, "You dirty scoundrel, you never mentioned that you had Crash. What else have you been hiding, you rotten excuse for a music listener?"

Frankly, I'm flattered that you guys actually care. It makes this little experiment all worthwhile. In fact, when I'm done, I'm going to do it all over again in reverse.

Anonymous said...

GMYH, I agree with your approach to DMB and your stance on the artist and album.

The guy and his band suck. You don't need to sully the entire exercise by listening to Crash and writing what we all already know.

Your adherence to principle is inspiring.

Plus, everyone has heard every song on the album anyway-- no surprises there. I like the Louis XIV review. I am going to buy the album based on your review.

Keep it up.