Monday, July 02, 2007

A-Z CDs - Day 39

327. N-Trance - Electronic Pleasure (last listen: 5+ years) - As you may recall, N-Trance had a pretty sweet cover of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" back in 1996. You can now purchase this album used for 1 cent.
328. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (remastered) (last listen: 3 months to 1 year) - One of my top 10 favorite albums of all-time. This CD also has some bonus tracks, including "A Bitch is A Bitch" and extended mixes of "Express Yourself" and "Straight Outta Compton."
329. Of A Revolution - The Wanderer (last listen: 3 months to 1 year) - I bought this CD from the band after they played in my fraternity's basement my senior year.
330. The Offspring - Ignition (last listen: never) - This is The Offspring's album just before their 1993 mainstream breakthrough, Smash (which I'm mad I sold to a used CD store 10+ years ago). Anyway, Ignition isn't that bad. It's the same fast-paced punk-inspired rock that you would expect from The Offspring.
331. OMC - How Bizarre (last listen: 5+ years) - Swept up by the charming and catchy sounds of these New Zealanders on their title track hit, I purchased this CD. I don't what's worse, the fact that I own the CD or the fact that I know what OMC stands for and why it's ironic without having to look to any resource. Actually, the CD isn't that bad. It's an odd combination of surf rock, pseudo-rap, acoustic rock, and synthesized beats. So I guess it's the fact that I know Otara Millionaires Club is ironic because Otara is a very poor city in New Zealand.
332. Roy Orbison - Oh Pretty Woman: Original Great Hits (last listen: 2-5 years) - Roy Orbison is an underrated force in rock and roll history. His songs are dark and his melodies melodic. Obviously, you know "Oh Pretty Woman" and "Only the Lonely" (which I think Orbison originally wrote for the Everly Brothers), but "In Dreams," "Crying," and "Running Scared" (which has a death march feel to it) are just as good. Also on the CD is a version of "Love Hurts," which was originally recorded by the Everly Brothers, but made famous by Nazareth in the mid '70s.
333. Ozzy Osbourne - The Ozzman Cometh (last listen: 0-3 months) - Ozzy's greatest hits, and a great primer for you casual Ozzy fans out there. The first two songs are demos from Black Sabbath ("Black Sabbath" and "War Pigs," both with alternate lyrics, so that's pretty cool), and there's a live version of Sabbath's "Paranoid," and the rest of the album is chockfull of his solo hits: "Crazy Train," "Shot in the Dark," "Bark at the Moon," "No More Tears" (which is the clean version, for some reason), "Mama I'm Coming Home," etc. My only complaint is that there is no "Close My Eyes Forever" (duet with Lita Ford) or "Flying High Again."
334. Our Lady Peace - Happiness . . . Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch (last listen: never) - I don't know what I was expecting, but this Dubai refugee was softer than I predicted. Some of the songs were actually Beatle-esque.
335. OutKast - Big Boi and Dre Present . . . OutKast (last listen: 0-3 months) - A good pre-Speakerboxxx/Love Below compilation, featuring songs from their first four albums, as well as three previously unreleased tracks ("Funkin' Around," the Grammy-winning "The Whole World," and "Movin' Cool (The After Party)"). Among the songs on the album are their hits "Rosa Parks," "Ms. Jackson," "B.O.B." ("Bombs Over Baghdad"), and "So Fresh, So Clean." Of the songs not yet mentioned, I enjoy "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik," "Crumblin' Erb," and "Player's Ball."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

O.A.R. is possibly the single most overrated band not named Mike & Joe (or Michelangelo) to ever play the fraternity scene. We get it, the poker game took a turn you weren't expecting, now please play a different song, it's been 15 minutes.

GMYH said...

Christoff, you're just bitter because OAR made it (kind of) and King Konga didn't.