A is for...*Shudder*

Make it stop! Oh, for the love of God! Make it stop!

I've gone through Abba's Gold: Greatest Hits a couple times now. Why did I start here? Partly for the challenge of reviewing something I don't like and partly because they were listed first in the book. While the production quality is quite good, the lyrics are so vacuous it made my ears bleed. True, it's said that the 90's remastered edition (which is what I listened to) lost a little when the tracks were not doubled up leaving what was once a choir-like effect an empty shell of it's former self; but, that doesn't remove the overall saccharine effect of the album, lots of words come through the speakers but not much gets said (kinda like this post).

That hollowness, that escapism is what I think makes this group, and disco, so polarizing: while a little escape, a little sugar can be a great harbor from the storms of life, a decade long fleeing of the woes of life left a very bad taste in many peoples' mouths.

So, was it worth it? To me, no; to a long time fan, probably; to someone looking for the perfect playlist to small animals with, instant classic.

Falme on!

Journey to the Center of Music

It's Saturday, two days after Christmas and I'm laying on my in-law's couch while the missus is on their loveseat. We've been sick all night (thanks FIL) and the tv's on the Today show, when I see a bit with Tom Moon talking about his new book "1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die". I sit up a little straighter, getting a moist belch for my troubles, and think about the possibilities. After we get better I head over to a bookstore and have a look at the artists featured: it had everything from old favorites like Metallica to newer found treasures like Johnny Cash; many I had never heard of before, like the entire world music selection and most of the jazz selection; and it rounds out with *shudder* Britney Spears, ABBA, and country. After some thought I decided to buy the book and try something out: I'm going to get one of the recordings listed every couple weeks and blog my thoughts and reactions to them and in between we'll discuss other topics of interest, mostly music related. I originally thought it would be a 3 year project, but after I double checked my math, I realized that would require a budget of about $300 a week, not going to happen.

And so, I invite you to join me in this journey through some of the greatest music yet made. The comments section will be space for you to offer your thoughts on the artists featured, alternatives that we should check out and just have fun. The comments area is not your private billboard to advertise your recordings, blogs or pages; so, don't be surprised if your spam gets deleted.