CD's 4 and 3

Okay - I'm on a roll.... Here are two more CD's to my top ten (10+2).....

#4 - The Beatles - Abbey Road

If you know me, you know the Beatles had to make it on this list. "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" are close second and third to this one, but "Abbey Road" is definitely my favorite Beatles CD. George Harrison starts to really bust out as a song writer on side 1, (All Things Must Pass - his debut is another classic...). I'm proud to say this is one "CD" that I really got to know watching the apple logo go round and round on the turntable, so I really think of this album with respect to side 1 and side 2. Side 1 is a standard six song offering, and it doesn't get any better than the Lennon classic "Come Together" - sharp vocals by Lennon, McCartney's bass at its best, throw in a little Harrison guitar twang. No cover can top the original.

It's Side 2 that gets it for me. Forgetting "Here Comes The Sun", a fine Harrison track that really belongs on the first side, the songs all flow together in a grand finale worthy of the greatest rock band that ever lived. You hear the next thirty years of rock and roll inspired in every note. And it climaxes with "The End" - the first song I would put on the headphones for, crank up the silver dial on the hi-fi, close my eyes and just jam along in my head. It would be close to fourteen years before another song would hit that level of intensity for me.

One side note - "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" was never a favorite of mine until I heard an earlier rough cut version on the "Beatles Anthology 3" - totally different and it stands on its own very nicely!

#3 - George Acosta - Next Level

Okay... This might be pushing it for some people, especially ranking higher than my highest Beatles album? But, I really enjoy trance - and no other trance CD even comes close for me. George Acosta's beat driven trance is my new "The End" from Abbey Road - I literally lay on the floor with my eyes closed and think of nothing else but this music when I put this one. It is intense. It is fierce. Raw. Powerful. Loud. The stretch between track 8 and 10 is without a doubt my favorite music in my collection. (You don't listen to George Acosta for the deep lyrics - one song's entire lyrical contribution is "A Rock, A River, A Tree... Ecstasy...")

Now that I've said that, the lyrics of track 3 "The Sound of Goodbye" did resonate with me - I listened to this CD a lot around the time I was starting to consider leaving my previous job. Acosta often picks tracks that have a lyrical centerpiece to add flavor to the overall piece, but they never drive a song. Track 5 ("Save Me") is a great speaker pounder with solid lyrics as well. Rounding out the CD, track 2 is the best rendition I've heard of PPK's "Resurrection" and the CD ends better than most trance CD's with three tracks in a row that really bring you down from the highs of the middle tracks without losing the intensity of the overall record. Come to think of it, I don't think there are any tracks I would ever skip on this CD - except perhaps the gaudy introduction where George triumphantly welcomes you to "Acosta Nation" and then invites you to "Go Insane". Whatever...

Final 2 CD's are going to wait until next time... No more trance - I promise.

Top 10 CD's (8 through 5)

Back to the list...

#8 - William Orbit - Strange Cargo III

What happened to I and II? Well... If you're in to experimental ambient from the late eighties, they're okay, but the early nineties brought advancements in electronic technology that really brought electronic music to the mainstream. Some of my favorite art is from moments before the explosion of a genre onto the mainstream. 1994 is that year for techno, and William Orbit's early ambient/trance work finds its peak form on this record. ("Hinterland" and "Towards the Unknown Region", his 1997 double followup are so similar to this album that I like them equally well. However, they are really echoes rather than fresh work in my opinion. If you're looking for them anywhere - he released them under the "Strange Cargo" and "Torch Song" artist names...)

And the individual songs on Strange Cargo III... "Water From A Vine Leaf" is classic Orbit, with a soft-techno track overlayed with Beth Orton sung lyrics. There are a lot of good remixes of this song out there, and it really has stood the test of time. Track 2, "Into The Paradise" is a little darker, but similar in style. Other stands outs include "The Story of Light" and "Best Friend, Paranoia" which continue the theme that can be best summed up as smooth, classic electronica. (Ouch! I still wince at referring to anything as "Oldies Electronica" - only 1/2 year until I turn 30...)

What I like best about this music is that in a previous life, I was able to sneak a CD of William Orbit onto the on-hold music for the customers of our call center. It's unobtrusive enough to not offend most people, but it really holds up well to repeat listening without ever becoming old.

#7 - Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion

What the @#%@? Depeche Mode's "beginning of the end" CD makes it on a top ten list??? What kind of true Depeche Mode fan am I? Well, not really one at all. I have only a passing enjoyment of anything earlier than the 1990 monster hit "Violator" (although there are some "Ultra" and "Exciter" tracks I like, "Some Great Reward" is a great eighties album, and I'm really starting to like their most recent "Playing the Angel".) "Songs of Faith and Devotion" continues what I consider a similar style to Violator, but unlike being echoes that I mentioned on the last album review, I think some of the songs are far superior, the key word being "some".

I only listen to the even numbered tracks on this CD, with one exception. But these five tracks came at a period of time in my life that really resonate with the lyrics at a time I was really beginning to dig electronically based music. "Walking In My Shoes" "Mercy In You" "In Your Room" and "Rush" are all great darkly electronic rock tracks. The CD finishes off with "Higher Love" which ranked as one of my favorite songs for a very long time. The rich bass beat is as unhurriedly relentless as the lyrics. The song that took me a long time to really appreciate is my odd-numbered exception, track 9 - "One Caress", which diverges from the sound of any of the songs on this CD - lead singer David Gahan backed by strings. This sounds more and more incredible the louder you play it.

I debated about including this CD, but it gets the nod more for leading me into a good chunk of my collection centered around the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Duran Duran, Psykosonik, and then combined with William Orbit towards the strong collection of trance I've acquired. This CD was a key CD in the development of my musical tastes.

#6 - They Might Be Giants - Flood

They Might Be Giants are a genre unto themselves for me. Totally opposite from Depeche Mode, this CD didn't really lead me to like any other bands, but it did lead me to purchase nearly every CD made by They Might Be Giants. I love all of those CD's, and there are some tracks I'm heartbroken to not review here, but Flood is definitely the most solid TMBG release, the most commercially successful, and rightfully so. The lyrics are so clever, music so light and fun. I'm going to let snippets of lyrics speak for themselves.

Track 2 - Birdhouse In Your Soul - ...Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch, who watches over you, make a little birdhouse in your soul...
Track 6 - Your Racist Friend - ...This is where the party ends, I can't stand here listening to you and your racist friend...
Track 8 - Twisting - ...She set your goldfish free, and now she's sighing, blew out your pilot light, and made a wish... She wants to see you again, slowly twisting in the wind.
Track 9 - We Want A Rock - ...I'd collect the seven dollars, and I'd buy a big prosthetic forehead and wear it on my real head. Everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads.
Track 13 - Letterbox - ... And I'll never never know what you never never never want to know when you know what you are, oh...

#5 - U2 - The Joshua Tree

I was introduced to this CD by my first real teenage crush and then reminded of it by a crush much more recent than it had any business being - It's an expression of full-on longing in all its forms, unfulfilled needs. The guitar melodies are so epic - they make you feel like you're the only person in the world who's experienced that kind of longing, although when you remember how many people adore this CD, you know you're one of millions. This CD is one of two intensely personal CD's on this list that I don't normally listen to for "fun".

I won't review the tracks individually - apart from saying that you should really listen to this CD if you are one of the few who has not heard it. Listen from beginning to end. And my non-standard favorite is "Running To Stand Still", one of the prettiest music/lyric combos I've ever heard. You can hear a little of Joshua Tree in ever U2 recording ever made.

Next up.... 4 through 1. Might even finish reviewing them tonight!

Sorry!

No updates in a long time - lots of reasons... I promise I'll finish the top CD list soon.

In other news, Canada has officially "jumped the shark" and elected Stephen Harper as Prime Minister. To all those folks in Canada that don't hate me because of the idiot we elected to "run" our country, I promise to return the favor. (Or should I say, favour?)

Although, to be fair, in my eyes Bush 2.0 makes Stephen Harper look like the second coming by way of comparison.