Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature hosted by Jessi from Novel Heartbeat where we talk about non-bookish topics. Click HERE for more info!
This week's topic:
Favourite Music Albums
I'm just a little bit addicted to music albums. Well, studio albums to be precise. I tend to not buy greatest hits compilations for artists that I really like. Sometimes the album tracks are better than the singles! I currently have 126 studio albums in my iTunes library and I'm always getting more because I just can't stop buying them. It's very possible that I may have just a little bit of a problem. And to make that problem even worse, I buy a lot of CDs because I like to have physical things, rather than digital copies (although I have bought albums and songs from iTunes before).
Obviously I have my favourites that make me feel all of the things, but when I was thinking of albums that I really really like, the list was too long! So I've narrowed it down to albums that really make me feel things. And this is still a long post due to gushing and a ridiculous amount of favourite songs with click-through links to YouTube. Whoops.
I have my parents to blame for this one. When I was very small I was a little bit frightened of Kate Bush. I thought she was a witch and looked kinda scary! It took quite a long time for me to really enjoy her music and I wasn't a fan until I was about fifteen or sixteen; she's definitely an acquired taste! Hounds of Love is my favourite album by Kate probably because it's the one that I remember the most from being a kid. That, and the fact that it's a freaking awesome album. About halfway through there is a mini concept album which is a little difficult to explain and contains what is easily the scariest song I have ever listened to. Thanks for that, Dad. Go on, click the link. I dare you to listen to the creepiness for yourself.
Favourite tracks:
Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) | Hounds of Love | Cloudbusting | Watching You Without Me | Jig of Life | Burning Bridge [I couldn't find links for Watching You Without Me or Jig of Life on Youtube!]
The Smashing Pumpkins are my favouritest band in the world ever of all time. Okay, that was a horrendously worded sentence but it's true, I like them more than any other band I've ever listened to. And I've liked them since I was eleven, which was a long time ago now. Most of my favourite songs by them come from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which I think is their best album. A friend of mine recommended Siamese Dream to me a long time ago because it's his favourite, but I like Mellon Collie the most because of how diverse it is. It goes from being really hard and heavy, to being dream-like and I love how it never seems jarring at any given time. It flows really smoothly. And on a completely unrelated note, I just have to say that Billy Corgan was a total babe when he had hair. I mean, he still looks pretty good now but he was a babe when he had hair. Oh well, he was losing it anyway.
See? What a babe.
Favourite tracks:
Tonight, Tonight [Best. Video. Ever.]| Jellybelly | Bullet with Butterfly Wings | Fuck You (And Ode to No One) | Cupid de Locke | Bodies | Tales of a Scorched Earth | We Only Come Out at Night | By Starlight
I've put Zeitgest separately from Mellon Collie because Zeitgest is a very special album to me. This was the first Pumpkins album that I ever got and listened to, way back in 2007, and I got it as a present for my twelfth birthday. That feels like such a long time ago now. And I have a funny story about it: I have a habit of not telling my mum about bands that I like because she doesn't know who anybody is (she always has the same reaction of "who???"). She tried to get this album in HMV without me knowing but got the band's name completely wrong. She asked the guy in the shop to help her look her an album by "The Pumpkin Seeds" (lol) and he had no idea of what she was talking about. She ended up just saying "it's something to do with pumpkins" and he told her that she meant the Smashing Pumpkins. It ended up not being a surprise anymore because she had to tell me what happened! Anyways...
There's a saying that you never forget your first and I'll never forget what I thought when I listened to Zeitgest for the first time. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before and led me to listen to heavier and somewhat darker music. And you know how people have well-loved books? Zeitgest is my most well-loved CD. The box is broken, and so is the disc tray, and the lyric booklet is ripped, but the disc itself still works like brand new. This here is definitely the defining album of the beginning of my teenage years.
Favourite tracks:
Doomsday Clock | Tarantula | United States | Bring the Light | Come On (Let's Go!) | That's the Way (My Love Is)
I haven't been a Jane's Addiction fan for long and Nothing's Shocking is actually the only full album by them that I've listened to. I keep meaning to get around to listening to the rest of their work, but I always forget. I first heard one of their songs (Stop! which isn't on this album) on Guitar Hero II back in the day and didn't really get interested until I heard the exact same song in an episode of American Dad years later. Oh, and also Perry Farrell was on this short-lived reality show on E about rock star wives. And by short-lived I mean that there were only four episodes. Anyways, I really like Nothing's Shocking because I love pretty much every single song on the album, which made it really hard to pick my favourite tracks. This album has some of the best guitar solos I've ever heard in my life; Dave Navarro is an amazing guitarist.
Favourite tracks:
Had a Dad | Ted, Just Admit It... | Standing in the Shower... Thinking | Mountain Song | Jane Says | Pig's in Zen
Björk is definitely one of the more eclectic artists that I listen to and she is one of my ultimate favourites. I was considering putting Post and Homogenic separately from each other but I like them both equally and kind of listened to them back to back when I first got them (I bought pretty much all of her studio albums really quickly, which made me broke but it was worth it). What I like about Post is that it isn't really one single genre, it's a mishmash of a lot of things, despite being mostly electronic. Homogenic, on the other hand, is mainly one genre, but it's got strings in it and I'm a sucker for strings.
Favourite tracks:
Homogenic - Hunter | Jóga | Unravel | Bachelorette | 5 Years | Alarm Call | Pluto | All Is Full of Love [the version in the video isn't on the album]
I couldn't have a post about favourite music without mentioning Madonna, now could I? There hasn't been a time in my life where I haven't known at least three Madonna songs, and guess who listens to her the most out of my parents? That's right, my Dad! My dad just doesn't give a shit about what people think of his music taste, I mean he even listens to Katy Perry. Anyway, I own almost every single Madonna album (I still need to get I'm Breathless) and Ray of Light is by far her best album, in my opinion. It doesn't sound much like a regular pop album and it's just so good. If I had to pick an ultimate favourite track on the album it would be 'Mer Girl', which I've linked below. If you do listen to it, I'd recommend getting a really good pair of earphones and going into a really quiet room so that you get the full effect. Ugh, so good.
Favourite tracks:
Drowned World/Substitute for Love | Ray of Light | Shanti/Ashtangi | Frozen | The Power of Good-Bye | Mer Girl
I couldn't pick just a single one, they're all just too good! The thing with Beck is that all of his albums after 1994 are different to each other so it can be hard to recommend his work to people. A lot of people who really want to get into his music are usually recommended to start with Mellow Gold, which is his first major release (he released three albums before that, but they're out of print now and an absolute dick to find) but for people who just want to see what he's like, I would say that it depends on what you're looking for. Ready? Here we go!
- If you want something weird, go for Mellow Gold
- If you're looking for acoustic folk songs, go for One Foot in the Grave
- If you want to hear his best know and acclaimed work, go for Odelay (I've got the Deluxe Edition, which has 19 more tracks)
- If you want something guitar-driven, but with other stuff thrown in, go for Mutations
- If you want something fun and funky that you can dance to, go for Midnite Vultures
- If you're in the mood for something sad and downtrodden, go for Sea Change
- If you listened to Odelay and want to hear something a bit heavier, go for Guero (if I had to pick, Guero would probably be my favourite)
- If you like electronic rock, go for The Information
- If you want just a simple guitar-driven rock album, go for Modern Guilt
- And if you're looking for something that's sad but hopeful, or something recent, go for Morning Phase
Actually, just go buy Morning Phase because it's an amazing album and if you're in the US and watch talk shows, it's incredibly likely that you've heard 'Blue Moon' already. 'Blue Moon' is actually my favourite songs at the minute, I can't stop listening to it!
Favourite tracks:
Mellow Gold - Loser | Fuckin' with My Head (Mountain Dew Rock) | Soul Suckin' Jerk | Truckdrivin' Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat) | Sweet Sunshine | Beercan
One Foot in the Grave - Forcefield | Mattress | Woe on Me | Teenage Wastebasket | One Foot in the Grave
Odelay - Devils Haircut | Hotwax | The New Pollution | Novacane | Where It's At | Sissyneck | Inferno | .000.000 [Inferno and .000.000 are on the deluxe edition]
Sea Change - The Golden Age | Guess I'm Doing Fine | Lost Cause | Already Dead | Sunday Sun | Little One
Guero - E-Pro | Que Onda Guero | Black Tambourine | Hell Yes | Scarecrow | Go It Alone | Farewell Ride [just try to tell me that the beginning doesn't sound like the Breaking Bad titles] | Rental Car | Girl
This post was a lot shorter when I planned it. Whoops.
What are your favourite albums?
I came so close to adding Beck to my list! "Loser" off Mellow Gold came out when I was in junior high, and I used to rock out to that. Still do as a matter of fact. You know, he's in the lineup for this year's Austin City Limits in October. I just found that out.
ReplyDeleteYou kicked so much ass with this post! Love all of your picks though I'm not familiar with Kate Bush. "Ray of Light" always gets me feeling pumped and excited. My daughter's name is Janie, and I love "Jane Says" as well as Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun." Thanks so much for visiting my post! :D