Slight Change in Direction

So, I've decided that I don't like the "negative" sound of my posts here, so I'm going to try and branch out a bit more and do more than just Apple-speak. I particularly like music, so that will likely make a heavy showing, starting with this post.

I listen to a lot of music; some would argue too much. But there are very few things that can affect me the same way music does. It makes me laugh, cry, happy, sad (but in a good way–I'll explain later), gets me pumped up, calms me down, and generally speaking has a major emotional impact on my life.

Genres I particularly enjoy include:

Hard Rock - Foo Fighters, Van Halen

Power Pop - Jellyfish, Fountains of Wayne

Punk Pop - Houston Calls, All-American Rejects

Progressive Rock - Liquid Tension Experiment, Rush

Jazz - Miles Davis, Diana Krall

Musicals - Wicked, Into the Woods, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Alternative Rock - Dishwalla, Switchfoot

... just to name a few, and some of my favorites in the genre.

There's not a whole lot of music I won't listen to, but I will admit that R&B isn't my favorite. I'm pretty specific when it comes to that. Same with country.

So this week I was "reunited" with an old favorite album. You know the kind of album you listen to and you just can't put it away. It might be in the CD player for 2-3 weeks straight. There's not too many like that, but there are some. This one was a relatively unknown band (sometimes they can be the best) Ednaswap. They've long since broken up, but Wonderland Park was their last effort, and I'm ashamed to say I don't know their other albums. Need to pick those up one of these days. But this album is truly a great example of the creative music of the 90s. My favorite tracks on the album are Without Within, 74 Willow, and Liquid Soul. Anne's voice is so strong; love the gut-wrenching vocals, and the combination of the great guitars with the keys is one of my favorites sounds.

The first album I remember ever being so good I couldn't "put it away" was Van Halen's 5150; a true classic. I have a special designation for those kinds of albums. It doesn't apply so well these days, but I grew up in the 80s and cassette tapes were very important. Well, these special albums would make it on both sides of a tape, so I didn't have to rewind, just flip it over and start again. Other albums I classify in this distinguished category are The Colour and the Shape - Foo Fighters, American Idiot - Green Day, Redhead - Bleu, Bellybutton - Jellyfish, Superunknown - Soundgarden. There are others that probably deserve the designation, but those are the ones that really "lived" in my car stereo for weeks on end.

Well, enough's enough. Better close this post and get going on my day. I'm sure it will be filled with some wonderful musical creation. One of these days I need to create some music of my own...