Monday, April 23, 2007

Soundtrack of my Life

On occasion, I write about music... granted, I'm not a music critic. My tastes are a little weird, esp. when you factor in an abnormal attraction to synth-based rock'n'roll. But if you can wade through the 80's lovefest, there's some interesting stuff in these posts.

And starting now, I'll be bringing you an irregular series of posts on the music that shaped my life. First up is Steve Taylor, which I'll finish up as time allows this week.

To hold you over until that happens, here's my top 10 albums of all time in no particular order (plus 10 that just missed the cut). Note: I didn't include greatest hits collections, cuz that would be cheating... and this is one of those "as of today" kind of lists.
  • Squint (Steve Taylor)
  • Graceland (Paul Simon)
  • The Far Country (Andrew Peterson)
  • Stop Making Sense (The Talking Heads)
  • Romeo Unchained (Tonio K)
  • Out of the Blue (Electric Light Orchestra)
  • The World As Best I Remember It - Volume One (Rich Mullins)
  • Under a Blood Red Sky (U2)
  • Russ Taff (Russ Taff)
  • The Secret of Time (Charlie Peacock)

Just missed the cut:

  • Free at Last (DC Talk)
  • One Way Home (The Hooters)
  • Just Like Real Life (Prodigal)
  • Turn of a Friendly Card (Alan Parsons Project)
  • I See Everything Upside Down (Derek Webb)
  • Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Rick Wakeman)
  • Sticks & Stones (the 77's)
  • 90125 (Yes)
  • 10 Songs (Adam Again)
  • Wonderama (Randy Stonehill)

It occurs to me that I chose almost all of these albums as the "best" of a particular band/artist - and I could well give you a 2nd album for almost all of them.

So I will.
  • Chagall Guevera (Steve Taylor in the band Chagall Guevera)
  • ---I really don't like any other Paul Simon albums - whoops!---
  • Love & Thunder (Andrew Peterson)
  • Little Creatures (The Talking Heads)
  • Notes from the Lost Civilization (Tonio K)
  • A New World Record (Electric Light Orchestra)
  • A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band (Rich Mullins)
  • Rattle & Hum (U2)
  • Medals (Russ Taff)
  • Love Life (Charlie Peacock)

Just missed the cut:

  • Jesus Freak (DC Talk)
  • Nervous Night (The Hooters)
  • Electric Eye (Prodigal)
  • Stereotomy (Alan Parson Project)
  • She Must & Will Go Free (Derek Webb)
  • Criminal Record (Rick Wakeman)
  • More Miserable Than You'll Ever Be (the 77's under the band name 7&7 is)
  • Yessongs (Yes)
  • Homeboys (Adam Again)
  • Love Beyond Reason (Randy Stonehill)

2 comments:

huzonfirst said...

Yes! A fellow ELO freak! And while I acknowledge that A New World Record is excellent, like you, I consider Out of the Blue to be their masterwork. Practically every track is a gem. It's a shame it was treated relatively shabbily by the critics, but that didn't stop a lot of the songs from getting airplay, did it? Genius is a word that gets tossed around far too often in the music biz, but given what he's done as a performer, song writer, producer, and arranger, over a long period of time and for many groups, I don't know how else to describe Jeff Lynne.

Patera Silk said...

The cash cow lurks!