Favorite Albums: 94 - 93

I am still 2 albums behind where I want to be, so depending on how quickly these two go, I may post the next two later. If not, most likely tomorrow.
I'm also changing the way the top 5 songs and their videos are posted, a little bit. Nothing major, just eliminating some of the repetitive stuff.

94. Greatest Hits by The Cars (1985)

This album has some of the most popular music of the '80s on it, like it or not. The Cars were pretty much everywhere in the first half of the decade, and these are most of the reasons why. I could go through song by song like I usually do, but this would be one of those albums where I'm calling every song "kick ass" or a "classic" or "awesome" so I won't bore you with that redundancy. You have all the popular MTV songs, "Just What I Needed", "Shake It Up", "Magic" and, of course, "You Might Think". There are the wonderful ballads, "Drive" and "I'm Not the One". There are the radio staples of "Since You're Gone", "Touch and Go", "Tonight She Comes" (the only new song on the album), "Let's Go" and "My Best Friend's Girl". Plus the very underrated "Heartbeat City". The only two songs I can think of that are missing from this album are "Hello Again" and "You're All I've Got Tonight". Had they been included, this would have been the definitive Cars collection, but instead it is just a tad incomplete. Very good album, though, and probably owned by most of the people reading this.
5 Best Songs:
5. "You Might Think"


4. "Heartbeat City"


3."Tonight She Comes"


2. "Drive"


1. "I'm Not the One"


93. Fear by Toad the Wet Sprocket (1991)

This is going to be one of those albums where it's going to be extremely difficult to only pick five songs from. Two songs I know won't be in the top 5? "All I Want" and "Walk On the Ocean". They were the two big hits from this album (along with "In My Ear" which was a close third) but they were both so over played that I can't stand either of them anymore. "In My Ear" I still like, though. Good tune. There really aren't any weak songs on this album, it is just very strong from start to finish. "Walk On the Ocean" starts it, and it's a shame this song got so played out because I really did like it at first. Nice simple music telling a nice simple story. "Is It For Me" is basically about a group of kids trying to peek into the windows of a supposed haunted house, then one of them breaks his leg and the rest get in trouble, more or less. "Butterflies" is a nice nifty song. It's kind of hard to describe, though. At just over two minutes "Nightingale Song" is by far the shortest song on the album, a simple little acoustic number. "Hold Her Down" is about a group of guys raping a woman, supposedly about someone the band knows. "Pray Your Gods" is basically a song questioning faith, and has one of my favorite lines from any song: "I feel my body weakened by the years/ As people turn to Gods of cruel design./ Is it that they fear the pain of death?/ Or could it be they fear the joy of life?" The last half of the song is a couple women singing what sounds like Gaelic, but not sure. Just a fantastic song. "Before You Were Born" is another bad ass song, with more stellar lyrics. "Something To Say" is really the only song that seems to drag, but it is still a pretty good song despite that. "In My Ear" brings the pace back up from the three preceding slower songs, a nice change of pace. "All I Want" is next, and like "Walk On the Ocean" I used to like this song until it got played hourly on every damned station in town. "Stories I Tell" is a pretty haunted sounding song. I think they were going for haunting, but didn't quite make it. "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted" closes the album, and although it could have come out very cheesy and insincere sounding, it is actually one of the strongest tracks on the album. Overall, this is just a great album. Even with the two songs that shall not be named, it is a very enjoyable album, and even those two songs are becoming more bearable again, after almost 20 years.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Is It For Me"


4. "Before You Were Born"


3. "Hold Her Down"


2. "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted"


1. "Pray Your Gods"

Favorite Albums: 136 - 135

These two are short, I know... Just lacking the interest in all these Greatest Hits albums. My bad. Shoulda just started at like 125. At least I'll know for next time. Ha ha.

136. Greatest Hits by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1993)

Pretty much the essential Tom Petty collection. He really didn't make much good music after this, so there's no need to get anything after it unless you're a hard core fan. I mean, yeah, Wildflowers was decent, but nothing spectacular, and I honestly couldn't name a song from any of the 5 albums that have come out since. Anyway, this is just a really great collection. Some of the songs sound kind of cheesy now, yes, but others, like "Breakdown," "You Got Lucky," and "I Need To Know" are still pretty bad ass, even if they're a little dated. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is still a stupid song, though, as is "Free Fallin'." Can't stand those two songs. Other than those two, though, there aren't really any bad songs on the album. And a lot of people like those two songs, so I guess for some people this album's perfect. This does have some awesome songs on it though. "Don't Come Around Here No More" may not be the best song, but it had one of the best videos of all time, so it gets bonus points. "You Got Lucky" is one of the cockiest songs ever, just flat out saying "You got lucky babe, when I found you." Pretty much the only hit from Petty's early career that's missing is the duet with Stevie Nicks, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," and I know a lot of people who aren't complaining about that one missing.
5 Best Songs:
5. "I Won't Back Down"
4. "An American Girl"
3. "Don't Come Around Here No More"
2. "You Got Lucky"
1. "Breakdown"

"Don't Come Around Here No More"


"You Got Lucky"


"Breakdown"


135. The Best Of Culture Club by Culture Club (1989)

I don't care, laugh all you want, I love this album. It's pretty much the epitome of cheesy '80s pop. The 8 song version from '89 is way better than the 16 song version from '94, just because there is absolutely no filler, and has every one of their Top 40 hits. "Karma Chameleon?" Check. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" Check. "It's a Miracle?" Check. You can say what you want, but Boy George knew how to write what people wanted to hear at the time. Good stuff.
5 Best Songs:
5. "I'll Tumble 4 Ya"
4. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?"
3. "Church Of the Poisoned Mind"
2. "Miss Me Blind"
1. "Karma Chameleon"

"Church Of the Poisoned Mind"


"Miss Me Blind"


"Karma Chameleon"

Favorite Albums: 146 - 145

146. Greatest Hits '93 - '03 by 311 (2004)

These guys have always been, for me, one of those "background music" type bands. Hear them all the time, but don't pay that much attention to them. Therefore, this is the only album I've ever bought of theirs. It's a good album for the "casual" fan like me, having all their popular singles as well as some decent less popular songs. I originally bought this album for their cover version of "Love Song" by The Cure, from the 50 First Dates soundtrack, and wasn't expecting to know more than a handful of other songs. Which is pretty much what happened. Only knew 7 out of 17 songs. And, to be quite honest, they are still pretty much the only ones I know. I tend to just skip to those 7 songs and not really listen to the rest unless I'm just cleaning or something. Oh well. And yeah, this band puts on a hell of a concert. And the multitudes of women flashing their breasts put on a hell of a show, also. Ha. Seriously. I have never seen that many flashers at a concert. Unreal amounts of boobage.
5 Best Songs:
5. "All Mixed Up"
4. "Down"
3. "Come Original"
2. "Love Song"
1. "Do You Right"

"Come Original"


"Love Song"


"Do You Right"
Video's a bit off from the music, but it's still funny seeing how young and hip-hop they were trying to be.


145. The Singles - 1986>1998 by Depeche Mode (1998)

Of the two Depeche Mode singles collections, this one is the more substantial one. It's a toss up, though, as far as which one is actually better, since they've had so many great singles. This one spans their albums from Black Celebration through Ultra, including their two biggest U.S. albums, Music For the Masses and Violator. It starts off with "Stripped," one of their better songs and one of Dave Gahan's stronger vocal performances up to that point, which is followed by "A Question Of Lust," one of the most epic songs Martin Gore has ever written or sung. Obviously "Personal Jesus" is included, but it's one of only a couple weak songs. And while I've never personally been a fan of Ultra, most of the 5 songs from that album that are included here are at least decent. For the most part, this is just a very good collection. The 2003 box set The Singles - 1981>1998, which includes both singles collections, is obviously the definitive collection, but for those who aren't really fans of the earlier Depeche Mode music, this is obviously the way to go.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Never Let Me Down Again"
4. "Condemnation"
3. "Stripped"
2. "A Question Of Lust"
1. "Enjoy the Silence"

"Stripped"


"A Question Of Lust"
The sound is kind of low on this one.


"Enjoy the Silence"
Shitty fan video, just one image the entire time, but it's the album version, not a remix or live version, so it wins.


Well, that's it for now. So far so good on keeping with the schedule I wanted for this one, so yay for that. We'll see after it's been more than one week though. Ha ha.

Favorite Albums 148 - 147

There are a lot of greatest hits albums and singles collections at this end of the list. Here are the first two.

148. Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) by Barenaked Ladies (2001)

Barenaked Ladies actually used their Greatest Hits album to help change their status from novelty comedy act to serious musicians. While the obvious funny songs are here - "If I Had $1,000,000," "Brian Wilson," "One Week," and "Pinch Me," the other 15 tracks show that they are, indeed, fine musicians who write some very good songs. "Brian Wilson" and "What a Good Boy" are both live versions, as the band wanted to showcase their real strength, which is their live shows. It has a good balance of hit singles and some of the better album tracks. One of the cool things about this collection is that they actually had the fans vote on which songs were included. Otherwise, some of the stronger songs, such as "Jane," "Shoe Box," and "Lovers In a Dangerous Time" (one of the few cover songs by the band) may not have made it onto the disc. Overall, it's a very solid showcase of the band's first decade.
The flow of the music is very good from start to finish on this album. Not too many slow songs grouped together, bogging it down, and the "silly" songs are spread over the whole album. The two new songs on the album are "It's Only Me (The Wizard Of Magicland)" which would fit more in the "silly" category, and the extremely beautiful closing track, "Thanks That Was Fun."
5 Best Songs:
5. "Falling For the First Time"
4. "Jane"
3. "Lovers In a Dangerous Time"
2. "The Old Apartment"
1. "What a Good Boy"

"Lovers In a Dangerous Time"


"The Old Apartment"


"What a Good Boy"


147. ...Hits by Phil Collins (1998)

This is probably one of the more incomplete Greatest Hits albums around, simply because there is so much left off of it. While the really huge songs are here, like "Sussudio," "One More Night," and the biggest hit of Collins's career, "In the Air Tonight," there are some other pretty big hits missing, most notably "Don't Lose My Number," "I Missed Again," and "I Don't Care Anymore." The omission of that last song alone, at the expense of the previously unreleased cover of "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, gives the album a bit of a bad taste. In the end, though, it is a decent album. Great? Not by any means. But good.
One of the big problems with this album is that the Phil Collins solo music and the Phil Collins as member of Genesis music sounds so similar. You keep expecting to hear certain songs, only to realize that they are, in fact, Genesis songs. Also, starting the album off with "Another Day In Paradise" just seems like a bad idea. I mean, really, who wants to hear this depressing ass song right when you put the album on? And if you do want to start off with a slow depressing song, why not put "In the Air Tonight" first instead of burying it as the second to last track? Other than that, the songs flow very well, since they aren't in chronological order, just logical order, for the most part. "Easy Lover" and "You Can't Hurry Love" go together very well, as do "Separate Lives" and "Both Sides Of the Story," and "Take Me Home" is a pretty obvious choice as the closing track. Overall, a solid album but not as good as it could have been.
5 best songs:
5. "Both Sides Of the Story"
4. "Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)"
3. "I Wish It Would Rain Down"
2. "In the Air Tonight"
1. "Take Me Home"

"I Wish It Would Rain Down"
Never actually saw this video. The part at the beginning about him being the drummer in a "pretty good band" then taking over after the singer left is pretty funny.


"In the Air Tonight"


"Take Me Home"


I just realized how much I have bitched about 2 of the 4 albums I've done so far. You'd think I was doing a list of my least favorite albums. Ha ha. It'll get better, I promise.