15 Favourite Albums

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen influential albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your Facebook profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note.)

"Collective Soul" by Collective Soul - This album is their best album they put out. It has some great songs like "Gel," "December," "Where The River Flows," "She Gathers Rain," "Bleed," "Smashing Young Man," and my personal favourite "The World I Know." This a great album from the 90s from a great alternative rock band who are AWESOME in concert! It is always a good listen!

"Take Everything" by Seventh Day Slumber - This is a great album from a band I discovered by listening to this very album in store. I listened to it twice before buying it. This album is chalk full of worship songs and hymns in rock music form. What got me to buy it is the fact that they managed to do these songs in a way that wouldn't make me get sick of listening to them. That is beauty of it all with this album.

"Crossroads" by Bon Jovi - This is their first greatest hits album and is the first Bon Jovi album I got. I actually wanted it for my birthday all them years ago and got it. It has such great hits as "Always," "Keep The Faith," "Wanted Dead Or Alive," "Lay Your Hands On Me," the great hit "Livin' On A Prayer" among others. It is a must for any Bon Jovi fan and I still listen to it whenever I can.

"Sonic Firestorm" by DragonForce - This is an album is listened to some of in college. I got into DragonForce because of Ian Coglan and Scott Yaremko. I was a fan before the whole "Through Fire And Flames" came out on Guitar Hero 3 made that song popular. This is the best DragonForce album in my opinion. "Once In A Lifetime" and "Prepare For War" are the best songs on the album. You might think DragonForce is cheesy because Herman Li shreds and wanks a lot, but it is a great album. Whenever I feel in the mood, I give it a listen.

"Warning" by Green Day - Unlike a lot of other people who list either "Dookie" or "Nimrod," I find "Warning" as one of their most underrated albums and it is really good all at the same time. This album was before they went truly commercial with "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown." I give it a listen for nostalgia reasons. It has many good songs whether or not they were hits. This album takes me back to my high school days.

"Satellite" by P.O.D. (Payable On Death) - This is the first album by P.O.D. that I listened to. It seemed like everybody had it and there are a number of great songs on this album. This is the album that launched P.O.D. into the secular/mainstream music market. The great thing about it is that they remained true to themselves being Christian. I finally bought this album when I went to CBC in 2006-2007. A purchase I don't regret making.

"Don't Bore Us Get To The Chorus" by Roxette - This was an album that I listened to a lot in CBC. Just ask my friend Mark Jensen and he will confirm that. Great mix of hits from the successful Swedish duo. If you want that 80s and early 90s sound, then this is a great album to listen to. "Joyride" is perhaps their best known hit on the album. The album of the same name ("Joyride") is a great one as well.

"Joyride" by Roxette - This is an album that was released in the early 90s and listened to this on tape so much that the tape broke. The title track "Joyride" is a great song. It also has other great hits like "Big L.," "Spending My Time," "Knocking On Every Door," and "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)." It was just an album I loved at that time and if I could find it on CD I would buy it because it is such a great album from my childhood.

"Tuesday Night Music Club" by Sheryl Crow - "All I Wanna Do" is listen to this album. That's what I did when I first got it. It was her breakout debut album which is underrated in my opinion. I even underrated it for a time. But as I would listen to this album I found that there were some great songs that were not even hits like "I Do What I Can." That song has a nice jazz feel to it. I heard a Christian band or artist (I truthfully don't know the name of the band or artist) cover "What I Can Do For You" which was a pretty good version of it. But if you want a good rock/soft rock album, then give this one a listen.

"Hell Freezes Over" by Eagles - This album took me such a long time to like, but now I can say I do. If you look past "Hotel California" then you will see that there are a number of great songs. You want like all of them like me. "Desperado" is a song that took me a while to like it. When I heard Johnny Cash's cover of it, I got to liking the song. Most of the album is live album except the first four tracks. "Learn To Be Still" is one of the studio recorded tracks that is very good. All around great album chalk full of classic rock.

"Amanda Marshall" by Amanda Marshall - I am a huge Amanda Marshall fan. She doesn't get nearly enough airplay in my opinion. This album I listened to a lot. My mom thought Amanda Marshall would sound more like Alanis Morrisette on her "Jagged Little Pill" album. But she surprised that she sounded nothing like her. I told her that she didn't. I made a great choice in picking up this album. All of the songs on this album are top notch. Seeing her in concert was just amazing when she was promoting this album.

"Twentysomething" by Jamie Cullum - I heard some of this album back in CBC. Jamie Cullum is just an amazing jazz pianist and vocalist. His cover of "Singing In The Rain" is awesome. His cover of Jimi Hendrix' "The Wind Cries Mary" is also good. He has this great jazz voice and can skat pretty well. Just an amazing piece of modern jazz work from future legend in jazz. Cullum can make almost anybody a fan of jazz. He is one of the few artists that got me into liking jazz more.

"Lean Into It" by Mr. Big - This was a big album for me in my childhood. I had it on tape and I listened to it A LOT! Pretty much every song except "To Be With You" was great. Even then "To Be With You" was a decent song. That song was their big power ballad for the album. They have song fast paced get you pumped up songs to songs that let mellow out because they are ballads. It is just a great album from start to finish. This is another album I need to find again. Paul Gilbert is a great guitarist and his use of a drill on this album is sheer innovation.

"Christmas Album" by Boney M. - You might think "WTF?" But this is an album I grew up listening to, especially during the holidays. It has all the classic Christmas carols and songs. I especially enjoy "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" which if you listen to the tape version of the album, then it is the last song on the the first side or side A. It's just an all around great Christmas album.

"Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morrisette - This is the album that made Alanis Morrisette HUGE! She sold a lot of copies of these albums. The basis for this album was her being jaded over an ex-boyfriend. Some of the songs if you read the lyrics clearly point that out.

"Dangerous Minds Soundtrack" - This is the only album I have which is urban, rap, and R&B mixed. The only reason this soundtrack sold anything is because of "Gangsters Paradise" by Coolio. Since then Coolio hasn't been able to re-produce the same level of success. I actually took the album from my sister who bought it for whatever reason. I listened to a bunch and I only mentioned this because this sort of album is in genres, if you know me, that I don't like much or at all. Don't you find it odd that I have a soundtrack to a movie I've never seen? I think so. But also, it's always good to have albums outside of your musical comfort zone. I try to listen a wide variety of music, but some genres I just can't do it.

So there you have it. Those were 15 of my favourite albums out of countless favourite albums.

Song of the Day #2 - Tracy Champman

Never paid attention to the video that closely.  Didn't know it was woman jamming on that solo.  That's pretty sweet.

"Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman
YouTube link

Song of the Day #1 - blink-182

What is song of the day?  I pick a song and post it here on my blog.  It could be a song I come across, a song I like, or whatever.  Sometimes there might be multiple versions in a post.  The band or artist will be post put in the post title.  If there is a featured artist in the song, it might be put in the title as well.  Enjoy the first song of the day.

I still loved this song when it came out and still do.  I found the drum part interesting and could not figure out the tick (for a lack of better term).  I then figured out he was hitting the rim of the tom.  Nonetheless, great beat for this song.

"I Miss You" by blink-182
YouTube link

People On My Facebook Friends List

Have you ever thought of removing people from Facebook that you don't talk to? Or people that you don't know why you even bothered adding? Do you think how many true friends you would have on your "friends" list on Facebook if you removed a ton of people? I right now have 428 people on my "friends" ranging from family, friends, classmates, past co-workers, people in the wrestling business, etc.. It's sad to think that I know that many people (minus the people in the wrestling business) and bothered to add them. There are a number of other people I could add, but for various reasons don't.

Some people add people because they want to have the most possible friends even if they only talk to ten of them on a semi-regular basis. This is the same thing that happens on MySpace. That is why I was so against MySpace like 5-6 years ago. But I only got a MySpace profile because of my music.

Even though we may know hundreds of people, do we truly talk to that many people? Is it really necessary to have that many people on your "friends" list? Or are people trying to be popular online because they failed at being popular offline?

I've contemplated removing people and I have removed a few, but I guess I'm just too lazy to remove people. I will eventually get around to removing people. Don't take it personally that I remove you because it's nothing personal.

Something Missing

Don't you ever get that feeling from time to time that something is missing in your life? I am having this feeling. I feel that I know what I am missing, but I just don't how to get what it is that I am missing. I just need that one thing to fill the void. No, it's not the fact that I need a job. It's something else. I just need it to fill the void. Maybe I'm over thinking it. Maybe I do have it, but maybe in other ways.

I've been feeling this way since yesterday (Sunday). Do I really need what I feel I need? I feel I do, but I hear some people talking that they don't want it. No, not the one person, but another person. I don't know, maybe what I need will come in time. Maybe what I need from someone will come when it's right. I don't know. I have done searching and looking off and on for about a couple months now for what I need. But it doesn't seem to get any easier especially now that I need something to fill void or have the feeling I need something.

I never felt the need for something to fill a void or felt something this strong. Oh well, I guess I will keep looking.

Paranormal Activity

So Tuesday evening I finally watched "Paranormal Activity." Now I don't believe in ghosts, aliens, and other stuff in the paranormal realm. The only ghost I believe in is the Holy Ghost. But that is another post for another time. So as I was watching the film, it got me thinking. I wasn't thinking in a bad way like it was messing with my mind and freaking me out sort of thing. It was more of a "what if" type thinking.

I was thinking what if it happened to someone I know, then what? It would be pretty messed up for something unexplainable to happen to someone I know. I would be asking myself why it's happening to them. I am not saying that I would be converted into being a believer of that stuff by any means. Isn't it only natural to question stuff when it happens to you or someone you know? You never really question this stuff unless it's happening to you or you are into this stuff.

The rage nowadays are the paranormal reality shows like "Ghost Hunters." I don't care for those type of shows myself. I don't see what is so good about these type of shows. Sure back in the day I watched "Unsolved Mysteries," but I found it interesting even though I don't believe in it. That's the only paranormal show, real or fictional I truly like. I've never liked "Outer Limits," "X-Files," "Ghost Hunters," "Ghost Whisperer," etc.. But now even "Unsolved Mysteries" which was good for so many years has gone the way of more crime based stories and trying to locate criminals. Isn't that what "America's Most Wanted" or some similar show is for? Robert Stack gave "Unsolved Mysteries" that eerie feel to it. Maybe that is why it was such a good show for so many years. But the current host Dennis Farina isn't that good and nobody can ever give "Unsolved Mysteries" that same feel as Stack did.

In any event, "Paranormal Activity" was an alright film even if it was fiction as I have discovered and I will never understand why some people are into this type of stuff. The whole conspiracy theories, aliens, ghosts, hauntings, wicca, witchcraft, and other such related stuff. Sure movies and films will get me thinking from time to time, but I just can't wrap my mind around why some people are so fascinated by this stuff.