Sunday, January 9, 2011

Because it Sounds Nice Part 2

Alright. So I promised I would post some more of my favorite records from my collection, and I have left it far too long. So, Faithful Readers, prepare to get your nuts smashed in... BY AWESOMETOWN!!

erm... I meant PART 2 OF MY FAVORITE RECORDS LIST!

West Side Story Soundtrack
I believe I mentioned once before in this Blog how I'm a huge fan of musicals? Here's your proof. Before you judge me though, let me just say this: In 1961, "West Side Story" (the movie) won 10 Academy Awards (out of the 11 it was nominated for), including Best Picture and Best Original Score. It is the only musical to have ever won that many Oscars. And for good reason. I love these songs, and so should you. Not to mention how many times WSS has been parodied. That by itself makes it great.

Queen- A Night at the Opera
Freddy Mercury was the greatest frontman in Rock history. Disagree with me if you like, but you'll be wrong. How good is this album? It contains a song that someone I know who dislikes Queen actually enjoyed, which also happens to be my favorite Queen song: '39. However, the awesome doesn't end with that one song. Oh no. We get "The Prophets song," "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody." Get a copy of this album if you don't have one already.

Chuck Berry- The London Sessions
Chuck Berry is the King of Rock and Roll, not Elvis. He played that guitar like no one before him and subsequently changed the world of Rock. He was a huge influence on many of the early rockers that we regard so highly, including The Beatles. I mean, so was Elvis, but Chuck Berry is better right? In my mind, Rock music was invented by the African Americans. Of course, we all know now that Chuck learned it from a white guy (curse you, Marty McFly!), but I can comfortably say that Chuck was the best at what he did.

Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks
There is nothing I can say about Bob Dylan that somebody, somewhere hasn't said better. So I won't try. I will, however, tell you about this time when I was listening to "Tangled Up In Blue" while I was walking down the street, and I started crying. I don't know why; it's stupid really. But I guess that's what Bob Dylan does: He gets inside you and makes you feel things. That sounded a lot less sexual before I typed it out. Sorry.

The Beatles- With The Beatles
Why is this one of favorites? Mainly because it has some fantastic covers. The Beatles renditions of the Marvelette's "Please Mr. Postman" and the aforementioned Chuck Berry's "Roll Over, Beethoven" (masterfully sung by George Harrison) remain two of my favorite songs of all time. This album also marks Georges first song contribution, in the form of "Don't Bother Me," which I hear he wrote while he was sick in bed. All in all, a fantastic album.

The Beatles- The White Album
Rocky Raccoon. Glass Onion. Blackbird. Helter Skelter. While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Not only is this a list of some of my favorite Beatles songs, but they are all contained on this album. Rolling Stone ranked this album at number 10 on their Top 500 Albums of All Time list. Cool, huh? Anyways, this album marks the crumbling of The Beatles as a band. Ringo quit (for two weeks) while making this album, everybody was pissed at everybody, it seemed, and Yoko was there. Oh yeah, know what else makes this album totally rad? Eric Clapton plays guitar (uncredited) on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." How's that for mega cool?

Okay, I think that's enough for now.

You can stay on my lawn if you like, but be warned that it's covered in dog poop, soo... watch where you sit.

4 comments:

Kirsten Glitta Gloves said...

I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooove a Night at the Opera. I actually love pretty much all of these. Excellent post.

(... It's Kirsten, by the way. I'm doing that "we're Facebook friends now" stalking thing. I'm so sorry.)

Ramona said...

I wholeheartedly agree with your choices with the exception of Bob Dylan, who I just don't get and probably never will. I would however defend to the death your right to include him. It is your blog after all.

Strange Brood Tabletop said...

Kirsten: Lucky for you I encourage people to stalk me. A Night at the Opera was my first (and only, now that I think about it) Queen album, and I was super excited to find it on vinyl. VV record shopping for the win!

Mona: I cannot fathom somebody not liking Bob Dylan. I find it very interesting. We must discuss this sometime. It will be a delightful conversation that I am already looking forward to.

E said...

Aww I am so proud of yoou!