Phish - Billy Breathes

I have a love/hate relationship with Phish. There are many aspects of this band that I love, and a few that I dislike. They are so incredibly talented as a band, it's amazing. I have said before that I am huge on lyrics, and there are a lot of songs that don't make sense to me, so that is a struggle for me. I also become annoyed at songs that go on forever, and they are such a jam band, that's their thing. This album though, not as much, and their lyrics were good. I really enjoyed this album. And I wasn't even stoned. :P Two of my best friends are two of the biggest Phish fans, and stoners, that I know. It made me think of them and how much I miss just hanging out with them and listening to Phish. I have been to a few Phish shows with them as well, and let me tell you, even if you don't like the band, catch one of their shows, the people watching is Fantastic! I will definitely come back to this album.

Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell

This album reminded me of Jason Segel. Particularly, Jason Segel from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The reason is because this album came across like a rock opera. I had heard one or two songs from the album previously, but had no idea what Meatloaf was all about. I'm curious if all of his music is a rock opera, but not curious enough to listen to any more. It wasn't a horrible experience, but I'll leave it at this album, and that's it.

Rocket From The Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream

They say don't judge a book by its cover. This also applies to music, especially band names and album titles. I have never heard of this band (and when you read their bio on Spotify, I think they are perfectly ok with that, because they wanted to stay below the radar). Before I listened to the them, I had to look up their bio, because I thought, "Oh great, what kind of heavy metal bullshit is this going to be?" I must say, not what I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed this album.

Brett Eldredge - Bring You Back

I did not like this album. I am not a huge country fan to begin with, but there are some country albums/artists I don't mind, and every now and then I actually get into a country mood and listen to it for a brief amount of time. When I go through that occasional stage, this would not be on my list of albums I would play. There wasn't much depth to it. It seemed forced and manufactured, more so than other country music.

The Killer's - Sam's Town

I listened to this at the tail end of painting my daughter's room. It was a long and tedious process, but this album helped pull me through it. I like The Killer's, always have, but I've never really sat down and listened to their albums. I love Brandon Flowers's voice, and his style of singing, and I love his 80's sounding style. I like how you can really feel how his songs speak to him and his life, trying to get out of his small town. Although I think he is from Vegas, which doesn't seem like a small town to me!

David Byrne - Look Into They Eyeball

I. Love. David. Byrne. I love The Talking Heads as well, and when listening to this album, you can see how much influence he had on the music style of the band. He's so weird, and his songs are weird, and I love it. A friend of mine who is into music once said they weren't a fan of The Talking Heads because the songs were "boring". I don't get that. I do see how a lot of the music sounds the same, but I'm ok with that, because I love the sound, so for me, the more, the better!

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Flashback! I never actually listened to this album when they were relevant, but the hit songs from the radio came rushing back to me. This was an enjoyable listen for me. Never really struggled at any point. Wonderwall has always been a favorite of mine. If you like that song, I recommend you listen to Ryan Adam's version of it.

The 20/20 Experience (1 of 2) - Justin Timberlake

I like Justin Timberlake. I was never really a "boy band" fan, and I preferred The Backstreet Boys over NSYNC (I have no idea why), so I don't have any "ties" to Timberlake. He is a talented guy though. As an actor as well. And I love him on Saturday Night Live, and when he hangs with Jimmy Fallon. But his music, I don't flock towards. Most of what I have heard from him previously, I don't mind, but I found myself struggling through this one.

Grateful Dead - American Beauty

I loved this album. So much so, that I listened to it 3 times in a row. In my head, it plays like a greatest hits album, because each song was awesome. It still shocks me that they only had 1 number one song (sort of #1 song). In a way I like that though, because they had such a loyal fan following, and that is what they were about, not just generating hit song after hit song. Ripple is probably my favorite song on this album. I'm sure I'll be listening to it again soon.

Smoking Popes - Get Fired

Altough I listened to this album only a few hours ago, I honestly don't remember anything about it. I'm going to leave it at that.

Pele - Elephant

It's not that I didn't like this album, but I really enjoy lyrics with my music. Not all music, classical, jazz and other instrumental music most often doesn't need them, and it can still be moving, but not so much this album. It reminded me of the part of songs when they are over, and the band keeps jamming, and then I skip to the next song, except it was an entire album of just the "skip to the next song" part.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

I have heard all of these songs before, but have never actually listened to the album. Of course the songs are great, they're classics. And each time the next song started, I immediately recognized it. Similar to what Matt said, though, it's almost weird to listen to Michael Jackson now, sort of in the same way that it is hard to watch Top Gun now that I know that Tom Cruise is a crazy person....

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

Heart. There aren't many albums that I can listen to from start to finish and love every song. More than that, I have probably heard this album from start to finish at least 100 times. So much so, that I can start humming the next track before it starts. I love this album. So much so. The lyrics are so fantastic. They are so sad, yet in a strange way, they don't depress me. They make me feel as if I'm not alone, I relate to so many of them. "What Sarah Said" is amazing. It reminds me of my aunt, and her battle with cancer, and how my family watched her slowly die in the hospital. And although it is sad, I appreciate the song and how real it is. It's beautiful. The chorus in Marching Bands of Manhattan is so poetic; "Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole, Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound. But while you debate half empty or half full, It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown". So amazing. Not only are the lyrics great, but the instrumentals are as well. I would say this is in my top 10 favorite albums of all time. Thank you to whomever chose it. I want to listen to it again right now.

Junior Senior - D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat

I guess this album was alright. I love Move Your Feet, but all of the others were just OK. I don't have much more to say about it.

Tupac - All Eyes On Me

I can't remember for sure, but I think I wrote a short essay in school on the fact that I believed Tupac was still alive. Not sure if it was senior year of high school or Freshman year of college.....I'm going to go with Freshman year of college, because I don't remember much about that year of my life in general. I do remember Tupac though, and how much I loved him. Still love him. This album brought me back, and I was immediately trying to rap the songs to myself while working. I really love it. It brought me back to driving around campus blaring it with Leena. We didn't have a destination, we just drove around. And unlike Michael Bolton from Office Space, we kept it blaring, no matter who we rolled up to at a stop light :). We were so thug.

TLC - CrazySexyCool

Back when TLC was actually relavent, I didn't listen to them. I wasn't that cool. Or maybe I just knew better. Maybe I knew that if I heard one or two songs, I pretty much heard all of them. They all pretty much had the same "theme" to them: You want me, I'm awesome, I'm better than you, you'd better work to get me. I guess it can be seen as empowering. I love old school Outkast, so the last track, Sumthin Wicked This Way Comes was a treat for me, and I had completely forgotten Busta Rhymes existed until I heard the track with him. At the end of the album, all I could think was "Don't go chasin waterfalls", and that repeated through my head the remainder of they day. And it is again now as I type this. Joy.

Rent - The Original Broadway Cast Recording

I have always wanted to see Rent, but never have. It's hard to listen to a Broadway recording if you have never actually seen the play, it's almost as if you are lost. I really enjoy listening to plays that I have seen, because I can follow along and know what is happening while the songs are being sung. It wasn't the case with this. There were a couple of tracks that I have heard before, but I still didn't have the context. I was reminded while listening that I really do want to see Rent, so I think I will at least watch the movie soon, and then maybe listen again.

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

Yes, yes and yes. I've loved this band for a while, and I was super happy this was suggested. One of my favorite songs of theirs is on it, Great Expectations, and it starts the album. It's a great start to the album, and it's all gravy from there. I love this genre of music, whatever it may be, and I love their lyrics. They really evoke feelings from me. Not necessarily happy feelings, there is a lot of pain in thier songs, but I LOVE that. For some reason I have always been drawn to depressing songs, and this album has its fair share, in a really good way.

Parliament - Mothership Connection

I listened to this album while cleaning the house. It was a great soundtrack for cleaning, because I was pretty much dancing the whole time. Not dancing well, I'm sure if the neighbors looked through the picture window they may have thought I was choking or having a seizure. The music had so much funk, it envoked THAT kind of dancing. The kind where you just don't give a fuck. My son Andrew dug it too, he kept coming into the room and bustin a move. It's hard not to when listening to this.

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul

I enjoyed this album. It started off great for me, because I love The Flaming Lips. I feel like the first few tracks had a similar sound, and I was perfectly OK with that. Honestly, the only song I didn't enjoy was Pain with Iggy Pop. As for the rest of it, very enjoyable. I plan on checking out more albums.