Album Number One
This honor would have to go to a cassette tape that I purchased when I was 19 years old and living in Erie, Pa.
I remember this guy named Rob who worked at a music store in the mall. .....
Rob recommended this tape to me since I loved Pink Floyd so very much. I even had a cat named Pink Floyd at the time. Timid thing.
Rob is dead. He died not long after that recommendation from a vehicle accident. I still have his pictures. He wasn't a boyfriend but he was a friend and I was devastated when he died. He had a little motorcycle and one evening, some woman in a station wagon plowed into him. His family had to make the decision to take him off life support. I think of Rob all the time even though I only knew him for such a short period of time.
He changed my life in a way that I couldn't have even imagined.
RADIO K.A.O.S by Roger Waters
I have purchased this cassette twice now during the last 10 years. It was eaten by a sickly cassette player and busted and then Stuart bought it for me when we were just at the beginning of our courtship. Even though he despises it.
RADIO K.A.O.S. is the only, ONLY music in the world that I can listen to when trying to fall asleep. The format is unique.....Billy and the DJ. Telling a complete story. I've not ever heard another put out like this.
I don't listen to it all the time but lately, I've been missing my K.A.O.S. and tonight as Stuart was going to bed, I asked him if he had seen the cassette. He said it was above the microwave and lo and behold, it was. So I thanked him and he said that he had seen it laying around and knew that I had a pattern of listening to it about every 8 months and put it up there so he would know where it was.
The songs calm me. They take me to a place of serenity. That serenity about accepting the things we can't change and knowing the difference.
I've listened to it through and now I can go lay down to sleep.
Album Number
Two
(August
29, 2003)
Still relatively new to me and really, new to everyone, since this is a first time effort, I've been listening to this album for about a year now. It's an all time favorite because every time I listen to it, I love it more and find new things I didn't hear before. It's got that longevity feeling for me. I'll always love this album.
Audioslave by Audioslave
1. Cochise
2. Show Me How To Live
3. Gasoline
4. What You Are
5. Like A Stone
6. Set It Off
7. Shadow Of The Sun
8. I Am The Highway
9. Exploder
10. Hypnotize
11. Bring Em Back Alive
12. Light My Way
13. Getaway Car
14. The Last Remaining Light
Part of why I love certain albums is based on how enjoyable I find singing the songs. I love getting the exact nuances of a singer down and being able to duplicate their sound to the best of my ability. The lead singer of this band, Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden), is probably one of the hardest I've tried to duplicate because he has such a low growl and just rips the words out of his own gut.
The guitar work is really sharp on some of these songs especially the following two:
I was on my way to the center of the sun when I lost my wings and I fell into a crowd. and they carried me to a hole in the ground. and they buried me where no one could see and no one would be around. I am a virus! - Bring 'Em Back Alive
And when you wanted me, I came to you. And when when you wanted someone else, I withdrew. And when you asked for light I set myself on fire. And if i go far away I know you'll find another slave. Now I'm free from what you want. Now I'm free from what you need. Now I'm free from what you are. - What You Are
My number one song pick off this album is I Am The Highway. Followed by Like A Stone, What You Are, Light My Way and The Last Remaining Light. My least favorite song would be Cochise.
They have a couple songs out that you won't find on the album that are really great: Superiority Complex and Golden Visions.