It's time for.....

The Top 5 of 2009!!!

I was really thinking about posting this a few weeks ago when I realized I would have to supply a list....and there are far more disappoinments for me this year than in the recent past.....

A perfect example for me is Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue....

I have been looking forward to the surviving members to reform for 4 years now....when they do it turns into a poor Jerry Cantrell solo set.....oh well, such is life in the cornfields of Iowa....

The sets that make my list are mostly old favorites and safe picks.....

[In No Particular Order]

5. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk

Put together Jim James [My Morning Jacket], Conor Oberst [Bright Eyes, et al], M. Ward [She & Him] and Mike Mogis [Bright Eyes, et al] and have them record a series of harmonious and occasionally electrified tunes blending folk-rock, country and white soul and that would be Monsters of Folk. They have been compared stylistically to Traveling Wilburys [in every article I have seen one of the 4 members here have complained about that]....and I can really hear that. The whole CD is catchy. Stand-out Tracks: Man Named Truth & The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me

4. Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul [Deluxe Edition]

Wow, I was reading an article the other day that amazed and surprised me....this is Simple Minds' 15th album....for me it seems like yesterday that Jim Kerr was disliking "Don't You Forget About Me" and was reaping it's benefits at the same time...very good new material and some excellant covers to boot too! Stand-out Tracks: Light Travels & Shadows and Light

3. Collective Soul - Collective Soul [or "Rabbit"]

I like it when a band can be consistant...Collective Soul is one of those bands....love em or hate em they are what they are....I love em! Stand-out Tracks: She Does & Welcome All Again

2. a-Ha - Foot of the Mountain

Sadly this is supposed to be the last CD of new material by a-Ha...calling it quits after 25+ years as a band...they go out on a very high note. Stand-out tracks: Mother Nature Goes To Heaven & The Bandstand

1. Ryan Star - Last Train Home EP


Nice collection from the artist who once was a contestant on Rock Star: Supernova and is the writer/singer of the theme song for Fox-TV's Lie To Me....look for his full CD 11:59 in the new year. Stand-out tracks: Breathe & Brand New Day

Honorable Mentions - KISS - Sonic Boom / Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown / Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Under The Covers Volume 2 / Cheap Trick - The Latest

Happy 2009...

...may you and yours have a safe and prosperous year to come!!



New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.

5 best CDs of 2008 - New material

The finale.....



1) Al Stewart ~ Sparks of Ancient Light - A great collection of classic music from Mr. Stewart and the ONLY CD I have been able to listen to from beginning to end repeatedly since it's release.



2) Mudcrutch ~ Mudcrutch & Mudcrutch Extended Play Live - Tom Petty and the band that led to the formation of The Heartbreakers. And then a live set added to boot. Great stuff.



3) Juliana Hatfield ~ How To Walk Away - I would put this up against any of her work with Blake Babies and previous solo efforts. It is just that good an overall CD.



4) B-52's ~ Funplex - The most fun CD of the year. It is great to hear this band return with such strong material.



5) The Dandy Warhols ~ ...Earth To The Dandy Warhols... - A well put together and performed set that doesn't seem to have gotten any interest from anyone since it's release. And what little interest has been drawn to it has been quite negative. What the h*ll, I like it!

Honorable Mentions - Old 97s ~ Blame It On Gravity, Oasis ~ Dig Out Your Soul, Joe Jackson ~ Rain, Matthew Sweet ~ Sunshine Lies, Rick Springfield ~ Venus In Overdrive & Lindsey Buckingham ~ Gift Of Screws

Have a safe New Year's Eve all!!!

Have a holly jolly and.....

5 best CDs of 2008 - Reissues

The epic continues....



1) All of the U2 reissues ~ Boy, October, War & Under A Blood Red Sky - To get remasters of these classic CDs would have been enough for me. Bono and the guys did this one step better including a whole extra CD or DVD of demos, live versions and rarities.



2) Johnny Cash ~ At Folsom Prison - Deluxe Edition - The full originally released LP with the tracks eliminated from that show and a whole other CD of the whole of the second show he played there. Great additions to the Cash legacy.



3) Rob Dickinson ~ Fresh Wine For The Horses - Now including a second CD of live material largely culled from Catherine Wheel songs played acoustic. Black Metallic, IMHO, NEVER sounded this good to me before.



4) Steve Earle ~ Copperhead Road - Deluxe Edition - The original set, one of my favorite CDs by him, remixed and remastered with a second CD of 17 live tracks from his 1988 tour. In college everybody had this LP and I do mean everybody. A local radio station had been given what had to be about 1000 of them and everyone I hung around with got a copy of it from there. I am glad to say now that I FINALLY purchased this set.



5) Billy Joel ~ The Stranger - 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition - My 2nd favorite Billy Joel LP, the 1st favorite being Glass Houses, Remastered and remixed with a full show from 1978.

Honorable Mentions - Warren Zevon ~ Warren Zevon, Liz Phair ~ Exile in Guyville, Lynyrd Skynyrd ~ Street Survivors, Dennis Wilson ~ Pacific Ocean Blue - Legacy Edition & The Lemonheads ~ It's A Shame About Ray

It's a festivus for the rest of us....

Tomorrow part 2 of the 3 part year end countdown....until then....

5 best of 2008 CDs - Rarities and/or Live

This is a 3 part post that I have written but wanted to publish on here...



1) Bob Dylan ~ The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 - Deluxe Edition - 27 tracks [36 if you are willing to pay for the SUPER DELUXE edition, I wasn't willing. If you were, hit me up I would love to get that 3rd CD] of demos and alternate versions of some of Mr. Dylan's work from the past 20 years.

2) Squeeze ~ The Complete BBC Sessions - 29 tracks recorded for/by the BBC....some really good stuff on this one.



3) The Clash ~ Live at Shea Stadium - Who should want anything more...a full show recorded at the height of thier popularity. This CD is the full Clash set from 10/13/82 opening for The Who [They also opened the other Who show at this venue].



4) The Doors ~ Live at The Matrix '67 - Pre-popularity driven Doors LIVE....a great set that includes some classics done slightly differently than the recognized versions.



5) Neil Young ~ Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 - Recorded previous to his first solo album and acoustic....would probably be rated higher by me had I gotten more of a chance to listen to it.



Honorable Mention - The Kinks ~ Picture Book [Only ommitted because I have yet to get it. That will be occurring sometime in January after the holidays....but 6 CDs of demos, hits and such from one of my all-time favorite bands cannot be a bad thing.]

...Coming up, by Wednesday, Part Two.......