My CD Collection from A-Z

You will notice upon browsing my CD collection that there is music from many different genres.  While my love of music has always been a constant in my life, the types of music I listen to changes from year to year, day to day and minute to minute.  Jump straight to the music collection (skip my history).

My Music-Listening History

I was an 80’s kid and I listened to all the normal popular stuff on the radio at the time---Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Van Halen, ZZ Top, Quiet Riot, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard.  I also remember hearing a lot of the now “classic rock” songs back then too.  I remember ending out the 80’s being heavily into the B-52’s.  I had all their albums on vinyl.  Also around this time, I had a penpal from Holland (we still keep in touch but use e-mail now) and he got me into a band called Mucky Pup.  Although they were from New Jersey, they had a much bigger following in Europe.  Anyhow, I have all their tapes and CDs and I still love them today---saw them play live twice.  Van Halen and ZZ Top also survived the test of time and I've seen them each once live.  I even listen to Michael Jackson once in a while.  Although I don't listen to the others I mentioned above on a regular basis, I still have an appreciation for their music.

Then came the 90’s, and that’s when I got into a lot of punk, grunge, and alternative rock---Skinny Puppy, The Misfits, The Exploited, Nirvana, Bauhaus, Jane’s Addiction, Ministry, Pigface, Nine Inch Nails, Primus, Rage Against the Machine, Skin Yard.  This is also when I succumbed to peer pressure and began finally buying tapes instead of records (I was the last of my friends to convert---I hated having to wait to rewind and fast forward songs with tapes and I guess I wasn’t as much into quality then because I didn’t mind the ticking and crackling sounds of the record, and I would just make tapes of my records to listen to in the car and edit out the songs I didn’t like).  Also at this time, I was into Fishbone and Operation Ivy, more ska-based music.  I also got into the Doors, Hendrix and Pink Floyd around this time.

1992-1995 was a big turning point in my life.  I started hanging out with a different group of friends (it was my senior year and many of my previous friends were older than me and were not at my high school anymore).  I became very much into rap---Cypress Hill, Lords of the Underground, Ice Cube, Ice T, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Outkast, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, the Beatnuts.   I did occasionally listen to other things, for example, Joe Satriani is a guitarist that I loved then and still love today.  Also, in 1995-1996, I got into jazz music---Herbie Hancock, Chieli Minucci, Kenny Burrell, Doc Powell. 

Then came The Steve Vai Fire Garden Tour.  It was in late 1997 when I saw Steve Vai in concert.  One of my rap-loving friends actually took me to the show, saying I would like this guy, even though I’d never heard of him in my life.  After that show, I bought every Steve Vai album there was and it was about 75% of what I listened to on my own time.  In fact, when I got the Ultra Zone album, it didn't leave my car CD player for about a year.  I knew every aspect of it by heart.  The only other thing that happened at this time that changed my music interests was my job at a facility that made metalworking fluids.  I was involved in the chemistry part of it---testing everything to make sure it met the specifications using different lab equipment.  Anyhow, if it was my turn to listen to the radio in our lab, I wasn’t allowed to listen to my “hard rock” stations because that was just too much for the other employees, so they were willing to settle for classic rock.  So during this time, I learned 99% of the common classic rock song titles and artists.  I even got into many of the bands and bought CDs.  Since then, I’ve been on a mission to see a lot of the classic rock artists in concert, since it may soon be their last show.  Some examples of bands I've seen from this time period are The Who, Elton John, Peter Frampton, Carlos Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, The Doobie Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad, Yes, Steely Dan.

August 1999 marked the biggest turning point in musical direction in my life thus far.  It was my introduction to Frank Zappa by a new friend made at a camping and music festival.  He was a Zappa fanatic and transferred all of this to me (funny thing is that now, he hardly listens to Zappa anymore).  I remembered back in high school someone had asked me if I liked Zappa and I didn’t even know who they were talking about.  They responded that I seemed like someone who would like his music---I guess they were right.  Had I explored his music back then, I may have listened and dismissed it because I was not ready for it yet.  I'm glad I had the chance to experience so much other music first.  When I found out from my new friend that Steve Vai (my absolute favorite musician at the time) played with Frank Zappa in his bands, I was even more surprised that I’d never listened to Zappa before.  Anyways, his music changed my whole life.  I bought several new CDs every week (there were over 70 to choose from).  I bought all the DVDs and VHS tapes I could find (and continue to do so), including items from E-bay unavailable anywhere else.  I’m not kidding when I say that I listened to about 97% Zappa for about 4 years straight!  In 2003, I created my art car dedicated to him because he has brought me so much listening (and viewing) enjoyment and was such an amazing person beyond his music (as I found out after also reading extensively about him and buying every book I could find, the best being his own autobiography).  I have never found anyone to surpass what he has done for music and I don’t think I ever will.  1999 also marks the year that I first saw the Allman Brothers in concert.  One of my first internet dates took me (funny thing is, we're still friends after all these years).  I saw them pretty much every year after that on my own.  They always put on a great show and I always have fun dancing.

During 2004-2006, I finally started listening to other musicians again besides Zappa.  I mostly listened to guitar-based music though, like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, John Scofield, Santana, Vinnie Moore.

2007 is when I got more into funk music.  I think it started with me listening more to Parliament Funkadelic and buying some of their albums.  Then I just branched out to listening to Roger and Zapp, the Gap band, The Dazz Band, the Commodores.  I also bought some rap albums this year.  At the end of 2007, my car CD player broke and I had to listen to old tapes for a while.  I discovered I still liked some of the old bands and replaced some of my favorite high school tapes with CD versions.  I re-purchased some Skin Yard, Corrosion of Conformity and Ministry.

2008 cannot be described by any particular genre of music, although I have been listening to a lot of rap and funk.  I was happy to make some new discoveries:  The Basiqs, Froggadelic, Isaac Hayes, The Brothers Johnson, Twista, and Nas to name a few.

For the first 13 days of 2009, I was captivated by the self-titled Organized Konfusion album that arrived from Amazon on new year's eve.  I seriously could not listen to anything else, even though I had other new albums waiting in the shrink wrap.  I must have listened to that album 50-60 times before putting in another CD.  I would judge it to be one of the top 5 best rap/hip-hop albums I've ever heard.  In general, I consider a good rap album to have 5-7 songs on it that I would want to play more than once.  Those qualifications alone are hard to come by (in my opinion).  The whole Organized Konfusion album is good and there is no need to skip any songs.  The two main guys in the band, Pharoahe Monch and Prince Poetry are amazing rappers with such an incredible flow and an excellent vocabulary.  They're so fast it takes many listens just to comprehend all the words, but the good thing is that one can actually understand what is being said because they are very articulate even when speaking fast.  Unlike most rap of today that is filled with vulgar language and content, this album is not---in all the times I've listened, I've never heard the F-word.  While I have learned to not care so much about the words in rap songs if I like the music behind it, I'm glad I don't have to tune out the words on this album.  Also, most rap of today is just a bunch of samples and not very many layers making up the background music.  This album has some real guitar and sax.  One song has a well-chosen sample of Steely Dan's "Green Earring."  There are so many layers of sounds to listen to that I didn't even notice a few things until I heard it on headphones.  And no rap album is complete without a dope rhyme about chicken---this one's got it, including a remix that is quite different from the original.  Didn't think I was going to write a big paragraph about one album, but I guess you can tell how much I like it!  I also bought their second album but wouldn't rate it as highly.  Still some good songs, but a few I'd skip over.  They also added A LOT more vulgarity, which I was surprised by.  They must have thought it might help sell more albums, but it must not have because the reason they broke up was due to poor album sales.

May 18, 2009, is the date that Darwin, my beloved border collie of almost 15 years, passed on.  It was Joe Satriani who helped me through these times, musically speaking.  I listened to nothing but Satriani albums for two weeks straight.  When I was driving, it was easy to get sad and think about Darwin, but because I knew all of Satriani's solos so well, I could just let the music take me away from the pain and concentrate on all the next notes that would be coming up.  Then after this time period, I started pulling out a lot of the Zappa albums that I only listened to once or twice and started gaining a new appreciation.  I especially like "Roxy and Elsewhere", "Jazz From Hell" and "Cheap Thrills" now, which are albums I never really listened to before.  Part of the reason is that when I first got into Zappa, I was buying everything I could find.  Some albums instantly became favorites and others became forgotten.  This Zappa rediscovery trend took me through the summer of 2009.  In mid-August, I started pulling out some of my old high school and early college favorites---Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction.  I was able to enjoy them on another level because I also just recently purchased some new Sennheiser HD595 headphones that are totally awesome.  I can't believe I have had my old Sennheiser 540's for about 14 years!  They finally started to fall apart structurally which is why I got these, but I am so glad I did.  They are much better than my old ones.  I am hearing sounds and guitar parts I never knew existed.  The bass goes down to 12 Hz, so they can handle my rap too, although I've noticed that they make some samples sound too loud and a few songs have sounded strange because of it.  They seem better geared toward rock and jazz. 

At the end of August 2009, I was riding in the car with my dad and he was playing something that sounded good.  It turned out it was Brad Paisley, a country artist.  I generally can't stand country, but I must say, Brad's album called "Play" has some instrumental songs that are absolutely awesome.  It is totally a case of 'shut-up-n-play-yer-guitar'.  He seriously needs to just play his guitar and not sing.  I would buy every album and go his concerts when he came around.  Unfortunately, I have to skip over every song with lyrics.  I just can't get over how great the guitar is though (listening to it right now as I am typing this part).  Since there are 10 great instrumental tracks of 16, it is like getting a whole good album anyhow.  If you like good guitar-playing, I definitely recommend this album.

September 2009 was defined by two albums, both recommended by Norwood Fisher (from Fishbone) on one of those Amazon lists.  The first was an album by Parliament.  I have loved just about everything Parliament Funkadelic, Parliament, or Funkadelic has done and I have many of their albums.  However, I didn't have the one he suggested:  "Motor Booty Affair."  This CD didn't leave my car player for about 2 weeks.  I even had another copy I was listening to inside on my headphones.  Then I got another CD that Norwood suggested:  "True Democracy" by a reggae band called Steel Pulse.  It's funny that I got so into this because I was never much of a reggae listener.  I have heard people play Bob Marley (and even own a couple albums) but it wasn't something I wanted to hear too often.  However, True Democracy did not leave my car player for the next few weeks---it was replaced in October by another Steel Pulse CD called "Earth Crisis" which I have a feeling will also be staying in the player for a while.  As it turned out, by the end of December, I owned 9 Steel Pulse CDs and also got into another reggae band called Burning Spear.  I listened to pretty much only reggae for 4 months straight.

2010 started out with me still into my reggae.  I am also listening to some 20's jazz and will probably pick up more of that.  Also discovered a few new old school rap artists I like --- Zhigge, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Brand Nubian and the Geto Boys.  In January, I came across a man named Brent Hinds, of a band called Mastodon, who suffered a head injury and said that after his recovery he was so inspired and played some of the best guitar compositions he'd ever played.  I decided to order the CD he played on after his injury, called "Crack the Skye," which didn't leave my player for at least 2 weeks straight.  I listened to it 3-7 times a day and pretty much every night before bed.  Then I discovered there was an instrumental release of that same CD, so of course I had to get that.  Amazingly, it was very different than I expected---there were a lot of instrument sounds that I didn't hear in the original version because of the overlapped vocals.  I thought it was a really neat idea for a band to do this.  The music could still stand alone quite well without the lyrics, which are about a Russian healer, etc. named Rasputin, whom I had heard of, but didn't know anything about.  It has been interesting to me to research some of this history as well.

In February 2010, I continued to expand my reggae collection, and I guess now it includes some things that are considered "dub" although I guess I'm still not quite sure what the distinction is.  I am enjoying these guys named Sly and Robbie.  March is when I finally got some Marvin Gaye.  I always liked those few songs that were on the radio, but I always would forget about him and never ordered any of his music.  "What's Going On" is a really emotionally powerful album---it made me cry the first time I listened to it.

Honestly, I don't know where all the time went.  It is now November 2010.  I remember listening to a lot of reggae for quite a while.  Then I got back into old school rap again.  I discovered some "new" artists that I'd never listened to before, like Eric B and Rakim, The Souls of Mischief, Kool G Rap, Zhigge, Black Sheep, Dred Scott, Brand Nubian, etc.  In October, I discovered the Poor Righteous Teachers.  On Youtube, I saw a video for their song, "Rock Dis Funky Joint," which sampled "Slippin' Into Darkness" by War.  I bought the album containing this song the same day.  It was on their first album called "Holy Intellect."  I listened to this album many times and it is definitely one of my top 15 hip hop albums.  It is too bad these guys weren't more popular because they are so good.  I was surprised to hear their track called "Shakiyla" has the same samples behind it as Tupac's "Keep Ya Head Up" and PRT's song came out before Tupac's!  Even more interesting, as I was typing this entry, I was just looking up how to spell Shakiyla when I  began reading a Wikipedia entry about the Poor Righteous Teachers, which led me to discover "The Nation of the Gods and Earths."  I read a bit about their teachings, beliefs and principles after following that Wikipedia entry.  When I got down to the hip-hop section, I was surprised to see Eric B and Rakim and Brand Nubian mentioned as also following these principles and talking about it in their music.  I guess because I don't understand all the lyrics so well and tend to listen to the music behind it rather than trying to decipher all the words, I never pieced all this together before.  They believe in something called the "Supreme Mathematics", which seems to be similar to numerology and some of the things I believe in.  There is also a Supreme Alphabet.  The Universal Flag is the group's official trademark which consists of a sun, moon, star, and the number seven. Reading this sent chills down my spine because this is so similar to the elements I chose for my personal mandala watercolor, that I consider to be significant symbols as well.  Wikipedia said that "according to the Nation of Gods and Earths, it is better to study as many different religions and cultures as possible, to find the common truths in them, rather than focusing on the differences between them. This way, one finds his or her unique and most productive path to the Knowledge of Self."  This is also how I have led my life thus far.  At the end of November, I went on a different tangent from hip-hop---death metal!!!  Ha, ha!  You'd think I was kidding, but I'm not.  I discovered this guy on Youtube named Dan Swano from Sweden.  In 1999, he painstakingly created an album called "Moontower" on which he plays every single instrument!!!  Before I was even aware of this, the melodies had already pulled me in and I knew I had to get the album after just hearing a few songs.  If it were my choice, I would probably change the vocals, because that is what makes it death metal---it adds a harshness that I sometimes wish wasn't there, especially when one finds out that he actually has vocal talent when singing normally (as he does in a very small part of a couple songs).  But the instrumentation is so good that I would say this album is just a true masterpiece.  Plenty of layers and interesting melodies and variety, everything I would want in music.  I've only had the album for about 5 days and I've probably played it 25 times or more.

Again, who knows where all the time went.  It's October 2011, almost a year since I last wrote.  Currently, I am heavy into Mastodon again.  I love their older album, "Blood Mountain," which I just recently picked up, as well as their new one, "The Hunter."  Looking forward to finally seeing them in concert in November.  Other than that, since I am currently receiving no income from a job, I can't really buy albums like I used to (had to borrow from my parents to get the new Mastodon albums---luckily they understand!), and I am just pulling out a lot of my old stuff, of which there is much to choose.  Before the Mastodon albums, I remember listening to Alice in Chains, Mucky Pup, and the Beatnuts.  Also pulled out a lot of my Frank Zappa again and some Steve Vai.

2012 begun as the year of hip-hop.  At the end of December 2011, I discovered MF Doom, who surprisingly sampled the Zappa song, "Would You Like a Snack?" from 200 Motels.  January 1st had me entranced by the music of the Jazz Liberatorz, a French group that I discovered on Youtube (such a great resource!).  My favorite song is "I am Hip Hop."  Then on the 14th, I discovered SHAD, a Canadian hip-hop artist.  He has some decent songs, my favorite being "Rose Garden."  The video for that one is great---the first half of the video is the second half played backwards.  He even includes a Pharcyde reference at the end, because they do an entirely backwards video to their song, "Drop."  Earlier in the summer, I discovered a few less known artists, the Cunninlynguists and Brother Ali.  I also got into Pete Rock and CL Smooth more---one of my favorites is an instrumental album by Pete Rock, called "Petestrumentals."  I wish more artists would instrumental albums like that---it is nice to just chill to some good beats, and it is also fun to make up one's own lyrics to go with the songs.

Near the end of August 2012, my musical interests took a turn I never thought possible---electronic music!!!  My common response to someone who asked me what kind of music I liked was generally, "everything but young country and techno."  I can't say that anymore.  It all started after watching my friend, James's youtube video of him mixing some tech house music.  I really liked it, so I ran a search for tech house music and discovered a DJ named Trevor Nygaard.  He has over 100 sets posted to the internet.  For the last four months (it is the end of December), 99% of what I've listened to are Nygaard's sets.  I have software to convert them to wav files, then I can separate the tracks and burn them to CDs to listen to anywhere.  This new direction is very surprising to me, as I thought I hated this kind of music.  As it turns out, there is just a lot of it out there and much of it is crap, and apparently, I never heard the good stuff before.

For nearly 4 years, I enjoyed weekly Trevor Nygaard sets to look forward to (generally every Friday).  Then Trevor set off on a sailboat and stopped doing new sets in July 2016.  It takes way too much effort to weed through all the electronic music to find something I like, so that was pretty much the end of my "electronic era."  I went back to some of my favorite hip-hop for a while, until June, 2017.  I was in the concession line at the Jean Luc Ponty show on June 22, 2017 at Chene Park, chatting with this guy who saw Ponty back in ’77 at the Fisher.  He brought up Jeff Lorber, and I said I’d never heard of him. Since he seemed so surprised I didn’t know who this musician was, I decided to make sure I checked him out. So glad I did---he’s awesome! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of him either---he’s played with some of my favorite musicians like Chick Corea, John Scofield, and even George Duke, and is credited with introducing Kenny G to the world in 1980 on his “Wizard Island” album.  Lorber's "Soft Space" album is a masterpiece.  It stayed untouched in my car's CD player for over 4 months, until I replaced it with Ronnie Laws' "Pressure Sensitive" album, which was discovered in an interesting way:  I was letting Youtube choose the next song in order to hopefully discover some "new" hip-hop.  Black Moon's "Who Got Da Props?" song came on, which I'd never heard before.  I recognized the sample and figured it was from some jazz album I owned, but couldn't think of how the rest of the song went.  When I went to whosampledwho.com, I discovered that I had only heard the sample used in Organized Konfusion's "Stress," and had never actually heard the original song in its entirety.  The original was Ronnie Laws' song, "Tidal Wave," on the "Pressure Sensitive" album from 1975, which has many other great songs, including my favorite, "Always There." 

As of 2-2-24, there are 1431 CDs in my collection, listed below...