Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The Random Shuffle Chronicles - Week 3

As long as I’ve been listening to music, I’ve gone through various phases and changes in taste as I’ve discovered new bands and artists or rediscovered songs and bands I had – for some reason – stopped enjoying.

For example:

As a freshman in high school, such bands as Kansas, Styx and Van Halen were the cream of the crop. By the time I graduated high school, Styx, Kansas and VH sucked, and I listened to nothing but Yes and King Crimson, with a healthy dose of Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad thrown in. And now, eight years later, I stick to the blues, holding Clapton, Mike Bloomfield and Mick and Keith in the highest regard.

But this week, my iPod got me back into prog. Last Tuesday was a Genesis fest, Wednesday was a Yes fest (not to mention all 45 minutes of Jethro Tull’s A Passion Play), and I also heard a surprising amount of non-Dark Side and non-The Wall Pink Floyd (‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ was a highlight) All I needed was a day of 1975-1978 Rush and I could have been in nerd heaven.

On the negative side, I just about tore my hair out during all the Aerosmith songs played this week. Listening to Steven Tyler screech in the studio is bad enough, but hearing that caterwauling in a live setting (from Live Bootleg – I need to stop buying live records without careful consideration) almost drove me to smash my iPod to bits.

Total songs listened to (of 6237): 372 – 5.9%

The Good: My re-appreciation from prog-rock

The Bad: Asia’s ‘Here Comes the Feeling’ interrupted an enjoyable Eric Clapton – Byrds – Taj Mahal medley.

The Ugly: Steven Tyler at the peak of his “power.”

Top five songs of the week:

  1. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ – Iron Maiden
  2. ‘Why Does Love Got to be So Sad?’ – Eric Clapton
  3. ‘Ain’t Gwine to Whistle Dixie Anymo’’ – Taj Mahal
  4. ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ – The Byrds
  5. ‘And You and I’ – Yes

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