This is what part of the alphabet would like if Q and R were eliminated

Check it.

West Coast: Honey on your nuggets?, Oh, Hello MIGGYSEIZE, GIT NAKD, hoe please

East Coast: Hilliris, The Point is Moot

Traitors: (a)broad abroad, STUD(y) ABROAD, Abroad and Beyond

If you haven't heard of/read from a blog on this list, you probably wouldn't have an appreciation for said blog. Some of them barely have any posts. Some of them haven't been updated in weeks. I figured I'd put them up anyway. The list will be updated as necessary, if necessary.

Young Hov in the house,
Mai

What you want, baby I got it

The only sleep I've gotten in the past 24 hours is the 5 hours of sleep on my flight back to the Boogie Down, so I'll put off writing my #1 album until I stay focused on something for more than 10 seconds. In the meantime, here's some honorable mentions in no particular order (not necessarily favorites, but ones that have had a relatively significant musical impact on my life):

2001 (Dr. Dre)

Backstreet Boys (Backstreet Boys)

XO (Elliott Smith)

Michael Bublé (Michael Bublé)

No Strings Attached (*NSYNC)

Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session (Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan)

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered (Stevie Wonder)

Everything is Alright (Andrew "Funnyman" Shea)

Yep. Boy bands and big band included.

Mahna mahna,
Mai

i love you, man

that movie was really good. i think you all should see it.

also, while i am on the subject of things that are good, i have ch. nugs. for lunch. jeal?

you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here,

michael

B.ay A.rea R.apid T.ransportation

I feel obligated to finish this thing before I can actually post about anything else, so let's do this.
Up until now: Album 5, Album 4, and Album 3. If, for whatever reason, you have no idea what's going on, "Album 5" has the low-down. Down-low. Either/or. Moving along.

#2: Rubber Soul

What is there to say about The Beatles that hasn't been said a thousand times over already? The greatest band to ever bless Mother Earth with music. That's not opinion; it's fact. Look it up. Even a person of my limited musical knowledge knows at least 5-10 Beatles songs. The first Beatles album I ever owned was 1, which was fine, but just went right along with my tendency to listen to an artist/band's singles. Shortly after my Coldplay revelation, I decided that I should use my newly found motivation to develop an actual opinion of The Beatles' work. Not just of how good they were/are, or even of what songs I liked, but of what albums stood out to me the most. After all, anybody who's anybody can tell you what their favorite Beatles album is (kidding). Luckily, I had the resources at hand to take on what would have otherwise been too daunting of a task for me to try. During the 2nd semester of Sophomore year, Mike gave me quite a few albums (Sgt. Pepper's, Revolver, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Let It Be, and White Album) and from then on I was on my way.

By Spring Break, I had already given most of them a listen and felt proud, in a way, of the fact that I was actually dedicating myself to something and getting it done. The one album that I had not gotten a chance to listen to yet (if I didn't have the time to listen to an album the whole way through within a few hours, I would put it off until there was time) was Rubber Soul. One day, I needed to walk to the bank to do some stuff, so I decided that it would be a good time to put on the album as I walked over (it's a 10-minute walk or so to the bank from my house). As the opening track played, the first thing that went through my mind was "This is pretty catchy." Track after track went by, and I continued to think the same. While listening to the past albums, there had usually been at least one track a few songs into that album that I didn't care much for at first listen. However, each song on Rubber Soul seemed "catchy" enough for me to actually want to listen to the whole thing. As the album went on, I remember thinking something like, "I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but this could definitely be my best Beatles-listening experience so far" (but less wordy). I liked every single song on the album. Not just "Yeah, I don't mind listening to it," but actually "I have no idea which song to pick because they're all awesome."In fact, I walked slower and even lingered outside the bank (linger might be too creepy of a word to use here) for a while just to listen to more of the album.

Like A Rush of Blood to the Head to Parachutes, many people prefer the subsequent album Revolver to Rubber Soul. But once again, that isn't the case for me. The experience of realizing that I had finally found my "favorite Beatles album" and of being caught off-guard by how quickly every track pulled me into it with it's "catchiness" (no other word comes to mind and it would take too many words to clarify further) is something that will be engrained into my brain for the rest of time. Maybe also that every song but one is under 3 minutes (and the one is only 3:23), so it's just really easy to get into? That makes sense. Sort of. Besides, Revolver has "She Said She Said" on it. Bleh.

Almost done! Finally. Then I can go back to writing posts that don't take up 1/3rd of the front page.

Oh, also, after reading through this, none of it really makes that much sense or gets my point across the way I'd like it to, but it's too late now. I like Rubber Soul. /end

Don't you steal my sunshine,
Mai

more like march sadness....

yeah. my bracket is falling apart as usual.

peace dudes,
Michael

Ah crap.

I know, I know. I missed another day. Album 2 will come soon enough, so the 2 people who actually read this need not worry.

Also, I may start using relevant titles for blog posts every so often. Maybe.

Jai guru deva,
Mai

Man, I'm tired of singin'

I am sick. Again. I was too lazy to think about what to write yesterday, but I'll see what I can come up with now. Ahem. Day 3. Album 3. Oh, and here's #s 5 and 4: Album 5, Album 4.

#3: Parachutes

As great as The Lion King Soundtrack and Thriller are, they weren't enough to keep me from falling back into my "listen to whatever is around me" phase. Without any specific knowledge as to what I was looking for in music, I went through a pop music phase, an oldies phase, a mainstream rap phase, an underground rap phase, and listened to whatever else my friends at the time were listening to up until college. It's not necessarily bad, but I found that when the time came for me to choose what music I wanted to listen to on my own, I didn't really know what to do.

Fast-forward to Sophomore year at Fordham. My dear friend Andy Shea has been my musical guru over the past year, showing me artists that I may like based on the little information I could tell him about my tastes. Weezer. Elliott Smith. Bright Eyes. Damien Rice. Brand New. Some I liked, some I didn't, but at the time I was willing to listen to anyone that would add to my ability of naming artists I was a fan of. One day, Andy found out (unsurprisingly, I'm sure) that I had never heard any of Coldplay's albums (namely Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head). Not wanting to throw too much at me at once, he just gave me Parachutes and asked me to devote enough time to give it a good listen. Like Thriller, Parachutes was one of those albums that made me smile and go, "Cool." However, unlike Thriller, it finally helped motivate me to find an artist that I liked and do more research about him/her/them. "Everything's Not Lost" showed me what a great ending track is supposed to sound like, and left me feeling so satisfied (insert double-entendre here) that it became my favorite song on the album (and my favorite Coldplay song. The Live 2003 version is unbelievable.) It isn't a perfect record by any means (I don't care much for "High Speed" or "We Never Change"), but it's one that I am literally always in the mood to listen to.

Many people prefer Rush of Blood over Parachutes, citing Rush of Blood as an album with more "substance" (even Chris Martin doesn't seem to like Parachutes very much). I guess I know what that means, but substance aside, if I enjoy an album, I enjoy an album. I think that should be a cardinal rule of music; if you like something, then you like it. That's it. I think people make that a lot more difficult than it has to be sometimes. Of course, that doesn't mean someone can't like Rush of Blood over Parachutes; Rush of Blood is a fantastic album as well, it just didn't impact me as much as Parachutes did. I don't even think I've explained very well how and how much it impacted me, aside from gushing about how much I love the album. Long story (really) short, it helped me give me solid ground to stand on in terms of defining my musical preferences, which is something that this and the final 2 albums all have in common.

Yeah!

Mahna mahna,
Mai