Day Five: The Alan Parsons Project - I, Robot

Arista Records ■ AL 7002

Released: June, 1977

Produced and Engineered by Alan Parsons

"I ROBOT . . .THE STORY OF THE RISE OF THE MACHINE AND THE DECLINE OF MAN, WHICH PARADOXICALLY COINCIDED WITH HIS DISCOVERY OF THE WHEEL. . .
AND A WARNING THAT HIS BRIEF DOMINANCE OF THIS PLANET WILL PROBABLY END, BECAUSE MAN TRIED TO CREATE ROBOT IN HIS OWN IMAGE."

Side One:	Side Two:
I Robot I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You Some Other Time Breakdown Don't Let It Show	The Voice Nucleus Day After Day (The Show Must Go On) Total Eclipse Genesis Ch. 1, V. 32

I've never listened to the Alan Parsons Project--well, hadn't. This, of course, changed that. I actually own three of their albums on vinyl (this one, The Turn of a Friendly Card and Pyramid, both of the others being released after this one), but this is really just due to the doubles still sitting in my father's collection of 8,000 records. I was allowed to peruse these doubles and steal away any I deemed fit. We'll see more of them (plenty far more obscure) later, but this was the one where I was able to withdraw numerous albums from a group I had never listened to.

Day Four and a Half: Ryan Adams - Gold

Lost Highway ■ B0015193-01

Released: September 25, 2001

Produced and Engineered by Ethan Johns

Side One:	Side Two:
New York, New York Firecracker Answering Bell La Cienega Just Smiled Rescue Blues Somehow, Someday	When the Stars Go Blue Nobody Girl Sylvia Plath Enemy Fire Gonna Make You Love Me

Side Three:	Side Four:
Wild Flowers Harder Now That It's Over Touch, Feel & Lose Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd	Rosalie Come and Go The Fools We Are as Men Sweet Black Magic The Bar Is a Beautiful Place Cannonball Days

Well, I've missed one deadline already, but I'm determined to keep things at least somewhat in line. It isn't much help that I was trying to cram a double album in this particular entry, but that's neither here nor there at this point, and we must move onward and upward.

I'm no stranger to Ryan Adams, nor am I even a stranger to writing about him or his music. At all. One of my most passionate and emphatic entries on my previous blog was about his previous band: Whiskeytown. Specifically, I was pouring out my adulation and praise on their sophomore (sort of) effort Strangers Almanac. In all that writing, I have most definitely covered how I stumbled into the man's work as an actual listener ("Come Pick Me Up" as it appeared in Cameron Crowe's film Elizabethtown), as well as the fact that I ignored it for some time prior to that. You've got links there, and some passable outlining, so I'll skip past all of that here and head straight for this album.

Day Three: AC/DC - Highway to Hell

Atlantic Records ■ SD 19244

Released August 3, 1979

Produced by Robert John Lange

Engineered by Kevin Dallimore [Assistant], Tony Platt [Mixing], Mark Dearn[l]ey [Recording]

Side One:	Side Two:
Highway to Hell Girl's Got Rhythm Walk All Over You Touch Too Much Beating Around the Bush	Shot Down in Flames Get It Hot If You Want Blood (You've Got It) Love Hungry Man Night Prowler

Already I find myself forced to eat my own words. I chose not to pull out an item like the 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die one, not because I couldn't do it, nor because it would force me through music I don't know or maybe don't like, but because I didn't want to be too stuck into writing about an album everyone and their mother has written about already. Instead, I decided to go through my own collection alphabetically.

Well, here I've stuck my foot in it.

Day Two: Aborym - Kali Yuga Bizarre

Scarlet Records ■ SC005-1

Release April 1, 1999

Produced by Christian Ice and Malfeitor Fabban

Engineered by Christian Ice

Side One:	Side Two:
Wehrmacht Kali Ma Horrenda Peccata Christi Hellraiser Roma Divina Urbs	Darka Mysteria Tantra Bizarre Come Thou Long Expected Jesus Metal Striken Terror Action The First Four Trumpets Tantra Bizarre [C30 Version] - Exclusive to vinyl

I originally debated inclusion of this record in my collection for a few reasons. Some may be surprised to see a photo of a non-standard record in my collection that they have not seen before, but this is for the same essential reasons. Some years ago, I purchased a used copy of Diabolical Masquerade's Death's Design (more on that in a few months, I suppose!) and brought it back to my then-dorm room only to find that, crammed inside, was this picture disc, for no apparent reason. I'd never heard of Aborym, and had no earthly idea what this was, but figured it couldn't hurt to have. The first time I played it, I realized it was absolutely trashed with surface noise--crackles, pops, and constant noise coated an already noisy band. It didn't make for easy listening--not in the sense that I was put off, but that it was literally difficult to hear the music itself. I stuck it in a simple plastic sleeve and left it at that, often forgetting I even owned it. Sadly enough, it's one of 1,000 in existence and remains in pretty terrible condition, as I can't exactly repair a bunch of scratches and dings that were in it long before I ever had it. I am left wondering (not for the first time) why someone would buy a limited record that had no idea how to care for a record, yet would take it out and fiddle with it enough to do this to it. Especially in an age where records are nowhere near the dominant format. Still, onward and upward!

Day One: 86 - Provocation

Twilight Records ■ TR010

Released ??, 1986

Produced by George Pappas, Billy Swain and 86

Engineered by George Pappas and Dan Vaganek

Side One: Side Two: New Pair of Eyes The City Seven Weeks and One Day Shade of Black Kings Mountain Eyeless Sonambo [Interlude] Wondering Getaway Inside

86 is a curious band in the entirety of my music collection--barring the handful of CDs (and even a 7") I have acquired from people I actually know in person. In some ways, it's actually even more curious than those items, as it was never issued digitally at all. 86 was a band from Atlanta, GA in the mid-to-late '80s that got around somewhat in the southeast from what I have gathered, but not much farther. Indeed, the only reason I know them is someone I know who lived in Atlanta at the time they were around--from about '83-'89--and asked me to make digital copies of her aged records from those days, some of the last she was keeping around, even past owning a turntable. For some time, all I had was the needle-drops of the two records she passed me (Closely Guarded Secret from '85 and Minutes in a Day from '86) that I of course dutifully sent back when I was finished.

Mission Statement

Greetings!

Most likely if you are seeing this page around the date it was published, you already know me. If you don't, welcome!

I am a music listener who doesn't have the talent to back up music listening commentary, so writing is all I can manage. I'm going to do my best at it and try to keep things brisk, friendly and easy to understand and read, regardless of your musical knowledge. I can't promise I'll manage properly, but that's my goal. Every day I plan to write about a record in my collection. Right now, the plan is to run alphabetically, but that is subject to change (mostly because some artists I own complete or near-complete discographies for).

Please bookmark me, share me and let others know if the idea here interests you, and I hope to see you in the future. I always welcome comments and corrections, please feel free to do either. You can find my e-mail address on the right side of the page, and above you can find some more information about the goals and origins of the idea, and a little more about me.

Thanks for reading!

• First Up: 86 - Provocation