I am a slacker. I was writing out the stuff for this post, but it was getting long, and I just could not find the right words. Fortunately, relatively well compensated music journalists have already done what I am doing. So while I may add a line or two here and there, follow the links for a decent synopsis as to why these 8 albums (5 was too hard)


1. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Wow. Lucas picked the Beatles. It sucks you in from the first moment, and ebbs and flows appropriately in all the right places. It is still not only the best concept album, but the songs are unbelievable and stand on their own as well. Exhausted at the end, "A Day in the Life" almost sighs, but not before unleashing sonic hell through an orchestra in one final, adrenaline induced moment. I also believe this album must be listened to from start to finish (or backwards for Paul-is-Dead messages), because it represents the climax of a legendary rivalry. The Beatles released Rubber Soul, which in turn inspired the breathtaking album "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys, which then prompted the Beatles to compose Sgt. Pepper's. Every note and arrangement in this album displays a drive to create the best that ever is/was. This is the end product of genius begetting genius begetting genius.


2. Van Morrisson - Astral Weeks. The album has a loose jam feel throughout and it is rumored that Van Morrisson and the band improvised most of the songs on the fly in one take. The song “Sweet Thing” featured early on makes me feel young the same way orange soda does, and the album allows me to stay there throughout. A truly remarkable piece all of the way through.


3. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced? He opened for the Monkees for a short time. That still makes me smile. This album flows like a greatest hits record. Unreal.


4. Radiohead - The Bends. Remember when Radiohead would release songs that you could make out the words too and didn't sound like someone was fiddling with the radio on a long car trip? Watershed album right here folks. Flows like a good, angry, sullen, redeeming book.


5. The Beatles - The White Album. When I am angry with my friends, plans fall apart, projects don't get done, etc. How is it in music this seems to result in masterpieces? Please explain. This is an album that doesn't feel coherent until the last note. Then you wait ten minutes and it all feels right.


6. Pink Floyd - The Wall. Simply put: frightening. One of the few albums that I like ebst for the break in the middle, namely "Vera." My favorite song on the album.

7. Paul Simon - Graceland. It is not a coincidence that the albums which contain the best opening lines also fall into my lists of incredible albums you need to hear start to finish.


8. Jabbering Trout - Swell. Tom Burris writes amazing songs. This was one of those bands you knew in your heart would make it, and then just never did. It was a guitarist and drummer and that's it. The album was intended to be a Musical, and it never materialized. I like that I can only guess at the plot twists in between songs.


Honorable Mentions:
-Grateful Dead - American Beauty
-Green Day - Dookie (I remember loving this album... yes jones, I am a poseur.)
-Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
-Ben Folds Five - Whatever & Ever Amen
-Talking Heads - Remain in Light
-Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
-Frank Sinatra - One Night in Paris (NOT the movie featuring Ms. Hilton. Though were Frank alive, he might be a part of both).

Insert your suggestions in the comments. If I like them, I may... well, honestly I probably won't do anything, but you'll feel good about yourself for having tried.

After reading some particularly hilarious corrections in the Washington Post the other day, I thought I would start looking at newspaper corrections and mock those who confess their errors. Looks like someone already has had that idea:


Regret the Error

I thought I would have trouble with this category but it turns out it is slowly become a top 10 list.

1. Carmina Burana at Tanglewood (July 13, 2001). My friend Dave used to sing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra a lot. For a year or two, he would spend the summer working at Tanglewood, which is one of the most amazing places to hear music on our fat little planet. So he got posh housing and we'd sit on the lawn outside on our Therm-a-rests listening to amazing music. But on the occasion I site here, Dave was singing Orff's classic Carmina Burana with the BSO at Tanglewood. For those of you who can't remember the song or don't know what it sounds like, it was the song playing in the Guinness commercial featuring the train (turn up your volume for this link). The piece is about 25 minutes long and the hairs on my neck were on end for the entire duration. I have never been as moved, engrossed, and convinced that the world was exploding more than that night under a clear and open Massachusetts sky.


2. Radiohead at Harbor Lights (August 27, 1998). Not only was it the first time in a few years that the band played their most well known song (to that date) "Creep," but it was a show the band even looks back on and remembers as one of their best. Given the fact that OK Computer had just come out, it was a great time to be a Radiohead fan. As far as location, it didn't get much better. The Harbor Lights pavillion sat right on Boston's scenic waterfront and would host amazing bands despite limited seating. So it was almost like a club, but outdoors, and with the energy of a stadium. This one always comes to mind as I remember so vividly gettting close enough to see the odd electronic bracelets that Johnny Greenwood wore to coax sounds from his guitar known only to other galaxies. It was like seeing the inner organs of superhero laid out before you and shown how everything works in great detail.


3. R.E.M at Great Woods (June 16, 1995). Looks like we're approaching a ten year anniversary on this one. Huh. I have a picture of my friends and I at this show and dare I say I barely look or feel a day older now. I still talk to many of the kids I went to the show with, which was my first major concert, and my first time ever seeing R.E.M. - the tickets were $75, which adjusted for America's inflation and ticketmaster's inflation, it would be roughly equal the GDP of many 3rd world nations in today's dollars. This was also when Monster came out, and R.E.M. sought to be/be on the cusp of something important in music. Didn't really happen though. However, I saw my music idols on stage and finally knew that they were real, that they played their instruments, and that I was 15 and my life seemed less complicated for a few hours. And at 15, that's hard to do.


4. Ben Folds at Avalon (September 16 or 17, 2001). Notice the date. This was back in that period of the week after September 11 where the world did not know if it was OK to do stuff yet. We got these tickets for free because I knew the owner's wife well, but we weren't sure if we should go to the show, because it felt inappropriate - there was still a rawness to everything. However, we went and it was an amazing show - aided by the fact that I name dropped the owner's wife and assistant and within 20 minutes, we are up in the booth overlooking the show and having drinks with the record label and industry folks while sitting in plush couches with Ben Folds rocking the shit out of the place. There was dancing, drink spilling, and sing-a-longs that dulled the 9/11 feeling that was waiting to greet you upon exit. It was respite care as far as I'm concerned, and I thank Ben Folds for it.


5. Ely's Gin at JT Kaminski's Wedding (can't remember the date). I can't remember what year my friend JT got married, but I am pretty sure it was sometime between 2000 and 2002. JT and his bride Tessa invited all of their friends to their backyard where they were getting married. Not only does it make my Top 5 Wedding List, but the fact that a group of our friends were the wedding band made it amazing. Ely's Gin was a collection of some of my friends from high school who wrote music well beyond their years. Imagine if Rush, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, and Mr. Bungle all had a bastard child, and no one wanted custody. They rocked the hell out of Massachusetts for a good number of years. I am lucky enough to have recordings, because there are few out there these days. Anyway, they played every song we knew, every song we wanted to hear, and as usual, the great covers. They were the perfect wedding band, and you could go up and grab an instrument and jam with them. It felt like the first wedding I went to that was thrown for ME.


Honorable Mentions:

Any John Mayer show (there are tons of beautiful women at these shows, plus the guy can PLAY).

Inspector 11, battle of the bands 1996. I was a guitarist in an incredibly well-named band once. We blew away all of the other bands that afternoon. Then again, the other bands were Rage Against the Machine screamers. And we did not play that crap.

Any SCOPE show - I was the production director for 1999-2000 and put together these shows. I can live to say I gave Jam Master Jay driving directions.

Paul McCartney - October 2005 (future show). I must see a Beatle in concert. I must.

In the relentless quest to have something to say, I've decided to also grab onto the "High Fidelity Challenge." Which is basically composing the following top 5 lists:

• Top 5 Lyrics that Move Your Heart
• Top 5 Opening Lines (added by Lucas)
  
• Top 5 Instrumentals
  
• Top 5 Live Musical Experiences
  
• Top 5 Artists You Think More People Should Listen To
  
• Top 5 Albums You Must Hear From Start to Finish
  
• Top 5 Musical Heroes

I was initially going to go through all of them at once, but then that would do 2 things: First it would take a up a lot of space, and second, it wouldn't generate any discussion. Plus, I may think of better things as I start this. So maybe I'll just do one a day this week. Cause I am gone all of next week, and Jones will have the run of the place.

Top 5 Opening Lines

Oddly, this is a subject I have always talked to people about. And it all stems from my number one choice:

1. Paul Simon, "Graceland" - "The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar."

Written out like this, it makes no sense. But what an introduction to a song. And the way it is delivered is earnest and optimistic; the beginning of a traveller's tale that speaks in universals. Every single time I hear this song, I remark to somebody, "best first line of a song. ever."

2. The Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - "It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to raise a smile. So may I introduce to you, the act you've known for all these years. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!"

Hello and welcome to one of the seminal moments of Music and Rock History. We're the Beatles and we will blow your mind for the rest of your lifetime, despite how music changes over time. The contents of this song and the rest of the album are meant to alert the Beach Boys and the rest of the world that we, sonically speaking, own your ass.

3. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A." - "Born down in a dead man's town, The first kick I took was when I hit the ground. You end up like a dog that's been beat too much, Till you spend half your life just covering up."

Delivered in an exhausted primal roar, Springsteen vents on behalf of the forgotten and ignored infantrymen of Vietnam. Unapologetic from the beginning, this sets the stage for the rest of the song that deals with internal and external conflict, as well the overwhelming feelings of loss, ambivalence, and something that resembles shame, but isn't. It was always amazing to me that this song inspired such patriotism in people. The only triumph that this song proclaims is that of self-survival. It is always sad to me that so many people still think this is a happy song. It is an important song, but not happy - right from the opening salvo.

4. R.E.M., "Ignoreland" - "The bastards stole the power from the victims of the Us v. Them years, wrecking all things virtuous and true. They undermined the social democratic downhill slide into abysmal, lost them off the precipice into trickle down runoff hope.

Coming off the first Bush administration, R.E.M looked like it was well on its way to become the 90's version of what U2 is today. With politically charged songs sprinkled throughout their catalogue, I always felt that Ignoreland was their most angry, frustrated, despondent, and 'fuck-this' laden song. This opening line sets the tempo of the song, and told me I was going to listen and pay attention goddamnit. Whenever I read all the lyrics of this song, I can't help but think I am still living in the past.

5. Bob Dylan, "Hurricane" - Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night. Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall - She sees the bartender in a pool of blood, she cries out "My God, they killed them all!"

Dylan has been lauded and condemned for his narrative of "The Hurricane." But it cannot be disputed that these opening lines, accompanied by a mourning yet lively violin brings you in, creates a plot line quickly, and makes you think about your own definition of justice. The song itself is a 9 minute masterpiece that does not feel half that long, and the opening line is a lyrical cannonball.


Honorable Mentions:
The Smiths, "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
Bruce Springsteen, "One Step Up & Two Steps Back"
The Byrds, "Turn, Turn, Turn"

I guess these aren't all happy songs, and I am sure there are dozens, if not hundreds of better choices than I have put here (I just can't recall any Otis Redding or Stevie Wonder or Jimi Hendrix, or Tribe Called Quest or EmmyLou Harris or Louis Armstrong, etc openers that hit me the way these songs do). I am more than happy to include others thoughts on this topic and future ones. if you have ideas - send them to ruleofthumb @ gmail dot com. We'll be happy to put up your thoughts and suggestions.

US Navy declares war in Southie (south boston for those of you who don't know boston or haven't seen Good Will Hunting).


The winding cowpaths of Boston apparently have the same type of urban planning as Baghdad, and will provide good prep for our troops. I'm all for that. I didn't realize that Baghdad had about 9 "Au Bon Pains" all within 6 blocks of each other, but you learn something new every day, I guess.


So in the dead of night, the residents of Southie can be lulled to sleep by the snaps of paintball guns... But the question is, in Baghdad, will they hear the streets yell back from their open summer windows: "hey guy, yah missed me, yah retahd!"