Favorites

Whenever I buy a CD I always hope it will be the CD, the one that I listen to over and over and never get tired of, the one that will resonate with what I am feeling at a particular time of my life and embed itself into my memories. Few CDs ever meet those expectations, but when one does it is a very special thing. Here are some of the CDs that have been that CD to me over the years (in reverse chronological order of purchase):
U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb- I got this CD for Christmas in 2004, but it wasn't until New Year's 2006 that I stayed up until 3 AM listening to it and fell in love with every song. As usual with U2, the songs are beautiful and poetic, with lyrics about love, God, war, and poverty. Big subjects, yet the songs are still so personal and touching. I've listened to this album about a million times this year.
Beach Boys, Classics- I bought this one on a summer night in 2003. This collection has some of the usual Beach Boys hits but what I really love are the less well-known tracks. These are some really interesting songs, some fun and some heartbreakingly sad. Two of the saddest songs I know are on this CD ("Caroline, No" and " 'Til I Die"), so sad that I rarely can stand to listen to them.
18, Moby- I bought this CD a week before my birthday in 2002. I remember lying on my bed listening to this CD, reading the essay in the liner notes and feeling like maybe there is exactly one other person in the world who understands how I feel. "The Great Escape", "Extreme Ways", "At Least We Tried", "18", it's like these songs about alienation and loneliness were pulled directly from my mind. There is even a song called "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)" that I listened to the Sunday two days before my birthday, sort of like it was written just for me (one day off, that's not too bad).
All the Pain Money Can Buy, Fastball- I bought this CD after class one morning in my freshman year of college (2000). After so many years of being in high school all day every day, it felt so strange to go toTarget to buy CDs on a weekday morning just because I felt like it. Out of all the CDs I browsed through, I picked this one because I recognized and liked a couple of the songs on it. This album is definitely not musically genius, but it's good basic rock and it has a nice flow to it- "Which Way to the Top?", "Out of My Head", "Nowhere Road", and "Sweetwater, Texas" are favorites. This album always reminds me of being a freshman.
Whatever, Aimee Mann- I bought this album based on a music review, without hearing even one song, back in 2000. On first listen, I didn't understand this CD at all. Aimee Mann has a beautiful voice, but the lyrics were so puzzling. I gave it a few spins, though, and I'm glad I did. May-December romance, a world's fair, getting screwed over by your record company, no one else writes songs quite like this. This is one of the few older CDs in my collection that I still listen to regularly.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill - I bought this CD at Blockbuster Music on my 17th birthday in 1999. The first great album I owned, this album still defines for me what an album should be. Heartfelt, poetic, musically innovative, cohesive, it truly is a masterpiece.