20 Random Songs

Even though it is probably the most popular meme in the history of blogging, I have never done a post wherein I post 20 random songs from my iPod. I am here to remedy that situation now. As an added bonus I will post mini-reviews of each song. Here we go.

1. Cher - "Half-Breed": This is an interesting song. The tune is pretty catchy and it's a good story song! I wish story songs like this could be hits today. This is probably my favorite Cher hit (maybe "Believe"), but it is rather repetitive and it's not like it's really anything that great. An above average number one hit, 7/10.

2. B2k - "Santa Hooked Me Up": As luck would have it, one of the songs I have already posted about on this journal. It's from B2k's truly awful Christmas album and it's probably the most half-assed song on it. I'm already regretting doing this exercise because now I feel compelled to listen to it all the way through again. Really awful. 2/10.

3. Eric Church - "The Hard Way": This is from the Eric Church album from 2006 that I downloaded, listened to once or twice, then forgot about. I did enjoy the album when I listened to it, but for whatever reason I've not felt compelled to revisit it. A shame, because this is a pretty great tune and good lyrics too, and as memory serves it's one of the highlights of the album. 8/10.

4. Martina McBride - "A Broken Wing": Martina McBride has a really great voice and she can let the ballads fly. This song isn't up there with her best ballads like "Independence Day" and "Love's the Only House" but it's a good enough jam for what it is. I can't say I'd ever intentionally listen to this, but it's probably about on par with "Half-Breed" so give it a 7/10. And, oh yeah, this too, which is now my immediate first thought upon hearing the song. Not too many people can go up against Martina on a big ballad and stay standing.

5. Amy Grant - "Shadows": I have posted before about how much I love Amy Grant's mid-late 80's Christian albums (see here) in a post that, incidentally, was much hated by all Amy Grant fans despite its positive comments towards the singer. I didn't specifically call out this song in the post, but it's as good as any other song on Lead Me On, which is seriously one of my favorite ever albums (OK, "Saved By Love" is better, but this is right up there with the rest). As a bonus, it has pretty good (and weird) lyrics about giving into temptations. 9/10.

6. Shapeshifters - "Lola's Theme": I know that at one point this song was very popular among the pop loving crowd, but it has never done anything for me. It's big and catchy enough I suppose, but there's so many other similar songs I'd rather listen to. It just kind of goes nowhere. It's not bad, really, just pointless. 5/10.

7. Weird Al - "Angry White Boy Polka": This one actually vaguely embarrasses me, but it's pretty funny. I mean the "Polka" shtick had gotten pretty stale by this point, and Weird Al apparently classifies the Strokes in as angry white boy music along with SOAD and Papa Roach for some reason. But, damn, it still makes me chuckle, which is good enough for a 6/10.

8. Jill Sobule - "I Kissed a Girl": This is all that most people know Jill Sobule for these days, but I still mostly associate her with her work on Unfabulous, including doing the amazing theme song. This song isn't as good as that but it's one of the sunniest and most pleasant songs of all time. That's got to count for something. And, sure, it's better than the Katy Perry song. So 8/10.

9. Chicago - "If You Leave Me Now": Among the soft rock bands of its era, Chicago is probably the best, as it's songs all hold up pretty well today. This is a reasonably typical example of their songs, not as good as like "Saturday In The Park", but still the kind of thing I'd be reasonably happy to see turn up on an oldies station. On the other hand, it has a killer hook, but attention does tend to drift during the rest of the song. 6/10 is a reasonable score I think.

10. Destroyer - "New Ways of Living": This Destroyer album was released right at the end of my college era fascination with indie rock. Like a lot of indie rock of its era (particularly Dan Bejar indie rock of its era), this is a killer shell of a song that is way too cute for its own good. However, Dan Bejar is the all-time master of great repetitive outros, and this is probably his best (maybe "Execution Day") PLUS I still love his vocals (I've long contended that Neko Case is only the 3rd best vocalist in New Pornographers). So how tough can I be. 8/10.

11. Joe Jackson - "Steppin' Out": Joe Jackson is well known as the poor man's Elvis Costello. He's got a few truly great songs though, and while this isn't nearly as good as "It's Different for Girls", it's got one of my favorite bass hooks of all time. The song itself I can take or leave, but man that bass hook. 7/10.

12. Mariah Carey - "Love Takes Time": Probably my least favorite of Mariah's early ballad hits, not nearly as tuneful as songs like "Can't Let Go" or "Vision of Love". It just kind of floats around and winds up being rather forgettable, as I think this is today probably her least well known #1 hit. Mariah had some all-time classic ballads in the early to mid 90's, but this is most definitely not one of them. Really boring. 4/10.

13. 1910 Fruitgum Company - "Simon Says": There was a brief and weird period a few years ago where I was listening to a lot of 60's bubblegum music. I now find this song extremely irritating. Badly beaten at it's own game by "Yummy Yummy Yummy". Oh my god the repetitive melody and the instrumentation and the voice. It's all way, way too much. 4/10.

14. Blake Shelton - "Nobody But Me": I really liked Blake Shelton's Pure B.S., naming it the #6 album of 2007. This song predates that album but pretty much sounds exactly the same, and nicely mixes his rock tendencies with his sensitive ballad tendencies. Blake's actual singles tend to be pretty underwhelming to me, but this is probably his best. 8/10.

15. U2 - "Discotheque": I have absolutely no idea why this song is on my iPod because I've always hated it. It's bad even compared to other U2 songs because it still has their annoying pretentious lyrics, and Bono's super annoying voice, and ON TOP OF THAT it's tuneless garbage. I dislike this song and have not the slightest idea how it became such a massive hit. 2/10.

16. Alcazar - "Start the Fire": A shamefully transparent attempt to recreate "This Is the World We Live In", but this one is a lot worse. The lesson I think is that "This Is The World We Live In" was a random, one time fluke. Because this song is really, really lazy and it doesn't even appropriate a good chorus! Ridiculous. 5/10.

17. Elvis Presley - "That's Alright Mama": Elvis' first song, I think, so that makes it a landmark. Elvis is a really good singer, but this is a really slight song. There's a reason this song never gets played on oldies stations, and that's because it's repetitive and lacks a real hook. Even giving it some bonus points for importance it can't get any higher than like a 6/10, and I feel like that's pretty generous.

18. Ashlee Simpson - "Never Dream Alone": The tender ballad off of Bittersweet World and for some reason I find this song very emotionally affecting. This song was a grower, it didn't really hit me until the 5th or 6th time I listened to it, and when it did I was so struck by how beautiful it was I almost had to pull my car over. The melody is just so beautiful and the lyrics are so evocative. Compare this to "Love Takes Time" and I think you may see why I think it's so great. It's simple, but like Anna Nalick's "Breathe (2AM)" I connect to it for reasons I cannot fully explain, and I guess that's the most important thing. 9/10.

19. Everly Brother's - "Cathy's Clown": A pretty mediocre oldies song, a lot worse than "All I Have to Do Is Dream". Maybe if I lived through this era I could appreciate a song like this but it does absolutely zero for me. I don't even really have anything to say about it. It's a little catchy I guess but it's not catchy enough to make up for how repetitive it is. It's not bad, it just strikes me as a nothing song. Therefore it deserves a totally middling rating: 5/10.

20. Jars of Clay - "Love Song for a Savior": I'm not even sure how to judge songs like this. I downloaded this during my kick of re-evaluating Christian rock songs that I used to listen to in high school. At a very specific time of my life, the lyrics of this song would really have spoken to me. As of right now, I think they're pretty silly, especially compared to the more mature Christian lyrics on display in Amy Grant's finest work. What can I say though, the song works, it made all of us high school Christians cry when we played it during emotional youth meetings. On top of that, the tune is good! It's a rather pleasant song, and I could easily envision it having been a hit if it didn't have God lyrics. And that wouldn't have been so bad. It's an unqualified success at what it's going for, and I'm gonna give it an 8/10, it's one of the best Christian rock songs of its era, if not the best.

Top 10 TV Shows of 2008

It is time for annual listing here at the TCR. As currently stands, I will do a top 10 TV shows and tracks list. The albums list and movies lists are not feasible because I have been so out of touch with those this year. My favorite album of the year is Bittersweet World and my favorite movie is American Teen, with Bigger, Faster, Stronger and Iron Man and Dark Knight close. Here's TV.

My annual caveat still applies. I do not watch any HBO or Showtime shows or most of the other critically acclaimed dramas. Would I like The Wire or Mad Men or Dexter or Damages if I gave them a chance? Probably. But I've never seen them and I probably never will and that's just not the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. Probably that invalidates my list, but I still do it anyways cause it's fun. Here's the list:

10. Wizards of Waverly Place - I like to leave one slot on my list for whatever is my favorite teen show du jour. In prior years this slot has been taken by Unfabulous and Phil of the Future. For now, this is the best show of its type, and while it isn't nearly up to the level of those shows it's still a very cute and entertaining show and some of its jokes do make you laugh. So the cuteness alone gets it this far.

9. Burn Notice - This is one of the most fun shows on TV, with its easy mix of action and drama and comedy. The plots are light and breezy but they are always paced well and they always set up good action. All in all it's a really fun entry to the landscape of TV.

8. American Idol - This show brought us Brooke White this season, definitely my favorite ever reality show contestant. It was a lackluster season otherwise, Chizekie's "She's a Woman" notwithstanding, but Brooke alone drives it this high.

7. House - I had a really hard time rating this show, just like last year, and for the exact same reason as last year. Season 4 was some kind of freaky creative renaissance for this show. The last half of season 4 was awesome, featuring great episodes like the one with Mira Sorvino, but the first half of season 5 has been extremely subpar. The process of getting the new team was a ton of fun, but the new team themselves is nothing too great, and it means less time for Dr. Cameron hotness. I've grown very bored of this show.

6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - I think this show is still really funny. The last season was a little spotty, but there were definitely some classic episodes and moments. The episode where Mac and Charlie fake their deaths and the episode in the 18th century were particular highlights. The spark may be ever so slightly gone here compared to early seasons, but I still love the show.

5. Greek - In all honesty, probably the drama show of the year where I was most invested in the characters. All of the characters and storylines are a ton of fun. The show moves at a really brisk pace and it never gets bogged down in boring details but generally gives the storylines some space to breathe. I dunno, it could rank higher, but the show is so incredibly lightweight and I do love the 4 shows above it. I'm very eagerly awaiting the next season, regardless.

4. Eli Stone - Such an uplifting show! This is the heir apparent to Joan of Arcadia in my mind, and while it never reaches the heights of that show, the relentless enthusiasm and optimism makes this show really enjoyable. It just makes me really happy to watch the show, and the cancellation was really sad to me.

3. How I Met Your Mother - The basic feel and quality of this show has remained totally unchanged over the last few years. It's still consistently funny and it still nails the emotional character drama moments. The mixture of emotion and comedy make this a consistently interesting show, even during the poorer episodes.

2. True Life - I watched every new episode of this show in 2008, and pretty much all of the episodes were worth watching. The shows tend to range from really funny to genuinely interesting to really sad, and they always seem to hit the right tone for whatever topic they've picked. I think this show is by far the best reality show on TV, and the way it can consistently hit all the right notes is very impressive, landing it all the way this high.

1. Friday Night Lights - The third season on DirecTV was really good, and the second season improved towards the end. This is still the best show on TV, thanks to its realistic drama, great tension, and ability to hit emotional buttons.

New to the top 10: Wizards of Waverly Place, Burn Notice, American Idol, Eli Stone, True Life- Two brand new shows that didn't exist in 2007, one show that hit a new level in its second season, one show I had been unjustly ignoring over the last couple years (True Life), and Brooke White.

Falling Out: Pushing Daisies, The 4400, Unfabulous, 30 Rock, World Series of Pop Culture- 3 of these shows aired no episodes in 2008 due to cancellation. Of the other two, 30 Rock is a show that has never really grabbed me. I watched it enough in 2007 that it snuck its way to the bottom of my top 10, but I've never been too crazy about it. Pushing Daisies, I just lost interest in for no real reason. It was off the air for a long while due to the strike, and when it came back in I just realized I had no real desire to watch it any more. Sorry.

Classic Works in Various Genres: A Project

My reading goal this year was to read "classic" works in a variety of genres. The goal is twofold: To get exposed to a bunch of genres I don't normally read and to read some books that I felt like I "should" read. The number one criteria in this is, which book in this genre do I most wish that i had read. This post will document where I've gotten so far and where I plan on going. Progress has been pretty slow since I have been sidetracked numerous times, but I'm enjoying it so much that it will spill right on over to 2009, or even 2010 with the pace I've been keeping up. These books are very angl0-centric because I dislike reading translated works. Perhaps once this is over I will move on to a series of reading international literature though.

Finished

Genre: Comic Book
Selection: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby - The Essential Fantastic Four: Volume 3
Reasoning: The most obvious classic comic book work to read here would be Watchmen but unfortunately for this project I've already read it. Similarly, I've read several of the other more obvious choices such as Sandman, Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns, and Born Again during a brief comics phase I had in college. So I decided to dip into the well of classic comics here, of which I've read none. My first inclination was towards a collection of old Spiderman or X-Men or Superman comics, but a Martin Skidmore post on FreakyTrigger pointed in the direction of this book and I decided to take his word for it.
Brief Review: While I failed to grasp the significance of things such as the introduction of the Inhumans and the Negative Zone because I know little about the Marvel Universe, I still enjoyed a majority of the books. The books were plotted pretty well and paced much more quickly than the comics I was reading in college. The characters are completely one-dimensional and Reed is sooo unlikeable, but this was still a really enjoyable read.
Going Forward: I enjoyed the work OK like I said, but it wasn't too great or anything. Not the kind of thing that makes me want to run out and buy more old comics. I think my comics phase is still behind me.

Genre: True Crime
Selection: Vincent Bugliosi - Helter Skelter
Reasoning: This was the easiest selection I have yet had because as far as I can tell there's nothing even remotely on the same level as classic as this book in the True Crime genre. Widely read and loved and just the kind of book I feel like I should have read.
Brief Review: An extremely engaging and interesting account of the Charles Manson case. As far as I can tell a fairly definitive account of the event. One of the best nonfiction books I've ever read.
Going Forward: I had never read a true crime book before, but after this book it is likely I will read another Bugliosi book. I've been eying his OJ book Outrage lately.

Genre: Pop Fiction
Selection: Steven King - The Stand
Reasoning: I've long been fascinated by the works of authors like John Grisham or Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton who are very popular but also very much hated by the "intelligent" crowd. The anti-hipster in me wants to read and love them, though I have never read a single work by any of the three. However I did ultimately decide to go with a work that does have some cachet, just because The Stand is such a cultural touchstone.
Brief Review: I had previously only read The Dark Tower series by Steven King. After reading those and this book I am convinced that Steven King has no clue how to effectively end his books. Despite the ending, and a long sequence towards the middle which dragged horribly, this book managed to be an entertaining read with compelling characters. And the ending did indeed get to me emotionally, big surprise.
Going Forward: I've liked Dark Tower and The Stand but I really think that's enough King for a lifetime. Both books had the same problem, namely way too long and terrible ending. I have zero desire to continue reading his body of work. I probably will read a Clancy or Grisham work some day.

Genre: Chick Lit
Selection: Jane Austen - Emma
Reasoning: Much like Helter Skelter above, not much of a choice here. Jane Austen is an all time classic and considering how much I love romantic comedies it's amazing how I've never read any Jane at all. Except that I did read Pride and Prejudice for a class in high school.
Brief Review: Even though this book was not nearly as emotional or romantic as I thought, and the main character was 10x more unlikeable than Cher from Clueless, I still loved this book. The romance was great, but just the dialogue and characters were incredibly sharp. This is one of my favorite novels I've read.
Going Forward: I liked it enough that I bought the Complete Novels of Jane Austen and already read Persuasion, also excellent. Eventually I will get through all the novels.

Genre: Mystery
Selection: Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express
Reasoning: I did debate whether to go classic British, or more modern, or hardboiled American on this. But really do I need to explain the reasoning on Agatha Christie here? I did debate which specific Christie book to get, but based on the descriptions on the back this seemed more interesting than And Then There Were None and, at least in America, those are her two classic famous works.
Brief Review: Very fun, and kept me guessing up to the end, which I did not know ahead of time. Extremely well put together though, with lots of twists and turns and never gets boring. Her social/class commentary is also really great.
Going Forward: Again, I enjoyed it enough that I've already purchased and read a few other Agatha works, including And Then There Were None. Also One Two, Buckle My Shoe which had probably the least plausible ending of any book I've ever read, and I've read Goosebumps books.

Genre: Science
Selection: Oliver Sacks - An Anthropologist on Mars
Reasoning: I was a Math major in college, but my interest in pop science works is very low, if not zero. I've always wanted to read a Sacks work and once I saw that this was located in the Science section of Borders I jumped on it immediately. I may still go for a "hard" science work like the Feynman lectures of A Brief History of Time.
Brief Review: Oliver Sacks is a really good writer and the bizarre mental conditions he writes about are surely extremely interesting. On the balance though this is a work I was never too excited about. I kind of wish I had gone with Awakenings instead since that is the most popular Sacks work. Ah well.
Going Forward: I may still read Awakenings one day but its fair to say this wasn't some kind of massive revelation about pop science works for me.

Made the Selection but Haven't Read
Genre: Short Story
Selection: Flannery O'Connor - Everything That Rises Must Converge
Reasoning: I'm a huge Flannery fan, and a huge fan of Southern literature in general, so it's somewhat ridiculous that I haven't read this yet. As far as level of classicness, well something like O Henry - The Four Million is probably THE classic of the short story genre, but I am biased towards Flannery so I'll stick with that. I may be convinced to switch the genre of this one to Southern Lit so I can fit in O Henry anyways, I haven't decided.

Genre: Biography
Selection: Henry Adams - The Education of Henry Adams
Reasoning: I picked this work because it was #1 on the Modern Library top works of the 20th century. Ben Franklin's autobiography is the only other one I can think of that's up there with this one, but I'm comfortable with this choice.

Genre: Self Help
Selection: Steven Covey - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Reasoning: This is actually one of the genres I had the toughest time with, oddly enough. My strongest considerations were this book, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, and I'm OK, You're OK. I didn't want to do Covey cause he's by far the most recent. Bur I've always considered Peale and I'm OK to be some kind of hippie crap that holds no interest to me. The title of How to Win Friends and Influence People kind of icks me out. Objectively, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living should have been my pick but, quite simply, worrying is not a serious problem of mine. I'd rather go with the work that is more likely to genuinely help me.

Genre: General Fiction, British
Selection: Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities
Reasoning: I've never read a single Dickens work, which is rather ridiculous, and this is probably his #1 most classic work.

Genre: General Fiction, Not British or American
Selection: James Joyce - Ulysses
Reasoning: I really do not want to read this book, but when it comes to classics they don't come much more classic.

Genre: Drama
Selection: Shakespeare - King Lear
Reasoning: I've never read it or seen a performance and know nothing of its plot or characters and that makes me feel uncultured.

Genre: Dystopian
Selection: George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
Reasoning: It's so completely absurd that I've never read this book that I had to make up a genre to fit it in.

Possible Other Genres
Genre: General Fiction, American
Thoughts: No clue yet. My general idea would be to go old, like Washington Irving, but I could be persuaded to pick Updike or something like that. Too many choices and none stand out.

Genre: Hipster fiction
Thoughts: Carver and Palahniuk jump out but this is one I'm not in a rush to get to and this is a questionable genre so it may just get left out entirely.

Genre: Postmodern
Thoughts: The most obvious choice I can think of is White Noise and most likely that's what I'll go with, but I could be persuaded over to Pynchon as well, I need to do more research.

Genre: Science Fiction
Thoughts: The immediate thought that came to mind was Stranger in a Strange Land but I know almost nothing about this genre and definitely need to do some research.

Genre: History
Thoughts: Halberstam or Studs Terkel both seem good. My friend who reads a lot of history recommends Halberstam so I guess I'll go with him.

Genre: 21st Century Fiction
Thoughts: Obvious choices here are The Corrections or Empire Falls. I'll probably just go with The Corrections but part of me just wants to read whatever wins the Pulitzer this year.

Genre: Politics
Thoughts: The Republic is my first choice, but I could easily go with Hobbes or a more modern work as well

Genre: Poetry
Thoughts: Too many choices and I haven't any idea what to use to narrow it down. Most likely here I'll just go to Borders and pick something at random. Don Juan is the only thing that leaps immediately to mind.

Genre: Sports
Thoughts: Since I've read almost every classic baseball work, my initial instinct is to go for Friday Night Lights but then again I never have read The Boys of Summer so I dunno.

Most likely other genres too (economics? military history? music/movies? criticism?), depending on how bored I get of the project eventually. And like I said I'm trying to keep it anglo for now, though I am open to branching out to international works too eventually.

Favorite Album of the 2000s

I was thinking the other day about what is my favorite album of the 2000s decade. Some quick thought led me to five reasonable options: The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem, Come and Get It by Rachel Stevens, Still Me, Still Now by Amy Diamond, Mass Romantic by The New Pornographers, and Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. Let's go through the tale of the tape then:

Those five albums listed above were the five main contenders that came into my head immediately. Some distinguishing factors came out about all 5. The Marshall Mathers LP has really good lyrics, probably the best of the decade, and really catchy songs. But it's way too freakin' long! Plus the skits are annoying. Come and Get It is really fun pop, but there's no depths to enjoy or anything. The lyrics are never anything special, compared to say Ashlee Simpson, but I love all the songs. Still Me, Still Now is more of the same, glossy fun pop with not too much else to offer. Mass Romantic is the best indie album of the decade, which is why it leaped to mind, but I simply fear that it is just plain not as good as indie classics from the 90s like Alien Lanes or Holiday. Breakaway has really good lyrics and good songs, but I just fear that on a raw level I just do not love the songs on that album as much as I love the songs on the others.

There aren't any country albums this decade I've really loved. Neko Case's Furnace Room Lullaby is probably top 10 or top 20 of the decade for me but just not number one, and I've never gotten into any of her other albums. The other so-called alt country albums of the decade are almost entirely just mediocre indie rock albums with a very slight country twinge, at least in my opinion. Sara Evans' Born to Fly has really, really good singles but also a lot of filler. Montgomery Gentry's albums are all really good but none are too exciting. Big & Rich's debut clearly a classic but again just not a serious contender for #1.

I think of the five serious options, Mass Romantic drops out pretty early. It came to mind immediately because I love "Letter from an Occupant" and "Execution Day" and "The Body Says No", which is probably the best stretch of three consecutive songs on any album this decade. The problem is none of the other songs really jump up to the same level (some moments do like the outro to "Jackie") and there's other songs on the album like "To Wild Homes" and "Breakin' the Law" that I just really am not a huge fan of at all. Normally not a problem but when you get up to this level it should be all high. So Mass Romantic would come in at #5.

I think Still Me, Still Now and The Marshall Mathers LP drop out next. I actually genuinely love every single song on Still Me Still Now, but when it comes to mindless pop I just prefer Come and Get It for a couple reasons. Most importantly, the two best songs on Come and Get It are "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)" and "Nothing Good about This Goodbye" compared to Still Me Still Now's offering of "Don't Cry Your Heart Out" and "All The Money in the World". Now I love "Don't Cry Your Heart Out" - I had it as the number two single of 2006 and if anything I like it even more today - and "All The Money in the World" is almost as good, but this is still a clear win for Come and Get It. Plus, and it's subtle, the worst tracks on Come and Get It are slightly better than the worst tracks on Still Me Still Now ("Diamonds" and "Big Guns"). All in all it's enough to knock Still Me Still Now to #4.

Marshall Mathers LP I actually have very little to expand on what I wrote above. It's got great lyrics that rotate between insightful and hilarious, and sometimes both at the same time. I just can't listen to the whole thing at once because it's so long and because the skits get old really fast. I like all of the songs on the album and can't really think of any blatant filler that just plainly needs to be cut, but they still should have cut about 3 or 4 songs off the album. Still, I like the collection of songs enough to get it all the way up to #3, which is impressive for an album that I almost never listen to all the way across.

Which brings us to the top two, and at this point it's just going to come down to some hand waving. Come and Get It is clearly a better collection of songs whereas Breakway has much better vocals, better lyrics, and is much more cohesive as an album. And that's the thing about Come and Get It - it has like 5 incredibly amazing songs, and all of the other songs are pretty good. I'm pretty much up to listening to it at any time, and even if I don't have time for a full album songs like "So Good" and "Negotiate With Love" and the two I listed above just haven't gotten old after many, many listens. Whereas Breakaway's songs have faded a bit more with repeat plays for me. But all in all there's no mood to it, no drama, no depth. It's just hitting the pleasure center directly to bring me the most enjoyment possible. I'm trying to think of something bad about the album to say, some reason why it's not #1, but it doesn't really exist. Maybe objectively I like it more than Breakaway, but it's just that I've put so much thought and so much emotion into Breakaway that I just can't put anything else at #1. That's why Rachel has to settle for #2, but it's a (very) strong #2!

So Breakaway. The thing about Breakaway is that it's the album that got me back into pop music in the first place. Prior to 2005 I was basically still an indie snob, and Kelly Clarkson showed me the joys of teen pop and, indeed, pop in general. So I have a deep personal connection to the album. And the devastating darkness, and the incredibly intricate drama, and the interesting stories and all of that just flows all throughout the album. It's an album that demands to be listened to with full attention. I have an old post where I explore Breakaway as a hidden concept album, which was written mostly in jest but the general point that the song lyrics are all great and related stands. So it's a pop album that inspires genuine thought from me. Which isn't to say I don't love the songs! None of the individual songs are up to the level of the other albums, but the worst songs are things like "You Found Me" and "Breakaway" and those are still pretty damn good songs. And, oh yeah, KC is a pretty good singer too. Anyways, even though it's probably the lesser collection of songs among all the top 5, its general importance in my history of music listening, cohesive mood, and good lyrics drive it all the way up to #1. No album has ever inspired as much emotion in me and most likely none ever will.

And yes I've heard indie like Wilco and crap like that which causes some hipsters to have emotional moments despite their cold, black hearts. Suffice to say I just don't care for it.

Best Songs of 2008?

Last year by this time I had already posted 2 lists of my favorite singles of the year. I just haven't been too up on music this year and seem to have little desire to catch up. Thus there are many good albums and songs I haven't heard. So before I post this list let me clarify that I have not heard any 2008 output from Danity Kane, Jordan Pruitt, Vanessa Hudgens, any rock music, and most other non-hit music. I am not worrying about single eligibility or year of release too much here, either. Nevertheless, these are my favorite songs this year of what I've heard:

1. Cassie - "Thirsty": OK let's assume this counts. My guess is that it will never be released. At least 3 or 4 of the leaked Cassie songs would be on this list if I counted them all, but I'll need to see the album released before I pull that trigger. Nevertheless this is my favorite of the songs and I will be shocked if it does not end up being my song of the year.

2. Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown - "No Air": A really, really pretty ballad filled with tons of drama and great singing. And it's also really catchy! This is a top 10 of the year worthy song, for sure.

3. Ashlee Simpson - "Little Miss Obsessive": I really love the lyrics to this song and it also has an excellent melody. Maybe should be rated higher due to awesomeness of lyrics? But, I dunno, I love the two songs above so much. The top three are really close and may well end up being my top 3 of the year.

4. Sara Bareilles - "Love Song": The latest in the line of very soft female fronted coffee shop style songs that I adopt and love ("White Flag", "Hunter", "Unwritten", "Breathe (2AM)", "I Wanna Have Your Babies"). For whatever reason I really love this style of song and this is a great example of it.

5. Brooke White - "Let It Be": Brooke White took one of my least favorite Beatles songs and made me really care about it. She has a beautiful voice and you can tell she's really earnest. This is truly remarkable and my favorite ever American Idol performance.

6. Miley Cyrus - "Goodbye": The latest Armato/James masterpiece is this closing ballad from Miley's new album, and by far the best song on it.

That's it, only 6 songs, but all 6 will seriously compete for top 10 of the year. If I had to round it out to 10, I'd throw in "Bleeding Love", and a few more Ashlee/Cassie songs. I couldn't help but notice that all 6 are female fronted ballads. That's just the way it's gone so far this year. Once I catch up on the other music of the year (if I in fact ever do), the list will probably round out with a little more variety. I mean I love female ballads, but normally only 1 or 2 will make my year end list. Then again, I really love all 6 songs, so it could just be a banner year, I dunno.

Any songs you think I should check out? Let me know in the comments.

Wizards of Waverly Place

Reviving the dead blog, to speak of Wizards of Waverly Place. Well, that's as good a reason as any. There's actually a few things I want to talk of them, we'll see how many of them actually make it to posts.

There is a new live action Disney show that I haven't really discussed on this blog, and that show is Wizards of Waverly Place (notwithstanding shows such as Cory in the House or iCarly which I also haven't talked about but which I also have nothing to say about). I have to say that I think it is now the best live action tween/teen/whatever show on TV. Which is not to say that it's on the level of Phil of the Future or Unfabulous but it is a solid second tier Disney/Nick show, much better than Naked Brothers Band and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and other such detritus.

Absolutely, Selena Gomez is the breakout star of this show, but I was and continue to be surprised that the show is as focused on the David Henrie character as it is. Justin plays just as strong a role in most episodes as Alex does, and in many episodes a stronger role. On the whole, they are probably about equal characters. That places the show in the same vein as an Even Stevens or even a Phil of the Future featuring two siblings who are roughly equal characters with separate plots in most episodes. The difference is that Alex and Justin interact a lot more in the episodes than do Ren and Louis or Pim and Phil, which makes their relationship more important and real. That's good to see because I don't think there have ever been any other Disney shows which featured a meaningful sibling relationship. This is not mentioning the Max character, who is indeed completely pointless on the show. But the Alex and Justin characters are two of the strongest and most likable characters I've ever seen on a Disney show.

Then there are the parent characters. There's a spectrum of parent characters on Disney shows and it goes as follows. The parents on Phil of the Future were funny and prominent characters who often featured in plots and jokes. The parents on Even Stevens were 100% pointless except as advice outlets and occasional plot devices. The parents on Lizzie McGuire were somewhere in between. Wizards falls close to Lizzie on this scale, though it does veer close to Even Stevens on occasion. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though I do feel that at times the characters do get excessive face time given their general pointlessness 90% of the time.

But I'm not criticizing the actors, because they do a pretty good job with what they have! In fact, all of the actors are pretty good. I particularly like Selena Gomez, who is far better than Miley Cyrus, though well below the Emma Roberts/Aly Michalka level. But she's cute and she handles the drama OK and usually delivers the jokes pretty good. David Henrie also does a very good job as the older brother character. Further, the show is packed with great and usually really cute plots and situations, and it has a good cast of suitably wacky supporting characters (though the Harper character has to be the most pointless main credits character in Diz history, even more pointless than Oliver, and that's saying something. I would be so mad if I was Jennifer Stone.). In fact I would say the cuteness of plots and amusing side characters are right up there with any other show of its type.

So if the plots and side characters are as good as Phil and Unfabulous why does it still rank well below those two? First, while Selena is v. good, she is just not up to the level of the outstanding work by Aly Michalka and Emma Roberts. Second, and there's no beating around the bush with this, the joke writing is almost undeniably terrible. Whereas those two shows, plus Even Stevens, would not uncommonly make me laugh on their own merits, I've found that the jokes on this show are at best ignorable and sometimes not even to that level. In fact, this show is even less funny than Hannah Montana, though the superior acting and supporting characters still rise it above that show in my opinion.

All in all, it can be tough sometimes to watch a show which is constantly hurling unfunny jokes at your head, but if you like cute shows I think it's well worth it anyways. I love the Alex and Justin characters, and the show is really cute, so that's enough to make me keep watching. Eventually Hannah Montana stopped improving, and the characters became annoying and the cuteness became old. I don't foresee that happening to this show because the characters are more dynamic and the actors are better than the ones on HM. But I've been wrong before so who knows.

Also, as I believe I've mentioned on this blog several times before, the show has an amazing theme song. Right up there with Hannah Montana even!

Four Points on New Music

Four thoughts on new music, none of which deserve their own post.

1. Lucas Grabeel - "You Got It"
Comments: WHAT THE HOLY HELL???? This was on the Radio Disney Top 30 countdown. But they didn't seriously play it on the radio did they? This song is so insane, and it's not at all what I would have expected as the debut single of a High School Musical artist. It's 20 seconds of music stretched over 4:30! It's definitely not good, but it's just as definitely really interesting. I just can't get over how insane this song is. No rating.

2. Vanessa Hudgens - "Sneakernight"
Comments: Her debut single from her second album, as recently released to Radio Disney. And I have to say it's really generic. It's like a bad version of Kat McPhee's "Open Toes". I guess generic isn't too bad if it's catchy enough or if the vocals are good enough, but it sounds to me like she's phoning it in and there's no hook to speak of. This song is just kind of boring, and actually I think it's kind of bad. There's still hope though. I didn't really like "Come Back to Me", but I ended up liking her first album just OK, and I absolutely loved/love "Say OK" (it ended up being my #16 single of 2007, but easily could have been top 10). Still, this is extremely disappointing, and she's capable of a lot better.

3. Cassie - "Official Girl"; "Thirsty"; "In Love with the DJ"; "Turn the Lights Off"
Comments: OMG, 4 of the 6 or 7 songs that have leaked from the Cassie album are completely amazing, and the others are pretty darn good too. But seriously, whichever of these four songs that are released as singles will contend for top 10 singles of the year. "Turn The Lights Off" and "In Love with the DJ" we all knew from last year. "Thirsty" and "Official Girl" both were released/leaked this year as far as I know and I'm amazed to say they are just as good! In fact, "Thirsty" is probably my favorite song of the year to this point. There's a decent chance this album will rank as my album of the year if it is in fact ever released and assuming all 4 of these songs are all on it.

4. Ashlee Simpson - Bittersweet World
Comments: As it stands right now this is the best album I've heard this year, and by a pretty fair margin. I'm thinking now it's a lock for top 5 of the year if not higher, but who knows how it will age over time. I haven't put a ton of work into listening to most of the lyrics yet, but the music is so awesome . I love the way the songs bounce effortlessly from bouncy fun ("Outta My Head") to R&B stormer ("Boys") to hilarious send-up ("Rule Breaker") to confessional masterpiece ("Little Miss Obsessive") to beautiful ballad ("Never Dream Alone"). It bounces and it bops and it dances and it makes you dance and it makes you think and it makes you cry. The way it bounces along from song to song in a completely bonkers but also completely real way is just incredibly impressive. Ashlee loves to experiment, apparently, and a vast majority of the experiments work. The only songs I don't love are "Hot Stuff" (very funny, but I don't dig the music) and "What I've Become". "Little Miss Obsessive" is right up there for my favorite single of the year so far (either that or "No Air" or "Official Girl"), and "Never Dream Alone" seriously made me tear up the first time I heard it. I was driving in my car at the time and almost had to pull over. I could and maybe will write a whole post just on that song. Anyways, I love the album and highly urge my readers to check it out.