So a friend and I were talking the other day about top 10 lists. He is a fellow music lover and had an interesting thought. If you were only able to have 10 albums for the rest of your life, what would you choose. I typically do not participate in lists like that, but as I thought more about it, the more interesting it became. I found it difficult to narrow a list down to just 10. I have a wide variety of musical interests as music is is a major part of my personal and professional life.
So as I embark on my list, I have just three rules. As much as I would like to include multiple albums from some of my favorite artists, I am only allowing myself to list one per artist. I also want to avoid greatest hits or various artists records. That is just too easy to do. Additionally in that same vein, no live albums. So here we go with the first five. I will post the next five in a few days.
In no particular order:
1) Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon - Well, I simply could not live without this CD. There was a big question here because I love The Wall as well. But since I could only choose one from the artist, Dark Side won out. This classic record is one of the top selling albums of all time and a true masterpiece of musical genius. It is a CD that does not ever come out of my current play list. I could literally put it on repeat and listen to it for an entire day.
2) Beethoven - Symphony No 9. in D Minor "Choral" - Without question this is the greatest classical piece ever composed... and he did it while he was almost completely deaf. I have seen this performed by fantastic symphonies many times, but nothing beat one performance that was put together by James Judd from the now defunct Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a performance which included a Beethoven character acting and a stunning conclusion where all instruments one by one went silent.
3) Garth Brooks - No Fences - While I am not a huge country music fan, there are some artists that I do really like. Garth Brooks along with Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson and Hank Williams Jr. make my short list. I went to college in Tennessee. While I was there I really got sick ofg hearing country music. But actually when I left, I missed it. No Fences by Garth Brooks is probably my favorite country record. With classic tracks like "Friends in Low Places," "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House," "The Thunder Rolls," and "Unanswered Prayers" this has to be on the list.
4) Bob Marley and the Wailers - Uprising - This is a tough one as it is mainly here for one particular song. I absolutely love "Redemption Song" from Bob Marley. While I am a huge Marley fan in general, it would have been my preference to use this slot for Legend. But I made up the rules... no greatest hits. Uprising does include some other great songs and I have to have Bob Marley on my list.
5) Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind - Without a doubt one of my favorite bands is Iron Maiden. Again it would have been easy to put "Live After Death" here as it contains some of their classic hits. Piece of Mind was a great record. I believe Iron Maiden was one of the trail blazing bands that brought heavy metal into the mainstream in the 1980's. While a lot of people tend to give Judas Priest the nod when talking about the greatest band from the British Invasion, I like Maiden much more. Musically I really enjoy the long guitar solos from Adrain Smith and Dave Murray along with Bruce Dickinson's vocals and Nico McBrain's pounding beats. But the driving force behind Maiden as everyone knows is Steve Harris.. period.
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