We all make mistakes. Some are of the fleeting, spilled-milk variety, while others linger and mock. A number of my least favorite mistakes have been staring at me from the comfort of my cd shelves for years – reminding me of that poor impulse purchase, the unfortunately recommended album, or the ‘what the hell was I thinking‘ snafu. I have too many of these taking up space in the permanent collection.
Well, this week I finally got around to purging a couple of hundred cds. It’s been a long time coming, and not a job I’ve been looking forward to. I’ve changed my mind about albums in the past, and the thought that I could be tossing out one of my future favorites has always given me pause. But sometimes you just have to say goodbye.
Here are a dozen albums I decided to send packing…
Shabba Ranks * Rough & Ready Vol. II – ME NO WANNA ROCK THE SHABBA RANKS STYLEE!!!
Belly * Star – This one was a gas for about 10 minutes in the early-90′s. And then my music collection grew beyond 25 cds…
Metallica * S&M - Can’t… stop… laughing…
Joanna Newsom * The Milk Eyed Mender – AKA The Bad Voiced Singer.
The Wallflowers * Bringing Down The Horse – For pretty much the same reasons we don’t have the plumber’s kid in here fixing the toilets.
R.E.M. * Monster – My limited interest in R.E.M. doesn’t really extend beyond Murmur. I’m not even sure how this one wormed its way into the collection. Mr Stipe, the bouncer will now see you to the door…
The Cult * Ceremony – I thought one lousy Cult album was enough for our collection, so I kept Sonic Temple and pitched this one.
Limp Bizkit * Three Dollar Bill, Y’all$ – Take your shots now jerkos, because this one is crapper-bound. And I understand that behind your jeers and jests lies the insecurity of those who weren’t cool enough to own a Limp Bizkit album… fo shizzle…
AFI * Sing The Sorrow – Because these guys are local, and kinda scary, I’m just going to say that I respectfully decline to continue owning this album. But thank you anyway…
Erasure * Crackers International – I spent $5.95 for an Erasure ep during college, when that kind of money actually meant something. I’d like to go back in time and slap myself…
Air * Pocket Symphony - Kind of boring, but I’m actually ditching this one because we have two copies. These things happen when your music collection is scattered and unorganized – hence the purge…
Sahara Hot Nights * Kiss & Tell – This one was a freebie, but that doesn’t make it right…
The Cranberries * Bury The Hatchet – On second thought, I take this one back. Where do I buy a cd-frame?
*****
AND THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: What’s the worst cd currently hanging out in your music collection?
Tags: AFI, Air, Belly, Erasure, Joanna Newsom, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, music purge, R.E.M., Sahara Hotnights, Shabba Ranks, The Cranberries, The Cult, The Wallflowers
14 June 2008 at 7:02 am |
It’s hard to choose just one.
14 June 2008 at 8:51 am |
wow. limp bizkit? haha.
im somewhat lucky that in the formative years where i would have bought the most embarrassing cd’s, i instead bought embarrassing vinyl.
i do remember me and my brother coming home one day with the Mad Cobra “Flex” cassingle. we played it so much that first day, by time night came we never wanted to hear the song again. short shelf life on that one.
id say the most embarrassing cd in front of me is by the ying yang twins. i forget how i got it, but the cover looks like a rave flyer from 1992.
14 June 2008 at 10:20 am |
LB… yeah that is a MAJOR laugh!!! I always hated those guys!
Metallica… uuuugh!! WHAT HAPPENED? Cliff’s is turning over in is grave, AS WE SPEAK!!!, they lost their monster sound after the black album (I THINK), others would say they fell down after Burton died… but either way, they are a bunch of Gomo’s now!!!!
14 June 2008 at 1:05 pm |
I’m with you on the Wallflowers, DK. The only song that doesn’t grate on my nerves is “Three Marlenas,” but just barely. I keep it around only to remind me that I’m not in OHM’s production room with the moldering sea monkeys (not a band…ask The P or Kdub).
My personal purge list includes Dido’s No Angel (which HipBoy likes) and Serge Gainsbourg’s Comic Strip. The latter was a gift. I can’t give it up because of the cover art. Serge is sitting like a stoned troll on huge sea anenome while a go-go girl rocks some awesome bell bottoms in the background.
Have to go now. I’m overcome by art.
14 June 2008 at 1:56 pm |
Oddly enough, Serge Gainsbourg looks quite a bit like a moldering sea monkey on the cover of Comic Strip…
If Metallica rate as Gomos, what are Limp Bizkit… Goombahs??
And what my mom meant to say is “It’s hard to choose just one… of the lousy albums you’ve given me as gifts throughout the years.”
14 June 2008 at 10:35 pm |
dude send the Limp Bizkit my way, it will work its way into a mix or two. I liked the Wallflowers CD and can’t believe you don’t like REM. Don’t turn up your nose at the “soft alternative” genre, DK. Ten years from now you’ll be talking about Stipe’s genius.
Seeing Belly on this list gives me more satisfaction than you know as I remember one day in the early 90′s you stared down your nose at me (like happens sometimes when we talk music) and you said “dude, Belly rocks!”.
My gem is George Michael’s “Faith” an interesting tie-in to Limp B.
14 June 2008 at 11:43 pm |
Foo, the Limp Bizkit, Wallflowers, and REM discs are yours for the asking. And because you’re such a good story teller, I’ll throw in the Belly disc as a bonus – it rocks!
I will happily tip my cap to Michael Stipe. I genuinely admire his activist streak, and he and his band have made some great music over the years, Genius? Well, that’s in the eye of the beholder, but I wouldn’t rate him that highly. I think both REM and U2 lost their way in the early 90′s. They were two of the biggest alternative bands of the 80′s but by 1990, both were MAJOR SUPERSTAR acts, and I feel like it just threw their artistic compasses out of whack. Consequently, the albums that those groups have put out in the last decade have interested me about as much as a frothy warm glass of horse pee.
And yes, I’m looking down my nose as I type this…
15 June 2008 at 12:04 pm |
Yikes! I thought this was long, long gone but I just found Hootie and the Blowfish Cracked Rear View (as if that matters). I don’t know where to go from here but… let the healing begin!
16 June 2008 at 7:32 am |
i actually dig that cult album but wtf do i know….???
i actually have a best of abba cd…. why? i do not know…..
16 June 2008 at 9:32 am |
Dood, I own Helen Reddy’s Greatest Hits.
What? I am woman, hear me roar.
16 June 2008 at 10:38 am |
DJ Laz—Journey Into Bass. This space-themed “Miami Bass” album is so bad it’s… well, still bad. I’m sure I’ll keep mine though. I always do…
16 June 2008 at 4:58 pm |
DK, I dig the Wallflowers, and that was before I found out that Jakob Dylan and I went to the same high school (although about 10 years apart). That said, my toilets barely flush, and the last guy that worked on ‘em couldn’t stop talking about what a brilliant plumber his old man was…
17 June 2008 at 9:49 am |
Well, I checked and there it is: Coldplay’s “Rush of Blood to the Head”. Their first album was pleasant enough. But buying their second was a mistake. Pure drivel. The fake sincerity. The smugness. Martin-Paltrow. Naming their kid Apple. Seeing this album on the shelf makes me wince.
18 June 2008 at 3:01 pm |
Outkast, Speakerbox/ the love below. 2 disc set where each dude got his own album. Stinkbomb. Back to the rack.
S&M… I was at that show and it didn’t sound like the album does. At the show all you heard was the soulful, thought-provoking genius of Metallica (new album coming, can’t wait) and not the symphony. They were safely behind plexy glass.
18 June 2008 at 5:00 pm |
Shocker! I dig that Outkast album. Picked it in my Top 20 Hip-Hop Albums, actually:
http://dkpresents.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/the-20-greatest-hip-hop-albums-of-all-time/
Sure wish I had an Insane Clown Posse album to throw away…
19 June 2008 at 1:23 pm |
I trust your taste. Re-read your review. Aqua and Stank were just so killer.
I’ll rescue it from the bin and give it one more go. I’ll let you know.
ICP? All keepers. Ha!
19 June 2008 at 6:36 pm |
The Big Boi disc (SpeakerBoxxx) is uniformly excellent.
The Dre disc (Love Below) is like a Prince album – good stuff, but it takes some getting used to.
I’m honored that you’re digging in your garbage on my recco…
I can’t decide whether I’d rather throw out ICP’s ‘The Great Milenko’, or one of their more recent albums, like 2005′s ‘The Clam’ or 2007′s ‘The Tempest’. I’ll have to sleep on that…
22 June 2008 at 8:57 am |
Woh, woh woh woh woh…. Seriously, what DO you know, ya Oakland elitist music person you.
Not a single ‘hoff album? And Kriss Kross? Still jumpin? Try listening to Electric Youth now and see if it stood the test of time. Hated it from the day I bought it (but did go back and revisit it on a recent “what was i thinking” cruise through iTunes your post inspired.) Should have been called Bowel Movement.
I may not have Erasure on heavy rotation anymore these days.. okay, maybe I do (Happy Pride!!) but damn was it some juicy pop magic in the 80s. Monster. I remember welcoming it being different from the previous two efforts when it came out in 94. Ran out to Face the Music the day it went on sale, baby. And it delivered! Oh, and Pocket Symphony? Ouch! Alright. I’m over it. So what if your opinions are wrong.
No purging here my friend. The 1TB drive has plenty lot of room for everyone…
Fine. Except Cranberries. Put the bloody Cranberries on the list. Done and done.
26 June 2008 at 1:56 am |
Dude, you can have my Kris Kross when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.