The Listening Project-Week 10

Well another week has passed by and I was able to get through a few more CDs in my listening project.  I made up for a few bad weeks and was able to get through 23 CDs during the week.  I am still behind my 20 per week schedule but thus far I have not purchased any new (to me) CDs this week.  You can reference this blog entry for details about this project.  Here are the CDs I knocked off of my list this week.

#	Artist	Album	Date	Again?
168	Kerry Livgren	Decade - Disc 2	9/26/2011	Yes
169	Duran Duran	Decade	9/26/2011	Yes
170	The Alarm	Declaration	9/26/2011	Yes
171	Steven Curtis Chapman	Declaration	9/26/2011	No
172	Chris Rice	Deep Enough To Dream	9/26/2011	Yes
173	John Elefante	Defying Gravity	9/26/2011	Yes
174	Jon Anderson	Deseo	9/27/2011	Yes
175	Chatterbox	Despite	9/27/2011	Yes
176	DeGarmo & Key	Destined To Win (The Classic Rock Collection)	9/27/2011	Yes
177	Aerosmith	Devil's Got A New Disguise: The Very Best Of Aerosmith	9/27/2011	Yes
178	Out Of The Grey	Diamond Days	9/27/2011	Yes
179	The Chemical Brothers	Dig Your Own Hole	9/28/2011	Yes
180	Adam Again	Dig	9/28/2011	Yes
181	Jacob's Trouble	Diggin' Up Bones	9/28/2011	Yes
182	PFR	Disappear	9/28/2011	No
183	Circle of Dust	Disengage	9/28/2011	Yes
184	Sixpence None the Richer	Divine Discontent	9/29/2011	Yes
185	Mike Stand	Do I Stand Alone	9/29/2011	Yes
186	King's X	Dogman	9/29/2011	Yes
187	Steve Camp	Doing My Best - Volume 1	9/30/2011	Yes
188	Steve Camp	Doing My Best - Volume 2	9/30/2011	Yes
189	Aerosmith	Done With Mirrors	9/30/2011	Yes
190	White Heart	Don't Wait For The Movie	9/30/2011	Yes

Here are my thoughts on a few of these CDs that I have listened to over the past week…

• Kerry Livgren “Decade – Disc 2”: This is where we left off last week.  This disc contains the rerelease of AD’s first album “Timeline” along with other songs from that era.  I saw Kerry Livgren and AD in concert at a festival in Wilmore, KY a long, long time ago.
• Steven Curtis Chapman “Declaration”: One of two NO’s this week goes to this CD.  While I like some of SCC’s stuff, this is not one of them.  I have sang quite a few songs by this artist as specials at church.
• Chris Rice “Deep Enough To Dream”: I attempted to sing “Clumsy” (a song from this CD) in church once.  The awkward metric of the verses was too much for me and it did not go over well.
• John Elefante “Defying Gravity”: I have mentioned before in this blog series how much I love John’s voice.  So awesome.  The facts that he is a good keyboardist and song writer don’t hurt.
• Jon Anderson “Deseo”: The (former?) lead singer of Yes, John’s voice is unique.  My first album from him was a Christmas release that I only have on LP (the CD versions of it go for $100 on ebay).  He is out there religion-wise (compared to my upbringing) and some of his songs reflect that.  Still pleasing to listen to and very much in the world music genre.
• Chatterbox “Despite”: Another Christian industrial genre release that sounds like all the rest.  It hits the spot when I am in the mood for that style.
• The Chemical Brothers “Dig Your Own Hole”: I do not have many CDs in this style but this is fun to put on as background noise when puttering around the house.
• Adam Again “Dig”: I love this band.  The lead singer passed away a few years ago so they are no more.  I first saw them at the same music festival that I mentioned above in the Kerry Livgren notes.  They had literally released their first album that day and I headed to the artist tent and bought the LP.  This one is their 4th release.  A very unique sound and one of those bands where the lead singer’s voice perfectly matches the sound of the band.  This album is a little dark (especially “Hopeless, Etc”).
• PFR “Disappear”: For some reason I have 4 CDs by this band and I fear that they will all get NO’s when their turn comes.  This release has the distinction of being on Squint records (the beginning home of Chevelle and Sixpence None The Richer).  That did not help it though.
• Circle of Dust “Disengage”: So much like Chatterbox…so much like every other Christian industrial CD I own.
• Mike Stand “Do I Stand Alone”: I have this album set off by itself but technically it is on the same CD as his other release “Simple Expression” as part of a CD re-release.  My anal retentiveness split it up in my collection but I held off recombining them for this project.  Mike is the former lead singer of The Altar Boys who were one of the first Christian punk bands.  I have most of their releases on LP only so they will not be listed in this project.
• King’s X “Dogman”: Such a unique sound but I only have a few CDs by them.  I have a cassette and a few of their releases from my short subscription to eMusic.
• Steve Camp “Doing My Best – Volume 1” and “Doing My Best – Volume 2”: The last of the Best Of CDs this week (there were 6 in all).  Volume 2 is the more rocky of these two discs.  Steve was a guest speaker at a youth camp I attended one week in my youth and a very down to earth guy.  He did a concert as well with only his piano (unplugged I guess).  Ah, memories.
• White Heart “Don’t Wait For The Movie”: This is a pretty hokey release but it did introduce their new lead singer (and former roadie / bus driver – it is an awesome story if you research it).  White Heart later changed their name to Whiteheart which really messes with my anal retentive head when organizing my mp3 collection.

Well, I am about 23% of the way through this project and still going strong.  I do find myself looking ahead 10 or 20 CDs to see what the week will be like.  Next week starts off with groups like Sometimes Sunday, Project 86, Mad at the World, and Seventh Angel so it should be interesting.

Jon