The Listening Project-Week 16

Well another week has passed by and I was able to get through a few more CDs in my listening project.  Despite taking a 1/2 day vacation on Wednesday I was still able to get through 23 CDs this week but that still keeps me 2 CDs behind my 20 per week goal.  I lost ground this week though as I purchased nearly 30 CDs.  I picked up a large pile a the local 1/2 Priced Books store and hit a 75% - 90% sale at Mardel’s on Wednesday.  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?
296	John Mellencamp	The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988	11/7/2011	Yes
297	The Wallflowers	Breach	11/7/2011	Yes
298	Various Artists	Classic Crooners Volume II	11/7/2011	Yes
299	Various Artists	Classic Crooners Volume III	11/7/2011	Yes
300	Various Artists	Common Thread - The Songs of the Eagles	11/7/2011	Yes
301	ZOEgirl	Different Kind of Free	11/8/2011	Yes
302	Tears For Fears	Elemental	11/8/2011	Yes
303	Norah Jones	Feels Like Home	11/8/2011	Yes
304	Amy Grant	Heart In Motion	11/9/2011	Yes
305	Mainstay	Become Who You Are	11/9/2011	Yes
306	Red	End of Silence	11/9/2011	Yes
307	Scott Wenzel	Heart Like Thunder	11/10/2011	Yes
308	Twila Paris	A Heart That Knows You	11/10/2011	Yes
309	Kutless	Hearts of the Innocent	11/10/2011	Yes
310	Steven Curtis Chapman	Heaven In The Real World	11/10/2011	Yes
311	Jaci Velasquez	Heavenly Place	11/10/2011	Yes
312	John Mayer	Heavier Things	11/10/2011	Yes
313	Various Artists	Heck On Wheels	11/11/2011	Yes
314	Gretchen Wilson	Here For The Party	11/11/2011	Yes
315	Skillet	Hey You, I Love Your Soul	11/11/2011	Yes
316	Whitecross	High Gear	11/11/2011	Yes
317	White Heart	Highlands	11/11/2011	Yes
318	Garth Brooks	The Hits	11/11/2011	Yes

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

• John Mellencamp “The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988”: As I do each time I buy more CDs, I have to put them in alphabetical order and listen to those that begin with letters that I have already completed.  The first eight on this week’s list fit that category.  At my one experience at a karaoke bar (in Romania) I chose Small Town (on this CD) when I signed up to sing.  Despite being on the playlist, the DJ did not have this song.
• The Wallflowers “Bleach”: If you don’t own any music by The Wallflowers, you should.
• Various Artists “Classic Crooners Volume II” & “Classic Crooners Volume III”: A little brutal to listen to this much 50’s big band music all in a row, but good nonetheless.
• Various Artists “Common Thread - The Songs of the Eagles”: Modern country artists singing the songs of the Eagles (which, let’s be honest here, sound kind of country when you listen to them now anyway).
• Mainstay “Become Who You Are”: The label on this CD said that they toured with other bands I like.  At 90% off, that is enough of an incentive for me to purchase it.
• Red “End Of Silence”: I got 2 CDs by Red this week.  The 2nd one will likely be in a blog entry a few weeks from now.  Pretty good band.
• Scott Wenzel “Heart Like Thunder”: Scott is the lead singer of Whitecross and has a very unique voice.  This CD sounds more like a softer Whitecross album.
• Twila Paris “A Heart That Knows You”: OK, I am scaring myself now.  Last week I gave a PFR CD a YES and now I give a YES to Twila Paris.  Something ain’t right here.
• Kutless “Hearts of the Innocent”: Love Kutless!
• John Mayer “Heavier Things”: I look hard for more John Mayer CDs every time I dig through the bargain racks.  So far this is the only one that I have found.
• Various Artists “Heck on Wheels”: From what I can tell, this CD was meant to be played in retail stores as background music.  It has songs from groups like Ministry, The Flaming Lips, Faith No More, etc, but “clean” (no bad words).  I paid 50 cents for it as I recall.
• Gretchen Wilson “Here For the Party”: “When it rains…I pour…another round…” – you have to love country music lyrics.
• Skillet “Hey You, I Love Your Soul”: Skillet’s sound has changed a little over the years.  This is an early release.  I think I like their newer stuff better but this is still good.

A rare week with no NOs in the last column (though weeks 8 and 14 were that way as well).  I am still on pace to finish this project in June 2012.  A few more weeks like this though where I buy more than I listen to and that date will obviously change.  According to my calculations, I am at 35.7% complete now.

Jon