Help with my music-buying spree

audiobliss

I now have a $100 walmart gift card and $75 Circuit City gift card to blow (:D), and most of it (if not all of it) is going toward music. I can't think of anything but music that I'd want from Wal Mart, though I might decide on Logitech's wireless laser mouse from CC...idk.

Anyhoo, over the past two years (though not much here recently) I've been adding to a list of songs I hear on the radio that I liked and then looked up online (to find the name/artist). So, I'm just going through that list (only 237 songs ) and figuring out what CDs I want based on that. I'll buy it from Wal Mart unless they've edited it (they list at the bottom of the page whether they've edited it).

So I guess what I want to know is, do the CDs I've listed (and in no way is this yet a comprehensive list) offer a good selection of that artist's work, or is there another one of their CDs I'd be better off buying. I'd appreciate any input y'all could offer.

Michelle Branch - Spirit Room
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Anthology
The Animals - Retrospective
New!
Ultimate Air Supply
Gold: Buddy Holly
Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You
The Essential Journey
Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits

Not such a short list now, eh? I want to add to that something from:
Elton John
Rod Stewart
Sting/The Police
Train
Maybe something 'mild' from Van Halen or Pink Floyd, too.

Thanks for all your advice!

Schris22

I have both of Michelle branch's cd's and I liked the spirit room a lot more than her new album "hotel paper" -second cd is a lot more upbeat and lively. Other one is a lil more laid back.

Chris

audiobliss

Thanks for your opinion, Schriss22. I was kind of wondering which to get. I'm definitely decided on Spirit Room now.

Keep those thoughts coming!!! (or get 'em coming or something...)

audiobliss

Ok, folks...I shortened the possibilities list....suggestions!!!

ledhed

Yourself or someone like you is a good CD by Matchbox 20 IMO. And, I would grab one of Elton's greatest hits CDs or his new 2CD set.

audiobliss

I just listened to the clips WalMart has of the songs on Yourself or Someone Like You, and there's only one song on there I don't like. So, I guess I'll go with that album. Though, I do like Mad Season, too. Maybe I'll just save that one for later.

Ricardo

From your selection, Get this one,
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1617071

this one,
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=929192

and this one.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3431965

polksda

Since you put Journey into the mix, I wholeheartededly recommend the new "Live in Houston 1981" CD + DVD set. This was Journey at their peak, on the Escape tour, and Perry is in fine form. It's also a bargain at ~$15 or so.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BPK2NE/qid=1136173626/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-4640799-6238368?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130

I saw it at one of the local Wal-Marts a few weeks ago...

audiobliss

Thanks a bunch to both of your for your recommendations. I'm beginning to see that my $100 isn't going to go real far. I'm not going to be able to get everything I want with this card, but everything so far has definitely been added to my short list for whenever I do get more funds. I'm going to listen to samples of all the songs from the last four CD's recommended tomorrow, so I'll have a verdict then, I think.

I really needed some guidance with Journey as I'm not real familiar with their work, and same with Sting. I also don't know a lot about Train, but they have three or four songs I've heard I like.

Thanks and keep it coming!!

audiobliss

For Journey I've decided on The Essential Journey; lots of great songs. I'm just not real big on music DVDs. However, I also really like Arrival, and none of those songs are one the former CD. Did Arrival come out after The Essential Journey? I'm going to have to get Arrival at a later date, for sure.

audiobliss

Seeing as how I'm pretty much totally clueless when it comes to Fleetwood Mac, I decided to just go with the Greatest Hits album for familiarization, if for nothing else. However, I did listen to some of the Time album and liked that pretty good, too.

Looks like I'm going to have to blaze the Train trail by myself! :eek:

aaharvel

audiobliss wrote:

I now have a $100 walmart gift card and $75 Circuit City gift card to blow (:D), and most of it (if not all of it) is going toward music. I can't think of anything but music that I'd want from Wal Mart, though I might decide on Logitech's wireless laser mouse from CC...idk.

arguably John Williams' greatest musical score and perhaps one of the best cinema soundtracks of all time.

Although it's a re-release, it's gotten very lukewarm reviews all over the net. 20bit HDCD.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1119785

ledhed

Well, I am not a big Train fan myself but, my mom is. The newest cd, My Private Nation didn't seem to very good to me. Drops of Jupiter (The CD) is ok, I have heard all of it. I'm not sure about the first CD, we do not own that one.

capecodder

Elton John: Madman Across the Water, true classic
Police: Their second Album; name escapes me right now

danger boy

if you like 80's style music.... check out the latest release from INXS really good stuff. I like the entire CD.

audiobliss

Well, gee thanks for throwing off on my education; I really appreciate that. And I'll make sure not to mention anything math related from here on out.

I probably could listen to samples of tracks on a website to determine whether I want a CD or not. Oh, wait - I'm already doing that. And if I haven't yet explicitly said so in this thread, I have alluded to it strongly enough that you should have no problem figuring it out. Walmart.com and then Barnesandnoble.com when WalMart doesn't have all the tracks available.

What is it I would like to expand on? Well, let's see...how about the list I provided? Yeah, there's one of those in my original post. I've already stated that my list of possibilities came from a spreadsheet (I'll go ahead and say that's the first time I used the word 'spreadsheet' in this thread; but the idea's the same...'list') to which I've been adding songs I've heard on the radio and liked. So, I have a lead somewhat, but in most cases I don't know a thing about the group/artist. That's where y'all come in.

I'm sure I could just go out and buy all the CDs by every group I've ever heard...but I haven't won a lottery yet this year and I already spent all the money I got from the one I won last year. And as I'm sure you'll point out, I could listen to the samples on the web to find out which CDs I would probably like, but I don't just want a CD I like. That's a given. I also want a CD that offers a good representation of the artist and all his work/styles, the highlights of his career (yeah, I'm not being PC either), and/or his (still not) lesser known masterpieces.

So you see, at least from my point of view, it's not totally out of line for me to ask for advice on music. Sure, everyone likes their own kind of music, but I'm not asking y'all what I like. I'm asking for recommendations for good CDs from groups I *think* I like.

As best as I can tell, none of the folks you listed are in my list. However, I thank you for the heads up on them, as I'm sure I never would have heard any of those names for the rest of my life if you hadn't pointed them out to me. But I'm sure they are great artists, and I will (seriously) take note of them to look at later on.

Oh, and I don't like jazz.




And don't read this post as hateful-like as it probably sounds.

Danny Tse

"Best of Both Worlds" from Van Halen is a great 2 CD compilation that blows the previous "Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" into the weeds. Get it....you won't be sorry. Just make sure you've brush up on your air guitar skills.

For Sting/The Police, there's a 1 disc "Best of" compilation available. But I'd recommend getting separate "Best of" for Sting and The Police, respectively, since their style is quite different.

You may also consider the hybrid SACD of The Animals' Retrospective. It's packaged in a cardboard digipak and should be the same price as the recent CD only reissue (packaged in a regular CD jewel case). You never know when this SACD thing may take off....hahaha

Ultimate Air Supply is also quite good. Easily the best sounding Air Supply compilation out there....short of the SACD.

Demiurge

Hey...Just a question for you, but why is the majority of your list artists that are rather old (in terms of their releases, and age )? I've got a CD collection chok full of a lot of the things that are in your list, but there's so much stuff out there that would be worthy of a purchase over this, or at the very least some research.

All of the music you've listed is very accessible, in other words....all you need to do is turn on your classic rock station or contemporary adult station and you have all this music right there.

I know someone is just going to say that you have a great taste in music. I would agree, but I also don't think that this is the best stuff ever made and that today's music isn't worth listening to. That's a rather close minded response. There's a lot out there that would make some of the artists posted in this thread look as shallow and soul-less as they are.

So...think about doing some research into new stuff and find out what you like. Unlike the artists of old we have the internet now and you can often listen to an artists entire collection (that they provide!) before you ever spend the money on the CDs. It's a little more personal experience and you can actually see most of these bands at the top of their game. Then again I like live music, you may not, but at least you have the option. You're not going to see the bulk of the bands you listed at the top of their games.

Do some research, websites like this would be a decent start.

Personally...I don't like people telling me what to go out and buy or not buy, contrary to how you might see this thread. I'm just suggesting you to expand your horizions into the unknown, it's more fun that way. Good luck.

audiobliss

Zero - Point(s) taken.

Danny - I'll listen to some samples of that Van Halen album. I'm afraid I won't like it as it's not quite my style, but I thought I'd give 'em a try. I'll also listen through some Sting/The Police stuff.

Demiurge - Thanks for the link. I'll definitely start checking out some 'new' folks, as the few times I've done so I've been really surprised (the good kind, too ).

Demiurge

Yeah, you have a good list, I just don't want you to start believing that what's 'new' out there doesn't measure up. It seems to be a product of growing old where you get stalemated into believing that to be true. I think with music it's always good to have a real open mind as it's all about the emotion. You need not let logic and all that stuff muddy what you're feeling when it comes to music. It's nearly a complete polar opposite to how I view other stuff. There was lots of crap out there back then and there is lots of crap now, same for the other side of the coin...lots of good!

Enjoy it!

audiobliss

Being as I'm 18, I would think liking the older stuff is being more 'open-minded'. I think my overall plan is to acquire a decent collection of the 'old' artists I know and love, and then venture into the world of 'new music'. However, I'll start researching the newer stuff now.

danger boy

Duran Duran is not older stuff.. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

sorry, just flippin' you sheite!

Demiurge

audiobliss wrote:

Being as I'm 18, I would think liking the older stuff is being more 'open-minded'. I think my overall plan is to acquire a decent collection of the 'old' artists I know and love, and then venture into the world of 'new music'. However, I'll start researching the newer stuff now.

You're spot on, everyone takes something different from music, which is why it's no use lambasting someone on taste or telling someone what they should do. That's crap. I'm just trying to make some suggestions, and I'm glad you're going to check out that site. Like I said, I think most of the stuff on your list is great, but if you dig deeper...there's lots of stuff out there that's great that you didn't know was there. It's the same reason I wouldn't say hey...go buy a Nickelback CD or a KoRn CD, etc...that's all the mainstream stuff that's powered by the major record labels who throw the advertising dollars around more than an artist who is on an independent label. You might ask why go independent with your music? Depends on what you want. One of the bands I have been real close to over the years has had a number of albums rejected by their label (Geffen/Interscope) because they said it wouldn't sell. In my opinion I want quality music that's representative of the art that the musician is making, their interpretation...not what's going to generate the most money. I respect the bands who want to rake in the money, that's their choice and it's a natural desire.

The music world is so interesting and the business aspect of it is just as interesting. I tend to support the small time artist, but that's not to say that the big time ones aren't making good music.

You can't do anything wrong with choosing the music you like, that's what's so great about it! So I hope you're not getting that impression.

*edit*

Add this album:

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

At the very least check it out. One of the best albums ever made. Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks would be good too.

cfrizz

Michael I like the way you think! I think it is commendable that you don't just ignore the older generations worth of music just because you're younger. Hell if you want, check out some of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Tony Bennett.

They all had a way with lyrics & had excellent orchestrations to go with them!

Danny Tse

danger boy wrote:

Duran Duran is not older stuff.. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

sorry, just flippin' you sheite!

The new Duran Duran "Astronaut" SACD rocks!! The band is in excellent form.