Sara Zarr posted about how she misses albums, and I realized that I miss them as well. I still remember the first cassette I owned--California Girls by The Beach Boys. I could listen to that a hundred times and not get sick of it. And of course my dad (the wonderful drummer that he is) exposed me to the Beatles (Strawberry Fields Forever was my favorite) and ZZ Top albums at an early age, although I must admit that I like ZZ Top better now than I did when I was a kid because those beards really freaked me out.

And I still do listen to entire albums today. Sure, a lot of the music I listen to is from mixes, but there are some albums that are just so good, you have to listen to them all. At the moment, here are a few of my favorites.


Hey Eugene! by Pink Martini


Tropical Brainstorm by Kirsty MacColl


Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle and Sebastian


The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance


And my standby, Dookie by Green Day (An honorable mention also goes to Green Day's American Idiot because that song is the best road-rage song ever.)

Just thinking about these albums have made me reminisce about other albums such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Throwing Cooper by Live. They just don't make them like that anymore. (Now I really do sound like my dad.)