7 Days--7 Albums

I started out making a Top Ten favorite albums list, which got progessively harder the more I thought about it. On any given day, there are scores of albums that could be my favorite. So I narrowed it down to 7 and removed the "best of" label. Instead, here are my recs for every day of the week. The ground rules: no doubling up (or tripling) of favorite bands/artists. Let's spread that love around. And no Greatest Hits. That's cheating. Speaking of cheating, let's start.

Sunday: Talking Heads-- "Stop Making Sense" Yes, it's a cheat because there are a variety of Heads songs in a concert setting. It's a completely valid choice, however, because the transformative power of the concert energy both changes and unifies the songs. Not only is it the best live album that I've ever heard, both in terms of technical skill and energetic passion, but it works as a good old-fashioned showcase of the musical inventiveness that characterizes the Talking Heads. Everything I love about the band and music in general intersects in this album. A great entry point for anyone interested in the Heads.

Monday: R.E.M.-- My 2nd favorite band ever. Not so much in style, but in earnest ebullience, R.E.M. is Talking Heads' lil brother. And nowhere did the stars align for these guys than with "Automatic for the People." A collection that melds the elegant with rock and roll messiness. The subject matter veers from personal to political and it all makes sense. "Find the River" is my favorite R.E.M. song ever.

Tuesday: Billy Joel-- "52nd Street" Billy Joel was the first musician I remember liking as a kid. He was a great writer of pop hits and often was described as a hitmaker in the Tin Pan Alley tradition. That's not inaccurate, but my favorite stuff that he did was the very jazzy, 70's era NY vibe that was on "52nd Street." To a kid growing up in a small Idaho town, 52nd street was a saxophone in a dirty, smoke-filled bar in NY. Plus it's got "Big Shot," my favorite New Yawk Billy Joel song ever.

Wednesday: Indigo Girls-- "Swamp Ophelia"--one of the few albums I can put on repeat and listen all day. Never did pay attention to which song was Amy Ray's or Emily's...just knew that I loved them all. Least Complicated & Power of Two are as deeply affecting as love songs come and that's because the girls realize that the best songs about love aren't abstractions, they're specific, personal journeys.

Thursday: U2--"All That You Can't Leave Behind"... Nobody can make the guitar sound like churchbell chimes the way the Edge can & likewise, Bono preaches the Holy Spirit like he's got 5 minutes to save your soul before the apocalypse comes. I actually liked the preceding techno albums, but "All that you can't leave behind" was a welcome return to the sound that made them famous. This one also gets sentimentality points because when it was released, the songs mirrored my life with a stunning authenticity. "Walk On" despite being played to death never fails to take me to a part of myself that I can't quite access without it. Elevation, Kite, Stuck in a Moment...it may sound sacreligious, but U2 is Jesus with a guitar.

Friday: Peter Gabriel--Up-- His last studio album is the one that keeps blowing my mind. As each new album increasingly veers from the mainstream, they also incrementally become deeper, darker, and more haunting. Each album has seemingly built on the last, becoming more "Peter Gabriely". UP takes all of the great PG themes... love, loss, fear... and throws them into a musical blender. The opening song Darkness creeps, then shouts, then breaks down to find release in hope. "I Grieve" is one of the most profound statements on death I've ever heard and "No Way Out" is tender, sad, and real.

Saturday: Simple Minds--"Street Fighting Years"-- U2 weren't the only ones in the 80's making arena-ready political pop/rock songs with beauty and clarity. "Belfast Child" is a poignant and goose-bump inducing reworking of an irish folk song-- (i forget which one)... Soul Crying Out is the rare song that rocks out and yet remains empathic and tender. This is Your Land (Featuring guest vocals by Lou Reed) offers (imo) one of the most moving songs on environmental responsibility ever. And a cover of Peter Gabriel's Biko is a triumph.

That's my week. Next week will change. ;)