Open Pandora's Box...

And have a listen.

I recently began going through old CDs in my room. This brought me across a huge load of music that I used to listen to in high school. Because the computer with my iTunes library has no Internet connection currently...and the laptop with all my downloads is down thanks to some nasty virus spreading around online...I've been listening to Pandora on this laptop. Pandora is this awesome free online radio station (www.pandora.com), where you enter a musical artist. It then goes on to play that artist and through some funky technology, plays similar artists.

Which brings me to the list of artists that I listened to in high school (and early into my college career) that I have re-discovered again...and realize why I fell so deeply in love with them all those years ago.

• Taking Back Sunday
  Taking Back Sunday is one of those bands that never gets old to me...that no one else seems to touch with their music and their lyrics. Adam Lazarra is a genius...and he used to frequent bars where Ryan Adams and Jesse Malin were regulars.

• Brand New
  I used to belong to this online message board where I had to listen to some people rave about how genius Andrew McCarthy (from Something Corporate) and Jesse Lacey (of Brand New) were. Now before all that, I fell in love with Brand New's 'Deja Entendu' album. But I really got turned off of the band from all this discussion about how amazing Lacey was. How hot he was. How he just was going to change the world with his lyrics. Years later, I still argue that McCarthy is not a great singer/songwriter/whatever because I just can't stand any of his bands music.
  
  But after pulling out and dusting off 'Deja Entendu' again...I can definately agree with the Lacey thing now. As sick of him as they made me...I can now appreciate how much more meaningful this album is to me now. Lyrically, it's perfect. Musically, it's still as relevant.
  
  This Brand New album is definately one of my favorites.
  
• Murder By Death
  A former best friend of mine turned me on to MbD. Sure, whenver I listen to them, it makes me miss him and how close we were...but when I separate that part of it out, "Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?" is still one of the most interesting albums I own. The cello really holds it together and the singers voice is one of the most haunting that I've ever heard.
  
• Rise Against's "Swing Life Away"
  This isn't an album. This isn't a devotion to one artist. Instead, it's devotion to one song. "Swing Life Away" came to me at a time when I needed it most. I was in such a state of flux. I didn't fit anywhere...and this song spoke to me (and still does) lyrically so amazingly. "I've had some friends, some that I hardly know. We've had some times I wouldn't change for the world." And the chorus..."We live on front porches and swing life away. We get by just fine here on minium wage. If love is a labor, I'll slave till the end. I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand." God. God. God. "Let's rewrite these pages and replace them with our own words." Genius. Perfect fucking genius. Which leads me to another song devotion...
  
• Ryan Adams' "Wish You Were Here"
  This is such a twisted, sick love song. When I was a freshman in college, I remembered seeing ads for Adams' "Rock and Roll" in Alternative Press magazine. While many argue this is one of Adams' worst albums...I love it. I love him. I love this CD. And "Wish You Were Here" is the best song on the album...and it starts out being a doozy from the first line. "Cotton candy and a rotten mouth. You know you're so fucked up. You know I couldn't help but have it for you. Everybody knows the way I walk, knows the way I talk, knows the way I feel about you. It's all a bunch of shit and there's nothing to do around here. It's totally fucked up. I'm totally fucked up. Wish you were here." It's such a contradiction. I love it. It's an anti-love song but love song, love song. This album led to "Gold" for me...which is Adams' best piece of work in my opinion...and so the love affair began.
  
  Some More Classics
• Third Eye Blind
• Pulley
• All
• The Vandals
• Rancid