What I'm Listening To

Not as though you care, but just so you know, here's what albums are spinning in my CD player:

Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute
Osbourne's somewhat-belated live album tribute to the guitar virtuosity of Randy Rhoads, recorded over several shows of the Diary of a Madman tour. Would probably be a perfect live album, if it wasn't for Osbourne screaming "STAND UP!" at the audience every 15 seconds.

Black Stone Cherry - Black Stone Cherry
Debut album of the Kentucky hard rock band. If all debut albums were as good as this, no band would ever release a second album.

Queen - Live Killers
I know some would say the Live at Wembley '86 is Queen's best live album, but Live Killers has all of their early hits, not just "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You."

Metallica - Master of Puppets
Metallica's major label debut is also the one that put them on the map. Probably the most influential metal record ever. Metallica would keep up this frenetic pace for one more album before they essentially turned into Nickelback.

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
Prince lets his inner Hendrix fly, and comes out with a record that wins two Grammys, an Oscar and sells 13 million copies. Albums don't even attempt to achieve this level of genius anymore.

Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Remember what I said earlier about debut albums? Case in point, right here. GN'R put out an actual heavy metal record at a time when other metal bands had gone glam. They also had the distinct misfortune of being a truly great band to release their first album T minus four years before heavy metal was made irrelevant by the release of Nirvana's Nevermind.

Ya know, after actually writing all those down, it's occurred to me that it's '80s Flashback Night in my CD changer. For a guy who claims to loathe the music of the '80s, I sure do listen to a lot of it. Next thing you know, I'll be listening to Men Without Hats and The Human League.

I shudder to think.