Album Thoughts

There are few things in life as satisfying to the soul as when you can have a goal in mind, start it, get it done completely and have it come out as well as you could have hoped for. This is why I'm always giving myself silly projects to do in my world, because I like the feeling of completion that comes with a job well done. This week my self-assigned project was getting my iTunes in order, from correct album info and song order, to cover art for every song. I actually started last week and despite having to check the info on almost 1,000 songs (that's what I get for starting my mp3 library with an iRock instead of an iPod), I got it done in less than a week.

I know what you're thinking: "Tom, you love the Beatles, you have quite a bit on your iPod and they're not on iTunes, how did you get the correct album art on there?" I'm glad you asked. Because I believe in being beyond thorough, I would go online for any album that was missing, find a jpeg of the cover art and simply upload it to my iTunes like any other picture. Just in case you were wondering, for some reason AC/DC isn't on iTunes either, which I found weird. So, just to recap: no AC/DC or the Beatles, but all the Go West you could ever want.

Now that I've had to look up roughly 800 separate albums, I feel almost like a bit of an expert. And so I can say with conviction that when it comes to greatest hits albums, you definitely want to title it either "The Very Best of..." or "The Definitive Collection." Sure, you could just call it "Greatest Hits," but that's rather boring. One thing I am not a fan of is calling your greatest hits album, "The Essential." I will decide what is essential thank you very much and, Adam Ant, your compilation comes up very short.

Also, I think the worse album cover that I came across was Orleans' 1976 Waking and Dreaming. Honestly, who thought this was a good idea? It looks like a poster for the movie 300, only if no one lifted any weights before they started filming. Furthermore, how did the rest of the band get talked into posing like that? What was the sales pitch: "Hey guys, want to scare off any potential groupies and turn our concerts into total sausagefests?" I can't believe one of those guys became a two-term Congressman.