EGads!
What is this??!
I chaperoned a band trip for my daughter over the past 2 days. This involved a lot of time on a charter bus. I figured I would listen to some albums on the trip, these are mostly albums I wouldn’t have done as part of my daily albums because of either some familiarity with them or because I normally don’t want to spend 2 hours listening to Taylor Swift unless I am locked on a bus for hours on end with 40 teenagers. Here is a list and some brief thoughts.
Taylor Swift - Tortured Poets Department The Anthology - This is the 31 track 2 hour long version of the album. It was released on the day we left on the trip so I figured I would give it a listen. It’s a thing that exists. I am not a big fan. She is about my age and does mention things that give me little dopamine hits of nostalgia. I did notice that she writes with a very similar cadence and stress pattern as Shakespeare. She does it quite a bit, as a result a lot of her songs sound very similar to one another to me.
Pink Floyd - Meddle - It’s weird to experience a new thing that you are already familiar with. I rather enjoy Floyd but a lot of what I am very familiar with is from Dark Side, Wish, Animals, and The Wall. However I’ve seen a lot of Floyd performed live so I had heard most of this one.
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin 3 - This was probably the first album I ever listened to in full but I doubt I have listened to it in nearly 25 years, it was fun.
Jerry Garcia - Garcia - Jerry did some weird shit Late for supper/spidergawd/eep is weird up there with free form guitar by Chicago. I enjoyed the album.
Dylan and The Dead - Dylan and The Dead - This is amazing, but I could see so many people hating it.
Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door - I enjoy telling people Hot Dog is the best Zeppelin tune, I think I like it because it’s so different. Well now I am aware of the synth masterpiece that is Carouselambra.
Allman Brothers Band - Syria Mosque - I was expecting something like Fillmore East and they delivered.
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Syd was weird. Really fucking weird.
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets - See above
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason - This sounds so different than what I associate as Floyd. I did like Learning to Fly, The Dogs of War and On the Turning Away. I believe I’ve heard them all performed live. Sorrow is pretty neat too.
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell - I have had the hardest time trying to appreciate this album. I tried to listen to it about 10 months ago and couldn’t finish it. Well I finished it last night and other than High Hopes and maybe Wearing the Inside Out I can’t say that I really enjoyed it. Maybe it’s more of a different mood of Floyd which I am not accustomed to.
Pink Floyd - Animals - This was a cheat, I love this album, I hadn’t listened to the 2018 remix before…well now I have.
And…
The school band not only earned a superior rating (best they can get), but they also placed highest in their size for a middle school band, placed highest in their age (middle school/junior high) and had the highest score of any group that performed in the competition (191 out of 200 possible points). Overall, it was a fun experience, and I am so very proud of my daughter and her friends.
