I admit, I’ve been a bit of an ABBA hater in the past. While we were dating, when my now wife named them among the bands she liked, I rolled my eyes and teased a bit. I’ve endured plenty of nights helping in the kitchen while she played their Pandora Station as she cooked.
But after visiting the ABBA Museum in Stockholm…well, I’m not sure I’d call myself a fan, but I’ve been far more convinced of their importance in pop music history—and especially in bringing Sweden to the international arts scene (which, as a metal fan, is a happy byproduct). Continue reading
compilations
Record #720: Foo Fighters – Greatest Hits (2009)
There are two things that I generally don’t care about at all: radio rock and greatest hits compilations.
But in this case, I will make a huge whomping exception.
For one, at this point in my life, I have little interest in diving deep into the extensive catalog of the Foo Fighters. However, I am not above admitting that Dave Grohl & Co. have produced some of the best radio rock the genre can offer. This collection of singles (in no particular order) is wall to wall bangers, showcasing Grohl’s perfect instincts for writing rock and roll hits.
Record #714: James Taylor – Greatest Hits (1976)
In the summer of 2006, I was between my freshman and sophomore years of college. With no job and few friends left in my home town, I spent most of the summer driving across Michigan, crashing in friends’ living rooms (or kitchen floor, in one instance), occasionally happening on open mic nights or jam sessions or campfires where the acoustic guitar in my backseat would be of use.
My vehicle in those days was a late 90s Chrysler Town & Country that I inherited from my mom when she upgraded. The once mighty stock sound system was now neutered, its CD player rendered useless. Driving between cities, finding strong (and listenable) radio stations proved impractical.
All I had was a tape deck, and a garage sale copy of James Taylor’s Greatest Hits on cassette. Such was my soundtrack for that summer, and many months in between (it may have stayed in the deck as long as two years).
And while I usually pass on Greatest Hits compilations, when I found this the other day, I had to take it—and not just for the memories.
Record #682: Dashboard Confessional – The Best Ones of the Best Ones (2020)
My fifteenth birthday was a formative one. While on vacation with my family, I made the conscious decision to stop spiking my hair and instead push it forward. I decided to put away my past-the-knee shorts and skate shoes in favor of slim fit jeans and Chuck Taylors. And when given free reign at a CD shop, I bought Dashboard Confessional’s The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most (and the first two Juliana Theory EPs) instead of the earlier Blink-182 albums that I had been eyeing for a while.
I had weighed the options, and decided: I was going to be an emo kid.
And over the next year, Dashboard Confessional would be central to that process. I absolutely devoured the first two albums, detuning my guitar to Chris Carabba’s open chords and training my voice to yelp similarly. I was even reminded recently of a short-lived solo project called Just My Luck that aped every part of his own solo work.
But unfortunately, those two records are nearly impossible to find on vinyl. Copies of Swiss Army Romance go for over $250. The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most has never been pressed (though his next two Vagrant releases were reissued a couple years ago?) And so, I found myself with no choice than to swallow my pride and buy this uneven and, at times, bizarre compilation.