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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Kind of Like "High Fidelity," But Without Jack Black

So to what productive uses did I put my time tonight? Did I finish Heart of Darkness? Read for my exams? Continue the PhD program search? Wash the dishes?

No. I yanked every studio release off my cd rack and put them in order of my favorites. So not a complete waste of my time.

I'm presenting the list of all 99 here for you because, well, heck, why not? Perhaps one day I will be tempted to write a proper blog on the top ten or something. But until then, enjoy the list in an of itself.

Note: To avoid what could amount to months, if not years, worth of agonizing over which albums I like better, I made snap judgments. Plus, I was a bit tipsy. Furthermore, I reserve the right to change the order once I have given it more thought and/or sobered up.

98. Bob Dylan--Christmas in the Heart
97. ""--Good as I Been to You
96. Jakob Dylan--Seeing Things
95. Billy Bragg & Wilco--Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
94. Bob Dylan--Together Through Life
93. Pearl Jam--Ten
92. Train--Drops of Jupiter
91. Norah Jones--Come Away with Me
90. Jet--Get Born
89. The Wallflowers--Red Letter Days
88. Flogging Molly--Drunken Lullabies
87. U2--No Line on the Horizon
86. The Wallflowers--The Wallflowers
85. Billy Bragg--The Internationale
84. Tie: U2--Boy and War
83. The Traveling Wilburys--The Traveling Wilburys
82. The Killers--Hot Fuss
81. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes--Are a Drag
80. Bob Dylan--"Love and Theft"
79. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes--Love Their Country
78. Faculty Lounge--Faculty Lounge
77. Bob Dylan--Oh Mercy
76. ""--World Gone Wrong
75. Led Zeppelin--Led Zeppelin
74. The Raconteurs--Broken Boy Soldiers
73. Joni Mitchell--Court and Spark
72. Bob Dylan--Bob Dylan
71. U2--The Joshua Tree
70. Bob Dylan--Planet Waves
69. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young--Deja Vu
68. Crosby, Stills and Nash--Crosby, Stills and Nash
67. Bob Dylan--Nashville Skyline
66. Joni Mitchell--Ladies of the Canyon
65. Bruce Springsteen--Magic
64. Green Day--21st Century Breakdown
63. Bob Dylan--Street Legal
62. The Beatles--Magical Mystery Tour
61. The Rolling Stones--Beggars Banquet
60. Bob Dylan--Time Out of Mind
59. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes--Blow in the Wind
58. Green Day--Dookie
57. The Beatles--Beatles for Sale
56. The Wallflowers--Bringing Down the Horse
55. Simon and Garfunkel--Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
54. Bob Dylan--The Times They Are A-Changin'
53. Neil Young--Harvest
52. Bob Dylan--Another Side of Bob Dylan
51. Van Morrison--Moondance
50. Alanis Morissette--Jagged Little Pill
49. Foxboro Hot Tubs--Stop Drop and Roll!!!
48. Bob Dylan--Modern Times
47. David Bowie--Aladdin Sane
46. Nirvana--Nevermind
45. Carole King--Tapestry
44. Bruce Springsteen--Born to Run
43. The Beatles--Let It Be
42. ""--Please Please Me
41. Bob Dylan--Desire
40. U2--All That You Can't Leave Behind
39. Led Zeppelin--Led Zeppelin II
38. The Doors--The Doors
37. The Wallflowers--Rebel, Sweetheart
36. Simon and Garfunkel--Bookends
35. The Beatles--With the Beatles
34. Bob Dylan--John Wesley Harding
33. David Bowie--The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
32. The Sex Pistols--Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
31. The Wallflowers--(Breach)
30. Paul McCartney and Wings--Band on the Run
29. Led Zeppelin--Led Zeppelin IV (a.k.a. ZOSO)
28. The Beatles--Help!
27. Bob Dylan--The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
26. U2--How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
25. George Harrison--All Things Must Pass
24. The Rolling Stones--Exile on Main Street
23. ""--Sticky Fingers
22. Bruce Springsteen--We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
21. The Velvet Underground and Nico--The Velvet Underground and Nico
20. The Who--Who's Next
19. The Rolling Stones--Some Girls
18. The Beatles--A Hard Day's Night
17. Simon and Garfunkel--Bridge Over Troubled Water
16. Fleetwood Mac--Rumors
15. Bob Dylan--Blood on the Tracks
14. The Rolling Stones--Let It Bleed
13. Green Day--American Idiot
12. The Beatles--Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
11. ""--The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album)
10. The Who--Tommy
9. David Bowie--Hunky Dory
8. U2--Achtung Baby
7. Bob Dylan--Bringing It All Back Home
6. The Beatles--Rubber Soul
5. Bob Dylan--Highway 61 Revisited
4. The Beatles--Abbey Road
3. The Clash--London Calling
2. Bob Dylan--Blonde on Blonde
1. The Beatles--Revolver

See one of your own favorites on the list? Appalled that I don't own White Light/White Heat? Outraged that Led Zeppelin only comes in at #75? Feel free to comment.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

British Actor of the Month--Cracked* Edition

What's hotter, a rock star or a British actor? Answer: a rock star who is also a British actor.

Since I'm doing papers this semester on glam rock and 80s fantasy films, this month's featured fella is none other than

David Bowie

OK, you probably know Bowie as the aging rocker who used to wear women's clothes and pretend to be an alien now married to a supermodel, but unless you've been floating around in space for the past 40 years,** you're probably at least somewhat aware of his acting career. While many of the other guys on this list learned acting at RADA or Cambridge, Bowie had mime training. (No, seriously. Stop laughing.) Though Bowie's tours from his Ziggy Stardust days could be pretty theatrical, he first gained attention as an actor when he played the lead in Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, an arty sci-fi critique of American life and imperialism. Since then, Bowie has had roles as diverse as his music, playing the title character in The Elephant Man on stage, the Goblin King in nerdy fan-girl favorite Labyrinth, and most recently as Nikola Tesla in The Prestige.

Of course, it's always fun to see him make cameo appearances as himself, so enjoy this clip from Extras:






*See Aladdin Sane.
**Haha. Get it?