35. Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape - 1997 (2011 Re-issue)

I finally have the vinyl for one of my all time favorite recordings. Two record set. It sounds great, but the packaging left a LOT to be desired. For the price tag, it should have included liner notes, pictures, lyrics, something. Just two plain white inner sleeves. Thats it. Still, I am happy to be finally able to listen to Everlong on vinyl. This is definitely my favorite Foo Fighters album.

34. Have You Ever Bought The Same Record More Than Once?

One of my all time favorite recordings is The Colour and The Shape by Foo Fighters. I want this on vinyl bad, but not bad enough to pay $100+ for it. I was looking on Amazon hoping to snipe a used LP cheap and found out that it will be re-released on November 21st for a mere $22. I will be buying this record for sure! I first bought it on cd when it came out back in 1997 and latter gave it to a friend. I quickly went out and bought another one and it eventually got scratched up and I downloaded it for free. A few years ago, a deluxe edition came out with extra tracks and I bought it to replace the scratched up one. So that means that I've bought this CD three times new, not used. When I buy this on Vinyl, it will mean that I have purchased it four times new. Have I ever bought a recording new more times than this? Let's do a list!

I bought Synchronicity by The Police new, once on vinyl, once on cassette and twice on CD over the course 28 years. I've bought quite a few recordings in different formats over the years. Without breaking it down into different formates, I will list the total number of times I have bought a particular recording new. Here we go:

The Police - Synchronicity X 4

The Beatles - The Beatles (white album) X 3

Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles X 3

Pearl Jam - Ten X 3

Blink 182 - Enema of the State X 3

Van Halen - 1984 X 3

Van Halen - 5150 X 3

Van Halen - Balance X 3

Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape X 3

I have bought too many to mention, twice.

I have also bought MANY MANY records and CDs used over the years.

Over all, the recording I have owned the most times, would have to be The Beatles White Album, which I've owned at least 10 editions of in my 30+ years of buying music. Three times on CD and at least seven times on vinyl including a reissue that I just bought as well as four original numbered LPs, one in the Parlophone blue boxed set BC13 and the one I bought in 1984 at Camelot records. Although I've owned it at least 10 times, I only bought it new in a store three times.

When I buy The Colour and the Shape new on vinyl, it will tie Synchronicity for the recording I have bought most times new. Hmmm. Have I come to the conclusion that I have spent way too much money on music?          Nah!

33. The Cure - Disintegration - 1989

One of the ten best records of the 1980's. Disintegration may be The Cure's best record. A great number of Cure fans out there would argue that. Typically Cure fans fall into three groups. There are the ones who think Pornography is their best record. Then there are the ones who think Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was their best record. Last, you have the ones that believe Disintegration was their best record. Personally, I'm in the Pornography camp, but I love Disintegration!!!! I just picked up a 180 gram vinyl copy today and it's been a blast to listen to. Plainsong, Pictures Of You, Lovesong, Lullaby, Fascination Street, Prayers For Rain, and Disintegration make for 7 standout songs! What a masterpiece this is. Lush orchestral melodies, complex and soothing. The emotional thread of the music works so well the lyrics. Plainsong washes over you like nothing else that was recorded before it. Some of the songs roll over you and sweep you away like an avalanche, some pull you down like an undertow, while others make you feel sky high. This is an amazing piece of work. A true gem. A brilliant achievement that shows the genius of Robert Smith. Tonight I'm going to listen to this record with the lights off while lying on my back on the floor. Pillow under my head, cold drink in my hand.

32. Radiohead - OK Computer - 1997

My favorite Radiohead record. This album touches me deeply. At one point or another I'm sure we can all identify with the feelings of isolation and and despair that are on this record. Although it does have those themes of an impersonal and artificial society which has become so in part because of technology, still this record is absolutely beautiful! Stunning! Gorgeous! We all know Paranoid Android and Karma police are awesome, but Exit Music is so dreamy and haunting as a lead in to Let Down. Few songs can pick me up like Let Down can. I have no idea how many times I have listened to that song. By the time it gets to the line "you know, you know where you are with", it's like someone has grabbed me by the spine and lifted me up into the air! The song feels like it actually lifts me. The high point of this record for me is the low point. No Surprises is the stand out track lyrically on an album that is about as strong as a modern rock album can be. When I am feeling tired and weak and powerless, this song is like therapy. It's lullaby. Whenever I read about some obviously innocent person being harassed by the TSA or Obama wasting billions of dollars with nothing to show for it, I think of these words. After listening to this song, I still feel helpless and weak, but I don't feel alone.

A heart that's full up like a landfill

A job that slowly kills you

Bruises that won't heal



You look so tired and unhappy

Bring down the government

They don't, they don't speak for us


I'll take a quiet life

A handshake of carbon monoxide



No alarms and no surprises

No alarms and no surprises

No alarms and no surprises

Silent, silent



This is my final fit, my final bellyache with



No alarms and no surprises

No alarms and no surprises

No alarms and no surprises please



Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden



No alarms and no surprises (let me out of here)

No alarms and no surprises (let me out of here)

No alarms and no surprises please (let me out of here)

God, I love this record so much. It means more and more as the years go by.