12: Mick And Caroline - Latin Quarter

Mick And Caroline - Latin Quarter Did not excite me like the previous Modern Times Can you tell I liked Latin Quarters first album?

I think part of why this album didn't grab me is how busy I have been. Not had the chance to listen to it properly. I am going to have to return to it.

That is an interesting point. I have been doing this for 12 weeks now! and Still going and still getting a lot out of it. I am nolonger listening to the small array of music I had found myself listening to before the new year. So success on the front of the plan. I am acheaving exactly what I set out to.

So what albums have I returned to since I started doing this (Note I have been playing other stuff too)?

• Shallow Life-Lacuna Coil
  
• Meanest Of Times - Dropkick Murphys
  
• You Had It Coming - Jeff Beck Not an actual Album of the week but one I picked up and play a lot in the car

And when not listening to these CDs in my car or on my mp3 player I have been using Last.fm Which when I'm using something plugged into it records what I listen to. So yeah, while not every album has been a success (I never thought it would). The project IS!

Oh and next couple of weeks:

• 13: Black Rock - Joe Bonamassa
  
• 14: God And Guns - Lynyrd Skynyrd
  
• 15: Sonic Boom - Kiss (plus bonus 'best of' CD)

11: Feel The Steel - Steel Panther

Feel The Steel - Steel Panther Loud and funny rock. I enjoyed this. Although it very quickly lost its novelty and to be honest... I felt embarrassed that someone I knew (Who didn't like classic sounding rock) would hear it coming out my car.

A good album. One I'm happy to have in my collection but, didn't excite me like I thought it would.

Still More time on Latin Quarter.

10: Sing Like An Angel - Mitch Benn

Wow! I have been busy this month.

Sing like an angel. It made me laugh a few times. Just what I'd expect from a comedy/novelty album. But I know now that I won't be hurrying to buy more.

In all honesty, I can hear the songs once or twice on I player (or you tube) But to me they aren't worth buying. I can live my life without getting them from you tube if I had to.

I was introduced to him from the now show (BBC Radio 4, get it on the iPlayer). And I enjoyed his songs on Auto Erotic Asphyxiation and the Behave Yourself (Iron Maiden story) song.

But yeah, it gave me a lot of time for the masterpiece of Modern Times by Latin Quarter. Which isn't a new album to me. I can't say enough good stuff about this album nobody knows of.

9: The Meanest of Times - Dropkick Murphys

The shouting Celtic American Punks are angry and loud. The Meanest of Times by the Dropkick Murphys is a bouncy frantic work.

Strongly recommended by a friend. This isn't a easy listening album or a work of great cultural significance or even musical excellence. But god is there something about driving along trying to keep up with the beat of (F)Lanigan's Ball. One also feels riotous almost spitting the lyrics about The State Of Massachusetts.

Not an album to encourage one to stick to the speed limit.

While I haven't finished this album I'm enjoying it a lot and looking forward to moving on to:

• 10: Sing Like An Angel - Mitch Benn
• 11: Feel The Steel - Steel Panther
• 12: Mick And Caroline - Latin Quarter

8: Greatest Hits [Original recording remastered] - Joan Baez

Joan Baez, such beautiful and personal songs. I still find Diamonds and rust an incredible song given that it is very intimate about Joan and her relationship with Bob Dylan.

I discovered Joan from the Woodstock Diaries DVD which I would recommend to many who are fans of or interested in some of the older rock/pop music out there. It tells a remarkable story and has some infamous recordings from a great many artists. This is a big favourite in my music film collection along side the Monterey Pop Festival DVD.

On the whole I enjoyed the album. I was surprised to find that it felt like a selection of mainly more recent offerings from her in comparison to the Woodstock recording that I have which introduced me to her. She is an artist who while never in the main stream has lead an interesting life and produced some very interesting music with a sole that is rare these days.

My future offerings are:

• 9: The Meanest of Times - Dropkick Murphys
• 10: Sing Like An Angel - Mitch Benn
• 11: Feel The Steel - Steel Panther
• 12: Mick And Caroline - Latin Quarter

The Latin Quarter offering stems from a discussion I had with someone who knew of the Modern Times album. This I purchased and will write more about in a future entry. But it will suffice to say that I'm excited about listening to an album that I think is one of the best of all time despite nobody (until I heard someone singing a song from it) else knew of.