...literally. After traveling two countries for two years I have made lots of friends from all over the world. This is a place for me to keep in touch with those friends and to fill them in on my life and all of my random thoughts. This is my place to be me!!!
Such EXCITING news this week regarding "The Hobbit" films. We FINALLY have a green light. Kind of. Here's what's been going on over in New Zealand...
This next video pretty much explains what's going on in those first videos. You can clearly see Peter Jackson's emotions over the whole thing and I love how he is fighting for this. I swear every day I gain more and more respect for this man. I hope that Warner Bros. will see that New Zealand is the proper location to film these movies and that these are the people that should be working on it...
Although I will be absolutely heartbroken if these films are lost to New Zealand, the one thing I CAN say that I am EXTREMELY excited for is the actor chosen to play Bilbo Baggins... MARTIN FREEMAN. YES!!! For those who are unfamiliar... he plays "Tim" in the original BBC version of "The Office". And also for those who are unfamiliar with the English version, he is the equivalent of "Jim" in the American office. And for those of you who haven't seen the BBC version of "The Office".... SHAME ON YOU.
This is just a quick clip of Martin Freeman from "The Office" when he quits. And the episode it's from is so brilliant...
Don't you think he looks like a young Ian Holm??? I can't WAIT to see the first official stills of him in costume!!! The names have also been announced for several of the dwarf characters that go on their adventure with Bilbo and Gandalf although none of the names sound familiar to me. But I figured it would be that way with those characters. And as far as I know, Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis are still on board to play Gandalf and Gollum. YAY!!!
The thing that is so great about this is that I'm gonna be around for the WHOLE process!!! When I first got into The Lord of the Rings, I didn't really get fanatical about it until after I saw the first film. I did get excited for it the first couple of months up until the release but since I didn't know anything about Lord of the Rings, I missed out on all the hoopla that was the production and promoting for the films. THIS time, I'M ALL OVER IT!!! So this is VERY exciting for me!!! WOO-HOO!!!
And of course, I will be blogging about it all along the way so if you read my blog and you don't know anything about "The Hobbit"... NOT TO FEAR!!! I will provide you with all relevant news regarding the production. And to tell you about how awesome Peter Jackson is. Because he is, in fact, awesome. And I'm "Team Peter Jackson" by the way, regarding all of that union crap that's going on. GO PJ!!!
1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon This album always ends up at the top of my list and I don't think it will ever change. Even the bits that don't sound like music I still listen to. I don't ever skip anything. It's haunting, beautiful, creepy and magical all at once. The vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky" are like not of this world. I'm pretty much convinced that this is the greatest album ever recorded in the history of time. AND the perfect album to listen to when you go outside and stare up at the stars. Brilliant album.
2. Radiohead - Hail To the Theif Radiohead are this generations Beatles. I'm convinced of it. Their growth and progression as musicians is unfathomable. Every album has a different sound and every album has a different feel. I must say that I chose this album for sentimental reasons as I feel that any of their albums could be in this list. So for the memories that it produces in my mind, "Hail To the Theif" is my number 2 album. Although I knew and heard Radiohead songs before, this is the first album of theirs that I listened to all the way through. It reminds me of anticipating the release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in theatres. Those years were some of the best of my life. I learned and grew a lot. This is part of the soundtrack to those years. A brilliantly produced album.
3. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Fever To Tell One word. RAW. There's something about a band with a chick lead singer that automatically makes it different. Not necessarily better but I will pay more attention. Karen O has one of the sexiest voices in rock and roll. Their sound is raw and their look is raw. RAW RAW RAW. I was in Amoeba Records in Los Angeles one weekend on Sunset Blvd. which all music fans should go to. It's like a music lover's shangri-la. I noticed that this was one of the albums on display to listen to. I remembered the name as I had met Elijah Wood the previous weekend at a Lord of the Rings event. He's a HUGE music fan and I asked what he's been listening to lately. And he said "The Yeah Yeah Yeah's". So of course, I took notice. From the first track I was hooked. I then sat there for the next 45 minutes listening to the album from beginning to end. When finished, I brought it to the counter to purchase. I consider it one of the best purchases I've ever made.
4. Led Zeppelin - III This was a hard decision for me. Led Zeppelin is my second favorite band of all time and they have some incredible albums to choose from. But after careful consideration I find that this album makes me FEEL more than their others. You have the beautiful melodies, harmonies and road-trip like feel of "That's the Way" (which was used in Almost Famous quite perfectly), you have the lap dance feel of "Since I've Been Loving You" and you have the majestic elegance of "Tangerine" (also used in Almost Famous at the end, again quite perfectly). Led Zeppelin pretty much rock my world and what a sight it must have been to see them live.
5. Michael Jackson - Thriller I don't think I need to explain this one to you but allow me to just the same, LOL!!! *sigh* Where to begin??? I can't remember where I read this but one article described Michael's Thriller album as (paraphrasing here) "a greatest hits album without having the greatest hits yet". And I COMPLETELY agree with that. Each song can stand on it's own. Yet listened to as an album it has a flow that you can't ignore. Not to mention it's timelessness. One could play "Billie Jean" in the clubs and not only will people still go mental but it sounds like anything else that's out nowadays. Or everything else sounds like it could fit in with THAT song. Michael really knew what he was doing with this one. He was right. We wouldn't be able to ignore it.
6. The Beatles - Revolver Next to Michael, The Beatles are my all time favorite artist. If you put a gun to my head you'd have to shoot me because I wouldn't be able to choose between the two. The things they have each done for music are unparalleled. Out of the many Beatles albums that one can choose from, Revolver gets my vote. Most people would choose "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and although that is a great album and changed the face of music at it's time, "Revolver" is the album that I TRULY feel The Beatles really started to experiment and grow as musicians. It starts with my all time favorite Beatles song "Taxman" and also George's best song with the group. You then head right in to "Eleanor Rigby" and how can you ignore those violins??? Then the BRILLIANCE of "I'm Only Sleeping". George, Paul, John. BAM!!! Things slow down with "Here There and Everywhere" Paul's most romantic song and then the beat picks up with the fun loving "Yellow Submarine" and "She Said She Said". The album ends with another one of my favorite Beatles tracks "Tomorrow Never Knows". The most advanced song that they had recorded by that time. This is your complete and total 60's fix all in one magical album RIGHT HERE!!!
7. The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream If there was ever an album that reminded me of adolescence it would be this one. The Smashing Pumpkins made me pay more attention to "rock" music. I was starting to get less interested in the "top 40" and poppy type songs that were popular during that time and I started to look else where. Listening to the pumpkins made me feel REBELLIOUS and I LOVED IT!!! Out of all the many Smashing Pumpkins kicks I've been on this album has played it's part in all of them. And I believe that any of their albums up to "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness" could be put in this list but just as with the Radiohead album I listed, this album makes it simply for sentimental reasons. And Billy Corgan has one of those voices that's just so haunting you can't help but listen to him.
8. The Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business I feel that this is sometimes a guilty pleasure but I don't care. I love Will. I. Am. and I love their beats. I think they are some of the best main stream hip hop out there right now. I know there is a lot of underground hip hop that is supposed to be amazing and I have them on my list to check out eventually. But I don't know what it is about this group. I love every song on this album and I think the album flows very well. I think Will. I. Am. really paid attention to Michael Jackson while he worked with him. The Black Eyed Peas have only released an album every 4 to 5 years just like Michael. And I feel that every single one of their albums is quite good. But this one gets my vote.
9. Keller Williams - Stage Keller Williams is an interesting musician. He has a very different voice that you might not quite like at first but it grows on you like a bad fungus. As strange as he may sound, the man is incredibly talented. He has to be seen live to really be appreciated. Which is why I chose his live album "Stage". Keller is amazing. He plays all the instruments and loops them live in front of the audience. His energy onstage is never ending and he really gets into it. He even did a cover of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" which is freaking awesome. Totally unique. And the man can finger-pick a guitar like nobody's business.
10. Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring This album has great significance to me. When Michael's "Invincible" album came out, I was so ecstatic because I was like "FINALLY, Michael is doing something again!!!" and for the 2 months after it came out it was all I pretty much listened to. Then of course you had the Madison Square Garden shows with his brothers and I was in Michael heaven yet again. Then one night I went to the movies with a friend and I saw the trailer for the first Lord of the Rings film for the very first time. I didn't know anything about it but I knew I had to look into it. The images in that trailer stuck in my mind for days and days and I went home and watched the trailer over and over and over. Slowly and slowly this film was pulling me out of Michael land and for anyone who knows me, they know that that is hard to do. When I saw the film on opening night, I was hooked. It was life changing for me. I had never seen anything more beautiful on the big screen in my life. The very next day, I went and bought the score to the film and I listened to it EVERY NIGHT when I went to sleep until the next film came out and so on and so on with the other scores. Howard Shore set the bar for movie scores for the next 20 years just as Peter Jackson set the bar for fantasy films for the next 20 years if not more. Even the evil, creepy, haunting music in this score is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. This score provided escapism for me and made me able to be creative. It was how I felt about Michael when I first REALLY got into him. I can't listen to it now without getting chills. Granted, I don't listen to it as much as I used to because now I'm on a Michael kick and haven't been on a movie score kick for ages but this one??? This one is the one.
So there you have it. My top 10 favorite albums. Granted, I think there are albums that are better but that doesn't necessarily mean they are my favorites. There is a difference, in my opinion, of what is the best and what is your favorite. Having made this blog it has made me realize just how powerful music is. How could we live without it??? It's inspiring, creative, magical and pretty much any other positive adjective you can think of. In the words of Russell from the film "Almost Famous"...
