A Thing That I Am Doing: My Top 25 Albums

So hey! Where have I been this past month, you might want to ask? Well, I can tell you in one word, friends: TUMBLRRRRR.

No, I'm not moving there or anything. In a rare fit of sportsmanship, I have decided to take on a challenge proposed by my good Chicago buddy Rick and compile a list of my top 25 favorite albums of all time. ALL. TIME. Quite a challenge, I must say.

I have no hesitation in admitting that when Rick first asked me to do this I really, really, REALLY didn't want to. At all. I'm just not a "list" guy, you see. I don't understand your average music nerd's obsession with taking these nice things and numbering them and putting them in a sequence. It just seems like an empty, pointless enterprise. I know a lot of people are AWARE of the fact that it's empty and pointless, and they still have the compulsion to do it, and that's fine. But it's just - it's not me.

That is - it WASN'T me, until I actually started COMPILING the list itself and realized that it was a whole lot of fun! No WONDER these silly nerds like doing this so much. You get to sit around and think about your favorite music a lot! Who doesn't like doing that! Not to mention that I was assured by Rick and a handful of some other friends of mine (making lists of their own) that most of the rankings were arbitrary, anyway. So that made things a lot easier, for me, especially knowing that my friends kinda-sorta felt the same way about making the list as I did.

I've decided to post them on Tumblr instead of here because I feel like the format fits them better, really. I'm doing small write-ups on each record individually, counting up from 25, embedding mp3s and Youtube videos along the way. Each writeup, I feel, is significantly more off-the-cuff and instinctive that most of my reviews here (if you can believe that), so I feel the more circumstantial and immediate nature of Tumblr fits them better.

So! There you go!! If you wanna follow my list, you can either follow my tumblr or check out the "Top 25 Albums" tag to filter out all the other stupid stuff I post. I would also recommend following my good buddies Jason, Krystle, Steve, and Dave, who are all compiling their own lists. I forgot to mention it before, but I feel like my favorite thing about this whole thing has been checking out my friend's lists, seeing what music shaped them growing up, where they're coming from. It gives me a chance to understand my friends a lil better, while examining and strengthening my own connections with my favorite music. It has been much more rewarding than I expected it to be.

I'm already about to hit #10, though, so you'd better get readin' and catch up! I could be done tomorrow! And then how will you feel!!

(Also, despite the fact that Rick was the one to push me into making this thing, he hasn't made one HIMSELF yet. That stupid dope.)