#1
Artist: Van Halen
Title: Van Halen
Comments coming soon.
#2
Artist: Nazareth
Title: No Mean City
An incredibly underrated release that doesn't get a lot of hype as an album in general or even as part of the Nazareth catalog. This is my favorite offering from Nazareth.
Things open up hot and heavy with the fast paced rocker "Just To Get Into It".
#3
Artist: Rolling Stones
Title: Some Girls
After putting out several likable though not fantastic releases, Mick and the boys bounce back with what many consider to be The Stones' last great album.
There isn't a lot of filler material to be found here, and "Some Girls" impresses the listener in ways not seen since 1972's "Exile On Main Street".
Casual listeners will recognize such hits as "Miss You", "Beast Of Burden" and "Shattered" from the radio airplay they received. But there is much more to be found here. Further listening will show the title track in its raw and blunt form as well as the country/blues jangle of "Far Away Eyes" to be standouts as well both of which harkens back to something they would have recorded in the late 60's or early 70's.
#4
Artist: Kiss
Title: Ace Frehley
If you asked anyone who followed KISS in the 70's, you would probably find that they had a favorite member of the band. Of the four members, lead guitarist Ace Frehley would probably win honors as the most popular.
I remember people thinking that he was one of the greatest guitar players in rock. Of course, hindsight proves this to not be the case, but that doesn't diminish his work on this solo album in any way. Whether he was the most popular member of the band among fans is moot. This is by far the best solo title any of the four members released during 1978.
His self-titled solo album is filled with quality material, and the radio airplay of the track "New York Groove" didn't hurt in exposing this release to the public. I'm sure the success seen by the sales of his solo album gave him the confidence to soon depart the band for good and explore a career as the leader of his own band.
It's too bad the other three solo albums couldn't approach the material found here. It might have caused unity within the band instead of the increased dissintion among the group which ultimately lead to the dissolve of the original lineup.
#5
Artist: Foreigner
Title: Double Vision
Comments coming soon.
#6
Artist: Boston
Title: Don't Look Back
Comments coming soon.
#7
Artist: Billy Joel
Title: 52nd Street
Comments coming soon.
#8
Artist: Queen
Title: Jazz
Comments coming soon.
#9
Artist: Jackson Browne
Title: Running On Empty
Comments coming soon.
#1
0
Artist: Cheap Trick
Title: Heaven Tonight
Comments coming soon.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Top 10 - 1978
Happy Easter!
Type: Trail/BMX
Make: Giant
Model: MTX 125
Price: $265.00
Since Easter is this Sunday, I thought everyone might want to see what the Easter Bunny told me he was giving to my 7 year old son. This will be his first "real" bike without training wheels. We should have a lot of fun this spring learning to ride on two wheels, and hopefully not too many tears!
Mr. Bunny could have found one that easily was half the price of this one. But this bike has top notch, durable components and an aluminum frame making it about 2 lbs. lighter than a steel framed bike. This will be easier for the little tyke to control while learning to ride. It should also last him for 2-3 summers until he is ready for a bigger bike.
Notice the black water bottle and cage? That's so the little tadpole can be just like the big guppy!
I'll post a follow-up review once we've had some time with this item.
Here's hoping the Easter Bunny is good to all of you and yours as well!
Happy Feet - Shoes To Consider (Part 4)
Type: Outdoor/Casual
Make: Nike
Model: Goapath
Price: $140.00
Comment coming soon.
Happy Feet - Shoes To Consider (Part 3)
Type: Casual
Make: Adidas
Model: SS 2G LS
Price: $35.00
Comment coming soon.
Happy Feet - Shoes To Consider (Part 2)
Type: Athletic or Casual
Make: Brooks
Model: Adrenaline GTS
Price: $95.00
Like most others who are reading this post, my trials and tribulations with athletic shoes runs deep and wide. Back when I was in middle school (a long time ago), if you were cool, you wore Adidas. Then Nike emerged as the "in" brand and everybody who was "somebody" were sporting those.
Sometime right after college when my metabolism started to slow down, I became more interested in comfort as opposed to how cool I looked based on what I wore. Still, it seemed that the items I slapped on my poor feet didn't quite live up to my expectations of comfort. It didn't matter what brand I tried, it seemed nothing really worked well. Perhaps I just had odd feet.
If you're lucky, at some point you actually listen to what others "in the know" have to say and you actually learn something. For me, that was when a co-worker of mine (who ran several miles each week for exercise and hobby) suggested that I go to a store specializing in shoes for the runner. He told me they would analyze my foot and tell me what type of shoe I needed based on my foot structure.
So I took his advice and went to a local running store. They told me I was in need of a shoe that offered support and quickly pointed me to several model by various brands. The Brooks Adrenaline GTS were the third pair I tried on and the ones I ultimately purchased.
These are the best feeling athletic shoes my feet have encountered and their liberal use of mesh means your feet will stay comfortable in hot weather to boot. I spent an entire week walking through the various Disney World properties this past fall (yes, I said week) with these shoes. Not once did my feet burn or tire from the hours of walking and standing I did.
Brooks has offered the Adrenaline GTS in their lineup for a number of years - they are currently on their 8th generation. Though they have made some minor cosmetic and structural changes, the longevity of this model proves that if it ain't broke, you don't need to fix it.
Of course, nothing is more important than consulting with a trained expert regarding the specific type of shoe you need. If your feet are such that you need support, you can safely add this model to your short list when shopping.
Music Management Software
If you have been thinking about transferring the music on your CDs to a hard drive for playback via computer, there isn't a better time to get started. Adding an internal or external hard drive to your PC as a dedicated home for your music collection is a relatively simple task, and the price for storage seems to drop daily. Finding a program to manage your collection is another story.
I've been using the software provided by AlbumPlayer for several years now. There are many things I like about it, which I will try to point out below.
While many will be perfectly happy using Apple's iTunes for such a purpose, there are those among us that prefer something a little more robust with more features/options.
My first consideration was finding a program that would allow me to use a lossless file format of MY choice. For those new to the game, a lossless format preserves the original quality found on your discs while converting them. Most formats whether lossless or lossy use some form of compression when ripping and storing your data. It's important to distinguish the terms here because I think many folks automatically think of a lossy format when they here the term "compressed" - which simply is not the case.
Being the audio purist that I am, I wanted to use a lossless format, and I already had one in mind: FLAC. I won't go into specifics about this format as it's really not the main topic for this post, but if you would like to learn more about it, you can click here for more in-depth information.
The second thing I required was a program that provided access to my music in a graphical nature. They say a picture is with a thousand words, and nothing is more cumbersome to my eyes than trying to hunt through a bunch of text looking for the artist or album I want to play. There is no denying the elegance of iTune's flip cover display, though it can get bogged down a bit when your collection of music starts to grow. I wanted something similar to what they provided.
Finally, I wanted a program that was flexible. By this I mean I wanted a simple way to perform back-up's of my music data as well as change directories/locations for the data without a lot of fuss and labor on my part.
Well, AlbumPlayer fit all of my desires, so I tried out the demo and soon after, purchased their program. It's been a real pleasure for me to use, and I can't think of any other program that has provided me so much enjoyment. My computer is connected to my home stereo via the digital output on my PC's sound card. I access AlbumPlayer remotely via a laptop computer in my music room using a program called AnyPlace Control. I rip the audio files from my CDs to my hard drive in FLAC using a program called Direct Audio Converter.
However, my music is not confined to just this room. Using the digital files now stored on my PC, I can get music wireless in other areas of my home through my wireless network and the aid of a Squeezebox (review to come in another post).
So don't be afraid to make the move to PC music. It's a rewarding project that will provide you convenient access to your music in a manner that wasn't possible just a few years ago.
Borders In Trouble?
Yet another major retailer pondering its future...
Taken from DIRECTNewsline
Borders Group May Sell; Lines Up $42.5 Million Infusion
Borders Group Inc., the direct marketer and retailer of books, said Thursday it may put itself up for sale and has lined up $42.5 million to stay in business.
First off, the Ann Arbor, MI-based firm has hired J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch and Co. as financial advisors as it explores whether to sell the company and/or certain divisions.
Meanwhile, Borders has received a financing commitment from Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. for a loan $42.5 million and an offer to purchase certain of its international businesses.
The company also said it suspended its quarterly dividend program “in order to preserve capital for operations and strategic initiatives.”
For the fourth quarter, Borders posted net income was $64.7 million compared to a net loss of $73.6 million in the prior year.
The company reported total consolidated sales of $1.3 billion in for the quarter ended Feb. 2, a 2.8% increase over $1.26 billion last year.
“This will be a challenging year for retailers due to continued uncertainty in the economic environment,” said CEO George Jones, in a statement.
Read more...