Welcome to me forcing my taste upon you. I’ve loved music ever since I was a kid. So much so that when I was nine, I begged my parents for the original iPod Nano for Christmas. Quite the upgrade over my Sony Walkman. Yes, I had a cheetah print CD organizer for it. Yes, it was awesome.

My mom would play music super loud when she cleaned the house on Saturday’s when I was a kid. I’d say most of my “classic rewind” taste, if you will, comes from her. Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen is my all time favorite. While he’s not mentioned in these five albums, I will do a bonus and suggest Born to Run, The River, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The Rising as a great starting point for him. I finally saw him in concert for the first time ever back in August and I only cried twice. Him and John Mellencamp can tell stories with their music like no others. You won’t regret it. Let’s get into the list.

1. Gaucho by Steely Dan. This one will be on the more soft side. Incredible instrumentals. The horns are *chefs kiss*. Time Out of Mind is my favorite song on this album. Give it a listen if you’re looking for something a bit more funky and eclectic.
2. 4 Way Street Live by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. You’ll never guess it. This is a live album. Again, very soft and acoustic. Fantastic lyrics and great to listen to for a slower evening or a Sunday morning. My favorites are Medley: The Loner, Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River and Don’t Let it Bring You Down. I blared this album on repeat when I was taking and retaking that awful Aleks placement exam for calculus and chemistry for Penn State. A million colleges use that. If you survived it too, have a drink on me.
3. Hell Freezes Over by Eagles. Another live album. I got really into this album as a kid from my parents. I used to screech along to Get Over It and Pretty Maids All in a Row religiously to and from whatever activity my parents were schlepping me to and from. My favorite song is The Last Resort. That’s my all time favorite song in general. I did an analysis on it for my music theory/music analysis class in high school. Fingers crossed they appreciated me for my older music taste, but I’m not holding my breath.
4. The Dance by Fleetwood Mac. Yet another live album! Would you believe this is pure coincidence and not a type for me? I don’t listen to live albums that much. Except for some of these desert island choices for me. Weird. This album includes the ICONIC performance by Miss Stevie Nicks herself where she cursed Lindsey Buckingham with her eyeballs during Silver Springs. I will be doing a power point on the cultural significance of that performance to annoy family and friends with. I am not sorry. My favorites are of course Silver Springs and Tusk. Bonus! This album features the USC marching band. It adds so much depth to the sound. I can’t recommend it enough.
5. The Piano Guys by The Piano Guys. I’ve played a few instruments in this lifetime including alto saxophone and piano. I still play piano and I’m forcing myself to pick up the sax again. It’s awesome. This album is entirely instrumental and I urge you to give it a shot. It features Jon Schmidt on piano and Steven Sharp Nelson on cello. It’s classical covers of popular songs. I’m pretty big into baroque/classical/romantic era music, so this was smashing for me. I implore you to try out Peponi (Paradise). It’s the Coldplay cover in Swahili featuring Alex Boye. He was on America’s Got Talent and he blew the judges away. He’s so talented and I still watch him online after discovering him thirteen years ago. My other two favorites are Michael Meets Mozart and A Thousand Years. After you’re through listening to this album, give their other ones a shot. I especially love their Christmas albums. It’s April though, so maybe hold off on that one.

I’m going to link the Peponi (Paradise) music video on YouTube here. I’m also going to link Alex Boye’s YouTube channel here as well. Let me know what your favorite albums are in the comments. I love listening to new music! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you tomorrow night for another installment of Tech Free Tuesday.