Taking Inventory

Salutations to all my readers this evening. Tonights topic is more of just an observation on my music purchasing habits. As many of you know I am about to take a trip to the Greater Boston area. One of the great music towns in the United States and the World. So many great bands, such as Boston, Aerosmith, and of course, Dreamtheater, all started there. Not to mention their world class symphony that has been home to many of the worlds finest conductors, and defined the standard for a pops orchestra with Mr Arther Fiedler and his relation with Leroy Anderson. So needless to say, I'm excited.

In preparation for this trip, I have put in a rush job of getting just about every CD I own on to my iPod. This of course causes me to go through my CD collection and I noticed a few patterns.

First pattern is change. My CD collection has changed from being classically oriented to being rock oriented. I own more Pink Floyd than any other band, with a tie between AC/DC, The Killers, and Boston's own Dreamtheater. I must admit my connection to the public library is where a majority of my music on the iPod has come from. Which is why I actually have almost every AC/DC album on my iPod, and my dad has been the source of the Pink Floyd albums I don't personally own. For the record, between him and I, the only non-compilation album by them we don't own is Atomic Mother.

Second observation is that with a couple bands, I have copped and simply own "Greatest hits" albums. I am embarrassed that the only album by Judas Priest, Queen, and Nightwish that I have is a "greatest hits". I also own Journey's Greatest Hits and their newest album, Revelation. I am proud though these are not bands known for concept album work, so its not like a Pink Floyd greatest hits album that makes you pretty much miss the actual message of the band. I would consider these bands to be more fluff content, though very enjoyable.

The third thing that caught my attention was the size of my jazz collection currently. I have more than I thought, though again, a lot of it are bargain bin compilations, such as Sinatra's Capitol Record's years, and the greatest of Cab Calloway. I do own "Kind of Blue" but I have never listened to my copy of it. Theres a good chance I never will. I also owned "Time Out" at some point by Dave Brubeck Quartet, but I can't find it. I must say I have a taste for the latin jazz, as the genre shows up the most, with The Best of Perez Prado (the guy who wrote the real Mambo no. 5), Tito Puente "Live at Grossinger's", and Jesus Alemany's "Cubanismo".

The fourth and final main observation for the night is an odd one. My classical collection has some quirks. The most owned time period is actually French Impressionist Orchestral works. Saint-Saens, Dukas, Satie, namely. The next is actually the 1812 Overture, specifically. I have about 5 different recordings I believe, including one recorded with period muzzle-load cannons. The brands of choice are Deutsch-Gramophone and RCA Victor. My iPod though will probablt be the only one you find though that contains at least one Mahler symphony, and two Bruckner Symphonies. I love the brass. My most prized recordings are vintage re-masterings of the Dvorak's New World Symphony by the Chicago Symphony with Fritz Reiner at the helm, and the Pines of Rome with the same set up. Both are awe inspiring albums and every brass player should listen to. Every musician should take a listen, its something to aim towards one day.

I wish you kind folks good night and I leave you with this sad last short observation of my CD collection. I have at least one CD that has "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy (of Family Guy fame) but I do not own a single recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in C minor. Sad.

Good night.