Anarchy Squared - The Enterprise: June 2011

The Best Family Mix I Could Do - 100 Disk Changer

by Craig Hamilton on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 4:12pm

The Best Family Mix I Could Do - 100 Disk Changer

Taking on the task of making a really good mix for a family 100 disk changer is a monumental task. Firstly, virtually every track must seemingly mix with the rest of the others. That is roughly 1,000 tracks that have to mix. I achieved this by what would normally be considered music that doesn’t mix, but yet it does in my changer. I have successfully mixed bands like America and Metallica through the idea of giving the listener a break. Thus, both band America and Metallica in the mix stand out. What I found that I couldn’t do was make a mix of music with bands like Metallica and sustain it for hours on end without ticking on my wife. Nor do I have the patience to listen to tons of folk bands like America. This meant making some sacrifices, but in the end the overall mix is better. Some speed metal, like The Very Best of Testament just didn’t go in the mix. Likewise, my wife doesn’t like listening to even 1 song of theirs. I have to admit that perhaps I would have liked to be able to mix in some Slayer and some God Forbid, but the fact of the matter was that they just simply didn’t go. What I have done is to create bands that have intermediates to their sounds in this player. Each band is unique, but each is different. For example, the connection of Metallica to America might be made by a band such as Apocalyptica, which is 4 cellos playing Metallica acoustically. The way the music is intended to sound is that some songs are punchy; some are breaks to the madness, while intermediate bands fill in the gaps. The constant eclectic nature of this style of mixing is quite formulaic, and the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me.

Secondly, not only do the tracks have to mix, but there also has to be 1,000 good ones. Every compact disk has to be chock full of good songs without any real let downs

The following are the 100 disks in the changer:

Steve Morse – Prime Cuts
Wes Montgomery – On the Go and Movin’ Wes
Wes Montgomery – Fusion
Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Soup
Simon Philips – Another Lifetime
Steve Morse – The Introduction
Django Reinhardt – Jazz Masters 30
Operation Ivy
George Benson – Beyond the Blue Horizon
Dixie Dregs – Divided We Stand
Gipsy Kings – Greatest Hits
Return to Forever – This is Jazz 12
Garsed, Helmerich, Willis, Chambers – Uncle Moe’s Space Ranch
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magic
CAB – (Tony MacAlpine, Brunnel, Dennis Chambers)
Rolling Stones – 40 Hot Licks disk 1
Mull Muzzler – Keep It to Yourself
Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes – Question and Answer
Smashing Pumpkins – Twilight to Starlight
Primus - Frizzle Fry
Django Reinhardt – Retrospective 1940 – 1947
Chick Corea – The Best of
Return to Forever – Romantic Warrior
Van Halen – 1984
Derek Sherinian – Blood of the Snake’
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
Bela Fleck – Greatest Hits of the 20th Century
Dennis Chambers – Outbreak
Simon and Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
Judas Priest – British Steel
Wes Montgomery – Ultimate
Evanescence – Fallen
(Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteem, The Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, George Benson)
Skid Row – Slave to the Grind
Medeski, Martin, Wood – Last Chance to Dance Trance
Queensyrche – Empire
Victor Wooten – A Show of Hands
Eric Johnson – 7 Worlds & Souvenir
Eric Johnson – Bloom
Savatage – Edge of Thorns
Jimi Hendrix – South Saturn Delta
Megadeth – Rust in Peace
Planet X – Quantum
Jimi Hendrix – Blues
Derek Sherinian’s Planet X
Planet X – Moonbabies
Nirvanna – bootleg
Shadow Gallery – Prime Cuts
Fates Warning – No Exit
Greg Howe – self titled
James LaBrie – Elements of Persuasion
Queensyrche – Greatest Hits
Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold as Love
Iron Maiden – Number of the Beast and Piece of Mind
Metallica – black album
Queen – Greatest Hits 1
Pearl Jam – Ten
Led Zepplin – symbols
Van Halen – Best of Vol. 1
Poison – Greatest Hits (1986 - 1996)
Earth Crisis – (1991 - 2001) Forever True
Dream Theater – Official Bootleg: When Dream & Day Unite 15th Anniversary Live
Dream Theater – Score disk 1
Dream Theater – Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Dream Theater – Images and Words
Tool – Aenima
Tony MacAlpine – Evolution
Jazz standards mix
King Crimson – In The Court of the Crimson King and In the Wake of Poseidon
Apocalyptica – Plays Metallica
Richie Kotzen/Greg Howe – Project
Santana – the best of
Tony MacAlpine – Chromaticity
Mull Muzzler – 2
Morse, Portnoy, George – Cover to Cover
Dream Theater – Live: Scenes from New York disk 2
Al Di Meola – Hotel Slendido
Metallica – Kill ‘em All
Metallica – Ride the Lightning
Dream Theater – Once in a Livetime disk 2
Iced Earth – Days of Purgatory disk 1
Greg Howe – Introspection
Van Halen – self titled
Red Hot Chili Peppers – the best of
Fates Warning – Disconnected
Iced Earth – The Blessed
Dio – the very beast of
Jordan Rudess – Feeding the Wheel
Greg Howe - Ascend
Dream Theater – Systematic Chaos
Platypus – Ice Cycles
Drained – No One In Control
An Evening with Jordan Rudess & John Petrucci
Scorpions – 20th Century Masters
Liquid Tension Experiment – self titled
Elton John – Greatest Hits
Greg Howe – Five
Jordan Rudess – Rhythm of Time
Iced Earth – The Damned
America - History

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- Craig Hamilton
  
  I’ve been working on the 100 disk changer again. I’ve decided to consolidate. I got rid of Van Halen’s self-titled album, and Van Halen’s 1984 and put the songs on them that are not on Greatest Hits Vol. 1 on a cd along with the songs, “Everybody Wants Some!!” and, “Mean Street.” That is, I eliminated some music that was from the department of redundancy department. Since the versions on Greatest Hits Vol. 1 were remixed for higher quality it made sense to use those instead of the old mixes. The missing disk is replaced by a mix I made of Allen Holdsworth (from Metal Fatigue), The Mahavishnu Orchestra (from Birds of Fire), Charlie Byrd (from The Bossa Nova Years), On The Virg (from Serious Young Insects), Al di Meola (from Elegant Gypsy), John Scoffield w/Medeski Martin and Wood (from A Go Go), John Scoffield (from works for me), Steely Dan (from Live in America), and Benny Goodman (from a greatest hits album).
  
  March 15 at 10:19pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  A second change I made was another consolidation, also in order to get more good music into the player. Clearly, this mix was not the best I could do, at least without some tinkering with other compact disks I own through mixing them. This time I consolidated 4 Jimi Hendrix cds, 3 of which were already in the player onto 2 disks. The four Jimi Hendrix cds are Voodoo Soup, Blues, South Saturn Delta, and Live at Woodstock. The other Jimi Hendrix cd I have in the player, Axis: Bold as Love, stayed there. The disk that was a replacement is a mix of Mike Stern, Stanley Clarke (from School Days), Derek Sherinian (from Black Utopia), Gambale Hamm Smith (from GHS 3), Bozzio Levin Stevens (from Black Light Syndrome), Testament (from The Very Best of), Marty Friedman (from Dragon’s Kiss), CAB (from 2) and Pat Martino (from Live at Yoshi’s).
  
  March 15 at 10:20pm ·
- Craig Hamilton A third change I have made is to reduce the amount of James LaBrie music in the player. I love James LaBrie, but I felt that between his efforts I have in the changer with Dream Theater, and his solo efforts, it was just too much. Therefore, I consolidated his two Mullmuzzler disks; Keep It to Yourself, and 2, making a single mix of both of their best songs. This made room for a cd that is a mix of Porcupine Tree.
  
  March 15 at 10:20pm ·
- Craig Hamilton In summary of the above 3 comments, there is one new Porcupine Tree disk, and two jazz mixes. This was accomplished by consolidating disks already in the player; 2 Van Halen disks to 1, 3 Jimi Hendrix disks to 2, and 2 Mullmuzzler disks to 1, in addition to adding a few other songs (Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix) from other disks not already in the player to the mix.
  
  March 15 at 10:21pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  I made another mix, this time to get some Ozzy and more Pearl Jam in the player. I took out my Operation IVY cd in order to put it in the 100 disk changer. This was not because I did not like that cd, but because it didn’t mix in. The new mix has the following songs, first shuffled when making the mix, and then to be shuffled again in the player: From the self-titled Black Sabbath album: Black Sabbath, The Wizard. From Black Sabbath, Paranoid: War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron Man, Electric Funeral. From Ozzy, Bark at the Moon: Bark at the Moon. From Ozzy, Tribute to Randy Rhoads: I Don’t Know, Crazy Train, Mr. Crowley, Flying High Again. From Ozzy, No More Tears: No More Tears, S.I.N. From Pearl Jam, Versus: Go. From Pearl Jam, No Code: Up In My Tree
  
  March 23 at 9:34pm ·
- Craig Hamilton While I was at it, I decided that the Led Zeppelin was mixing in real good, so I decided to make a cd mix of Led Zeppelin and replace the Evanescence cd I had in the player. This mix has songs from the albums I, II, III, Houses of the Holies, and In Through the Out Door. I also put some selections from Tony MacAlpine’s album Maximum Security on it to.
  
  March 23 at 9:34pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  I am still working on improving the cd mix. This time I took out Drained, and made a cd mix of Liquid Tension Experiment 2, Office of Strategic Influence’s first album, and Ring of Fire’s album Lapse of Reason. Though I have had No One in Control since c. 1997, Drained hadn’t seen much time in the player lately, but Drained is kid’s music and I got bored of them quickly. Every once in a while I pull this cd out because it has a rare sort of energy to it that I feel is rarely captured on hardcore albums. So, kudos to the producer, he did a really good job. And, as I don’t think they are around anymore, Drained was a really good hardcore band. Since they were a local band, during my High School years, I had seen Drained several times live, and even remember the days when they were able to call themselves Drain. That the guitar is flat and out of tune, it actually adds to this cd.
  
  April 25 at 11:43pm ·
- Craig Hamilton I replaced, “This is Jazz 12,” a greatest hits of the band Return to Forever for Pick Hits by John Scoffield. The cd I replaced is really good, it is just that I have been listening to it for several years now. It has essentially been in the 100 disk changer since I married Meghan. Really, I have been listening to this Return to Forever cd probably since High School (1997).
  
  April 25 at 11:44pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  Dream Theater’s Metropolis 2000: Live Scenes from New York disc 2 got replaced. I’ve listened to the cd for years, and have long felt that it is the best disk of the 3 disk set. I’m just bored of it. I felt like I could listen to that version of Acid Rain several more times, but not the rest. So, I replaced it with of course another great disk, Frank Gambale’s Thunder from Down Under. I questioned whether or not I should put another Dream Theater or Dream Theater related disk in the player and decided not to, enough is enough. Certainly, I have other disks that I can replace cds with as I get bored of them. My guess is that Alex won’t appreciate Frank Gambale as much as Dream Theater. Dream Theater is definitely more accessible.
  
  April 25 at 11:44pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  Soul Sirkus replaces Planet X – Moonbabies. I’m a huge fan of Planet X, and I love the Moonbabies cd. I am proud to have seen Planet X live (at the Middle East club in Boston). In fact, I have loved Moonbabies so much that it has been in the player for many years. All their cds, from Quantum to Derek Sherinian’s Planet X have been among my most listened to cds. Sometime in the future Universe will probably reenter the player. Probably, ever since I have been married this cd has been a constant in the 100 disc changer. I haven’t really listened that much to Soul Sirkus. The drummer of Soul Sirkus is Virgil Donati, who is also plays the drums for Planet X. Generally, I have found that I can’t go wrong with Virgil Donati’s virtuoso albums (I haven’t heard any of his pop stuff). I love Ring of Fire. I love Planet X. I love Serious Young Insects. And, of course Derek Sherinian is a tremendous keyboard player, and Tony MacAlpine is definitely in my top 5 for favorite guitarists. Sometimes there just comes a time to listen to something different.
  
  May 19 at 5:47pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  I took out Dream Theater’s Once in a Livetime disc 2 and replaced it with Bill Frisell live. Unlike most of the discs I have reported on before, I haven’t listened to Once in a Livetime ever since it came out, nor did I initially like it very much. I picked it up in about the year 2000 while I was at college and I was immediately turned off by it at first. James LaBrie’s voice sounded worn out. My roommate suggested that it was probably because it was the end of the tour. So, for a couple of years I never bothered to listen to disc 2. I still do not like disc 1. However, later in the show it seems as if LaBrie’s voice improved, which is almost hard to believe given the difficulty of the songs he sings. I would have never suspected it and that is how this disc got passed my good music radar detection for several years. Once I discovered disc 2 (maybe 5 years ago) it has been in the player ever since. I discovered it mainly because allmusic.com gave it a relatively high rating and I wanted to figure out why, so I sat down and listened to disc 2 and was pleasantly surprised after all.
  I already knew all the songs by heart on the studio albums, so this brings up a question. Live albums have an odd market value. To someone who doesn’t have a single album by a band, sometimes a live album can serve as glorified greatest hits album. However, in the case that one already owns the albums (and has listened to them of course) live albums simply offer a different version of songs one is already familiar with, such that they really can’t get quite as much enjoyment out of the disc because of the same old same old factor.
  As far as the Bill Frisell disc goes. I have gradually been listening to more and more jazz, and I want to listen to more modern jazz, such as lesser known musicians like Mike Stern and The Alex Skolnick Trio. Sure I still love the kiddy Peter Pan bands like Poison and Motely Crue, and even the Who and Led Zeppelin, however I thought I’d add some more instrumentals to the background.
  It is also interesting because I detested Bill Frisell at first. I just didn’t get it. However, this time when I put the Live album on I was starting to get it, and he is highly rated, so I figured that I’d give it another chance. However, what this means is that this disc changer probably no longer represents, “The Best that I Could Do.”
  
  May 29 at 6:48pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  I increasingly put more jazz into the player and less of the other stuff. This time I am putting in the all star lineup of Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Roy Haynes, and Dave Holland with their cd Like Minds. This lineup represents some of the best, if not the best names in jazz from the baby boomer generation. The only reason I haven’t listened to this one more before now is that I just haven’t had time to. I am really looking forward to it. The disc I took out was Iced Earth’s Days of Purgatory disc 1. That is another one of those discs that I have been listening to off and on since college. I love the disc, probably because you might say that I was weaned on it in my metal days though I still love metal. Sometimes when discs have been with you for a long time, they grow on you. I still have one or two more Iced Earth cds in the player. Two discs of one band are plenty in any 100 disc changer. Isn’t the point to mix it up? So, I am setting this disc aside, and I figure that at some time in the future I will put Days of Purgatory disc 2 back in the player, but exactly when is a good question. Possibly, not before the player breaks. I have been wondering how long this player will last. Already, it seems like it has lasted for ages with a high amount of play. If we do end up replacing it someday, then I would hope to get maybe a 300 disc changer or a 500 disc changer (I assume that they make them,) as I personally like the idea of the album. I like to get a good 70min plus on a disc, and I generally appreciate it when there are 6 or more tracks.
  
  May 29 at 6:48pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  I’ve been at it again, switching up cds that is. And, I’m starting to like the idea of not listening to my best music. That grew old. Most of it was stuff that I have been listening to since forever. When I came up with the idea, and I certainly don’t think making a 100 disc changer with your favorite music is an original idea, I had been listening to stuff that was not my favorite for quite a while. Oh well! I guess that it is back to that. Anyhow, I figured I’d add some more King Crimson to the mix, this time combining the albums Islands and Larks’ Tongues. I already have a mix of In the Court of the Crimson King and In the Wake of Poseidon in the player. I like King Crimson. Not everything the band put out was good, but most bands have weak areas in their catalogues anyway. It’s probably the push that record companies have for them to release more material, such that sometimes it ends up being quantity instead of quality. The cd I replaced was Return to Forever’s Romantic Warrior, which is yet again one of those cds I have listened to again and again, year after year. I’ve been listening to that cd on and off since high school, I think, but it may have been college. I can’t remember. I know that I started listening to Al Di Meola in high school, and of course he is in Return to Forever, along with Chick Corea. As you can imagine, I believe Romantic Warrior is a great disc. Most people that rate discs would agree. You really can’t make a comprehensive list of jazz in from the 70s without including them. However, I need to hear new stuff or else boredom sets in. Though both of these discs date from the 70s, King Crimson is newer to me. I got into King Crimson when I saw Mike Portnoy wearing one of their t-shirts. I had long heard about them as being one of the great 70s progressive rock bands like the Genesis, Gypsy Kings, and Jethro Tull. Of those three I have to admit that I haven’t heard much of Genesis’ early works, back when they were considered a progressive band (and I am not sure if Genesis or Phil Collins is still making music). I do like the Gypsy Kings and Jethro Tull. Unfortunately, my Jethro Tull cd is out of commission.
  
  May 29 at 6:49pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  When I started this mix, I had in mind the idea of educating my son Alex. For example, I thought I’d have him listen to the best pop rock of our generation, as I thought he should be familiar with it. After all, most of this sort of rock is easier to comprehend then a lot of the music I listen to. I have given up on that. Alex will have his whole life to be surrounded by mediocre music and other stuff that the masses listen to. Therefore, I believe that it is best to expose him to good music, even if he might not quite be able to appreciate it yet. This means taking out Pearl Jam’s album Ten, and replacing it with Bird’s Best Bop on Verve: Charlie Parker. I know all these Pearl Jam songs by heart, and though I still enjoy them, it is time to move onto something new, in this case something older than I am (and am already familiar with.) The replacement cd will introduce Alex to several of the jazz standards of my grandparent’s generation, and I feel that that is important, so that it does not get lost in the shuffle. In many circles, Charlie Parker is almost forgotten. I would wager that less than 1% of our population in the USA could recognize even one of his songs. He might still be a household name. I don’t know. In my experience, a lot of people know the names of great jazz musicians of the Greatest Generation, but that is all. Additionally, since musical education is so poor in the USA for most students (I not talking just those that play instruments, but the masses that receive public education), I want for my child to grow up being familiar with the sophisticated music of history, not just the music that his parents listened to. This is because in my experience, as someone from Generation X, everyone wanted to listen to the more risqué music of their parents’ generation instead of venturing into the music of the present generation. For us, in jazz class this meant Charlie Parker was popular, and among kids in accelerated classes Led Zeppelin was popular. However, for the bands doing what generations hadn’t done prior to them, such as GWAR, Testament, Fear Factory, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, and Slayer, they did become acceptable until we were grown up because they were too cutting edge. I imagine it was the same way with Black Sabbath when they were trying to get started, as they were a more cutting edge type band, so the good boys and girls didn’t want to risk straying from the back to listen to them when they were new. Of course, there were a few exceptions, and that is part of why Black Sabbath can fill stadiums today (Though they are good, they don’t fill the stadiums because their music so good that’s for sure.) This might be called the Van Gogh effect. Nobody would buy one of Van Gogh’s paintings in his lifetime. If I remember correctly, then it is true that he was unable to sell even one. His generation, at least those that were more sophisticated knew of him, but they just wouldn’t take a chance on him because he was so out there he might as well have been on another planet being observed by one of Galileo’s telescopes. Getting back to my point, it seems parents want to listen to their generations’ best music only once they grow up, and additionally for us, Generation X, this means that our children are gravitating to the more cutting edge bands of our generation. For example, I imagine that it won’t be until the Millennials grow up that their children will be ready to listen to the cutting edge music of the Millennial Generation. After all, though Van Gogh couldn’t sell a painting in his lifetime, the vast majority of them are now considered to be priceless. Thus, it is such that if I want to educate my son, he will probably eventually become aware if not inundated with the music from my generation, so I might as well not bother with educating him about it, and go for other stuff that is equally important, but that he probably won’t hear from other sources.
  
  May 31 at 2:31pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  I absolutely love the Gypsy Kings Greatest Hits cd that I have. However, I have thoroughly listened to it over the years. It used to be a favorite cd of mine. Some music is driving music, and this cd got a lot of listens to by me while I was driving in the car. I got into them in while I was in college. They are definitely an underrated band. Much of this cd is better than what is on Santana’s Greatest Hits. I think the only reason the Gipsy Kings didn’t catch on like some of the others from this generation (baby boomer) is that it is in Spanish. If I remember correctly, I got this cd when I overheard two women talking in my French I class at Cape Cod Community College that this was a really good cd. Before that I had heard of the Gipsy Kings several times among the lists of progressive rock bands like Spock’s Beard, Genesis, and Van der Graff Generator. At that time I had not heard them, but Dream Theater had really gotten me into the progressive scene and I was looking for other good bands. I had no idea how popular they are, but apparently they do all right. Once when I saw Dream Theater, Queensyrche, Fates Warning live in the Boston area at a moderately large size venue, I saw an advertisement that the Gipsy Kings would be playing there to that Summer. Anyway, I thought I’d change out this Gipsy King’s cd for a cd of a local artist, Liz Solomon – Imaginary Girl... I believe in supporting local acts and Liz Solomon does a great job in the Cape Cod Area with her karaoke gigs at the local bars. There are a lot of really good musicians that are struggling on Cape Cod. She doesn’t do originals at work, but selects from the karaoke song list. However, I would guess that she would probably prefer to be singing her own material. She has a really good voice and knows a lot of songs. I was never bored being a regular at the bar when she came because I could always count on hearing something different. If my memory serves me correctly, she has a degree in music, so Liz is professionally trained. My favorite memories of her are when she had a gig at the Sandwich BBC that was so close to my house that I used to walk there, and when she covered PYT by Michael Jackson shortly after he passed away. And, I have enjoyed being at the bar with her as a karaoke dj, while I sing my standard covers: Chicago – Beginnings, Elton John – Rocket Man, the Doors – Break on Through, Pearl Jam – Jeremy, Van Halen – Jump and maybe some others. Liz Solomon is the type of person who would remind me to have another drink when I got too preachy about going after Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan while singing War Pigs by Black Sabbath.
  
  June 1 at 6:01pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  It is time for me to remove one of my most beloved discs ever from the cd changer, Dream Theater’s Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. This was really the first Dream Theater disc that I absolutely loved. Sure, I had heard Pull Me Under on the radio all the way back in 8th grade on the Z Rock 50, a top 50 countdown for rock songs and thought it was a great song, but I wasn’t blown away by the vocals of the band up until Scenes. That is, Dream Theater was new then when I started listening to them. When Scenes came out, I already had Awake, and Falling into Infinity and I really liked those albums. However, the vocals on Awake were a lot like the vocals on Images and Words, such that though they were good, it was difficult to discern what James LaBrie was saying without a lyric sheet. That wasn’t the case with Scenes. One does not need a lyric booklet to sing along with every single song from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. LaBrie’s voice is clear and precise.
  I was lucky to get to see the band live on this tour as well at the Electric Factory in PA. It was right before Dream Theater recorded their live album, Scenes from New York. Dream Theater played an excellent set, and it was nearly identical to the set they played for the live 3 disc set. In fact, I thought Dream Theater did a better job at the Electric Factory when they played Scenes from a Memory (start to finish) in its entirety, just like how they played Scenes from a Memory in its entirety (start to finish) on Scenes from New York.
  One of the cool aspects of Scenes is that when you listen to it from start to finish, it has the appearance of being one song. That much one would never be able to pick up on by putting it into a 100 disc changer. However, the tracks are separated so well, that if one pushes the random/shuffle button, then it probably would never occur to him/her that the album can be listened to from start to finish as a single song.
  Also, Scenes was the album that really got me into being a Dream Theater collector. I started to really appreciate bands that had one or two of their members like Liquid Tension Experiment, Transatlantic, OSI, Platypus, Mullmuzzler, Planet X, and Chroma Key, as well as completing my catalog of Dream Theater with albums like their first, When Dream and Day Unite, and Once in a Livetime. Then, Planet X got me into CAB and Tony MacAlpine, while OSI got me into Fates Warning, while Transatlantic got me into Spock’s Beard.
  To replace this disc, Scenes, with respect to the affect that it had on me as a person would be impossible. Possibly, it had a greater affect on me than Nirvanna’s Nevermind album. However, I can replace it with music that is as good or nearly as good. There are lots of albums out there with tremendous musicianship. Many are just waiting to be found. This time, I’ll put in another classic, Weather Report’s album Black Market. And, if anyone reads this they will probably be like, “Classic? Say what?” This is probably true though, as it is certainly too often that albums get labeled as classics, or bands get called legendary. However, it’s a minor vice and I won’t be such a purest that I can’t say Weather Report is a legendary band. Most people that listen to jazz now and for the next hundred or so years (maybe more) will probably agree with me saying that Weather Report is legendary and that their album Black Market is a classic. Weather Report might even be remembered 500 years from now.
  
  June 4 at 2:41pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  America’s greatest hits album History is out. I just want to hear something different. Ventura Highway and some others from this album have been favorites of mine while driving in the car for many years now. However, I admit, I haven’t listened to them in the car for a long time. My favorite memories that I associate with America is listening to them while driving to Province Town, which is about an hour away from my house. No! I am not gay, but Province Town is a really fun place to visit. My friend and I used to go to Shop Therapy a few times a year. Since, Province Town was so far away, it gave us ample time to listen to music in the car. There are several other bands that my friend liked which he got me into, such as The James Gang, The Blues Brothers, Chicago, and Boston, which are all good but overrated bands he got me into and that at one time I loved. The Blues Brothers and Chicago were primarily SHS blues/jazz band phenomena, so it wasn’t just him. However, The James Gang was a band that fascinated him that I might give him credit for. He was mostly into listening to music from his father’s generation for some reason, such as Led Zeppelin and the Who, and about as close as he ventured to modernity was Iron Maiden and Rush, which if you ask me are also good bands, but highly overrated. Also, his father was a rocker. I guess you my say like father like son.
  So, the album I am replacing America with is Joe Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien. It seems rather fitting to replace an earthly album (America) with a space age one (Alien). I have also had this album for a while, since high school to be precise. I also haven’t listened to it very much. I know it is supposed to be one of the greatest instrumental albums of all time, but if I remember correctly I was mostly bored with the background music to Satriani’s solos when I first heard this album. I liked his album The Extremist better. The Extremist is also an album that same friend got me into. I guess he wasn’t afraid to like something from his generation, and to be fair he got me into Medeski Martin Wood, Soulive, and Phish although I never really fell in love with these bands like he did. However, by now I am completely bored with The Extremist. Oh wait! I took Summer Song from that album and put it on a different guitar cd in the 100 disc changer. So the changer was previously not Joe Satriani free. If I only want to listen to one song (for example) from an album, then I don’t see the harm in editing it. That’s bullshit to think you can buy an album and not be able to do what you want with it. Additionally, I am pretty sure that Satriani played with Stu Hamm (bass) on Surfing with the Alien, and I am pretty sure that I have a few songs from the GHS 3 album in the player. I used part of Summer Song as background music for a movie I recently made that consisted of pictures I or my wife had taken of my son. It only occurred to me to give this album another shot because I recently read that Satriani got an award for this one, as one of the best instrumentals ever in Rolling Stone magazine. If you ask me, then if you think Rolling Stone reports on good music, you are most likely smoking something illegal. And, so what if you are? Big deal! Victimless crime!
  
  June 4 at 2:41pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  Yeah!!! The complete and utter total compromise is over. The album The Roots of King Diamond is going in the player. I haven’t even got to listen to this album very much because I have compromised so much on what I listen to at home for my wife. At Rutgers, during my sophomore year Mercyful Fate and King Diamond were probably my favorite bands. Both bands have the same singer, so I included them together. However, I never got all the King Diamond albums. However, I absolutely loved the album Them, which I listened to daily. For those not in the know, King Diamond is like the progressive metal version of Mercyful Fate. And, at that time in my life progressive metal was my favorite music. For example, I have mentioned earlier that Dream Theater was also my favorite band; that started my junior year at Rutgers when they came out with Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. I have not seen the King Diamond band live, but I did catch Mercyful Fate live once in Brooklyn NYC, at club L’ Amour. These days King Diamond has to be thinking about collecting social security. He has been in the music industry since forever. His band never gained more than a cult following, probably because they were so closely associated with evil. The King Diamond band is an intellectual evil band, and the major critics generally gave them high acclaim for being spooky. That might be how one might describe King Diamond best. Downright spooky!
  The King Diamond cd will replace a Tony MacAlpine cd that I have thoroughly listened to. Of course the Tony MacAlpine cd, in this case Chromaticity is one of my favorites. After all, it is in the best that I could do mix. Laugh out loud!!! Meghan gave me this cd back when we were into giving each other thoughtful gifts before we got married. Now when we want or need something, we just save up and get it. For example, I am currently saving up for the Alex Skolnick Trio’s most recent album, Veritas. I will probably get it with my birthday money. Though Meghan would tell you otherwise, it is not like I have never gotten her anything good. I got her the amplifier I have since taken over, now that we are married!!! Thus, this whole disc changer thing is actually with her equipment and it is generally music that she would not prefer to listen to. Oh well!!! At least, I occasionally buy her flowers. I’d do that now that I am thinking of it, but this month we won’t have the money.
  
  June 5 at 3:03pm ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  There was some hope for music still in me while I was in 8th grade. That was the year the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I can remember hearing Under the Bridge on the radio and heading straight to the record store. The same is pretty much true with Pearl Jam’s Ten album. Then, you could also hear Alive or Black on the radio too. I haven’t really listened to the Chili Peppers since this album though. Sure, I bought One Hot Minute, but it was not as good. After that, the Chili Peppers put out a few good songs, but none seemed to grab me like the ones on this album. So, this much I have learned about popular music, it doesn’t have to suck. This proved true with a few other acts like Dave Matthew’s as well. Basically, what it means is if you listen to pop music, then it is more likely to suck, but it is not essential that it sucks.
  Liquid Tension Trio’s album Spontaneous Combustion replaces Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Liquid Tension Trio is Liquid Tension Experiment before John Petrucci arrived. Both albums that Liquid Tension Experiment put out are essential to completing a Dream Theater collection. These Liquid Tension bands were Jordan Rudess’ audition to replace the phenomenal keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Liquid Tension Trio has much more of an artsy fartsy jazz feel to it than Liquid Tension Experiment. At first listen it doesn’t sound as good, but I’ll see if it grows on me.
  
  5 minutes ago ·
- Craig Hamilton
  
  Yeah!!! The complete and utter total compromise is over. The album The Roots of King Diamond is going in the player. I haven’t even got to listen to this album very much because I have compromised so much on what I listen to at home for my wife. At Rutgers, during my sophomore year Mercyful Fate and King Diamond were probably my favorite bands. Both bands have the same singer, so I included them together. However, I never got all the King Diamond albums. However, I absolutely loved the album Them, which I listened to daily. For those not in the know, King Diamond is like the progressive metal version of Mercyful Fate. And, at that time in my life progressive metal was my favorite music. For example, I have mentioned earlier that Dream Theater was also my favorite band; that started my junior year at Rutgers when they came out with Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. I have not seen the King Diamond band live, but I did catch Mercyful Fate live once in Brooklyn NYC, at club L’ Amour. These days King Diamond has to be thinking about collecting social security. He has been in the music industry since forever. His band never gained more than a cult following, probably because they were so closely associated with evil. The King Diamond band is an intellectual evil band, and the major critics generally gave them high acclaim for being spooky. That might be how one might describe King Diamond best. Downright spooky!
  The King Diamond cd will replace a Tony MacAlpine cd that I have thoroughly listened to. Of course the Tony MacAlpine cd, in this case Chromaticity is one of my favorites. After all, it is in the best that I could do mix. Laugh out loud!!! Meghan gave me this cd back when we were into giving each other thoughtful gifts before we got married. Now when we want or need something, we just save up and get it. For example, I am currently saving up for the Alex Skolnick Trio’s most recent album, Veritas. I will probably get it with my birthday money. Though Meghan would tell you otherwise, it is not like I have never gotten her anything good. I got her the amplifier I have since taken over, now that we are married!!! Thus, this whole disc changer thing is actually with her equipment and it is generally music that she would not prefer to listen to. Oh well!!! At least, I occasionally buy her flowers. I’d do that now that I am thinking of it, but this month we won’t have the money.
  
  4 minutes ago ·

Anarchy Squared - The Enterprise

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Top 10 Reasons Why the Minor Leagues Are Better than the Majors

Saturday, June 18, 2011

100 Disc Changer – 6 Months after the Best I Could Do: “So Far, So Good… So What!” (Megadeth)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Changes Made: The Best Family Mix I Could Do - 100 Disk Changer

The Best Family Mix I Could Do - 100 Disk Changer