For years I've made my own paths, sort of, through the music jungle, ignoring the most well-known and loved artists, like Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.

Then I decided to try something new. Someone in here, I don't remember who, mentioned that they were buying all the songs from the AM3000 song list, or at least working his way downwards.

That was a good idea, I thought, even though I'm not sure if he bought full albums or just mp3s. I considered beginning at the end, because that would make me buy interesting artists like.. wait! Otis Redding and Bob Dylan is at the end as well as at the beginning! And I didn't really want to buy that Phoenix album, not right away at least.

So I started at the beginning. I wanted to buy the full album that song was first released on, if possible. If it only had been released on a greatest hits, then I could buy the greatest hits album.

The first album I ordered was Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, because of #1 song Like a Rolling Stone. Only minutes later I ordered Rolling Stones' Out of Our Heads and Beach Boys' Smiley Smile. The latter two aren't among those bands most acclaimed albums, but that was part of the excitement.

I got them in the mail, and listened to them. And bowchickawowwow! Did I discover something? These cds aren't boring at all. I'd still kick Mick Jagger out of my bed if I found him in it, but I take the cd with me every night. I love that cd. I think I had only heard The Last Time and Satisfaction from it before, but now I can't stop listening to it.

So my journey down the list continued. I went ahead and ordered Nevermind (an upgrade from cassette which should have been done at least 15 years ago), Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (haven't received it yet), Chuck Berry Is On Top (I'm no fan of Berry, but I couldn't bail out already. And who knows, I might be awakened.), Otis Redding's The Dock of the Bay (got it yesterday, and it's a lot, A LOT, better than what I expected.), an album by Marvin Gaye (can't remember title. haven't received it.. I'm not sure about this one, though, but it's probably excellent like the rest) and Led Zeppelin IV (haven't received it yet, but I have an old cd that someone forgot at a party at my place years ago, so I've heard it some times).

Next in line is Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks.. I only have Flogging a Dead Horse. By the way, I had to buy Berry Is On Top on LP, the CD was damn expensive.





Short version for lazy people:
I've bought some records, and found a Rolling Stones album I loved. Now I'm buying other things I didn't know I could like.

I can totally relate to that, Rune.
When I went to Rome for a year in 2001, I decided not to take any music with me that I already knew. Instead I wanted to explore "new" (although most of it happened to be quite old) music, because I knew that I would spend a lot of time completely on my own that I could dedicate to listening to music closely.

I had some all-time-lists and started to compile them into one big list and wanted to buy the first 20 CD's that I didn't already own to take them with me.
While I was doing some research for some additional lists, I found "acclaimed music" (it had only 1000 albums/singles listed then and "Revolver" was still at No.1) and gave up my own effort compiling THE list(which was tiny compared to the work of Henrik).

Since then I'm working my way down the list and it's a real pleasure to get home with a recently purchased CD without knowing anything what it might sound like. In some cases I felt kind of "forced" to buy some music that I thought I wouldn't like... but in most of the time I had to admit that those albums aren't that acclaimed without reason. Those pleasant surprises are the best!

And I also had quite a problem how to work my way down the song-list: I already owned "Highway 61 Revisited", but should I get "Smiley Smile" and "Out of Our Heads" although "their time had still to come"?
And what to do with singles that never appeared on an album? Should I buy a "Greatest Hits"-compilation and if so, which one?

Yeah, those non-album singles... I've decided to buy the first issued greatest hits or compilation album featuring that song. However, if that band has another song further down the lists, and that song is included on the greatest hits album, but was on an earlier album, I would have to buy the album, though not if all the songs from the album is on the greatest hits album. Hopefully that was understandable.

You're on the start of a big, big road, Rune.

Be happy you're not obsessive-compulsive like me. Me, I don't want to just have the songs. No, I want to have the best versions of them too. If that means buying The Rolling Stones discography all over again just for the SACD discs, or buying Chubby Checker compilations until I find the proper version of "The Twist" instead of some inferior-sounding rerecording, or doing the same for Roy Orbison (thankfully, that only happened once with him), or hunting down SMiLe bootlegs until have a version of "Good Vibrations" that is just right, or getting a Smiths compilation just for the Peel session of "This Charming Man" (because the one on the album sounds bad)... I just have to do it.

(Right now, I want a Single Version of "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult because I can't stand that guitar solo. Ruins everything.)

Henrik, why did you have to do this to us?

As for your discoveries, I'm pretty surprised you didn't know those albums, Rune. Then again, I'm the kind of person that hasn't listened so much to music beyond the ken of critics... So your opposite in a way, really, heh.

And today I got Berry Is On Top, and who would have guessed? It's actually pretty good. I've listened to it twice, and I wouldn't mind another round. And I can tell the songs apart, so we might need to start that Survivor game again, because some of my reasons for voting artists out isn't valid anymore.

I got the Marvin Gaye CD I ordered as well. For some reason, I bought the wrong album. They were both called I Heard It Through the Grapevine, but the one I bought was a live recording. And worthless. I might go back and buy the album I though I was buying, but not right now. That's enough Gaye music for a while.

Yes, the everything-sounds-the-same argument for Chuck Berry requires revision.