3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I had the summer off from teaching, and I spent it with my 7 month-old son. I gave myself permission to make this blog less of a priority. Well, "less of a priority" is putting it lightly. Initially, I considered an abrupt retirement. But then I reconsidered. Maybe the proximity to Brett Favre is causing this. If you're a long time reader, this is probably not all that surprising to you. Since 2007, it has become an annual ritual for me to soul-search about my waning interest in music. First I blamed an inability to express myself and a lack of quality music . Then in 2008 I cited new technology and the death of the album . Last year I wrote about how my changing life priorities hindered my ability to seek out new music. I've done a lot of thinking about it this summer and in truth I believe this was all just dancing around the issue, a slow realization of something I didn't want to admit to myse...

"If you only own one album by Bruce Springsteen it's gotta be [insert masterpiece here]." Welcome to Rock Solid , where we fill in the blank. Our goal is to pseudo-scientifically determine the best, the beloved, the most classic album in an artist's catalog. Here's how it works: I've consulted two main sources. The All Music Guide pro vides the professional critical point-of-view and Amazon.com offers the fan perspective ( because most people who choose to review albums on Amazon are adoring fans of the artist in question) . The album with the highest combined rating from both source s is the one I'll consider the best. An artist's entire body of work is eligible, with one exception: No comp ilations ( i.e. greatest hits). In each case, I'll also share my personal favorite album by the artist in question, as if you care. * * * Here are the top 8 Bruce Springsteen albums according to fan and critical acclaim: 8. Tun...

"If you only own one album by Elvis Costello it's gotta be [insert masterpiece here]." Welcome to Rock Solid , where we fill in the blank. Our goal is to pseudo-scientifically determine the best, the beloved, the most classic album in an artist's catalog. Here's how it works: I've consulted two main sources. The All M usic Guide pro vides the professional critical point-of-view and Amazon.com offers the fan perspective ( because most people who choose to review albums on Amazon are adoring fans of the artist in question) . The album with the highest combined rating from both source s is the one I'll consider the best. The declared winner will be subjected to the Th riller Test (do I need to explain the name?), a set of 4 criteria an album should meet to be considered a masterpiece. Those are 1) at least 3 hits, 2) great album tracks that sh/could have been hits, 3) no filler, and 4) memorable cover art. An artist's entire...