Music: my favorite albums

 When it comes to music, I like to listen to songs over and over until I have a complete grasp of what a song or album is trying to say. Music can stir emotions, bring back old memories, and inspire us, not just with words, but with the mood that the music can set, and the passion in which it is performed. By no means am I an expert in music, but it is a hobby of mine. So here are my five favorite albums. No greatest hits allowed, just straight albums although one of my picks is a live album, its still not a greatest hits, and it is an album in its own right.

5. Kid A by Radiohead

Radiohead reminds me of the old TV show The Twilight Zone. Their music gives me the chills, but not in a conventional way. From The Bends, to Ok Computer, to Kid A in succession is quite an accomplishment, not just because all three albums are magnificent in their own right but because each album has such a unique sound. Kid A is my favorite though because the music takes me on a fantastic journey. I'm usually more of a lyrics person and I like to analyze the meaning of the lyrics but with this album its more about enjoying the eclectic sound. In fact, I don't even know the lyrics to most of the songs, but the music creates a great atmosphere that can set my imagination off.
Favorite Song- The National Anthem

4. MTV Unplugged in New York by Nirvana

I enjoy the more subdued sound from Nirvana. It allows for Kurt's wails to be more pronounced along with some great instrumental arrangements. His voice is raspy and scratchy but he has good control over it. They do a great job playing live here as well. I think the slow pace of doing acoustic songs really brought out their talent. Whenever they played their faster stuff at rock shows it didn't sound right to me. This album is pretty chill and soothing to the ears until the end of the final song "Where did you sleep last night" when Kurt belts out the last chorus. It's interesting how for an entire album you can be lulled into the laid back atmosphere and then at the very end the screams of two jilted lovers comes rushing forth and its a bit startling, yet extremely effective.
Favorite Song: Where Did You Sleep Last Night


3. A Collision or (3+4=7) by David Crowder Band

David Crowder Band is my favorite worship band for two reasons. First, Crowder writes great songs that really get you to contemplate the awesomeness of God and how far reaching His love is. Second, he experiments with his sound. He has some traditional sounding stuff on most of his albums, but sometimes he'll change it up and make it more progressive, or more techno and it works somehow. This specific album is an epic. It breaks down into four distinct parts. Part A seems to be straight worship. Part B delves into more contemplative ideas about ourselves, our condition, and God's response. Part C touches on Christ's transformation in us. Part D is the celebration of victory. All in all, this album is one that has to be listened all the way through from beginning to end to be fully appreciated and I haven't listened to it in quite some time and might have to give it a go again just to make sure I'm not just making stuff up here.
Favorite Song: You are my joy

2. Learning to Breathe by Switchfoot

Switchfoot is my favorite band. I've listened to all their albums countless times and enjoy almost all of their songs. Jon Foreman is a poet and the lyrics he writes have a depth that require some serious contemplation and self examination. Many times I have found myself listening to a song by them that I've heard hundreds of times and a line will come out and make me think about it like never before (earlier this morning I was listening to "Amy's Song" off of New Way to be Human and the line "Salvation is a fire in the midnight of the soul, it likes up like a can of gasoline" just stuck out like a sore thumb). The lyrics often invoke questions and initiate a Socratic dialogue with the listener like in the song "Innocence Again" he asks, "Who are you gonna be, when you're on your knees who do you believe?" What a great question that is! You'll see questions asked in a lot of their songs, not just on this album, but all of them. Now I could probably write a thousand page book about all of their songs and dissect the meaning of each of them (maybe I will someday because that sounds like a good time to me) but Learning to Breathe is tops in my book. "I dare you to move" paints a picture of salvation, "Economy of mercy" shows a world where God's love is the driving force of His people, and "Innocence Again" explains grace in its simplest form. These three songs along with "Learning to Breathe" are their best songs and that's why I like this Switchfoot album the most.
Favorite Song: I Dare you to Move

1. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

 This band caught lightning in a bottle. That's the best way to describe this little known masterpiece. Neutral Milk Hotel only released two albums and their music is not typical to what is on the radio. They liked to use horns, and saws, and other weird instruments that I've never heard of. But this album is mesmerizing. At its core, it is a love letter to Anne Frank and it goes places I have never been to in regards to love and in balancing reality and fantasy. The concept of being in love with someone who died over 50 years ago is odd in and of itself, throw in the backdrop of the holocaust and trying to deal with the horrors of that dark moment in history makes for a daring concept album. The lead singer Jeff Mangum has an unusual innocence to him as he describes terrible atrocities with beautiful metaphors. He may be innocent but the horrors of the holocaust are not lost on him and he sings with immense passion.
           While beautiful, there is also a poetic mystery that can stretch the meaning of the album into two different directions. One possibility is that Mangum is in love with Anne and his grief has caused him to create a fantasy world where he idealizes who Anne could have been but reality is still reality so the horrors of the holocaust sneak into his songs lyrically.
          The second possibility is that Mangum finds himself in a conflict between the finite and the eternal. He doesn't want to dwell on the horrors of what happened to Anne in the holocaust but they are reality. However, those horrors were just a moment in time and he chooses to see Anne in an eternal sense, no longer suffering, and in heaven. In eternity, he can love her, hold her, kiss her, and be with her and that is the only place where his love can truly manifest itself. This concept of eternal love is so important. The love that Mangum is seeking is the type of love that God has for us. Its a love that acknowledges the horror in this finite world but more importantly transcends it.
           Whether the album is about the duality of the eternal and the finite, or about the duality of fantasy and reality, the duality is the key part of the album. This duality allows Mangum to switch between singing about beautiful things and terrible things in the same song and show us that love is still a part of both worlds. Regardless of the mystery in the lyrics, this album is tops for me. Check it out if you ever get the chance and give it a few listens.

Favorite song: Holland 1945