What You Should Have Heard #85

My Mix CDs

I’ve got a lot of music but limited space to hold it in, especially in my car. So I’ve gone the old tried-and-true way of making mix CDs to have access to as many bands as possible while driving. I’m going slightly old-school since I’m a bit backwards and have no iPod.

So I finally got a Smart Phone a couple of months ago. I've now got a Spotify account with more than 10,000 songs in various playlists, so I guess I'm done with CDs. I'm going to see this through to the end, though. Well, through Yellowcard, at least. I got a bunch of miscellaneous CDs that contain a bunch of bands with a song or two by each.

Most of the songs will be more upbeat, with probably only the occasional ballad or slower song included. I like to sing in the car, and the more upbeat songs are more fun to sing.

I’ll be going in alpha-numeric order with these, so if you want to argue with me about what Weezer songs should be included, you’re going to be waiting for a while.

My only limitations are that I use 80 min. discs, and I’m only going to use one disc per band/artist. I will make exceptions for only my most favorite bands with huge playlists (Foo Fighters and Self, off the top of my head), but I’d really like to boil everything down to just one disc.

Here’s the list guide:

Track # - Song Name - Album Name [Artist if album is by a different artist]                                                               

Tool Mix CD Disc 1

1. Vicarious – 10,000 Days
2. The Pot – 10,000 Days
3. Cold and Ugly – 72826 EP
4. Jerk-Off – 72826 EP
5. Stinkfist – Ænima
6. Eulogy – Ænima
7. H – Ænima
8. Forty-Six and 2 – Ænima
9. Hooker with a Penis – Ænima
10. Jimmy – Ænima
11. Die Eier Von Satan – Ænima
12. Ænima – Ænima
13. Sweat – Opiate EP
14. Hush – Opiate EP
15. Opiate – Opiate EP

Tool Mix CD Disc 1

1. The Grudge – Lateralus
2. Schism – Lateralus
3. Parabola – Lateralus
4. Ticks and Leeches – Lateralus
5. Lateralus – Lateralus
6. Intolerance – Undertow
7. Prison Sex – Undertow
8. Sober – Undertow
9. Crawl Away – Undertow
10. Swamp Song – Undertow
11. Undertow – Undertow
12. 4° – Undertow

A few notes on Tool:

• First off, the band is working on a new album. No release date has been set, though, but tour dates have already been announced. Looks like Maynard is going straight from Puscifer dates to Tool dates. The guy’s a machine.
• I have a friend from Indiana to thank for my love of Tool. Heck, he’s the guy I need to thank for introducing me to alternative rock. Before he started pushing his CD collection on me, I was knee deep into a love affair with classic rock.
• I got into alternative rock during my transition from Indiana to Tennessee, between my sophomore and junior years of high school. Tool’s Undertow and Pearl Jam’s Ten opened my ears up to a whole new musical vista, one that was fostered by a couple of great Nashville radio stations (RIP Thunder 94). Tool was always in heavy rotation when I got tired of the radio and wanted to listen to CDs.
• While I’ll always have a place in my heart for Undertow and its influence on my musical evolution, Ænima will always be my favorite album (unless the band puts one out in the future that surpasses it…which wouldn’t be a bad thing). It seems to radiate more energy and emotion, and those tend to be the albums/songs I gravitate toward the most. I loved “Eulogy” and its layered percussion opening. That’s the song that was on repeat the most.
• I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m always a little let down with the follow-up to any album I fall head over heels for. Lateralus was a good album, but I keep comparing it to Ænima, and just doesn’t stack up as well for me. I think before the next album, I’m going to give Lateralus and 10,000 Days some good listens and re-evaluate my thoughts on them.
• Maynard Keenan has two other bands that I enjoy (A Perfect Circle moreso than Puscifer), but you’ll notice I didn’t include any of their songs in this mix. That was something easy to do with bands like The Burden Brothers and The Toadies or the various projects Ken Andrews has worked with. But with Maynard and his bands, the sounds are just SO different that they wouldn’t work well together in a mix CD. So Tool gets two CDs all to itself, and A Perfect Circle gets its own CD. At the time I made the CDs, I didn’t like enough Puscifer songs to include on a full-length mix CD.

Tool’s Official Site

Tool’s Facebook page

Tool’s Myspace page

Tool’s Twitter feed

Tool’s Wikipedia entry

Tool’s AllMusic entry

Tool’s Semi-Official Fan Site

Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!