Me and my journey through life, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and all wacky, funny, deep, depressing and interesting points in between. My interests are varied from one end of the spectrum to another. Basically, the disappointing side of mediocre.
Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on this day in 1982, by Epic Records, as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including pop, R&B, rock, post-disco, funk, and adult contemporary music. In just over a year, Thriller became - and currently remains - the best-selling album of all time, with estimate sales of 65 million copies worldwide according to various sources. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including for Album of the Year.
Seven singles were released from the album, all of which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Three of the singles had music videos released. "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life" were the only tracks that were not released as singles. The singles were: "The Girl is Mine" w/Paul McCartney (#2), "Billie Jean" (#1), "Beat It" (#1), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"(#5), "Human Nature" (#2), "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (#10), and "Thriller" (#4).
You know, sometimes I am right about things. In this Random 10 back in January, I first mentioned "Deflate-Gate" and how the NFL wasn't going to shut up about it. It was still being picked apart in the Super Bowl edition, and now that the penalties have been handed down four months later in May (4 game suspension, fines, loss of draft picks) you would think people have lost their minds. The appeal is going to get real ugly people, so stay tuned for that.
Meanwhile in the real world, how about that Random Ten last week? You can take a quick review by following this link, or trying to figure out the artists from the cool picture below:
As always the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top next to the Home tab.
At long last our terrible national nightmare is close to being over! A cure for Ebola? No. Glee being cancelled? Not even. The Auburn football team being given the death penalty for excessive cheating? $cam says hi, but not that either... The Walt Disney Railroad is in the pre-operational testing phase (I have been back in overalls all week, no more bowties) and is "scheduled" to be up and running tomorrow! And it's on my day off, but no worries. The return to normalcy for me begins on Sunday. Whew, we made it!
So another week has gone by and I finally get to my new days off. I switched from Tues/Wed to Fri/Sat. I also went to all morning shifts in an effort to be able to do as much blogging as I can. The bad news though is that when I get back on Sunday it is the last day of steam trains for six weeks. Yeah, it's the refurbishment time of the year. Instead, I will be hanging with Mickey and Tinkerbell in the Town Square Theater (TST), while trying to save the whole park from that villain Hades over at Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (SOMK). Yeah, I'll be using a lot of vacation time in the next six weeks... But for now, I have a Random 10 to do. Looking back at last week I see that Chicago joined RW on Exile Island. Yeah it's a new thing, inspired obviously by Survivor.
As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top. Here we go...
1) Faith No More/Crack Hitler - I have no idea. I'm not really familiar with any of their stuff past their first album.
2) Styx/Witch Wolf - Bet you've never heard of this one. Be thankful. Very early stuff (before Tommy Shaw) from an album that made completely no sense to me. I do plan to cover all their albums on Music Monday when I am done with all the Yes.
3) Dream Theater/Trial of Tears - Like I said before it's a little heavier than I like my prog, but I could get into them I think if I took more time to listen.
4) Styx/I Am the Walrus - Well, my boys go and get themselves banned. Beatles remake obviously, but I think they did a good job of it. Enjoy the video:
5) Camel/Arubaluba - Album cover winner because, hey a train:
6) Michael Jackson/Leave Me Alone - Wow, that's two weeks in a row. Enjoy another messed up video:
Okay I just watched that whole thing.
7) The Moody Blues/The Voyage - Old school, eerie sounding stuff from them. Moody is right. Most of their stuff sounds like a soundtrack from a dream. Ooh, I like the way that sounds.
8) Chicago/An Hour in the Shower
8) Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Christmas Dreams - Well it is officially fall right?
9) Utada Hikaru/Sanctuary - Wow, yeah. You gamers will know this one. Love this song from Kingdom Hearts II.
And there we have it. Chicago tried to sneak back in but the Tarkus took care of them. Banned for another week, but they have some company in Styx (who was originally based in Chicago BTW). RW is now free to join his tribe. The STCS for this week is Tom Petty/Here Comes My Girl. Good ole southern boy there.
As always, stay cool and dry wherever you are, and Roll Tide!
I was hit with an interesting idea this week of actually making the Random 10 a weekly video, possibly on YouTube. I am currently entertaining that idea. I mean I could see where the video could be at the top of the post with the normal write up underneath. The whole thing has some merit and it's got me thinking...a lot... But until then, it's back to the normal format. Looking back at last week I see that Frank Zappa is banned, but no worries because I went ahead and deleted all of his stuff anyway. Just not my thing. And it's still September so all RW will be ignored as well.
As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top.
3) Yes/Astral Traveller - I have never really been crazy over this song. As with most older Yes, I covered this song here. 4) No Doubt/Hey You - Who me? I do like their sound. 5) Extreme/Peacemaker Die - This is probably the greatest album no one has heard. If you do not have a copy of Extreme/III Sides to Every Story get it yesterday.
6) Chicago/Elegy:When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow - They used to care and actually had a message. Banned, but a great spoken piece off Chicago III:
When all the laughter dies in sorrow
And the tears have risen to a flood
When all the wars have found a cause
In human wisdom and in blood
Do you think they'll cry in sadness
Do you think the eye will blink
Do you think they'll curse the madness
Do you even think they'll think
When all the great galactic systems
Sigh to a frozen halt in space
Do you think there will be some remnant
Of beauty of the human race
Do you think there will be a vestige
Or a sniffle or a cosmic tear
Do you think a greater thinking thing
Will give a damn that man was here
7) Red Hot Chili Peppers/Road Trippin' - These guys do some great sounding stuff sometimes. Never heard this song before but I like it. 8) Cherry Poppin' Daddies/Ding Dong Daddy of the D-Car Line - I also can't say no to a good caboose! 9) The Mahavishnu Orchestra/Awakening - If you're going to be jazzy, this is how you bring it. Man, I can hear some Yes/Relayer in this song. No wonder JA said he was influenced by them. 10) Michael Jackson/Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - C'mon it's like the greatest selling album of all time. No shame here. Go get'm Captain EO!
And there we go for another week. Chicago gets banned again, but at least RW didn't try to show up. I did delete some of his inventory as well. I go back and forth with him but it is just so much material. The STCS this week is Lynyrd Skynyrd/Sweet Home Alabama. Gulp. I just had a Vongasm. Hold on...let me recover...
As always stay cool and dry wherever you are, and Roll Tide!
Well another week has passed us by, unfortunately this week was filled with work instead of vacation. Me no likey. It's the reason this is coming out so late today. Anyway, let's get right to it. Looking back at last week I see that Yes gets banned again (I feel a Tarkus or two coming up), but I won't let that deter me any. As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ at the top. Here we go!
Happy Pi Day! Say what? You don't know what that is? It's March 14th! You know 3/14...3.14...get it? It's a nerd thing. Before we get to the music here's my favorite pie chart:
Looking back at last week, I see that The Beatles are not an option this time around. Whatever will Yoko do? As usual the rules and whatnot are up there ↑ on the top of the page. And now for your non-repeating, non-terminating countdown...
Another week gone by, another week closer to those dreaded holidays. Ugh. The only shining light in the distance is the fact that we are only about 8 days away from Doctor Who returning. Now that is something to get excited about. You know what else is exciting? Randomness! Well, except for last week. That was kind of a dud. No one got banned which is unfortunate because it was basically 70% suck.
Anyway, thinking positive this time around. Making a dream board, listening to The Secret, changing my fate a la Brave, etc.This week can't be worse right? As usual, the rules and whatnot are over there → to the right.
Well here I am way too early in the morning (what's up with that?) so I figured I could be productive and knock out the Random 10. Last night was Halloween and tonight is the last Halloween party at Disney. Then the Christmas parties start next week. No really.
So let's see if there is any creepiness left over from last night, or if we go right past that into holiday cheer. Or maybe it's going to be just plain music. You can never tell.
Looking back at last week, I see that Chicago got banned, so there's hope of the Tarkus appearing. As usual, the rules and whatnot are over there → to the right. Allons-y!
1) Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Christmas Concerto - And I'm done. First one up is a holiday song after what I just rambled on about? The gods of randomness are shining upon us favorably today.
2) Chicago/Birthday Boy Dennis DeYoung/It's in Every One of Us - The Tarkus appears and blasts away Chicago, allowing DDY to sing us a song from his album of Broadway favorites. He really does have a great voice.
3) REO Speedwagon/Golden Country - Talk about some old school classic stuff. I believe this is about Vietnam. I love that they still play this even today at concerts.
4) Tommy Shaw/Fading Away - From his debut solo album Girls with Guns. It sounds so 80's.
5) Anthrax/Milk (Ode to Billy) - Okay, I've got to give a shout out to my younger brother Scott for this one. Still cracks me up.
6) Dennis DeYoung/Someone to Watch Over Me - Same Broadway album, but DDY becomes a target for the Tarkus next week. Banned.
7) Enigma/Back to the Rivers of Belief - Where is this river? I need to let my body drift downstream...
8) Chicago/Just You 'N' Me Red Hot Chili Peppers/Fire - Okay, this is an old Jimi Hendrix song. Know how I know that? Because it's on DDY's first solo album Desert Moon. Because when you think Hendrix, you think DDY.
9) Chicago/When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow Michael Jackson/Black or White - Damn, Chicago is trying hard today. This time they lose out to Captain EO instead. Hooter must have eaten their map.
10) The Alan Parsons Project/The Raven - Yes, that Raven. Like the Edgar Allen Poe one. I always wondered why some prog bands didn't put classic poems and literature to music instead of just using music from composers. I mean it's pre-made lyrics for them.
Well there we go for everyone waking up from their Halloween induced sugar comas. Chicago was banned last week, so counting today they have shown up five times in the last two weeks! To bad they were banned too because #9 has some awesome lyrics. And out of all of that it's DDY that gets the ax for next week. Interesting. The STCS this time around is Magma/Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh. Ummm, what?!? The Hell if I know.
As always, stay cool central Florida and Roll Tide!
Well it's that time to be random again! Looking back at last week I can see that REO is banned, as well as basically anything "live". As usual, the rules and whatnot are over there → to the right.
Here we go!
1) Journey/Just the Same Way - Album cover winner right off the bat!
2) Chicago/Anxiety's Moment - Great instrumental track from Chicago II.
3) Grand Funk Railroad/I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home) - Freaking epic! Also:
4) Michael Jackson/Speed Demon - Another one I have never heard of.
5) Def Leppard/Animal - Another awesome track!
6) Yes/Starship Trooper - Finally a studio track and a Yes classic. I did posts on this album a long time ago (Side 1, Side 2).
7) Rick Wakeman/Thoughts of Love - RW! This must be his album about emotions.
8) Rick Wakeman/Twilight - Ugh, and now his album about parts of the day. All kidding aside, RW on the piano is amazing, although in this case it gets him banned.
9) Rick Wakeman/A Painting of Our Love - Something like this was bound to happen eventually just from sheer numbers. No more RW for July!
10) Boston/My Destination - Hell yeah! Side 1 of Third Stage is meant to be listened to as a whole story, with this being the finale and a reprise of Amanda. The last great Boston album.
Well there it is, some great classics along with RW getting banned for July (I know you are sad about that). The STCS for this week is Disney's Hercules/Go The Distance. Errr what? Never mind. Let's erase that from our brains by letting the Railroad play us out!
Well here we are again, trying to recover from celebrating America. Some of us had parties and barbecues, the rest of us are hung over from working so much since so many people just HAVE to go to the Magic Kingdom on the 4th. Blah.
As usual the rules are over there → to the right. If you don't like this post, then you don't like America.
1) AC/DC/Rocking All the Way - These guys always make my summer soundtrack.
2) REO Speedwagon/Little Queenie - More good rock and roll, retro style.
3) The Little Mermaid/Happy Ending - And then that happened. Mood killer.
4) Little River Band/Take It Easy on Me - Now that's better.
5) Michael Jackson/Sunset Driver - Yeah, I aint ever heard this one either, but he does his "whoo" and "hehe" a lot.
6) Red Hot Chili Peppers/This Velvet Glove - Yep.
7) Yes/Heart of the Sunrise Def Leppard/Release Me - How this is on the Hysteria deluxe edition I'll never know. And I'm tired of live Yes songs.
8) Motley Crue/Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - Album cover winner
9) The Beatles/Dig a Pony - I will come right out here and say the Beatles did some pure crap at times.
10) REO Speedwagon/How the Story Goes - Another classic oldie from them. Unfortunately, it gets them banned for next week.
Well there we go. REO gets banned and I'm just plain tired of live Yes songs. The STCS for this week is Korn/Twist. Blame Tabitha for that one. I hope your holiday has been rockin'!
Well here we are back again for another round of randomness. As usual, the rules are over there → to the right. I see from last week, that Yes is banned again, and it's still June so ABWH is still serving out their sentence. Let's get down to it!
1) Phil Collins/This Must Be Love - Haven't heard from him in awhile.
2) Camel/Drafted - These guys sure do show up a lot. I'm surprised they haven't been banned yet.
3) Return to Forever/Return to Lo - More of that space age jazzy sleeping music.
4) Michael Jackson/2 Bad - At first I thought this was Bad, which would have given me a cool video to add, but alas no. I don't really know this song.
5) Styx/A Man Like Me - Old school Wooden Nickel Styx before Tommy Shaw. Album cover winner.
6) Rush/Face Up - They got to a point in the 80's/90's that all their music sounded the same to me.
7) The Black Eyed Peas/Labor Day - Sometimes I can bring the funk.
8) Jimmy Buffet/Manana - Makes me want to get drunk(er).
9) Camel/Running from Paradise - Ask and ye shall receive. Banned for next week.
10) Billy Joel/Shameless - Eh, ok I guess.
Not a bad mix this week I suppose. The STCS for this week is Chicago/Mah Jong, from that mysterious Stone of Sisyphus album. Neat story. Anyway, there it is and now that it's done...
This week, before I even start the randomness, I'm going to give a shout out to a song. You see, I open up media player on my computer and click "music" so it lists every song by artist alphabetically. Then when I right click to "play all" with the shuffle on I start with the same song at the top of the list every week. This means that this song will never show up in the Random 10. So here's to you Abba/Dancing Queen for getting us started, and for leading the way to...
1) Michael Jackson/State of Shock - Featuring Mick Jagger. Not a bad song, but kind of funny to hear them bantering back and forth.
2) Yes/Turn of the Century - One of the most beautiful and romantic songs they have even done. Album cover winner here, and it's not Roger Dean but Storm Thorgerson, who passed away this week so it's only fitting.
3) The Beatles/Please Please Me - Sounds like somebody was in a one sided relationship.
4) Jethro Tull/Up To Me - from the Aqualung album and a first time for them. So they get a "Welcome to the party pal!" award.
5) The Moody Blues/Foolish Love - Never heard this one but it sounds like from when they were popular again slightly in the late 80's/early 90's.
6) Pink Floyd/A Great Day for Freedom - You know of my not so love for PF. This song does nothing to improve my opinion of them.
7) Billy Joel/Leningrad - Is there anything he does that isn't great?
8) Kansas/Mysteries and Mayhem - Now this is some classic stuff probably no one has heard of unless you're really into Kansas. Great older stuff.
9) Aerosmith/Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees) - Live version of the good Aerosmith before everything was a long whiny song that all sounded the same.
10) Pink Floyd/Sheep - Again? Ugh. As musicians I can appreciate their sound though.
Well there we go again, another week in the books. I noticed nothing has shown up yet from all the new stuff I added recently. Oh well, the STCS for this week is The Beatles/Here Comes The Sun. Nice.
What day is it? Friday! What do we want? A Random 10! You asked for it, you got it! If you're new here, the rules and all the details are over to the right (----> ) on the page I created. As for my other three (four? five?) constant readers welcome back! Enough wasting time, let's get down to it. I'm feeling particularly "anxious" today so I got a good feeling about this one! Here we go:
1) The Beatles/Revolution 1 - Still makes me want to buy a pair of Nike's. I like the faster version of this though. Classic album cover of nothingness:
2) The Buggles/Island - One of the bonus tracks for the re-mastered The Age of Plastic CD. These guys were both in YES at one point. The keyboard player is back with them today.
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers/Road Trippin - Haven't heard from these guys in awhile. Some of their stuff is surprisingly good.
4) Jon Anderson/Myo Maya - a short snippet from his Angels Embrace CD
5) Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe/Vultures in the City - This is the split off band formed by all the ex-Yes members that couldn't use the Yes name. Why this awesome song was not included on the ABWH album is a mystery. Give a listen:
6) Camel/Survival - Another great sounding track from them.
7) Red Hot Chili Peppers/Backwoods - Twice in the same countdown. Cool but a live version which I don't really care for.
8) Mozart/Serenate Part 1&2 - Don't roll your eyes at me. I've loved Mozart ever since I saw Amadeus. Plus, there was that Falco thing...
9) Bob Seger/Against the Wind - Wow. This was my divorce song. Hard time for me and Bob was there.
10) Michael Jackson/Satisfy You - Added his stuff awhile back and this is his first appearance. I don't know this song though so I will probably delete it when I'm done since he seems to be only doing the backing vocals and I have no interest in hearing this song again. So this gets two awards today! Welcome to the party pal, but you've just been deleted. Sorry.
Well that will do it for another week. The STCS this go around is The Beatles/Something. Another classic album but we already have a winner for that. Play us out Bob...
Well hey hey! Two weeks in a row I'm all about the randomness. I bet you thought I would forget this week, well nope! What the deal is I'm gonna hit up 10 random songs from my inventory and list them out, no matter how embarrassing or stupid. Let's see if there is a theme this week and if there are any of my special award winners.
Ain't nothing to it but to do it!
1) Extreme/Take Us Alive - I love these guys
2) Vivaldi/The Four Seasons (Spring) - yeah, I got some class...I ain't ashamed
3) Def Leppard/Run Riot - was there a better 90's album than Hysteria? I think not.
4) Yes/Saving My Heart - ugh, bad song from an album that could have been epic. And I'm not using them for the album cover winner because this album won last week.
5) Wendy Carlos/Tronaction - from the original Tron soundtrack. Ummm, yeah this Wendy person used to be a dude. Check it out here.
6) Michael Jackson/Give in to Me - downloaded some MJ recently. Never heard this one before.
7) Kansas/Power - a hugely underrated album
8) Sandy Farina/Here Comes the Sun - from the Sergeant Pepper's LHCB 1978 movie soundtrack with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. This movie is one of my guilty pleasures, right up there with Xanadu...
9) ABWH/The Meeting - live version of the perfect song. This song has so many deep meanings for me. Album cover winner and this poster is framed over the couch in my living room.
10) Britney Spears/Circus - ummm, what?
I cant end on that so the Spinal Tap Commemorative Song (STCS) this week is Journey/Anything is Possible. Yeah the new singer does NOT sound like Steve Perry. Stop getting these guys from tribute bands!
Play us out Kansas:
***Correction*** My brother informed me that Hysteria came out in '87. My bad.
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