N.Pickle's SYNTHETIC BLEND

Artist	Album	Commentary	Favorite Track
CAKE	Motorcade of Generosity	I consider it my first CD, but in reality it was purchased by the family when we heard that the were good friends with the drummer. It's an excellent first album by the band and many consider it the best. I didn't appreciate the lyrical genius at the time.	Jolene
Metallica	assorted tracks disk 1	I heard Metallica on the local Rock station ROCK105.3, having just begun listening to the genre in an attempt to find my preference of music. Their melodic, crisp sounds were what I was looking for, having little else of intrest at the time.
Alice in Chains	assorted tracks disk 1	Alice in Chains was even more what I was in search for than Metallica. The song I Stay Away remains on my favorites of all time. At the time I had no appreciation for the grunge movement but now love their music for so much more.	I Stay Away
Apocalyptica	assorted tracks disk 1	What I liked from Metallica at the time were their harmonies. This 4-piece cello group played their music alone. It seemed to be the solution to my search. Soon it grew old, Metallica's lyrics held so much power above the music.
Metallica	assorted tracks disk 2	A further exploration into the music without purchasing any CD, I went into some harder tracks as well as many they wouldn't play on the radio. Metallica filled a gap in what I felt at the time was a lack of character.
Pearl Jam	Ten	This will remain my favorite album of all time. I can't imagine much better in one CD. I'd heard Jeremy, Even Flow and Alive on the radio and soon downloaded the whole album. I've played it more than any other CD. The vocals and lyrics of Eddie Vedder, and the composition of the harmonies are timeless. It has always played a part in my life since 1997, meaning different things at different times.	Alive
CAKE	Fashion Nugget	A second album that was purchased due to the recognition of Todd Roper's relation to us. This one really grew on me and though seems a little harsh at time, it opened my eyes to Alternative Rock.	Frank Sinatra
Powerman 5000	Tonight the Stars Revolt	The family bought this one when we were on the big East Coast Vacation of '99, specifically when we were in Massachusetts. We heard them on the radio and got the album that night. The pounding harsh rock sound took some of the stress of the trip away.
Surf Rock	assorted artists/ tracks disk 1	Something about surf rock is so raw American, without falling into the Rock-a-Billy I don't care much for. The tracks were all unsigned MP3.com artists and many were surprisingly good. I listen to this every now and then. It means the "good part" of high school summers to me.
Black Sabbath	Reunion	I heard Iron Man about the time Metallica was introduced to me. It was another song that was part hard rock and part melodic song writing.
Black Sabbath	Paranoid	Again, this style of music had the speed and general social commentary that played on my need for meaningful, unusual music.
Pink Floyd	The Division Bell	This album was a gift from a dear friend, and for the longest time was my favorite cd, and is still one of the most important. It introduced me to melancholy music which has become my favorite genre. This album used to be my secret one, I never shared it with anyone and I listened to it as I drifted off to sleep. It was so important, I wouldn't allow anyone to crticize it.
Santana	Supernatural	Even at the time I never got into this album, I got it from a friend, listened a couple of times and decided and it just wasn't substantial enough, and definitely not my kind of music. At the time I was swayed by the public opinion about it. It's been rare that I've allowed that since.
Metallica	assorted tracks 3	More Metallica, this time more of a mix of the mellodic stuff and the harsh. I was still torn between the beat and the melody and by the end I only listened to the instrumental tracks
Creed	Human Clay	I really thought this album was cool, until I downloaded it and listened. It just got preachy fast. I remember listening to it in Art Class when someone brought it, but at the time it was too much vocals and R&B meets rock.
Moby	Play	Weird how much I played this album, another download (thank you Napster!). I loved the mix with the old Blues and Folk sounds of the early 20th century. It seemed both cultural and hip and most of these songs have become timeless due to the popularity. It took a long time from the point of hearing it to actually getting it. It's a style highly copied today, but I like the earlier work of Portishead better.
Metallica	(self-titled Black Album)	I just had to have this album for its definitive Metallica feel. I remember finding it used and thinking it was an amazing find, I told my friend who was a Metallica fan and no one cared. For some reason that kind of killed it for me. I had a number of tracks on other disks, but it will always be the best Metallica was for me.
Danny Elfman	Music for a Darkened Theatre Vol. 2	I've loved his music since Edward Scissorhands (one of the best films of my generation) and BeetleJuice. This was an excellent compilation of his mid 90s films. Its one of the instrumental albums that I keep listening to. I remember this was the first of my discoveries at the public library (free music).
Pink Floyd	The Wall	Sure, it's a definitive album in the history of rock, and most songs are well written, work together, and illustrate the feelings of an oppressed life, but I just cant listen to it anymore. I realized at the time many people live through the album, but I merely enjoyed the lighter and more popular tracks. The rest became too British and hateful.
Metallica	S & M	I really wanted this album for a while, I thought "Two genres I asmired were finally coming together," and on some tracks it wont be the same without the orchestral accompaniment, but the older songs became so self-righteous that they lost the edge. I've never thought Metallica sold out, but I do think they became a dog and pony show. At the time this was important to changing the stigma I had about "live" albums.
Ozzy Osbourne	The Ozzman Cometh	This album was a gift from my Dad, I remember driving to and from Pasadena with a copy in the tapedeck. It was nice to hear the compilation with the new tracks but my appreciation of Ozzy was fading. Today I can't avoid seeing the bad rock of the 80s and very gloomy skies which I had the majority of the time driving to the Art Center
CAKE	Prolonging the Magic	Another CAKE album that we bought just because we know the band, but this time it really clung, the songs each had a hook and while it became more "pop"-esque it was important in its time for bring alternative back to 91x in San Diego, and for me, revisting the old days of CAKE. Their style of music has always been with me, and everything I listen to today is kind of a version of some song they wrote.	Cool Blue Reason
A Perfect Circle	Mer de Noms	I wish I could say I really got into this album, because I think it might have some redeeming values, however this is another of my "scrounge to build a music library" fase, which continues today. They tracks blended into a watered down version of Tool, which I never took to.
Green Day	Insomniac	Its weird how some albums just fit the context of their play so well, its seemed that this was one of the first that led me back into the love of early 90s rock. Green Day is part of the background music of my early teens and I never noticed. So I finally gave them a shot, and this cd fit the teen anger ideal I was looking for. At the time it wasn't fake or as trivialized as I have let it get today.
Live	The Distance to Here	I hated the first track and its still like needles in my ears, but the album as a whole is a cool mix of Middle Eastern sounds with rock accompaniment. At the time I was confused about who the band was, thinking it was some techno group so I borrowed it and listened to it and liked it anywa. Live had never been a favorite, but I listen to it once in a while.	The Distance
Catherine Wheel	Happy Days	Another odd find at the library, the two Catherine Weel albums can be classified as faceless rock -- many tracks are mainstream noise, like many of the bands that never get discovered, but that was fine at the time. This particular one is especially non-descript.
Catherine Wheel	Wishville	This album is a little more stylized and worth listening to, it was initially just a collection piece, but became a big travel album, I've listened to it returning from Phoenix in the car, and on my first trip into Santa Monica.
Crash Test Dummies	God Shuffled His Feet	I love this band. But, only in this album. Its that mix of the lead singers voice, with the nonsensical lyrics, that paint a picture of the concepts instead of saying anyhting straight out like so much music over many years. This was an important one for the fact that the music video is one of the earliest I remember watching on MTV and it has a very strong joy associated with it, for me.	Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
Soundtrack	O Brother Where Art Thou?	One of the better film soundtracks compiled, it might have been the love of Jazz that resulted from the PBS Jazz Series that inspired my appreciation, but the "Old Tmey" sound is perfect in and out of the context of the movie. It made me think of aged papers, sepia pictures, and a warmth and simplicity lost in this country.
Sister Hazel	Fortress	It went along well with the Bare Naked Ladies fase, with its strange mix of straightforward messages and off the wall topics.
Bare Naked Ladies	Maroon	2000 for me had a lot to do with non-emotional music, until David Gray, and it was a playfull album, each song with a good beat and energy, and one hidden track with a very nice song that desserves its own disc.
Linkin Park	Hybrid Theory
Dave Navarro	Trust No One
David Gray	White Ladder	One of the monumental albums of my high school career, it brought me into the folk movement, supported unfortunate ideas of finding special someones, and got me into some trouble. Nonetheless, it had a lot of influence over my appreciation of simplicity and good writing in music. Its probably the most played album in my collection, at least for a two year period. I remember listening every night and while I worked on school projects. I first heard it on a trip to visit the Chappies in Auburn, CA. That time with Todd Ropper was one of the more memorable times in my life, for its poigniancy and appreciation.	Please Forgive Me
Disturbed	The Sickness
Stone Temple Pilots	No. 4
Alien Ant Farm	Anthology
Scapegoat Wax	Okeeblow
Nelly Furtado	Whoa Nelly!
Bjork	Selma Songs
Pearl Jam	Binaural		Thin Air
Barenaked Ladies	Stunt
Staind	Break the Cycle
Lifehouse	No Name Face
Dido	No Angel
Five for Fighting	America Town
Oasis	What's the Story Morning Glory
The Ventures	Best of
Glen Miller	Best of
David Gray	The EPs 92-94
Pearl Jam	Vitalogy		Immortality
Radiohead	OK Computer		The Tourist
Radiohead	Kid A		In Limbo
Cold Play	Parachutes		Dont Panic
Tool	Lateralus		Lateralus
Oasis	The Masterplan
Jimmie's Chicken Shack	Bring Your Own Stereo
Nickelback	Silver Side Up
Beatles	1
Beatles	assorted tracks disk 1		Martha My Dear
Five for Fighting	America Town
CAKE	Comfort Eagle		Arco Arena
Pearl Jam	Vs.		Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Ben Folds Five	The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner		Mess
Gomez	Bring it On
Stone Temple Pilots	Purple
The President of the United States of America	(self-titled)
Sublime	40 oz. to Freedom
Red Hot Chili Peppers	Blood Sugar Sex Magic
The Dell McCurry Band	assorted tracks disk 1
Neil Young	Unplugged
The Cranberries	To the Faithful Departed
Korn	(self-titled)
Nick Drake	Pink Moon
Smashing Pumpkins	Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Gomez	Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline
Gomez	Liquid Skin
The Blue Hawaiians	Sway
Nirvana	Nevermind		Lounge Act
Collective Soul	Dosage
Beck	Mutations
311	From Chaos
Sound Garden	Down on the Upside
Sound Garden	Superunknown
Sound Garden	Badmotorfinger
Travis	The Invisible Band
Tool	Aenima		Forty Six & 2
Squirrel Nut Zippers	Hot
Radiohead	The Bends		Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was
Live	V		Nobody Knows
Radiohead	Pablo Honey		Ripcord
Radiohead	Amnesiac		Packt like sardines in a crushd tin box
Shawn Mullins	Beneath the Velvet Sky
Sparklehorse	It's a Wonderful Life		Hold Day
Sigur Ros	Agaetis Byrjun		viðrar vel til loftárása
The Verve Pipe	Underneath
Temple of the Dog	(self-titled)
Goo Goo Dolls	A Boy Named Goo
Cat Stevens	Best of		Father and Son
The Aluminum Group	Pelo
Soundtrack	The Royal Tenenbaums
Portishead	Dummy		Only You
Portishead	(self-titled)		Wandering Star
Jimmy Eat World	(self-titled)		A Praise Chorus
Neil Halstead	Sleeping on Roads		Seasons

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