Borrowing a name from a great Buzzcocks album, I decided to do something to account for all the non-album mp3's I own. Dating back to the days when Napster was a thing (and not a subsidiary of the infuriating Rhapsody music service), I would end up picking up a lot of single songs and not the entire albums to which they belong. I also got a lot of single tracks in mixes from friends. Because this review of my mp3's is as much an effort to clean out my library as it as an attempt to know my own music better, I figured I'd give quick reviews and state whether or not the loose tracks in the A portion of my itunes alphabet will live to be heard another day, or be baleeted like so much garbage (and if it turns out that I own any music by the band Garbage, rest assured it will be baleeted when I get to the G's).
"Poison Arrow" - ABC Brings back pleasant memories of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Baleeted? No. Its video game connection will keep it alive.
"Rock Soldiers" - Ace Frehley A surprisingly awesome artifact from a KISS solo project. I have never really been too big a fan of the Knights in Satan's Service, but this track is a little closer to the types of 80's metal that still speak to me. Baleeted? Nope. I always need hard rocking tracks about rocking hard.
"All That She Wants" - Ace of Base Yeah, you read that right. I know this is a terrible song from a horrible band, but it's one of my guilty pleasures. I can't explain it and won't try. Baleeted? Don't hate me for saying no.
"The Sign" - Ace of Base Ditto. Baleeted? No. It makes me happy for no good reason.
"Walking Next to You" - Acres Sensitive guy with an acoustic guitar. Sometimes I need things to put on mixes for my wife, and this is as good as anything else in the genre. Baleeted? Nope. It's going on my wife's next mix.
"Someone Like You" - Adele It's the only Adele I own. Does that make me awesome or a horrible person? I welcome your responses. Baleeted? No. It's cheesy, but it stays.
"Sunshine Smile" - Adoreable Great 90's fuzzed out rock that I got from a friend as part of a mix. I can't delete it because I value my friends, but I also really like it. Baleeted? No. Am I going to baleet anything? Where are all my crappy songs?
"Alright" - Agnostic Front I definitely picked this up during my Napster days, and the horrible bitrate is the evidence. I really don't need more horribly ripped punk. Baleeted? Yes, but more because of the quality of the rip than anything.
"Riot Riot Upstart" - Agnostic Front Another Napster wonder that needs weeding out. Baleeted? Yes. I've still got a lot more decently ripped punk.
"Rock Star" - Agnostic Front Ditto Baleeted? Yes.
"Voices" - Agnostic Front Ditto Baleeted? Yes.
"One Day" - Akon feat. Matisyahu I picked up this track when I was coming across some awesome mashups (no, they really exist, but they're few and far between). As it turns out, I hate Akon and his autotuned crap, but I dig the Matisyahu part of this track. I can't, in good conscience, keep a track which is 50% cringe-worthy. Baleeted? Yes, and I won't miss it.
"Instrumental" - Albert Lee I got this track from a CD which was included in a book about Ferrington Guitars. It's just a basic blues jam, but I still really like it. Baleeted? No, it's some fancy pickin' that I should learn from.
"Better off Alone" - Alice Deejay I learned about this track because Rivers Cuomo covered it in one of his home demos. In case you ever wondered how much Weezer I have, I have enough to have a cover of this song. That's a ton. Anyway, I dig this song even though it's exactly the kind of repetitive techno I usually hate. Baleeted? No. Chalk it up to whatever keeps Ace of Base in my collection.
"Until I Say So" - All Why don't I own more All? They're awesome. It's like a pop punk Smoking Popes. Baleeted? No. If anything, this needs more spins.
"Silence" - All Another fine All track. I should just bite the bullet and get one of their albums, like Mass Nerder, where this track comes from. Baleeted? No.
"What Are You For?" - All Seriously, why don't I own more All? Baleeted? No.
"Fascination" (Frankmusik Remix) - Alphabeat Frankmusik is the best thing to happen to electronic music in a long time. I got this track from a torrent back when it was the only way to get Frankmusik in the US. I have since purchased his albums. This song is boring and repetitive despite Frankmusik's best efforts. Baleeted? Yes. I don't need this at all.
"Flavor of the Weak" - American Hi-Fi Some good ol' cheesy pop punk about a girl and her awful boyfriend. Very cliche, yet highly enjoyable. Baleeted? No, I'm like a tweenage girl when it comes to pop punk like this.
"The Human Heart" - Original Broadway Cast of Once On This Island I performed this song back when I was in my college show choir. It makes me nostalgic in ways I can hardly describe. Baleeted? No. It's almost making me cry as I listen to it.
"Easier to Lie" - Aqualung This dude came and played in my favorite record store while I was shopping there. I was annoyed that his keyboard blocked the shelf I was trying to get to, and I'm still annoyed that he thinks nobody remembers Jethro Tull. Baleeted? Yes, and just as a matter of principal. The song itself isn't bad at all.
"Jingle Jangle" - The Archies A surprisingly awesome non "Sugar, Sugar" track from The Archies. This is the sort of 60's bubblegum I can't ever get enough of. Baleeted? No, this is going on a mix.
"Sugar, Sugar" - The Archies Who doesn't love this song? Baleeted? Are you kidding (I ask as if I weren't asking myself the question)?
"Fire" - Arthur Brown This is surprisingly heavy music for the time in which it was recorded. I dig it. Baleeted? No. How could I? He's the god of hellfire.
"My Blue Heaven" - Artie Shaw My wife and I used to go swing dancing a lot back in the day, and we hope to do it again someday. This is exactly the sort of thing we like to hop around to. It's a fantastic take on an old chestnut. Baleeted? Never.
"Tuxedo Junction" - Artie Shaw I've been digging "Tuxedo Junction" since high school, and this is a fine take on the song. Baleeted? No.
"Along Comes Mary" - The Association I used to stay up late with my headphones on and the radio tuned to the oldies station to hear gems like this before I went to sleep. Baleeted? Nope.
"Windy" - The Association This is some fantastic 60's pop. I can help but light up every time I hear this one. And now I need more from The Association, assuming they have more tracks like this. Baleeted? No, it really takes me back to the late 80's and my fascination with oldies radio.
"Baja" - The Astronauts My Dad has always been a big fan of surf rock, and he passed that love on to me. "Baja" is as good a slice of heavily reverbed surf rock as you're likely to find this side of Dick Dale. Baleeted? No way, brassiere.
"The Gentle Rain" (Rjd2 Remix) - Astrud Gilberto In the early 00's, Verve started releasing compilations in which they let various DJ's remix classic jazz tracks. I gave it a shot, and I hate it. I prefer the originals. Baleeted? Yes.
"Here's That Rainy Day" (Koop Remix) - Astrud Gilberto See above. Baleeted? Can't do it quickly enough.
"Mustache TV" - Atom and His Package There's something about this band that I just like. It reminds me of The Mr. T Experience in the way that it makes me feel, but not necessarily in the way it sounds. Baleeted? Nope. This one is fun.
"Another Likely Story" - Au Revoir Simone I got this one on a mix from a friend, and it's really good. I should get more from this band. I like all girl indie electronic groups. Baleeted? Nope.
"Halfway Decent" - Audio Karate It's pretty mediocre and I have plenty more pop punk which is actually good. Baleeted? Sure. I can live without it.
"Boston" - Augustana More sensitive guy music, but this has piano instead of acoustic guitar. I'll keep it for my wife. And no, when I say I'm keeping it for my wife, I don't mean that I'll be openly weeping to this song when nobody is watching. It's seriously for my wife. Why don't you believe me? I totally have a wife. Baleeted? No.
"Turn Up the Radio" - Autograph This is some awesome 80's hair metal. I can never have enough of this stuff. Autograph taught me that "Day in, day out, all week long, things go better with rock." Indeed they do. Baleeted? Not while my head is still banging.
And there you have it. I reviewed 36 songs and deleted 10 of them. Not a bad time. Also, kudos to you if you survived a long review with no pictures.
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