The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You (1981)

Record Condition: Good to Great (very few crackles)

Review: Some albums are good enough to make a grown man cry. From the get go, "Tattoo You" lays down the law and sets the ground rules for what is ultimately one of the best-crafted rock albums of its time. Perhaps it is of extra importance to me, seeing as how I was born the same year of its release, but this album got the world's attention for two reasons. One, it was the freaking Stones! Two, there is no pretense in this album trying to be something it was not, and where many aging rockers engage in drab collaborations and fantasy explorations, the Stones came back to what they do the best. They told a mass media filled with ex-disco strutters, new wave pretty boys, and yacht rockers to go "f" themselves, yet somehow kept the pop sensibility they never in their many years could tarnish. 9.5 out of 10. Delicious.

Elton John - Elton John (1970)

Record Condition: OK (a few recurring crackles)

Review: Make all of the snide remarks you want about the man who has done everything (I walked into that one) and been just about everywhere, but this guy can flat write a love song. This is one of those eternal classics, including "Your Song," "Border Song," and some amazingly arranged tracks to which I had no previous exposure. Don't miss the almost Van Morrison-like "The King Must Die," an interesting song, a great example of Elton's chops on the keys and vocally, and an example of why Chris Martin could only dream of being like Sir Elton, no matter how many songs like this he rips off. Not for everyone, but I give a 9 out of 10 for well-crafted, recorded, performed, and gripping music. Soulful.

The Who - Who Are You (1978)

Record Condition: OK to Good (a few snaps and crackles)

Review: I've always loved the Who, but haven't listened to many of their records. Their use of heavy synthesizers on a few tracks, and the fact that this was Keith Moon's last record make this a unique one. Very forward thinking, yet still very Who-like, I give this album an 8 out of 10 and recommend it to any fans of music that takes you somewhere. Badasses.

One hundred and hmdfsmm records, reviewed in a few hundred days...

It was only a year ago when a great record store in Kansas City, the Music Exchange, went out of business and put all of its remaining merchandise up for sale. Tens of thousands of records were offered for $1 a piece, and being someone who had often wanted to get into record collecting, I could not resist this unique opportunity to hit the ground running.

I spent a few hours over 4 or 5 days leafing through some of the worst records known to man, in hopes of finding the mint condition Hunky Dory, some classic Motown gems, and to branch into albums and artists I'd always intended to know more about, but always found reasons to ignore.

What ensued was a hot, sweaty, and dusty road through bins of both beauty and of crapulescence. I'm not sure if I was entirely disappointed to find that my $1 purchase of Milli Vanilli's, "Girl You Know It's True" debut album was in fact the "Everybody's All American" motion picture soundtrack, but the journey was worth the $140 or so that I ended up spending.

Now that I am finally moved into some new and stable digs, and that I have hooked up my newly acquired turntable, I am able to drop some knowledge on the masses. What will follow is my effort to review, in a semi-concise manner, around one album a day for however long it may take. They may come in spurts, they may come at three in the morning, but eventually, I will listen to and review them all. Through the diamonds in the proverbial rough, to the kid who smells of Cheerios in the proverbial remedial learning circle, I will post my reviews to satisfy my own vanity.

In this era of self-aggrandizing Internet usage, it is easy to get lost in some of the baser appeals to popularity and fame, yet this is the way of the world. Everyone must promote themselves to a degree, and I am no different. Enjoy ignoring my take on these records! As I learned long ago from My Buddy, the most prescient minded of the Playskool characters, "Wherever I go, egos."

Kyoto in a few... some blurry, but my rush job on a complex city...

Nagoya - Day 2

Nagoya - Day 1