Music Mundays - Bang for Your Buck: The Charming Comedian Picks Some of his Favourite Greatest Hits Albums

If you want to listen to good music (legally), but don't want to go broke in the process, greatest hits albums are the way to go. Some of the best ones in my collection (in no particular order) are:

Two for the Show by Kansas (Double Live Album) - I liked this album because, while most bands do okay in the studio, when it comes to performing live on stage they sometimes give lackluster performances. Let's face it, some of them suck! (Boston seems to come to mind). Kansas, however, proves that this isn't always so. After I heard the performances on this album, I found some of their studio versions boring in comparison. Although my favourite song is Carry on Wayward Son; the best performance by far is Magnum Opus. Here is an example of Magnum Opus, but it is a different recording than the one on the album.




7even Year Itch by Collective Soul (Greatest Hits 1994-2001) - I don't know what it is about these guys, but they have written some great tunes. When I bought this CD it stayed in my car's player for two months straight! Some of the songs I have covered in different rock bands that I have played in. Guitar riffs are their specialty. (Precious Declaration comes to mind!) Gel, and Shine are rocking examples of their many one-word-title songs, and Run has an extremely well played guitar solo over-top of violins... awesome!





The Very Best of Eagles by The Eagles - People ask me why I like the Eagles and I just kind of look at them and say: "What do you mean, why do I like the Eagles? What's not to like?". I like music with a lot of harmonies and theirs are the best. If I had their talent, I would probably be just as arrogant as they are!





Rush Gold by Rush (Greatest Hits Album) - Either you love Rush or you hate them! I once made my own greatest hits compilation of Rush songs and it took up two ninety minute cassette tapes. I still didn't get them all on it. I'm a drummer, so before every gig I would listen to Rush, and Neil Peart would always inspire me, after all, he IS the Professor! Not only is he recognized as the best Rock drummer out there, (he won the award so many times, they just put him up on a pedestal, and wouldn't consider him any more!), he writes 99% of their lyrics. His songs are very rarely in 4/4 time, and very often the time signature changes many times within each piece. They are all played exceptionally well, with Geddy and Alex being equally gifted in their musical abilities. Peart is also an accomplished author. Any time he puts a pen near paper, good things happen. If you're stuck in a 4/4 world, Rush might not be your cup of tea, but I couldn't imagine a world without them! (I have read three of Peart's memoirs: Ghost Rider, Traveling Music, and Roadshow.)





Money for Nothing by Dire Straits (Greatest Hits) - Mark Knopfler is an amazing song writer, but an even better guitar player. His fingers are very fast and very precise. He doesn't miss a lick, and, you have to love that National Steel Guitar on Romeo & Juliet, even though the song is a little corny.The line "All I do is keep the beat, and bad company" brings back memories. My favourite song on this album is Tunnel of Love. It tells a great story, and the lyrics go on and on, to the point that you think "How does he remember them all?"... but, it was his story, he lived it.





That was fun, huh? I sort of tweaked Chris' original idea for this meme, but it works for me! I hope everyone enjoyed. As to the c.c.'s choices...

I consider Dust in the Wind my favourite Kansas song, but Carry on Wayward Son is really good, too!

Precious Declaration is my favourite Collective Soul song. I had forgotten all about it until this post!

I recently read a biography of The Eagles. I will be posting a review one of these days! The c.c. gave it to me, so I figured I should read it! If I was doing this list, they would probably fall on it, too!

Rush and Dire Straits are two of my favourite bands ever! Rush is nothing new to my regular readers! My favourite Rush song is probably Freewill, but I like a lot of their stuff! As to Dire Straits... I actually like Romeo & Juliet! (Oh, Ana, you could have used that song for your Sunday Salon the other day!)

That's it for this week! Tune in next week for a similar post from Vanessa from A Journey Through My Music Collection.