No Need To Argue - The Cranberries

Released in 1994 I always thought this was their debut album but it wasn't it was the second. It was their most successful album with over 17 million copies sold worldwide. It made it to number one on the Australian charts but not quite in the US and UK. 

Dolores O'Riordan has a great voice she also wrote most the songs on the album. I love Ode To My Family, Twenty-One and Zombie.

Common Thread: The Songs of The Eagles - Various Artists

Released in 1993 the album is a tribute album to The Eagles. The songs are all Eagles covers of Eagles songs performed by country music artists. The album reached number one on the US charts and went 3 x Multi Platinum. 

It's a great album all the best Eagles songs performed in a traditional Country Music fashion. Love it!

Erotica - Madonna

Released in 1992 - has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and made it to number one on the Australian charts. The album was released simultaneously with Madonna's first book publication, Sex. 

The album had a lot of singles released - Erotica, Fever, Deeper and Deeper, Rain and Bad Girl. 

I think it's a great album and I really enjoyed listening to it today - I think it would be at least 10 years since I last played this album.

Confetti - Little Birdy

Released in 2009 this is their third album. They are an Australian group from Perth. I love this album. Great songs on it including - Brother, Summarize, Hairdo, Into My Arms and Confetti. Well worth a listen to if you have never heard of them.

Kill To Get Crimson - Mark Knopfler

Released in 2007 this is Knopfler's 5th solo album. I know I've done a Dire Straits album this year not sure if I've done a Mark Knopfler album. 

I loved Dire Straits but I love Knopfler's solo work even more and this album is brilliant. It has some great tracks - True Love Will Never Fade, Secondary Waltz and Heart Full Of Holes. 

I love his lyrics and own all his albums - this is a must have.

Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay

Released in 2008 Viva La Vida is Spanish for Long Live The Life. Viva La Vida was the groups first song to reach number one on both the US and UK charts. It was the best selling album of 2008 and won the Grammy for best rock album in 2009.

Tuesday Night Music Club - Sheryl Crow

Released in 1993 this was Crow's debut album. The album reached number 1 on the Australian charts in 1995. It was the release of the second single All I Wanna Do that gave this album it's popularity. 

I can listen to this whole album quite easily without skipping tracks. A couple of my favorites are - Strong Enough and Can't Cry Anymore. 

I saw Crow live at The Adelaide Entertainment Centre 19 November 2008. She was the opening act for John Mellencamp. She was absolutely brilliant.

American VI: Aint' No Grave - Johnny Cash

Released in 2010 3 days prior to what would have been Cash's 78th birthday. Interesting album - worth while listening to even if it's just to hear Johnny Cash sing a Sheryl Crow song. My favorite would have to be his verion of Kristofferson's For The Good Times. 

The cover of the album has a photo of Cash as a child and the back has a photo of him shortly before he died - very eerie.

All Things Must Pass - George Harrison

All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison, recorded and released in 1970 after the break-up of The Beatles. 

The first triple album by a solo artist, the original vinyl release featured two LPs of rock songs, while the third LP, titled Apple Jam, was composed of informal jams led by Harrison with musician friends and famous musicians.

All Things Must Pass was certified 6x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2001. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked All Things Must Pass #437 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

George has always been my favorite Beatle and I love this album. 

Melody - Soundtrack

Released in 1971. With most songs from the Bee Gees and The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic Teach Your Children. 

I watched this movie many times as a child and I remember my parents owning this on vinyl. I still love the music today. 

I have hundreds of soundtracks, for some reason if I love a movie I always walk out and buy the cd - this one brings back many childhood memories :)

All The Road Running - Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris

Released in 2006 this would have to be one of the best collaborations ever! The album was the result of a longtime collaboration between the two. Over the course of seven years, the songs were recorded by the pair with minimal information coming out about it. 

A live album, Real Live Roadrunning, was released following Harris and Knopfler's tour supporting All the Roadrunning. 

Although Harris is a songwriter, ten of the twelve tracks on the album were penned by Knopfler. 

My favorite songs are - This Is Us, Belle Starr, Beyond My Wildest Dreams, All The Road Running and If This is Goodbye.

Glass Houses - Billy Joel

Released in 1980 this was Joel's 7th album.  It features Joel's first song to peak at #1 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me. The album itself topped the Pop Albums chart for six weeks and was ranked number 4 on Billboard's 1980 year-end album chart. The album is the 41st best selling album of the 80's, with sales of 7.1 million copies in the US alone. 

Listening to this today was so much fun, I was dancing around the house while cleaning. How can you go wrong with songs like - You May Be Right, It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Sometimes A Fantasy and Don't Ask Me Why.

Far - Regina Spektor

Released in 2009 and Spektors 5th studio album. I know I played her last week but I really love this album too and was keen to listen to it. My favorite song is Folding Chair just because it's such a happy song.

Come and open up your folding chair next to me
My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze
There is a shadow, you can't see my eyes
And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies

Let's get a silver bullet trailer and have a baby boy
I'll safety pin his clothes all cool and you'll graffiti up his toys
I've got a perfect body but sometimes I forget
I've got a perfect body 'cause my eyelashes catch my sweat
Yes they do, they do

Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

Now I've been sitting on this abandoned beach for years
Waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears
But every time the tide come in to take me home
I get scared, now I'm sitting here alone dreaming of the dolphin song

Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

Maybe one day you will understand
That I want nothing from you but to sweetly hold your hand
Till that day just please don't be so down
Don't make frowns, you silly clown

Just come and open up your folding chair next to me
My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze
There is a shadow, you can't see my eyes
And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies

There is a shadow, you can't see my eyes
There is a shadow, you can't see my eyes

Greatest Hits - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Released in 2003 I don't often buy Greatest Hits albums as if I like a group I already own all their albums. I am not the greatest Chili Peppers fan but I do like a lot of their songs so a greatest hits was the way to go with them. I don't love the whole album but do like - Inder The Bridge, Give It Away, Californication, Scar Tissue, Suck My Kiss and Breaking The Girl.

Oooh La La! - Crash Test Dummies

Released in 2010 this is CTD latest album. The songs on the album are based around the Optigan and Omnichord toy instruments. 

The seeds for Oooh La La! were first planted when Brad Roberts and producer Stewart Lerman became infatuated with vintage analog musical toys, particularly one manufactured by the Mattel company called the Optigan (an acronym for "optical organ"). Using celluloid discs, the Optigan projects the sounds of other instruments with different sets of keys triggering chords and individual notes. The discs, with names like "Nashville," "Swing It!" and "Guitar Boogie," rotate to produce different arrays of sounds. The process is eerily similar to the digital sampling that is so common today, but the antiquated analog system produces quite a different effect.

Baja Sessions - Chris Isaak

Released in 1996 this is an acoustic album and one of my favorite Isaak albums. It has some beautiful songs like - Pretty Girls Don't Cry, Only The Lonely, South Of The Border, Yellow Bird and my favorite Two Hearts. 

I should be sitting watching Chris Isaak right now but his concert tonight was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales in Adelaide! He has sold out 3 concerts in Sydney - what's wrong with you Adelaide???

Woodface - Crowded House

Released in 1991 - this would have to be the best Crowded House ever. The only album that Tim Finn joined the group on (maybe that's why it's my favorite :p) Full of great songs - Chocolate Cake, It's Only Natural, Fall At Your Feet, Weather With You, Four Seasons In One Day and I know I always pick an obscure track as my favorite but as per my usual form - Italian Plastic written by Paul Hester is one of my alltime favorite songs.

I bring you plates from rome 
You say they look fantastic 
I say we're having fun 
Nothing like that italian plastic 

I bring you rocks and flowers 
You say they look pathetic 
You pick me up at night 
I don't feel pathetic 

When you wake up with me 
I'll be your glass of water 
When you stick up for me 
Then you're my bella bambina 

I say we're on a trip 
Look's like we're on vacation 
I say we're having fun 
In our little constellation 

When you wake up with me 
I'll be your glass of water 
When you stick up for me 

Then I'll be your bella bambino, your man from the moon 
I'll be your little boy running with that egg on his spoon 
I'll be your soul surviver, your worst wicked friend 
I'll be your piggy in the middle, stick with you till the end 

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Released in 2010 this is the second studio album by the country music group. I heard about this group from my South African friends when I was there last year. I bought the album on that recommendation. The album debuted at number one and has been certified 3x platinum.

My opinion - it's ok - listenable but I don't love it - sorry :(

Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.

Released in 2011 (2 days ago) and the first album I have purchased that has been released this year :) This is R.E.M.'s 15th studio album and I think they have come up with the goods once again - great album. I've listened to it 3 times now but not ready to say what my favorite songs are yet :p

But I do like the lyrics of this one - Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter:

I feel like an alligator

Climbing up the escalator

Climbing up the escalator

I feel strong

I feel like an aviator pilot

Thinks you wouldn't buy it

I'm feeling violent

Beat your bleeding eye in

Turn up the flyer

Hey, hey, alligator, you've got a lot to learn

I have got, have got a lot to learn

I feel like an autopilot

I'm the world's strongest island

I feel like a rage coming under my hood

I feel good and calm like a robot would

I feel like an antimatter

I feel like an antimatter

I am not a hater, hater, hater, hater, hater

Hey, hey, alligator, you've got a lot to learn

I have got, have got a lot to learn

I feel like a contradiction

I'm a walking science-fiction

I don't know which way to turn

I've got a lot to burn

I've got a lot of lot to burn

If I didn't like the way you stared at me

If I didn't like the way you stared at me

I could knock the sideways, I could knock you blind

I could show you found to the lost and find

I am not an agitator

I feel like an alligator

Climbing up the escalator...

Hey, hey, alligator, you've got a lot to learn

I have got, have got a lot to learn

You've so much to learn

You've got a lot to learn

Begin To Hope - Regina Spektor

Released in 2006 and one of my favorite albums. This is something different but great. The major hit was Fidelity but there are other great songs like - Better, Samson, On The Radio, Hotel Song & That Time. This was Regina's 4th album but the first one I purchased. 

I would love to see her live and missed out on 2 opportunities. 

Donavon Frankenreiter - Donavon Frankenreiter

Released in 2004 his debut album produced by longtime friend Jack Johnson. Do not be put off by the name - this guy is great - if you love Jack Johnson you will love Frankenreiter. 

I have 3 of his albums and they are all good. Songs that stand out on this one - It Don't Matter, Free and On My Mind. 

Frankenreiter is playing at The Rocket Lounge in Adelaide tonight but unfortunately I can't go :( I would love to see him live. 

I came across his music while I was in a music store looking for something else and they were playing this CD - loved it immediately.

Hot August Night - Neil Diamond

Released in 1972 - the best year ever of course! The album has become a great success for Diamond, and in Australia, it spent 29 weeks at number 1 on the album charts during 1973 & 1974. This figure was surpassed in the 1980s by Dire Straits with their album Brothers in Arms spending 34 weeks at number one on the album charts.

It was the number one charting album in Australia for the 1970s, entering the Australian album charts in late 1972 and was still charting in the top 20 in 1976. It re-entered the Australian top 10 in 1982. 

I'm very excited that I will be going to see Neil Diamond live for the first time tonight. I have only ever heard good things about his concerts so I can't wait.

Graceland - Paul Simon

Released in 1986 this is definitely in my top 50 albums of all time. The album won the 1986 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, while the title song won the 1987 Grammy for Record of the Year. In 2007, the album was added to the United States National Recording Registry. The album reached number one in Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Switzerland and The UK. The whole album is great with songs like - The Boy In The Bubble, Graceland, Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes, You Can Call Me Al, Under African Skies, Homeless and my personal favorite I Know What I Know. 

Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella, isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Much of the album was recorded in South Africa, and it features many South African musicians and groups. Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against the apartheid regime in South Africa, which was in its final years at the time. This view was not supported by the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee, as the album showcased the talents of the black South African musicians while offering no support to the South African government. 

The worldwide success of the album introduced some of the musicians, especially the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to global audiences of their own. Simon included American 'roots' influences with tracks featuring Zydeco and Tex-Mex musicians. The Everly Brothers sing harmony on the title track. Linda Ronstadt appears on the track Under African Skies.

Golden Rule - Powderfinger

Released in 2009 their final album and it debuted  at number 1 on the ARIA charts. I have never really been a Powderfinger fan then they release an album like this and break up! Just my luck. The album is great the whole way through but some of the best songs - El Camino De La Muerte, All Of The Dreamers, Burn Your Name and Think It Over. Maybe the will reunite and give us some more great music.

People - Hothouse Flowers

Released in 1988, People is the debut album by celtic rock group Hothouse Flowers. To date it is the biggest selling debut album by an Irish artist in Ireland. That's pretty major when you think of all the big names that have come from Ireland! 

I don't reckon I have listened to this album in over 15 years. It was quite pleasant to hear it again this morning. I was surprised to see they have 9 albums with one released last year - I only own the first 2 they released. Maybe I should get onto that and see what they sound like these days.

An Innocent Man - Billy Joel

Released in 1983 this is my favorite Billy Joel album. The album is just hit after hit - The Longest Time, Tell Her About It, Uptown Girl, Keeping The Faith and my alltime favorite Joel song - An Innocent Man. 

I have been lucky enough to see Billy Joel live twice. The first time was my first ever concert it was The Storm Front Tour and he played Memorial Drive 1990 - WOW is all I can say about him as a performer. Absolute professional brilliant entertainer! 

The second time I saw him was The Adelaide Entertainment Centre 26 November 2008 and once again brilliant.

Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi

Released in 1986 this is Bon Jovi's third studio album. Slippery When Wet was an instant commercial success. The album features songs that are today considered as Bon Jovi's most well-known tracks such as You Give Love A Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive. 

The album spent eight weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200. Slippery When Wet is the band's best-selling album to date, with over 12 million copies sold in the United States and over 28 million copies worldwide and received diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. 

It was named the top selling album of 1987 by Billboard, and is currently the 21st best-selling studio album of all time.

Cracked Rear View - Hootie & The Blowfish

Released in 1994 this was H&TB debut album. It was the highest-selling album of 1995, with 10.5 million shipments that year alone, eventually shipping 16 million copies to retailers by March 31, 1999. RIAA sales of April 2010 16× platinum, for the fifteenth best selling album of all time in the United States. 

Another album you can listen to easily without skipping a track. Great songs like - Hold My Hand, Let Her Cry, Only Wanna Be With You and Hannah Jane.