Compact discs
The last time I stopped by my parent’s house they handed me a medium sized box full of my old CDs. As an elder-millennial I did have an iPod and a hard drive full of mp3s in college, so these CDs were from the pre-Internet days, and none of them were good enough that I wanted them around after graduating college. So, take a trip down memory lane with me, by way of CD.
Ska one hits
Only 90s kids will remember, but once upon a time if you heard a good song and wanted to hear it again, and it didn’t get radio play… you had to buy the whole CD.
The albums I thought were cool when I was a teenager I haven’t thought about since
Alright… I do think one hot minute is a good album. And there’s two good songs on the Dishwalla album. But I really wanted that Candlebox CD and can’t remember a single song from it.
The cool covers collection
I’m glad animated covers have made their way back to Apple Music. The Alice in Chains one didn’t move, but purple plastic! My kid will never understand the excitement of plastic in a non-clear color.
Lost and gone
I have a number of albums that I downloaded (don’t tell Lars) or had copies of from friends that disappeared1, but this one, Gravelled and Green by the Actual Tigers I liked, but it was possibly never released, and doesn’t exist (as far as I can tell) on any streaming platform.
But if you want the vibe, some of their songs are on YouTube.
Deep regrets
Man I hope I didn’t actually pay this much for this one.
Ran out of lives
I bring up this CD in conversation a lot because it included a game on the disc called Virtual Guitar Quest For Fame which at the time was cool. It was also the only way you could reasonably listen to the album, which otherwise sucked.
Wrong place, wrong time
Some CDs just bring up very distinct memories. That long car ride you took where it was the only CD you had so you listened to it over and over. Sad songs that bring up sad times and ska songs that… also bring up sad times. Hangs-ups by Goldfinger always brings up one specific memory for me.
When I was in college I broke my leg, but due to some questionable doctoring it was assumed to be a pulled ligament or muscle for a few weeks, until I noted that it still wasn’t better. So they sent me off for an MRI2. When scheduling it, the hospital mentioned that I would be in the MRI machine for a while, so I could bring a CD to listen to.
Great, I have CDs. So which one would I pick, what music would be most appropriate to listen to while lying still for 30 minutes? Of course, the one that starts off with the most upbeat track from the Tony Hawk 2 soundtrack.
