204 - Bob Dylan - Modern Times

Modern Times is a well-crafted, finely recorded collection of blues and early rock and roll inspired songs. There's nothing ground-breaking here, but the album is so expertly done that it is hard to dismiss. There is such a confidence and comfort for the musicians and for Bob's singing. His voice has character and avoids becoming the "Bob Dylan" characterature. Many of the songs have a flow to the lyrics that is steady, hopping, and beautiful.

Songs I Knew I Liked: None

Songs I Now Like: "Spirit in the Water," "Nettie Moore," and "The Levee's Gonna Break"

Songs I Can Go the Rest of My Life Never Hearing Again: I won't miss any songs, but there are none I would actively avoid.

203 - Michael Jackson - Bad

I was really surprised with how much I disliked Bad during my listening sessions. I'm no stranger to this album; I had it on cassette when it came out. Starting with the title track met my expectations, but once I was past "Bad" and "The Way You Make Me Feel," I found most of the album really dull, mechanized, calculated, and a bit silly at times ("Dirty Diana" is both creepier and lame than I had remembered).

Personally, I think the best track on the album is "The Way You Make Me Feel." It has a casualness to it that is lacking in the rest of the album. On the other side of the coin are songs such as "Speed Demon" that have some impressive points (I really like the synths - especially the "bass" trills during the chorus) but seem sterile and calculated as a whole.

Compared to the albums around Bad in the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums list, I was very much underwhelmed by this album and would certainly have moved it much further down the list.

Songs I Knew I Liked: "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," and to a lesser extent "Smooth Criminal"

Songs I Now Like: No new likes.

Songs I Can Go the Rest of My Life Never Hearing Again: "Speed Demon," "Liberian Girl," and "Just Good Friends" (Why, Stevie? Why?)

202 - Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme

I fell in love with Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme this week. It is beautiful, fun, inspirational, and intelligent (although it sometimes tries to be a bit too smart - looking at you "The Dangling Conversation"). "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" has mostly avoided close scrutiny by me in the past. During my listening sessions, I had on headphones and the layering of harmonies (both vocal and the plucked strings of the guitar and harpsichords) was so impressive; the harmonies deserve to be put along side of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." The sound swirls, washes over the listener's ears, and recedes back into the speakers. When the discordant first notes of "Patterns" come out of those same speakers, it is a bit jarring after the smoothness of the last few minutes.

The album has such joyful moments such as "Cloudy" and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)" and times of contemplation such as "The Dangling Conversation," "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her," and "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night." There is a nice spectrum of songs here; no lulls or long meandering songs to allow one's mind to wander. If anything, I wish that "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" was another minute or two longer. If you aren't careful, the album slips right by you and you want to put it back on and listen again...and again...and again.

Songs I Knew I Liked: "Homeward Bound" and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)"

Songs I Now Like: "Scarborough Fair/Canticle," "Cloudy," "The Dangling Conversation," "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her," and "A Poem on an Underground Wall"

Songs I Can Go the Rest of My Life Never Hearing Again: While I'm not tired of them now, I can see how I might find myself skipping "Simple Desultory Philippic, A (Or How I Was Robert MacNamara'd Into Submission)" and "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" on future listens to the album.