Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures, we all have them. Whether it’s that stuffed bear from your childhood that you refuse to get rid of, but hide behind your pillow so no one sees it. Or maybe it’s that old copy of Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi that sits on your shelf collecting dust. You take it down and listen to it from time to time, making sure not to disturb the dust on it so it appears untouched. While I do own a copy of that very cassette, it doesn’t sit on my shelf collecting dust. No, instead it sits in a shoe box in my closet with the majority of my old cassette tapes. Regardless what it is, we all own or enjoy at least one thing that we won’t readily admit to just anyone. Myself, I’m no different. I’m a music lover, and my CD collection rounds out at about 600 CD’s. My problem is, that even if I rarely listen to a CD anymore or not at all, I hate to get rid of them. Over a period of time, I’ve collected a few CD’s that I might not be too proud of, although some of them I’ll still play occasionally. I just won’t tell anyone about it. That is, until now.

(10.) Simple Plan No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls Okay, so it’s cheesy pop-punk. I know that. You know that. The entire Warped Tour crowd that gave these guys the finger at every outing also knows that. But it’s catchy, cheesy pop-punk. Damn catchy, and I like it. Extra points for guest appearances by Mark Hoppus(Blink 182) and Joel Madden(Good Charlotte).

(9.) Creed Human Clay and Weathered I think for the most part, these guys just got a bad rep. They play good music and they’re obviously talented, but most people steer clear of them for their Religious beliefs. I can’t think of a worse reason to not like a band, personally. Besides, songs like Are You Ready, What If, and Bullets rock pretty hard.

(8.) Nickelback The State and Silver Side Up Same as Creed, I think they’ve just got a bad rep cuz they’re not “balls to the wall” rockers. So they play some love songs, what’s wrong with that? They’ve got some rockin’ songs too, such as Leader of Men and Never Again.

(7.) Da Brat Funkdafied and Anuthatantrum Yep, I own them both. So the songs that got played on TV and radio weren’t the greatest, but one listen to Da Shit Ya Can’t Fuc Wit from Funkdafied, and it’s obvious this chick has talent. Here ode to weed featuring Krayzie Bone, Let’s All Get High is pretty good too. She also came from the same camp as the next guys on my list.

(6.) Kris Kross Da Bomb and Young, Rich, & Dangerous When these kids released their first album, Totally Krossed Out, they got by strictly on a gimmick. Wearing their clothes backwards? What an idea! But guess what. It caught on! If only for a short amount of time, kids were wearing their pants and shirts backwards. Well, at least kids in my school did. Their wasn’t much to their rhymes either. Rapping about missing the bus? Come on. But when they released their second album, Da Bomb, they proved they could actually rap and that they could hold their own without a gimmick. Young, Rich, & Dangerous was even better in my opinion. Not exactly a hip hop classic, but a good album regardless. Check out Live and Die For Hip Hop for a perfect example of these kids skills.

(5.) Will Smith Willennium I bought this album for two reasons. Will 2K and Wild, Wild West. I ended up liking the majority of it, and still do. Seems a lot of people steer clear of this cuz it’s not the cool thing to listen to, and the fact that he doesn’t swear has been an issue as well. What’s really wrong with a positive musician, huh? I say nothing at all. A talented positive musician is a plus! I was even motivated to purchase a collection of his old tracks, titled Before The Willennium. This was back when he still went by the name of Fresh Prince. A Nightmare on My Street, Parents Just Don’t Understand, and Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble are all great old school tracks.

(4.) Various Artists Monster Ballads I know you’ve all seen the commercial on TV. The bands on this album are all bands that I grew up listening to. Warrant, Whitesnake, Poison, Europe, and Cinderella just to name a few. One of my favorite tracks on this album is Wind of Change by the Scorpions.

(3.) Poison Look What The Cat Dragged In Aside from the fact that they all look like females on the album cover, these guys were a great band. Underneath all of that eyeliner, lipstick, and hairspray were great musicians. Okay, so I bought it mostly for sentimental value. As I said before, I grew up on these guys. It brings back memories of when I was a kid, hanging out in my garage with friends and playing that broomstick guitar pretending to be C.C. Deville. Yeah, I was that damn cool.

(2.) Sisqo Unleash The Dragon Two words. Thong Song. Nuff said.

(1.) Britney Spears Oops!…I Did It Again I guess here’s the point where I lose all respect that anyone might have had for me before. However little that might have been. I could save face and say that I bought it for the pictures, but that would be a damn lie. Mostly I bought it cuz my girlfriend wanted it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like any of the songs.

So there you have it. All of my embarrassing or semi-embarrassing albums for all to see. Do I listen to them on a regular basis? Most of them, no. But still, they sit there on my CD shelf along with the rest of my collection. So go ahead and laugh, point, poke fun, do as you wish. It won’t matter to me. In the end, I’m just being true to myself and that’s all that matters.