i love music but one thing i have never been into is classic rock, save for a few bands that my parents would play when i was little, (and only a few albums/songs at that). the exceptions would be the beatles, creedance clearwater revival, etc. and again my love of their albums/songs is limited due to my exposure being limited and just plain not liking it all. limited exposure is what i would like to try to get rid of as an reason for not liking something. so i am borrowing what i can from friends to educate myself in dinosaur rock. surprisingly, my mom has a few cds in her collection that i could learn from. it's more of a surprise to me because i'm not sure when she acquired these. i think she had a friend for awhile who was really into classic rock and that's how she obtained these. i remember when she didn't know who the hell black sabbath was and now she owns like 3 of their cds?!?! this is what i'm talking about. what follows is my review of the albums i have recently listened to.

black sabbath
albums: black sabbath, paranoid, we sold our souls for rock 'n' roll
you know, i never understood ozzy's popularity. at first, i thought he was a total joke, that no one could possibly like a voice like that. it just sounded so comical to me. i only first started hearing his stuff about 10 years ago when i lived in santa cruz and the only radio station i could pick up was a hard/classic rock station out of san jose. i can't remember the name of that station (think whip 'em out wednesday) but if you live in the area, i'm sure you know what the hell i am talking about. anyway, that station taught me a lot about classic rock but it never got me to really like it. i'm gonna hold on to the sabbath tunes for awhile and play them a few times to see if there is anything at all i like but i just don't think there is. first though of course are the ozzy songs. my mom has 1 sabbath cd with dio singing but i want to know the ozzy sabbath before i even hear that one.

boston
album: boston
boston... just by the name and the album cover i was rolling over with laughter but surprisingly i think this was the best cd out of all of them that i'm reviewing! well, maybe i won't go that far but it was much better than expected. i was shocked that twiddle thumbs already knew one of the songs. she had no idea it was boston though. i'll have to listen to the album a couple more times to see if i like it.

jimi hendrix
albums: are you experienced?, experience hendrix: the best of jimi hendrix
alright, i was already quite famiilar with the classic hendrix songs because about 11-12 years ago my friend gave me a compilation cd ("the ultimate experience") as a present for my birthday or christmas or something like that. the songs that were not on that cd that i have just heard are more about filling in my gap of hendrix knowledge. what i already knew wasn't bad but i don't know if i like any of these new songs. the stuff i had grew on me over the years but i never really get into a classic rock mood and throw on the hendrix, if you know what i mean.

elton john
album: captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy
wow! what a weird album title and cover art. i know my parents dug elton john, who didn't in the 70s? but i don't think i ever heard any of his albums. i only know a few hits from just growing up in america and being glued to pop culture. i looked up on allmusic.com which of his albums have the highest ratings. this album is the second one in chronological order to have 5 stars so i was glad to start off with something good. plus, this album was released when my parents were young and just got married and stuff so it helps me to think about that when i listen to it, to help put me in the era. the one song i knew off this album was "someone saved my life tonight" because that was a big hit. the rest? hmm, not sure yet. some songs are ok pop.

pink floyd
albums: the wall, 1 song each from the piper at the gates of dawn, a saucer of secrets, atom heart mother
oh boy, this is where i'm gonna get creamed (no i haven't heard any cream albums). everyone seems to love pink floyd. everyone makes such a big deal out of "the wall". i have finally heard it and i have no idea what the fuss is about. sounds like a bunch of crap to me. i knew a couple songs already ("another brick in the wall", "comfortably numb", etc.) thanks to that hard rock station out of san jose that i mentioned. those songs are ok. but everything else stinks. maybe i just have too many brain cells to appreciate this stuff. maybe you have to be totally high and wasted. yeah, then i'll start liking phish too, right? i dunno, it just seems like stuff people in their 40s+ listen to when they get nostalgic and not so much something that will carry on through the generations. at least not in this house!

the velvet underground
album: the velvet underground
the only velvet underground i know is "the velvet underground and nico". this album is 2 years later. i really dug what i knew so i always meant to buy more albums, perhaps even that big banana box set, but i never did. this album isn't much different which is good because it means the songs are alright, but the bad part is i don't hear much progression. i've also only heard it once! so i really need to give it a few more listens, maybe back to back after the nico album.

the who
album: the best of the who
i thought i would like this because a lot of british pop bands i like were influenced by the who. but now that i think about it, perhaps that was the jam! anyway, i didn't like this album much. i think i wanted to know what the who was like 'cos people talk about "tommy". they make a big deal out of it. well, i really don't know "tommy" but it has to be better than this crap. oh wait, a song or two from "tommy" is on this album. crap. yeah, i guess it's crap. i'll try again though. again, only 1 listen so i need to give it a couple more spins.