Music Worth Listening To

The following records endured the toughest Dan Gras criteria for being "good". (That was a horrible sentence).

Anyway, these CDs must be able to be listened to over and over again. They can be listened to twice in one day, and every day for 2 weeks.

I have 3 to share with you at this time.

1. Shawn McDonald - Simply Nothing

A teenager who Courtney worked with died in a tragic accident after his 16th birthday. His name was Tylor Tarien. This is the CD that was on full blast when the emergency medical workers approached the accident scene.

Tylor's parents distributed copies of this CD to all of his friends. We later bought a real copy when we saw Shawn McDonald in concert. Some songs have references to "leaving this world" and it is an emotional album. I definitely listened to it over and over.

2. Paul Simon - Graceland

This album has South African musicians, and is heavily influenced by South African music. There are excellent lyrics and many cool bass lines. I later found out that it won a Album of the Year Grammy in the 80's. My favorite songs are 'Graceland' and 'You Can Call Me Al'

3. Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man (2001)

This was so creative in both music and lyrics. The lyrics were poetic and were made into great melodies. Elvis Costello is a master at the guitar. I don't know what else to say, except that it is amazing.