Following on from my decision to experiment, musically, on myself (here) I once again ventured through the door of the small nearby charity shop to choose CDs. This time I had company, who found it highly amusing that I managed to pick out Something To Remember by Madonna (an album of ballads) and Spirit of America, a compilation album, presumably reflecting the spirit of America. I did ponder adding compilation albums to my list of CDs I can veto but my companion pointed out that by increasing my vetos I decrease my chances of finding new music…which is sort of the whole point.

Oh Dear.

Something To Remember – Madonna. I have never been a Madonna fan, which is a little weird because I was precisely the right demographic when she first appeared in the charts and on our screens. I have gone through periods of disliking her, admiring her, being bored by her but never really liking any of the music she produced. This was not the album for me then. I find ballads boring on the whole so this was never gonna rock my boat but Crazy For You and Rain were both acceptable as they reminded me of when I actually used to listen to pop music and they were all over the radio. Something To Remember is actively bad and Forbidden Love sounds like there’s someone’s mobile phone ringing in the background. All in all not great, none of the tracks are making it onto the ipod and the CD is being redonated immediately.

Spirit of America – Various Artists. This one did a little better, which is surprising considering I had to go to the record company’s own website to find any online info about it. This album is pretty much 25% ‘how exactly does this represent the spirit of America?’ 25% ‘pretty sure American people would not want their spirits described in this way’ 25% ‘what the F?’ and 25% ‘Oh! I love this song!’. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd will probably find it’s way onto the ipod (I am surprised it isn’t on there already, truth be told) as I imagine it’s great to sing/shout at 70mph up the motorway and The Heat Is On – Glenn Frey is always acceptable because it was in Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and how cool is that?! (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult will always be respectfully listened all the way through because it is used in the 6 hour mini series of Stephen King’s The Stand…UTTER CLASSIC. I am umming and ahhing about Ride Like The Wind – Christopher Cross, I think I would listen to it sometimes, if it were on the iPod, and I would probably also skip it sometimes. I suppose 50/50 is enough for it to get onto there. On balance, this one was a success I’d say.

Not bad for 50p each.