'My Imagination Just Stole Me Away'

I'm through my first CD shelf, nearly 70 percent this project of listening to all the CDs I own. In February, I started with my Elvis Costello CDs, prepping myself for his show with The Impostors at The Wiltern. From there, I moved onto my Madonna CDs, the anticipation building for the release of "MDNA." After, I went back to the beginning of my collection, starting with The Doors "best of" and winding my way through one-offs, past obsessions and treasured memories—Henry Rollins, The Black Crowes, INXS, The Spice Girls, Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, No Doubt, Green Day, Weezer and The Corrs, with dozens more in between.

In all, I've listened to 240 CDs since embarking on this project in February. At times, it felt like excruciatingly slow going, me not finding the time to get through as much music as I'd like. There were other times, thankfully, that I could zip through five or more CDs in a day. Because of those days, I'm actually much further along in this process than I thought I'd be, so much so that I'm currently taking a break, giving myself the opportunity to pick back through that first shelf, revisiting forgotten favorites, mixing new release (Alanis, No Doubt and Green Day) in with their precursors, and spending a bit more time with Elvis Costello and Madonna in advance of concerts for both.

I heard an interview this morning with a man who wrote a memoir about being in a book club with his mother. The author and interviewer were beginning a discussion on the differences between physical books and e-books when I arrived at work, so I didn't get to hear his thoughts. It did get me thinking about my own preference for the physical over the electronic.

Though not telling the whole story, our possessions do reveal quite a bit about who we are, our interests, priorities, philosophies and habits. If I go to someone's house, I'm curious about the books, movies and music filling their shelves. I do check out the covers of books and magazines people are reading in public. Two grad students actually struck up a conversation with me at a show once because one of the students and I were both reading "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas."

If I was on a Kindle, we wouldn't have had that conversation; instead I would have just been another person with my face illuminated by a screen.

Going back through my CDs, I feel like the music I own is a good reflection of who I was, am and maybe even could be. I'm not afraid of the impression someone will get of me by scanning the titles because I know each of the 345 CDs on my shelves contains some memory, bit of inspiration or big idea that in some small way makes up who I am.

Throughout this process I've smiled many times, sighed quite often and gotten choked up more than once. I've been transported back in time to junior high dances, high school science classes, the college newsroom, the streets of Dublin, hotel rooms, stadiums, museums, car trips, times high and low. Each artist continues to speak to me and most are deserving of their own entries here, but so many of my big ideas about one have been crowded out as soon as I started playing the CD, certain that, yes, this is it.

The truth is, they could all be it, all be the CD I'm listening to when that momentous whatever happens, the one that inspires me, the one that comforts me, the one that encourages me, the one that conspires with me, the one that pushes me out the door or tucks me in at night. At varying times throughout my life, the CDs in my collection have played at least one of those roles, sometimes more.

On the other side of this break, I have 105 CDs of similar importance. Starting that off will be John Mayer, who I've mooned over many, many, many times on this blog. He's so damn good and I'm very much looking forward to spending some time with his words and music. Also ahead are James Blunt, Robbie Williams, Ashlee Simpson, Fall Out Boy, Amy Winehouse and Adele, just to name a few. The grand finale will be U2.

I used to think that I had too many CDs, the great majority rarely listened to, just taking up space and collecting dust as I continually returned to the same 50 or so. Now that I've started going back through my collection, I've recognized the value in what I have and have no plans to get rid of anything. There's nothing wrong with having a lot of stuff, as long as you use it. With my love for my music reinvigorated, I will use it.

I understand that some people reading this might thinking 345 CDs is nothing. With Amazon selling digital copies for $5 or less and people blindly ripping whatever they can from other people's collections until their iTunes folder consumes their entire hard drive, I can see how having thousands of complete albums is not as big of a deal as it used to be. My collection will continue to grow but will probably never reach those heights because it's physical, buying CDs can be costly and I'm getting choosier about what I will buy.

As long as artists continue putting out CDs, and stores exist to sell them, I will continue buying.

Here's what I've listened to so far this year:

Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello With Burt Bacharach: Painted From Memory
The Very Best of Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True (Rhino reissue)
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: All This Useless Beauty (Rhino reissue)
Spike (Rhino reissue)
When I Was Cruel
This Years Model (Rhino reissue)
North
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: Armed Forces (Rhino reissue)
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: Trust (Rhino reissue)
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: Get Happy
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: National Ransom
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: Punch the Clock (Rhino reissue)
Original Soundtrack: De-Lovely
Elvis Costello & The Imposters: The Delivery Man
Elvis Costello Live With the Metropole Orkest: My Flame Burns Blue
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint: The River in Reverse
Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Madonna
Erotica
The Immaculate Collection
Original Soundtrack: Evita
Ray of Light
Something to Remember
True Blue
Like a Prayer
Bedtime Stories
Madonna
Live a Virgin
Music
You Can Dance
I'm Breathless
GHV2
Original Soundtrack: Who's That Girl
American Life
Remixed & Revisited I'm Going to Tell You a Secret
Confessions on a Dance Floor
The Confessions Tour
Original Soundtrack: Vision Quest
Hard Candy
Sticky & Sweet Tour
Celebration
Glee: The Power of Madonna
MDNA (clean and deluxe versions)

The Doors
The Best of the Doors

Guns N Roses
Appetite for Destruction
Lies
The Spaghetti Incident
Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion II

Motley Crue
Decade of Decadence
Too Fast for Love

The Eagles
Their Greatest Hits
Don Henley: Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits

Henry Rollins
The Boxed Life
Wartime: Fast Food for Thought
Rollins Band: Insert Band Here: Live in Australia 1990
Sweatbox
A Rollins in the Wry
Rollins Band: Yellow Blues
Rollins Band: A Clockwork Orange Stage
Big Ugly Mouth/Short Walk on a Long Pier
Think Tank
Live at the Westbeth Theater
Talk Is Cheap Volume 1
Talk Is Cheap Volume 2
Talk Is Cheap Volume 3
Talk Is Cheap Volume 4
Spoken Word Guy 2
Spoken Word Guy
Nights Behind the Tree Line

Tina Turner
Tina Live in Europe Disc 1
Tina Live in Europe Disc 2
Simply the Best

Stray Cats
Best of the Stray Cats-Rock This Town
Brian Setzer Orchestra: Brian Setzer Live (Two Discs)
Brian Setzer Orchestra: Guitar Slinger
Brian Setzer Orchestra: The Dirty Boogie
Brian Setzer: Rockabilly Riot! Volume One: A Tribute to Sun Records

NKOTB
Face the Music

The Black Crowes
Three Snakes and One Charm
By Your Side
Lions
Shake Your Money Maker
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
Live Circus '95
Croweology

INXS
Elegantly Wasted
Live Baby Live
Shabooh Shoobah
Full Moon, Dirty Hearts
The Greatest Hits
The Swing
INXS
Kick
X
Welcome to Wherever You Are
Listen Like Thieves
Beneath the Colours
Shine Like It Does

Ashley MacIsaac
Hi How Are You Today?

Original Soundtrack
Dazed and Confused

En Vogue
Funky Divas

Poison
Poison's Greatest Hits

Live
Throwing Copper

Patty Smyth
Patty Smyth

The Rolling Stones
Bridges to Babylon
Hot Rocks

Kevin & Bean
A Family Christmas in Your Ass
Super Christmas

Original Soundtrack
Grease

Spice Girls
Spice
Spice World
Geri Halliwell: Schizophonic
Goodbye

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
Born to Run
Born in the U.S.A.

Bangles
Greatest Hits

Original Soundtrack
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion

Everclear
So Much for the Afterglow

Stevie Nicks
The Best of Stevie Nicks: Time Space
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits
Trouble in Shangri-La
Fleetwood Mac: The Dance
The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks

Depeche Mode
The Singles 86-98
The Singles 81-85
Dave Gahan: Hourglass

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Greatest Hits

Alanis Morissette
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Unplugged
Under Rug Swept
Jagged Little Pill
So-Called Chaos
Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
The Collection
Flavors of Entanglement
Havoc and Bright Lights

Mariah Carey
#1s

Culture Club
VH1 Storytellers/Greatest Moments

Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Heart
Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits 1985-1995

The Allman Brothers Band
A Decade of Hits 1969-1979

Etta James
The Best of Etta James: The Millennium Collection

Hole
Celebrity Skin
Courtney Love: America's Sweetheart

Abba
Gold: Greatest Hits

Carole King
Tapestry
Love Makes the World
The Living Room Tour

Taylor Dayne
Tell It to My Heart
Can't Fight Fate

Sinead O'Connor
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Sean-Nos Nua

Tracey Chapman
Telling Stories

George Michael
Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1
Faith

Aretha Franklin
The Very Best of Aretha Franklin: The '60s

The Beatles
Abbey Road
1
Original Soundtrack: I Am Sam
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
Let It Be
John Lennon: The John Lennon Collection
Revolver
Rubber Soul
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles (The White Album)
Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur
Magical Mystery Tour
Past Masters

Various Artists
100% Dance

Janet Jackson
Design of a Decade: 1986/1996

Destiny's Child
Survivor

Bobby Darin
The Ultimate Bobby Darin

Cyndi Lauper
She's So Unusual

Nirvana
Unplugged in New York
Foo Fighters: Skin and Bones

The Pretenders
The Singles

No Doubt
Rock Steady
Tragic Kingdom
Return of Saturn
The Singles 1992-2003
Gwen Stefani: Love Angel Music Baby
Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape
Push & Shove

Jewel
This Way

Social Distortion
Live at The Roxy

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Deja Vu

Kylie Minogue
Fever
Body Language
The Best of Kylie Minogue

Blondie
Greatest Hits

Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World (Bleed American)

The Proclaimers
The Best Of …

Janis Joplin
18 Essential Songs

The Ramones
All the Stuff (And More) Volume Two

The Clash
The Singles

Nelly Furtado
Whoa, Nelly!

Billy Idol
Greatest Hits

The Cars
Complete Greatest Hits

The Osbournes
The Osbourne Family Album

Green Day
International Superhits!
Insomniac
American Idiot
21st Century Breakdown
Uno!

Weezer
Weezer (The Green Album)
Weezer (The Blue Album)
Maladroit
Pinkerton
Make Believe
Weezer (The Red Album)
Raditude

R.E.M.
In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003
And I Feel Fine … R.E.M. The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987

The Cranberries
Everybody Else Is Doing It so Why Can't We? (The Complete Sessions 1991-1993)
No Need to Argue (The Complete Sessions 1994-1995)

Van Morrison
Astral Weeks
Tupelo Honey
Moondance

Van Halen
Van Halen
The Best of Both Worlds

Original Soundtrack
Clueless

X
Los Angeles/Wild Gift

Prince and the Revolution
Purple Rain

Norah Jones
Come Away With Me
Feels Like Home

The Vines
Highly Evolved
Winning Days

The Corrs
Live in Dublin
In Blue
Borrowed Heaven
Talk on Corners (Special Edition)
Forgiven, Not Forgotten
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