dante alighieri stopped too soon. you see, in his classic, the inferno, he depicts 9 circles of hell. but alas, there is actually a 10th circle. what resides in this deepest circle of endless torture?

facebook memes and games.

yes friends, those who engage in mafia wars or farmville (or any other game) or those who tell you to repost this message if you really love jesus dwell in the darkest pit of virtual hell. basically, anything that requires a regular & concerted effort to suck one’s time (and others’ time) while partaking in the black hole known as facebook are a special breed.

but.

lest we forget that hell is full of well-intentioned people with well-intentioned ideas who merely went astray, there are times worth pausing to take note of some bright moments in facebook memes. yes, the sun breaks through the cracks in hell every now and then.

so it was a few days ago when my friend and coworker jennifer posted a note in which i was tagged. the note, titled 15 albums i’ll always love, was a fun little exercise in remembering music and taking a look back at one’s musical journey. the description read as the following:

The rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums (cd’s, albums, tapes, etc. but in other words, not singles) you’ve heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall or that come to mind in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends (or more if you want to) including me, because I’m interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste these rules rules into a new note, choose your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note, which you do below the body of the note.)

why the heck not??

i thought i would run with the idea and expand here on my blog. (is there an extra special 11th circle of hell for people who spam their own blogs with facebook memes??) 🙂

the following is my list of the 15 albums that “will always stick with you”. interestingly, several of these aren’t actually even my favorite album by that artist. rather, these are albums of significance, marking a time or event or person in my life that is forever noteworthy. each album tells a story, sometimes in strange and random ways. so, here’s my list:

by the way, these are in complete random order. they don’t represent a hierarchy whatsoever.

1. michael jackson: bad
2. ray lamontagne: trouble
3. derek webb: mockingbird
4. oasis: (what’s the story) morning glory
5. don chaffer: what you don’t know
6. kevin max: stereotype be
7. nickel creek: why should the fire die?
8. dc talk: jesus freak
9. jenny lewis: rabbit fur coat
10. snoop dogg: doggystyle
11. everclear: so much for the afterglow
12. brandi carlile: the story
13. mute math: mute math
14. sheryl crow: sheryl crow
15. michael jackson: dangerous

ok, now’s the part where i completely break the rules. when i post music on my blog, the primary goal is to help people discover new music and to love music. so, i decided to put together an “honorable mention” list. there were so many albums that are incredibly significant to me, but maybe just missed the top 15. so, here’s that list as well:

1. fiona apple: tidal
2. smashing pumpkins: mellon collie & the infinite sadness
3. dc talk: supernatural
4. outkast: atliens
5. sublime: sublime
6. 2pac: all eyez on me
7. alanis morissette: jagged little pill
8. derek webb: stockholm syndrome
9. elbow: leaders of the free world
10. rilo kiley: under the blacklight
11. justin timberlake: futuresex/lovesounds
12. kevin max: the imposter
13. coldplay: a rush of blood to the head
14. damien rice: o
15. david crowder band: a collision

many of you know this music. many of you don’t. so, i thought i’d throw together a couple mixes for your listening and discovering pleasure. enjoy!

// download 15 enduring albums //

// download 15 (more) enduring albums //