A to Z - G

It's the 7th one of these !

Yep. Steadily rattling through the albums. It'll actually only be another 170 ish unlistened to tracks before I'm through the H's and the I's are quick after that too. I guess there's a reason why a lot of albums start with letters that are early in the alphabet ?

(Probably cos I have a good few Doctor Who soundtracks which have tonnes of tracks ...)

So how about G ? Do you get the feeling there's going to be a few Greatest Hits here ?

Gabriella Aplin starts it off with a short live EP, it got me interested enough to buy her English Rain album. Excellent singer, although not quite in the Julianne Regan, Nina Persson, Natasha Khan class.

Or even Shirley Manson - in here with Garbage's first self titled album. Lots of supreme tracks here that coalesce very well as an album. One of the highlights for me is Only Happy When It Rains - hang on ... rain = no cricket !

I'm turning into a Jack White fan. He combines raw vocals with equally raw guitar. That said, the Get Behind Me Satan album didn't really have that many stand out tracks for me.

Unlike Ghost Of A Dog, the second Edie Brickell & New Bohemians album. The title track may make you cry but there's plenty more here to sing along to. Or howl along to in the case of Woyaho.

Avril Lavigne is being fairly prolific. She's in here with Goodbye Lullaby. Decent album but I didn't have any real standouts from it.

Gorillaz were Damon Albarn's next thing after Blur. Very different, very characteristic. I like 'em and I'll collect what they do. And M1A1 was nearly my ringtone before I vetoed it in the interest of not having my phone put in a bucket of water ... You know what I mean ;-)

Paul Simon continues to bring out decent music, not quite on the level of when he was with Art Garfunkel but still pretty good. My highlight from Graceland was Diamonds on the Soles Of Her Shoes.

Did I mention the Cardigans earlier ? Gran Turismo is the album that started off that particular fascination. And in a little while I'll be on My Favourite Game (Moo 2). Great track, with promise of what was better to come.

Soundtracks too :
Galactic Civilisations - I acquired this game on GoG as part of a bundle. It's a space strategy game but it's no Moo2 but then I'm biased. The music's good.
Gladiator ? Hans Zimmer has come out with some great movie soundtracks. However ... they all sound the same because he has a characteristic style. Great music but not much variety.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - amazing film, amazing soundtrack starring amongst others the recently departed Eli Wallach. I have the title as my phone ring tone, which causes confusion when people use it as incidental music. Grr.

There's some collections here too :
Glory Of Gershwin - there's some excellent old music out there. This was an album where Gershwin songs get a contemporary touch from artists like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. But sometimes the old stuff is the best, like Larry Adler performing Rhapsody In Blue.
Gold Dust by Tori Amos - I have mixed feelings about Tori Amos. She mercilessly hacks away at her back catalogue and this is another example. The songs are a little different and there's some rare ones here, like my favourite of this set, Flying Dutchman.
Ella Fitzgerald is another golden oldie with a double cd with her best stuff. There's lots here but my favourite is Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love.

I know. Soppy.

Back to collections !
I keep my eye on Dubstar. They didn't do many albums but what they did got my approval. You have Sarah Blackman's pure voice accompanying mostly electronic music. It's good stuff. Ghost is my highlight from this collection. (Warning - sad song)
Robbie Williams - I like this guy's voice. It's strong, yet can also be soft at the same time. He has full control over it and can do magic things with it. My favourite will always be Bom-Bom-Bom-Bom-Bom-Ba-Ba-Bom Road To Mandalay.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - mixed feelings here. They pull out some awfulness (Suck My Kiss) but they can also produce incredible songs like Californication.
Shania Twain - strong voice again, perhaps a little too mainstream. But if someone like her is singing Come On Over at me, I'll be there. Running. I did mention Warp Speed didn't I ?
The Bangles - shame these girls aren't what they used to be. The highlight will always be the heartstopping Eternal Flame.
Eurythmics - Greatest Hits - bit like Dubstar with a pure voice combined with electronic music. I actually prefer Dubstar but these guys had the attention and some brilliant songs like Sweet Dreams.

Queen ! Everyone must have a copy of their first Greatest Hits. I don't think their 2nd and 3rd are so good but their first has songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites The Dust and my favourite Don't Stop Me Now.

That's it for the collections - I also have Grieg's Peer Gynt in the collection which has lots of good stuff to go along with the In The Hall Of The Mountain King that you'll know and love.

Next step - H ? 3236 songs to go for 7.7 days of music time !