I thought for this post I would take a break from the petty talk about Mackinac Island and enlighten you on one of my other hobbies - music. I'm a big music fan, spanning from all different genres of art. Below I've listed some of my favorite albums of all time.

The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Many Beatles fans cite 1, The White Album, or Magical Mystery Tour as their favorite disc by the foursome, but for me, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band takes the cake. Not only does it have catchy pop tracks like "With a Little Help from my Friends" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," but it shows the goofy side of the band with tracks like "When I'm 64."

Reel Big Fish: Turn the Radio Off!
The first and best major RBF disc. Turn the Radio Off! is a perfect debut for the ska-rockers, combining humour, with telling off girls, they're shyness from popularity, and their oft-favorite sung about hobby - drinking. No other RBF album has been able to touch the excellence of Turn the Radio Off!

Green Day: American Idiot
Most Green Day fans will stand by Dookie as their favorite record by the California trio, but I see otherwise. While Dookie was a very good listen about coming clean off drugs and growing up, American Idiot introduces fans to a whole new musical topic - politics. Green Day nails politically-charged songs with poppy guitar riffs and catchy vocals to bash the American government en route to an Oscar win for the trio. The highlight of the album is the seven-minute plus "Jesus of Suburbia."

Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A.
Many Springsteen fans seem to favor Born to Run as their favorite disc with The Boss and the E Street Band, but Born in the U.S.A. has a little of everything. Catchy bob-your-head-along songs like "No Surrender," and "I'm Going Down," are mixed with somber tracks like "Downbound Train," and the often misinterpreted "Born in the U.S.A." to make the disc a classic.

Weezer: Pinkerton
The best and most criticized album by the nerdy foursome takes the listener on a musical journey through the experience head singer Rivers Cuomo had with a Japanese Girl, highlighted beautifully by the song "Across the Sea." Pinkerton is full of passion, sympathy, and an overall understanding and morale of the story, which is lacked in the very good Blue Album, and far from anything that Weezer's released since.

Jimmy Eat World: Clarity
The often overlooked album from Jimmy Eat World that came years before their pop-rock mainstream Bleed American success. Clarity starts the listener out slow with "Table for Glasses," then tackles subjects from love to lust before rocking out with the tracks "Blister," and "Clarity." Songs are written and sung with a never before seen passion from lead singer Jimmy Atkins, making this disc a must have for any JEW fan.



Honorable mentions:
Midtown - Save the World, Lose the Girl: Other Midtown records can't even touch the punk-rock excellence of this disc.

Yellowcard - One for the Kids: Fantastic record introducing the violin as a main instrument combined with raw catchy lyrics. Sadly, the group has weeded out the violin more and more since they're mainstream release of Ocean Avenue.

Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends: Classic punk rock sound with dual vocalists that has again been transformed due to mainstream popularity.

Thursday - Full Collapse: Hard-rocking screamo music with a purpose behind each song.