I was tagged by Jason Crabtree to do the Music Question Challenge. Super excited about this one as I absolutely love music!

What Are Five Of Your Favorite Albums?

Good thing I’m limited to only five, as I have a LOT of albums that I truly enjoy. The order in which these will be listed are by my favorite all time. But let’s get started!

  • Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet: This is a no brainer for me and is at the very top of the list not only because it has my favorite song of all time, which I’ll mention below, but it’s an overall great album that I actually like every song on the album. It was also the album tour that I saw Bon Jovi live in concert for the first time at the Summit in Houston, TX. The videos from this album were absolutely awesome and I still watch several of them on a regular basis today.
  • PoisonLook What The Cat Dragged In: The debut album by Poison that truly caught my attention from the second I heard the very first note on August 16th, 1986. Again, I love every song on this album as well as every video for each song that was ever released. Most people will choose Talk Dirty To me, I Want Action or I Won’t Forget You as their favorite track from the album, but mine is easily Cry Tough. A song that to me has a pretty powerful meaning to it. Poison became such an influential group in my life as I have seen them live in concert a total of 53 times to date.
  • Motley CrueTheatre Of Pain: Another great album that I enjoy literally every song from. While this wasn’t Motley Crue’s first album, it was their best album to date though Shout At The Devil was a very close second in my opinion. Like most everyone, Home Sweet Home is easily my favorite song from this album, and the cool thing about that song is, a big majority of the video for the song was shot at The Summit in Houston, TX, which I actually attended.
  • DaughtryDaughtry: I instantly fell in love with Chris Daughtry’s voice the second I heard it on the American Idol auditions back in 2006. The debut and self-titled album Daughtry is without a doubt my favorite album the band has released. Especially the song Over You which is my favorite track not only on this album, but my favorite track that Daughtry has ever recorded.
  • Linkin ParkMeteora: The second album by Linkin Park was what caught my attention immediately. I hadn’t really listened to them prior to this album, but in all fairness, I hadn’t listened to a lot of alternative music at the time. There was something about this album that changed the type of music I listened to at the time and for many years to come. So many great songs on this album but to me, there’s nothing better than the song Faint. The beat, the lyrics and that ever impressive screaming by the late Chester Bennington really resonated with me and I instantly became a Linkin Park fan for life!

What Are Five Of Your Favorite Songs?

I’m purposely going to leave my favorite song of all time off of this list, only because that question is asked later and I want to save that discussion until then. So five of my favorite songs, in no particular order are as follows.

  • Linkin ParkThe Emptiness Machine: The first song with new lead singer Emily Armstrong and what a banger of a song this one is. While Emily isn’t Chester, and she’s not even trying to be, she’s the perfect fit for what I call Linkin Park 2.0. This song is catchy and just has a really great beat to it.
  • Jimmie AllenDown Home: This song hits me very, very hard. I heard it on American Idol when Jimmie Allen debuted the song and instantly started balling my eyes out. This song reminds me of my dad who had just recently passed away after his 3rd battle with cancer. The lyrics say so many things that I relate to and hoping that I’m doing everything I can to make my dad as proud as possible. I know he’s up there looking “down home” over myself and my wife.
  • Don Williams: Where The Arkansas River Leaves Oklahoma: Far from a popular song, or even a single released on the radio, something about this song grabbed my attention when I was a kid and it’s stuck with me. I saw Don Williams in concert one year at the Tin Hall in Houston, TX and requested by screaming it from the front row. He replied and said, maybe next year. My luck had it, the next year he came back to the Tin Hall and I was on the front row. I once again requested the song and he instantly replied with “You requested this last year, so I’ll do it, but you have to help because I never perform this song in concert and not even sure if the band fully knows it.”
  • PoisonSomething To Believe In: My dad’s favorite song by Poison. The first time I ever heard it, I went running into my dads room and told him that he needed to come listen to this song. I didn’t tell him who it was, as he didn’t really care for the music I listened to so I wanted him to just sit and listen. He did just that in during the song he broke down and cried. From that moment forward, it was his favorite Poison song and a song that I later made my ringtone on every mobile phone I owned for when he called.
  • StaindIt’s Been A While: I heard this song while getting my Chilly Willy tattoo in Houston, TX and quickly asked my tattoo artist who it was. He told me it was Staind, which I had never heard of, because at the time, I didn’t listen to any alternative music. That song changed that and it’s solely the song that’s responsible for changing the music I listened to going forward. Just an amazing song.

Favorite Instrument(s)?

  • Drums
  • Guitar
  • Keyboard
  • Synthesizer

What Song Or Album Are You Currently Listening To?

BananaramaIt’s Going To Be Alright. It just happens to be what’s playing on my playlist as I’m writing this blog post.

Do You Listen To The Radio, And If So, How Often?

I only listen to the radio if/when I’m in an Uber/Lyft and the driver has the radio on at the time. I listen to my playlist via streaming it through Apple Music currently, though I have the same playlist on Spotify and YouTube Music.

How Often Do You Listen To Music?

All day, from the moment I wake up for the day until I go to bed at night. I always have my playlist playing and music playing. I listen to music when the wife and I run errands as well most of the time. It’s very rare that I’m not listening to music, and that’s most often when I’m in the shower or sleeping.

How Often Do You Discover Music And How Do You Discover It?

On a very regular basis, and especially on Friday’s when most new music is released. I also discover it via Mastodon, Discord and just reading news and other similar things.

What’s A Song Or Album You Enjoy That You Wish Had More Recognition?

This is a really tough question. But I’d have to say it’s neither a song nor an album, but an artist, Mike Sanchez. I saw him live as the opening act for Daughtry and Safety Suit several years ago and he is so talented when it comes to music, but nobody really seems to know him. I also had the pleasure of meeting him in person that night and he’s just a down to Earth individual.

What’s Your Favorite Song Of All Time?

FINALLY! I’ve been holding this song back from a couple of lists up top as I wanted to solely talk about it here, but this is the easiest question in the world for me to answer and has been since 1986. Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi. I bought the Slippery When Wet album the day it was released and the second I heard this song, I was instantly in love with it. I said to myself, this song will be a HUGE hit one day. Little did I know, almost 40 years later, it is still to this day Bon Jovi’s most popular and most successful song ever. It’s recognized by most everyone and the lyrics are so true. The song means so much to me, that I even have the name of it permanently tattooed on my left upper arm. This is a song that I literally listen to every single day of my life, LITERALLY! It’s been the default ringtone on every mobile device I’ve ever owned since ringtones became a thing. It’s my ringtone for my alarms if/when I set one and so much more.

Has Your Taste Of Music Evolved Over The Years?

Oh yeah, without a doubt! When I was a kid growing up, it was all about country and western because that’s what my parents listened to pretty much 24/7. Then as I got a bit older, around junior high, I started listening to things like hair bands such as Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt and all that stuff. I also listened to what we called “New Wave” back in the 80’s, which is bands such as Depeche Mode, New Order and Erasure.

From there as I got a bit older again, I stumbled across alternative like I mentioned above when I first heard It’s Been A While by Staind. That led to me bands like Creed, Seether, God Smack and so much more.

Today, it’s a bit of everything from new country, pop, alternative and others. My main focus is often listening to older music such as my 80’s and similar, but I tend to listen to all sorts of my stuff. My playlist has a little over 4,500 songs and has numerous different genres throughout it. It’s always on shuffle, so I hear different things, constantly.

This Wouldn’t Be A Blog Challenge Without Tagging Someone Else, Right?

Yep, 100% correct in asking that, and that’s where I’m going to tag a few different folks such as Kyle, Sam, Liz and Dhry. Let’s hear your answers!

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