It is funny how life’s tune changes. Four years ago, I was pretty well set on writing about sports. I still love sports, but writing about them just isn’t as high of a high as it used to be. Sure, I’ll still get worked up from time to time and feel the need to berate or praise some sporting figures, but I’m not the constant hot take machine I used to be.
How life typically goes is that one leaves and another thing comes in to fill that void. My life has seen a shift from sports to music. Not the performing of these things, I’m not good enough to do that, but music has taken the place to think about it, analyze and, frankly, care about.
I tell you this to tell you about my latest project: Album per diem
Per diem is Latin for “per day” or “for each day”. That means right here on this very website, I am going to listen to, analyze and write about a different album every single day. Is this a big undertaking? Maybe. There’s only one way to find out and that’s to jump in and do it.
This is all going to kick off on February 1. Get your popcorn ready.
I’m always trying to diversify and expand my musical knowledge and this is my way of doing that. I hope to help myself and help turn my lovely readers on to some music they might not have heard of before.
What albums are going to be on Album per diem during the month of February? Glad you asked:
- 1: Al Green – Full of Fire#
- 2: Bob Dylan – Shadows In The Night
- 3: Roseanne Cash – Seven Year Ache#
- 4: Queen – Innuendo
- 5: Elton John – Wonderful Crazy Night*
- 6: Neil Diamond – Tennessee Moon
- 7: Buck Owens – Roll Out The Red Carpet
- 8: Merle Haggard – It’s All In The Movies#
- 9: Phil Collins – Face Value
- 10: Diana Ross – Diana Ross (1976)
- 11: Kanye West – Waves*
- 12: John Coltrane – Ascension#
- 13: Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
- 14: Heart – Dreamboat Annie
- 15: Alabama – Feels So Right#
- 16: Journey – Captured#
- 17: Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors
- 18: Jackson Browne – Lives In The Balance
- 19: Earth, Wind & Fire – Earth, Wind & Fire#
- 20: Willie Nelson – The Sound In Your Mind#
- 21: Jason Mraz – Geekin’ Out Across The Galaxy
- 22: Adele – 21
- 23: Jimmy Buffett – Coconut Telegraph#
- 24: Kid Rock – First Kiss
- 25: Juice Newton – Juice#
- 26: Bonnie Raitt – Dig In Deep*
- 27: Dave Matthews Band – Everyday
- 28: Bruce Springsteen – Hammersmith Odeon London ‘75
- 29: Olivia Newton-John – Come On Over
All of these albums have been/will be released in the month of February. All these albums are either the one, five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 or 55 year anniversary of the album or day of release. The * means that it is a day-of-release appearance on Album per diem, so, for example, the day that Kanye drops Waves, I’ll listen to it and I’ll let you know if it is in fact the ‘album of a life’.
The # means that the album was released sometime in the month of February. Yes, all the other albums are the exact day anniversary. I’d love to keep it that way, but the further you go back in history the more Wikipedia only lists the release month instead of the exact release date.
To quote Taylor Swift, “it’s going to be forever or it’s going to go down in flames.” Either way, I’m very excited to get this project going and to immerse myself in a whole lot of music.
Until then I’m going to go scan my radio until I find Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’ because that may be one of the most perfect songs released in my lifetime. I’m serious.
May the music be ever in your favor.
Collin Kottke: All-Around Swell Guy 