In A Word's Top 10 Albums Most Commonly Found On The Front Seat Or Floorboards Of My PT Cruiser

'Tis the season for annual top ten list from so-called experts on everything from music, books, movies, quotes, and politics. Being that I am now a professional blogger [I forfeited my amateur status when I put adsense on my blog to make about 8 cents a day], I decided I am just as qualified as anyone to shamelessly plug my favorites things of the past year.

Heck, I even composed a cutesy little title [along the lines of: "currently playing in my iPOD" or the CD that keep me humming all year"...yeah, you cheesy music critics you know who you are]. In A Word is proud to present the Top 10 Albums Most Commonly Found On The Front Seat Or Floorboards Of My PT Cruiser. In my little world, I don't have much time to listen to music. So, if a CD in my collection has found its' way from my house to my car, it is a place of honor for that particular album. "Honor" in the sense of the word that it will soon be so scratched and dirty that I will soon be downloading another "magical" copy off the internet. Also, keep in mind these are the albums I listened to the most this year, however they probably were not released this year. So, with that in mind...

In A Word is proud to Present the 2005 Top 10 Albums Most Commonly Found On The Front Seat Or Floorboards Of My PT Cruiser:

10. Trans Siberian Orchestra: The Lost Christmas Eve
You can pretty much lump all the TSO albums under this entry as I listen to them practically non-stop starting right after Thanksgiving. This is the type of music makes me crank the volume. Hard rock and symphony molded into one perfect sound. Brilliant.

9. Five For Fighting: The Battle For Everything
Something a little softer for my feminine side. Nice piano work. Very mainstream, but amazing tight sound.

8. Queensryche: Operation-Mindcrime
Ah, an all time great album from 1988. Queensryche suckered me in a retro tour this year [which by the way was one of the worst concerts I have been to]. However, Mindcrime stayed firmly in the CD player for the weeks leading up to the concert.

7. Rush: A Show Of Hands
As much as I hate to support Canadians, they do put out some good comedians and Rush is one of better musical bands of the last 25 years. IrishWalsh got me hooked for awhile on Rush and the "A Show Of Hands" live album is probably my favorite.

6. Coheed And Cambria: Second Stage Turbine Blade
Coheed was the jewel of the year for me. I got introduced through their most recent album and had the luxury of discovering their back catalogue of albums. "Second Stage" is the first album and extremely well put together. Think: Rush meets Dream Theater meets Queensryche.

5. Coheed And Cambria: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth Vol. III
Coheed's second album in the Coheed and Cambria ongoing story. Each CD is a concept album progressing the story line. Intelligent lyrics backed up by a heavy, sometimes poppy sound.

4. Coheed And Cambria: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Bright IV Vol. I
The final Coheed album on my list is also their newest. The thing I am most amazed about is that in 3 full length albums I do not skip a single song. The albums are that good. And for a metal head that is a good thing.

3. Frank Sinatra: His Great Performances 1953-1960
Yeah, that's right Frank Sinatra. Without a doubt a one of all time greatest performers. His voice is timeless as are the songs he sings. This album is digitally remastered and contains a vast majority of his more famous songs.

2. Third Day: Wherever You Are
Southern grown blues rock served up Christian style. I am a sucker for good old fashioned Lynyrd Skynyrd style rock music, and no one does it better than Third Day [minus the drugs and fiery plane crashes]. To top it off Mac Powell writes some of the most in depth and profound lyrics on the rock scene. Don't let the Christian tag scare you away, this is the year's best new rock album hands down.

1. Dream Theater: Train Of Thought
Dream Theater released their 8th studio album this year entitled "Octovarium." However, the new release drove me back to rediscover their overall best album, which is "Train Of Thought." Put simply, this is the type of album Metallica would be making right now if they hadn't started talking about hurt feelings and needing a shrink to follow them around on tour. Most other Dream Theater albums are extremely prog-metal, however with "TOT" they strip back the sound and offer up their heaviest album to date. Kirk Hammett and the rest of Metallica please note that guitar solos and instrumentals still make great heavy metal music. Dream Theater nails it on this album. A must own.