by Matt Barr

Albums you need in the car

There's a 1993 Audi 100CS Quattro wagon at the local corner used car place. It has a rear-facing seat! It also has a cassette deck. Looking at it reminded me of the five tapes I absolutely had to have in the car, back when the car had a tape deck:

Lifes Rich Pageant, R.E.M. The perfect tempo, upbeat with some change-ups mixed in, including the great song Fall On Me.

Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty. Try not to speed when Runnin' Down a Dream comes on. Go ahead, try! Also try not to sing along to Feel a Whole Lot Better.

Chris Isaak, Chris Isaak. Mostly so you can play the last song, Waiting For the Rain To Fall, when you're driving in the rain at night.

All Over the Place, Bangles. The most underrated album in modern rock history ("modern" as in "since I've been buying music," not the genre). A truly great tape and a great driving soundtrack, particularly in the summer.

Brave and Crazy, Melissa Etheridge:

Have you seen it on my doorstep
Did you see it in my car
Have you seen it in the alley
Was it on the back of some guitar
Is it sleeping in the hallway
Does it cry all night alone
Is it selling itself for money
Does it want, does it want to come home

Also a very underrated album.

UPDATE: I had to buy the Tom Petty and R.E.M. albums from Napster because I've never owned them in any other form but cassette, but I decided to put a track from each of these albums on the Radio.blog on the right stripe of my home page. Enjoy!

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