Law Student Turned Music Critic

This past weekend I ventured up to Amoeba to dig through some stacks of records to add to my new collection. It also turned into a "Bianca teaches Matt about the beauty of vinyl" lesson. Seeing that I'm a starving law student this summer, I limited myself to 3 purchases: 1) Chicago's (then known as Chicago Transit Authority) first album. It's beautiful because it's the only album they released under that name since the actual CTA threatened to sue. Gotta love my hometown; 2) The Go-Go's "Beauty and the Beat". Another fabulous debut and contained "Our Lips are Sealed" and "We've Got the Beat". Obviously a necessary addition to the collection; and what I was most stoked about, 3) Fleetwood Mac "Rumors". I remember each and every lyric on this album. My parents were obsessed with it. While it was released in the late 70's and I wasn't born until 1983, I vividly remember my parents playing it, on the turntable in the house and on a recorded tape in the car. I remember my dad used to tell me how it was one of the best selling albums of all time. So as I sat here listening to it, I decided to do a little wikipedia search...

When I decide to look up something on wikipedia and I have some time to spare, I tend to start clicking the links within the article. This usually leads to hours reading random but incredibly enjoyable information (example: last night Tiffany and I looked up "where are they now?" of our favorite childhood stars. I didn't get to sleep until 1 a.m.) So I look up Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" and I get a link to the best selling albums of all time...

At #1 we have Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Completely acceptable. It's the album that included "Billie Jean" (my personal fav - in my young years I wished the sidewalk would light up as I walked), "Beat It" and "PYT". This is followed by AC/DC and The Eagles (ok, I'll give it to them) and then...The Bodyguard Soundtrack. I thought "this can't be right..." but apparently it is. Ok, when Whitney hit those long, high notes towards the end of "I Will Always Love You", I was impressed. 42 million albums sold impressed? Not really. Following Whitney we have some unsurprising artists: Meatloaf, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin. A little further down the list we have...the Backstreet Boys. Not once, but TWICE!!! 30 million albums each. Higher than other Michael Jackson Albums, Nirvana's "Nevermind", and my beloved "Rumors". Insanity.

Perhaps I think I'm a music critic. Or maybe I've been watching "Almost Famous" too much.