Adventures at the music store

I have the house to myself this weekend, and it's a holiday weekend too. I thought now would be a perfect time for more music! New music makes a holiday weekend even more fun.

On my radar today was Joe Jackson's latest, Rain. I've been wanting this one for a while, and I cannot wait any longer. It has moved to the top of my must-have list. I've bought two other Joe Jackson albums this year, but his newest album is too good to pass up. I seem to buy Elvis Costello albums in spurts too.

CD World is also having a sale on used CDs this weekend - 30% off the regular price. I wanted to check that out while I was buying Joe Jackson. Of course, you know what this led to - buying two CDs instead of just one. This time was a little different, though.

The buses are on the Sunday schedule today, due to the holiday, so I had to plan my trip. I was very lucky - I caught every bus on time and didn't have to wait too long. I was only gone about three hours total, and I got to my first stop early.

After a quick bathroom break, I made my way to CD World and quickly snapped up the only copy of Rain. So far, so good. Then it was time to check out the used section. It was busier than usual. I suppose everyone saw the ad in today's newspaper and headed down to the store to check it out. I didn't see too much that interested me. There were a few that I thought I might get, but they were fairly expensive for used discs. There were a few others that looked okay, but nothing really stood out and insisted I buy it.

What really got to me was seeing people with armfuls of used CDs. That was probably the reason I didn't see anything too good. I think the store should have a limit to the number of sale CDs that can be bought. Of course, it's partly luck (they seemed to have every Billy Joel album except the only one I want to buy).

I could have walked out of the store with only Joe Jackson in hand, but my heart wanted more, more, more. I looked at the store's selection of bargain-priced $6.99 CDs - and finally found one I could buy! The $6.99 section has nearly every Johnny Cash album you'd ever want, but the one that caught my eye was the famous At Folsom Prison. No, it's not part of the sale, but it's the price of a used CD. I might not ever find it at that price again, right? So, after another glance at the used selection, that's what I ended up getting.

Right now I'm listening to the Joe Jackson album, and it's excellent! The stripped-down sound really works for him. It just sounds great. Not so great, though, is the packaging. Once again, I buy a CD that doesn't fit in my computer desk CD slots! At least this time it's too high, not too wide. Still annoying, though.

As for the Johnny Cash album, I think I've made the right choice (I say that without having heard the songs). It's brand new, it has 19 songs, excellent liner notes, and it's not much more expensive than one of the on-sale used discs. Win-win for me!