Music Tails

In my assiduous attempt to avoid any further commentary on certain recent events, I'm going to talk about music. After all, my opinion on music is just as influential as my opinion on politics. I can't even get the person who lives with me to agree on either one consistently, so what hope do I have with the rest of you?

Anyhow, I received an Amazon gift card over the holidays, which neatly coincided with Amazon having a $5 MP3 album sale. Sweet! So, in no particular order, I downloaded the following:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
The Birthday Massacre - Pins And Needles
Volbeat - Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood
Combichrist - Making Monsters
Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits: 1974-1978
Apocalyptica - 7th Symphony [+Digital Booklet]
The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music

I paid for those 7 and am still dithering on what I should buy with my remaining bounty. The albums below weren't a difficult choice, since they were free:

Best of Nuclear Blast: 20th Anniversary Compilation
2010 Cool Tour New Artist Sampler
Gothic Metal - Metalhit Free Download Series
Death Metal - Metalhit Free Download Series
Thrash Metal - Metalhit Free Download Series
Folk Metal - Metalhit Free Download Series

I remain slightly confused as to what exactly "folk metal" is supposed to be, but this confusion is not new.

You may note some of my choices tend towards the obscure. A gentleman recently wrote a lovely article which explains the more recent oddities of the top-selling album list. I think it's worth your while to read, if you are interested in the slow-motion implosion of the record industry in the current form.