Since so much of my poetry is inspired by the thoughts I have from listening to music, I thought I'd share some of my favourite bands and their best albums.


I'll start with The Beatles, a classic band if ever there was one. The best album of theirs to me has to be Magical Mystery Tour with The White Album as a close second.

Then there's the Flaming Lips, my all-time favourite band. They have the greatest experimental rock albums ever, like Zaireeka, a four disc CD that requires you to play all four albums at once, but encourages experimenting with them on your own. Another great albums is their album At War With The Mystics which contains a version of Bohemian Rhapsody that is amazing.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there's Outkast who have made me love certain sounds that are common to hip-hop and rap, but also because of the musicality that Andre 3000 implements. Listen to the Idlewild OST or Stankonia to see what I'm talking about.

On the metal side, there's Buckethead. A guitar virtuoso that provokes the thought of willing insanity. That is, the ability to think you're insane, then act as such, but then be able to turn it off. To hear is amazing acoustic work, listen to Colma, but for an intense metal experience, listen to Bucketheadland 2 or Enter the Chicken.

Keeping in the vein of metal is Nine Inch Nails, an industrial metal band that is full of fantastic music. Their album Year Zero gave me the idea for willed paranoia, like willed insanity, but with paranoia. For a good idea of what they sound like, listen to Year Zero or The Downward Spiral.

Finally, I present The Smashing Pumpkins. A grunge/alternative band from the 90s that, simply put, sound amazing. Listen to Pisces Iscariot or Siamese Dream to hear my personal favourites.