500 and counting ...

If you walk past most, if not all, creative-types at the office or coffee shops, you probably see them with buds or Beats stuck in their ears. I'm one of those people, because it helps me focus and be creative. I either listening to Spotify, my favorite podcast or iHeart radio.

Lately, a buddy and I have been in a marathon of music. About a month ago, we signed up for a subscription to Spotify, and he came to me with the idea of listening to the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time according to Rolling Stone magazine. The list was published on May 31, 2012. I said I was in, because I love great music no matter the genre.

One rule is that we must listen to the majority of the album with the intention of trying to get through the entire album. We changed that slightly after we started out having to listen to entire album. But to be honest, I can only take so much of The Smiths, "The Smiths" (473) and Morrissey's whiny voice and lyrics. Though Rolling Stone said, "The Smiths' debut is a showcase for Morrissey's morose wit and Johnny Marr's guitar chime."

Whatever. It was awful ....

The other rule is that you can't look ahead. It gives us that element of surprise. Trust me, when you have to listening to The Magnetic Fields, "69 Love Songs," (465) After the fifth track, the urge to look ahead is so tempting. But I still had 64 tracks to go.

As it turns out, Def Leppard, "Hysteria" (464) was next, which is surprising. How can an album that sold 25 million copies world wide and is the 25th top selling album of all time, according to Billboard be that low on the list. It had seven hits, including such shredders as "Pour Some Sugar on Me, Love Bites" and "Hysteria."

My friend and I both thought that was terrible. How could Echo and the Bunnymen, "Heaven Up Here" (463) be better?

After listening to 60 albums so (I'm currently listening to The Pugues, "Rum Sodomy and The Lash" (440), I have discovered some real stinkers as well as some surprises. The stinkers can be summed up by some of my texts to my buddy.

For example, here is my text on Public Image Ltd., "Metal Box."

"The first song is making me want to crash through my patio window and then take the remaining broken shards of glass and stab myself in my ears and bleed to death in the snow"

Followed by this GIF:

Then the most recent text to him was, "I'm in a pool of awful albums. .... Suicide is the worst album I have listen to by far. I'm moving on. But I need to rock to the Foo Fighters just to get my mind right again."

Followed by the GIF:

If you know my sense of humor, I don't mean that suicide is the answer. I understand the serious of mental illness. And please get help if you have signs of depression. That being said, I don't recommend some of these albums for help.

There has been some surprises — good and bad. When Elton John's "Tumbleweed Connection" (458) came up, I was excited. But after listening halfway through, I was so disappointed. The same can be said with Marvin Gaye, "Here, My Dear" (456).

But then it was nice to see some great albums I never listen to before like, R.E.M., "Document (462), My Morning Jacket, "Z" (457) and Los Lobos, "How Will the Wolf Survive." (455).

Back to work. I just enjoyed the Irish folk-punk of The Pogues — another surprise. Now, I'm just about to jump into Sam Cooke, "Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963" (439). My friend and I hope to get through this by the end of the year. We might make T-shirts.

438 to go ...