[ My Music Collection ]

I mainly started collecting CDs with the hope of getting and refurbishing an old iPod. I wanted .flac files to get the best possible quality, and buying random $1 CDs from thrift stores seemed like the best way to do that.
It quickly grew on me though, and in less than 6 months I've amassed over 200! It's so much more rewarding finding a hidden gem CD than just pulling up a song on Spotify, and if I want to listen to a song, I have to go out and hunt it down. It makes listening to music much more 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵.
I've also discovered so many cool new songs on albums that I've previously only ever listened to, like... one song on. My goal is to listen to ALL of them completely through, and I thought it would be cool to document my thoughts here as I go! But enough of me yapping, here's the list!

Rating Key
★☆☆☆☆ - Couldn't even listen all the way through
★★☆☆☆ - Not great. Finished it but was looking forward to finishing it
★★★☆☆ - Good but wouldn't play it again right away
★★★★☆ - Would listen to it on repeat
★★★★★ - Modern day Mozart

Album	Comments	Date Listened	Rating
Simple Plan No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls	I was really surprised how many of their famous songs were on this album. So many classics really make up an album you can listen to all the way through with ease. The first time I ever heard these guys was actually Grow Up on Disney Skate Adventure... man, what a blast from the past. I remember seeing this song live at their 2018 Slippery Rock concert with my brother and us freaking out when he said they we're going to play an unpopular song and it ended up being Grow Up. And whenever I hear "I'm Just a Kid" I can't help but think of this old RuneScape Music Video I watched as a kid. The frog hopping while singing was just hilarious to me. ---------------------- Favorite song: Addicted	Apr. 1, 2026	★★★★½
Queensrÿche Empire	I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I remember hearing Jet City Woman from Guitar Hero and thought it was alright... but then when I listened to the album the other songs are great. It screams late 80's metal band, which I guess makes sense. I actually met the guitarist from the band which was crazy. Talked to him for for like 3 hours and he just dropped that he was the guitarist for Queensrÿche and my brother and I are just like... "Wait, what?" ---------------------- Favorite song:	Apr. 3, 2026 - Apr. 4, 2026	★★★½☆
Hoobastank Hoobastank	This album goes way harder than I expected right off rip. I expected "The Reason" and was caught off guard (in a good way). There's a lot of songs that sound like other bands' sounds, too. "Crawling In The Dark" was an incredible opener and gives off Trapt/3 Days Grace vibes. "Ready For You" kinda sounds like All-American Rejects or some other Pop-Punk band. "Give It Back" has parts that sound right off a Korn song, and was a strong finish to the album. ---------------------- Favorite song: Crawling in the Dark	Apr. 6, 2026	★★★★☆
Avril Lavigne Under My Skin	I know I'm being positive about all of these but this is another great album. It really is crazy how many bangers people miss by only listening to the Spotify top songs or only singles by artists. Avril has such an iconic sound, and it shows on this album. So many songs on this album I could definitely see being in like 2000s teen movies. My Happy Ending is the breakup song. Who Knows is the getting-over-the-breakup song. Freak Out is the ending where you see how everyone ends up like 5 months later. ---------------------- Favorite song: Freak Out	Apr. 6, 2026	★★★★☆
Nickelback All the Right Reasons	I was surprised how heavy their music is, honestly. All of their singles seem to be the more acoustic songs. However, to be fair, I can see why. The music admittedly goes pretty hard on the heavier songs, but my oh my are the lyrics, corny AF. Just take a listen to Next Contestant and you'll see what I mean. ---------------------- Favorite song: Savin' Me	(Dates Unknown)	★★★☆☆
Smash Mouth Astro Lounge	"Who's There" is a pretty different sound from their usual, but then "Diggin' Your Scene" gets right back to what I expected. "I Just Wanna See" is chill. "Waste" should be covered by poppy. "Radio" is dope. "Stoned" is really good, sounds like it would be the closing song of the album. "Then The Morning Comes" sounds like spy music mixed with 70s vibes. "Road Man" has club penguin/early browser game vibes. "Defeat You" is good n' groovy. I could see so many of these songs being in early 2000s movies in a wide variety of different scene types. This album just screams early 2000s/late 90s. The intro to "Come On, Come On" just screams frosted tips and movie theater carpet. "Home" gives Cali Burrito vibes and like Halloween UB Funkeys. "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" is a classic as well. ---------------------- Favorite song: All Star (Obviously)	Apr. 13, 2026 - Apr. 17, 2026	★★★½☆
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine	"Take the Power Back" is really groovy. I was surprised how few tracks had that Tom Morello sound. "Bullet in the Head" is good. "Know Your Enemy" reminds me of Jordan or something. It's also where the Tom Morello Guitar Battle gets like 90% of its inspiration from which was cool to hear. I recognize "Wake Up" but idk where from. The "Township Rebellion" guitar riff sounds like it would be in some motorcycle show. ---------------------- Favorite song: Killing in the Name	Apr. 21, 2026 - Apr. 22, 2026	★★★☆☆
Britney Spears Femme Fatale	Dubstep Brittany is something I didn't know I wanted, but something I needed. There's a lot of songs on here I've heard before but didn't realize were her like "Till the World Ends" and "I Wanna Go". "Criminal" is obviously a banger too. Defintely a change up from her older stuff, but fits the 2011 release date. ---------------------- Favorite song: Till the World Ends	Apr. 28, 2026	★★★★☆
Big Time Rush BTR	Their music is genuinely good it's weird they never got bigger. Like EVERY song on this album is actually a banger. I can definitely see that it's very kid/teen friendly which obviously affected it. I'm wondering if the show helped them grow bigger than they would ever have otherwise, or if they shot themselves in the foot by limiting themselves like that. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Apr. 29, 2026 - Apr. 30, 2026	★★★★☆
My Chemical Romance Welcome to the Black Parade	My first introduction to MCR was from Guitar Hero II with "Dead", and even back then that was my favorite song in the game. They added an MCR DLC with "Teenagers", "Famous Last Words", and "This Is How I Dissapear", and I loved all of those too. Then finally I really listened to the rest of the album after watching Wendigoon's video and I got depressed... depressed because I've been sleeping on such a masterpiece of an album for so long. I enjoyed 100% of the songs I heard before, so why did I never bother to listen to the rest? Either way, this is one of my all-time favorite albums. Truly amazing all the way through. ---------------------- Favorite song:	May 8, 2026 - May 9, 2026	★★★★★
Relient K Five Score and Seven Years Ago	Classic. Five star. Amazing album all the way through. Vocals sound great but are also to sing along with, and the guitar and drums rock. I used to listen to this album on repeat to fall asleep in like, middle school. Deathbed makes me tear up every time. If I'm being real a lot of Christian bands can make adding the message kinda cringe, but Relient K does it very elegantly. ---------------------- Favorite song:	May 10, 2026 - May 11, 2026	★★★★★
Relient K Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do	Very early Plain White T's and Weezer coded. I love hearing good bands' early stuff. Even if it's not the best, it has such a wholesome vibe. "Mood Rings", "College Kids", and "I Am Understood?" is good. "Getting Into You" is chill - Very like frutiger aero kinda sounding. "Jefferson Aero Plane" is also chill. ---------------------- Favorite song: In Love with the 80's (Pink Tux to the Prom)	May 15, 2026 - May 18, 2026	★★★☆☆
Lifescapes The Caribbean Escape Collection	Dead rising 2 meets Super Mario Sunshine, with hints of the Dexter soundtrack. Super chill and relaxing. The first cd is way better than the second though. CD 1 was like 3.5 stars, CD 2 was like 1.5 stars. The second CD just sounds like a bunch of Bob Marley backing tracks that just go on for way too long. "Three Little Birds" literally is a Bob Marley song, and it goes on 2 mins longer than the real song. "Island in the Sun" was good. "Jamming" was absolute buns though. "No Woman, No Cry" was chill. It sounded like Avatar Farm online music like halfway in. ---------------------- Favorite song:	May 18, 2026 - May 21, 2026	★★½☆☆
Drake Bell It's Only Time	Fun Fact: This was the first CD I ever owned. I got it for Christmas in middle school since I used my CD player a bunch. Drake and Josh was like my favorite show, and I was happy to see "Makes Me Happy" on the album since that was in the Really Big Shrimp episode. Man, I miss old shows... Kind of a top-heavy album though. ---------------------- Favorite song: Makes Me Happy	May 24, 2026 (My Birthday!)	★★★½☆
Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers	I've never listened to a band that sounds like so many other bands. If they were a soup, it would be a base of Relient K, with some steak of Tom Petty, potatoes of Bowling for Soup, and some seasoning of Smash Mouth. I'm noticing a trend where a band's most popular song is always the one that sounds the LEAST like them. One of these things is not like the other type shii. I also got a bit of Weezer in there. They have a very indie sound on most songs which surprised me because "Stacey's Mom" is more of pop punk-y. "Little Red Light" screams 2000s. "Halley's Waitress" is vibey af. "Hung Up on You" is literally country. This album is all over the place. "Peace and Love" sounds like something from the UB funkey soundtrack. ---------------------- Favorite song: Stacey's Mom	May 25, 2026 - May 26, 2026	★★★★☆
Bowling For Soup A Hangover You Don't Deserve	Another very top-heavy album. The first few are amazing, but then after like track 5 ("Ohio (Come Back To Texas)") it's kind meh. Theres a few sporadic good ones, like "Two-Seater", but I was honestly expecting more. 1985 is such a banger that it kinda makes up for it though. ---------------------- Favorite song: 1985	May 26, 2026 - May 27, 2026	★★★☆☆
All Time Low Nothing Personal	Yo lowkey… I really like this album. I've only ever heard like two All Time Low songs in my life before (Dear Maria and apparently Walls) but I've been sleeping on them. I enjoyed pretty much the entire album (aside from the extra tracks), and their vibe is just so nostalgic from my scene days. I will say, "Too Much of Anything is Too Much" is a dumb name... like, yeah. Obviously. "Therapy" is slow but good. The remixes are hot ass. Especially "Weightless (The Secret Handshake Remix)" and "Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Acoustic Remix)". ---------------------- Favorite song:	May 28, 2026 - Jun. 1, 2026	★★½☆☆
All Time Low So Wrong, It's Right	---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 2, 2026 - Jun. 3, 2026	★★★½☆
Joji Piss In The Wind	"PIXELATED KISSES" is a good intro. "Cigarette" I couldn't understand a single word aside from cigarette. "Last of a Dying Breed" is chill. Album is kinda meh. Like it's definitely not bad, but nothing really stands out as great unlike his other albums. "LOVE YHOU LESS" hits way too hard... A lot of this album sounds a lot like his OG stuff back in the Chloe Burbank days, which is awesome... But it still has the sold-out/commercialized vibe. Production-wise, the album goes pretty hard, but lyrically it falls short. He should also bag all the features with rappers because they're god-awful. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 3, 2026 - Jun. 4, 2026	★½☆
Fall Out Boy From Under The Cork Tree	I was never a huge Fall Out Boy fan, but I would enjoy them if they came on. They're a bit too “theater kid“ for me (They're like 50% theater kid, while Panic At The Disco is like 80%). "Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year" and "Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends" are good. "I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me" is good too (These track names are absurdly long). Honestly, this is a very back-heavy album. I wasn't a huge fan of the first few aside from the two obviously famous ones, but the end of the album was pretty great. Way less theater-kid and way more rock. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 5, 2026 - Jun. 7, 2026	★½☆
Norah Jones Come Away With Me	This album came very highly recommended by my friend, but it's kind of just... not my style of music (I'm sorry if you see this Chris, please don't take it personally). It's definitely very chill and I could see it being great coffee shop music or something to put on during, like, a fancy dinner party, but it didn't really resonate with me. It would be perfect in some indie movie that takes place in a small town during the summer in which the main character really likes to read. It was just kind of boring. "Turn Me On" did throw me through a loop because the vibe did NOT match the lyrics lol I do like the more western sounding ones like "Come Away With Me" and "Lonestar". "I've Got To See You Again" sounds like something you see a fancy dance choreographed to. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 7, 2026 - Jun. 10, 2026	★½☆
Megadeth Rust In Peace	This is an incredible album. I love so much that I genuinely would get happy when I saw a light turn red so that I could jam out. It was really interesting hearing the demos, especially "Holy Wars". It sounded so different than the original song and it's apparently because Marty wasn't even on that track so all of his parts weren't written yet. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 10, 2026 - Jun. 11, 2026	★½☆
Britney Spears Oop!...I Did It Again	I've thought the Titanic reference was really funny when I first heard "Oops!... I Did It Again" as an adult. I love references that just elude to what they're referencing. "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know" was really good. I like the little riff. "Can't Make You Love Me" is really good, too. It sounds like a Backstreet Boys song. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 11, 2026 - Jun. 12, 2026	★½☆
Drowning Pool Sinner	I went into this expecting over-the-top, cringey, aggressive metal, but it actually went incredibly hard. I listened to this one with my brother, and we were both very pleasantly surprised, and most songs are honestly bangers. My only gripe is that the dude really likes repeating the same phrase over and over again. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 17, 2026 - Jun. 18, 2026	★½☆
BUMP OF CHICKEN orbital period	My girlfriend bought this for me in Japan and brought brought when she visited America. It's her favorite band, and every song sounds right out of an anime scene as cringe as that sounds lol it's interesting to see that anime songs aren't just like that for anime, that's genuinely just how J-rock sounds. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 18, 2026 - Jun. 20, 2026	★½☆
Kenny G Breathless	Honestly suuuper chill. I enjoyed this album much more than I expected. Some tracks sound like you're watching the weather channel while others made me feel like I was a detective from Twin Peaks ("Sister Rose"). Kenny G, you have a new fan. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 20, 2026 - Jun. 21, 2026	★½☆
Vitamin C Vitamin C	Vitamin C walked so (early) Poppy could run. This album is definitely strange... like kinda experimental, but also “real” music. I bought it at a thrift store simply because the album art was cool. I've never heard of Vitamin C in my life before. I had increasing thoughts of Poppy as the album went on, but once I hit "Girls Against Boys" my suspicions were confirmed. ---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 21, 2026 - Jun. 23, 2026	★½☆
The B52's Cosmic Thing	---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 23, 2026 - Jun. 24, 2026	★½☆
Hikaru Utada First Love	---------------------- Favorite song:	Jun. 24, 2026 - Jun. 25, 2026	★½☆
Allison Iraheta Just Like You	---------------------- Favorite song: You Don't Know Me	Jun. 29, 2026 - Jul. 1, 2026	★★★★☆
Elvis Presley Greatest Jukebox Hits	---------------------- Favorite song:	. 3, 2026 - . 6, 2026	★½☆
Artist Album	---------------------- Favorite song:	. 3, 2026 - . 6, 2026	★½☆
Artist Album	---------------------- Favorite song:	. 3, 2026 - . 6, 2026	★½☆
Artist Album	---------------------- Favorite song:	. 3, 2026 - . 6, 2026	★½☆
Artist Album	---------------------- Favorite song:	. 3, 2026 - . 6, 2026	★½☆
Artist Album	---------------------- Favorite song:	. 3, 2026 - . 6, 2026	★½☆

[ My Movie Collection ]

I've honestly never been a huge movie guy, but I wanted to start snagging these when I could find them cheap to once again start moving away from streaming services. Not only from a monetary standpoint, but also the fact that movies can come and go with no warning, so even if you pay for a service you might not be able to watch what you want to watch anyway! We live in a society, bro. Here's what I've watched so far.

Movie	Comments	Date Watched	Rating
The Terminator	Lowkey kinda mid. It was basically just chase after chase. Like the action was good, but that's really all there was to it. I was also confused because I thought the Arnold was the good guy. ---------------------- Favorite scene/episode:	Jul. 6, 2026	★★☆☆☆
Terminator 2: Judgement Day	Genuinely incredible movie. So much better than the first one. Great action, way better plot, but also downright hilarious moments. I cried laughing when he tried to imitate a smile. ---------------------- Favorite scene: Learning to Smile	Jul. 11, 2026	★★★★½