10 best albums of all time

My wife bought me the 2008 Guns N Roses biography for Christmas this year. Actually I saw it on sale for $6 while out shopping on Christmas Eve, and since I'm a sucker for a rock and roll biography, I grabbed it and told her to give it to me for Christmas.

I knew the basics of how Guns N Roses formed, and had some knowledge of each of the guys, but the book made it clear these were 5 guys who -- despite the major problems each one had or developed -- were destined to get together for a couple of years and put out one amazing album.

And if Appetite for Destruction isn't one of the 10 best albums ever made, well I'll eat my tracky bottoms. Especially considering the conditions they wrote it under. It's actually pretty astounding. Please let me know if you think you can name 10 albums that are better or more meaningful in the grand musical scheme of things.

And I'm not even talking about the songs you hear on the radio. The best songs are the triumvirate of It's So Easy, Nightrain and Out Ta Get Me. Throw in My Michelle and you've got 4 songs that no other hair metal band will ever come close to touching. Not that Guns N Roses was really hair metal. They were as punk as any punk band you can think of. Sure they wore tight leather pants and bandannas, but they were punk in every important way. Especially Izzy.

Anyways, there's a tie-in here: I've been listening to Appetite for Destruction on most of my runs since Christmas. It's a great running album. It's about 10K long, and it keeps the legs moving.

I took Tuesday off because I was out for dinner, but I got back at it yesterday with my 7K. I felt great and ran it in just over 34 mins. And tonight I ran my 8K in 40 mins. Both of these times are very close to what Rob planned for me; I remain on track for my half-marathon target of 5 mins per km.

However the London half-marathon isn't until May 1. My shorter term goal is to run a much faster 10K in Guelph in early March. I'd like to do it between 42 and 45 mins. I'd be happy with that. Of course I'd be happier if it was faster, but we'll have to see where I'm at in a few weeks!