1.  Counting Crows - Recovering the Satellites

I firmly believe that Counting Crows are one of the most underrated popular bands of the last 20 years, and I believe that this album, their sophomore effort, is their finest work to date.  It's also the perfect album when Mother Nature decides to dump a foot-and-a-half of snow on you, as she did in Marlborough this week.  "A Long December" is the ideal winter singalong anthem, and the rest of the album seems to follow suit.  The melancholy mood of the fourteen tracks are the perfect companion to the shorter, colder, darker days of winter.  

2.  Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town

To watch the recent documentary "The Promise:  The Making of 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town'" is to be obsessed with the album who's creation it documents.  The follow up to Springsteen's massive breakout hit, "Born To Run," "Darkness" sees The Boss coping with the success that followed, but he manages to do so without falling into the cliches that artists so often do after making it big.  I cannot recommend watching the documentary enough.  As much as I enjoyed this album before viewing it, the sheer amount of meticulous, agonizing, time-consuming effort that went into it brings a newfound appreciation to what is arguably Springsteen's best album.  Springsteen brought nearly 70 songs into the studio, with only 10 making the final cut.  Thankfully, 21 of these songs recently saw the light of day with the relase of the two-disc set "The Promise."

3.  Andrew WK - I Get Wet

Boasting such instant classics as "It's Time To Party," "Party Hard," and "Party Til You Puke," the friendliest frontman in rock-n-roll's debut album transcends any initial dismissals as a novelty act.  The piano driven party-rock tunes are as fresh today as they were when this masterpiece was released almost a decade ago.  WK, club owner, kids' TV show host, motivational speaker, record producer, and all around rock n roll deity, also puts on the most energetic, frenetic live show you will ever see, regularly inviting the crowd to join him onstage, and often even carries around audience members on his shoulders while not missing a beat.  WK's love of the party, also exemplified on his other albums on such songs as "Party Party Party," "Big Party," "We Party (You Shout)," and "Long Live The Party," is downright contagious.  

The local music scene this coming weekend:

Dante's at Firefly's: Saturday - The Missy Maxfield Project ($7 cover)

Speakers: Saturday - Dirty Deeds (AC/DC Tribute)

Westender: Friday - Toddamy; Saturday - Deluded Blues

Harvest Cafe (Hudson): Saturday - Songwriters' roundtable