What psychological mechanism has engaged to cause us to not remember albums like we used to?  Have we turned into consumers of music that is readily disposable after we have heard the next batch of music that captures our attention?  Where are our Sgt Pepper's, our Sticky Fingers, our Born to Run, and our Led Zeppelin IV of this new generation?  Truthfully, I'm flummoxed.  I'm genuinely perplexed.  I'm also concerned.

Ask many of us over 40 and we can count off classic favorites quite easily.  Today?  Well, I have a few favorites that I'll always remember but those are few.  Certainly not like we had them back "in the day."

And so, I'm left wondering why we can get excited over an album only to forget about it a month later to the point that we forget it even existed.  Case in point: Them Crooked Vultures (a band that McCartney wished he had joined) produced a great album.  And yet when I ask people about it, they look at me like I had just become a zombie.  Even I have problems with returning to it and not because it's not good enough to remember but because I, like the rest of us, am learning to cycle music on an in/out basis.

Has this era produced a here today/gone tomorrow mentality so severe that we'll likely never foster the growth of another band of historical note?  We move too fast.  We don't stay at home anymore.  We become immersed in too many things.  Music is just one of those things.

I recognize that most people are Top40-oriented.  We have always been like that.  Most people have never bought more than 50 albums in their lives.  The fringe faction, those of us who owned hundreds, some even thousands, of LPs at any one time, were a much smaller group.  Even Led Zep sold only a few million of any one title in their catalogue, most snapped up by rabid fans and the general populace.  For many people, some of those albums were part of a small collection.  The rest of us "crazies" bought more than we could even listen to.

That generation has transformed.  We have become a world populace that gets our music on the fly, and in smaller bites, a track at a time.  We don't want CDs, we just want $.99 tunes that make it easy to forget our meager investment in a band or artist, easy to dispose of once we're finished.  We listen and forget, which easily spells doom for any band that may want an extended stay in the market.  All I can say is that we are now a disposable generation.  We've lost interest.  And I'm just as guilty of this as anyone.

Or is it all just me?

Our Underrated Guitarist Poll has been doing well. It will create a lot of discussion that I'm looking forward to. I can see it lasting into the whole of next week. On Monday, I'll post some results of the Poll. There are so many great choices! If you're just coming in, you can read (and respond) to the poll below. It's fun!

Robert Metcalf has turned in a review of The Underfall Yard by Big Big Train. We hope that you'll take the time to check the review out and then the band and their album, especially if you're not familiar with them.

Let's start this week with something fun and worthy of discussion,  On Friday while I was driving in to work, I heard a Journey song on the radio.  I've always considered the lead guitar lines played by Neal Schon on their "Who's Crying Now" to be memorable and well-crafted.  I'm even more fixated by his guitar work on the greatly under-appreciated "When You Love a Woman." All of this led me to wondering why you never really hear all THAT much about Neal Schon as a great guitar player of significant note.  Of course there are those will list him in a long list of guitarists but, by and large, he's relegated to the bottom of most lists if he even appears at all.

This led me into deeper thought (I know, how do you concentrate enough to drive, right?).  I began to think of Bill Nelson (BeBop Deluxe), Andy Powell (Wishbone Ash), Rory Gallagher, Roy Buchanon, and a myriad of other extraordinary guitar players that absolutely no one knows nor acknowledges.

For today, and for the rest of the week, let's concentrate on underrated guitarists.  Send me your one guitarist that just does not get any attention (although they should).  They don't have to be virtuoso, just underrated.  One of my choices is Ronnie Wood.  Compare his Faces guitar work with his 30+ years of Rolling Stones guitar work and you'll easily hear 30+ years of suppression.  Ronnie Wood is very underrated as a guitarist.

We live in a world largely fixated by the accepted kings (Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Howe, Eric Clapton, etc), and some of them are overrated (yes, some of them are.  I won't say who I think are overrated out of respect and for the stream of emails I'd receive afterwards).  It's time we gave honorable mention to whom honorable mention is due, don't you think?

Send your selections to this email link and let's get it started.

Enjoy the weekend. We'll see you on Monday with the results of the Poll. We'll then invite commentary. Should be fun. Someone suggested that we do this same kind of poll for other instrumentalists. Great idea. We'll do the series.

I have a music-related app idea that I'm fleshing out but, surprise, I can't code for it. If anyone out there can write iPhone/iPod apps, and would like to do a collaboration for a 50/50 revenue split, let me know.

The expected LP and 3CD 20th Anniversary Edition of Disintegration by The Cure has slipped further back into calendarland, now scheduling for April 6 from Elektra Records. Make your notes.

The 2LP, 180g Manassas LP by Stephen Stills is now listed for March 30, while Rhino lists the 2LP, 180g set of Pieces by Manassas for the same date.

Mute Records will reissue Delay 1968 (1981), and Unlimited Edition (1976) by Can on March 9.

Mute Records will also release multiple versions of Sisterworld by Liars on March 9. There will be a standard CD issue, a Limited Deluxe Edition CD, and an LP for the title.

Labrador will release the vinyl LP version of Islands by The Mary Onettes on March 9. I like this retro-influenced band.

Bridge 9 Records will release CD and vinyl LP versions of I Was Trying To Describe You... by Crime in Stereo on February 23.

Century Media plan the release of a Deluxe Version of 2009 issue, Shallow Life, by Lacuna Coil. It's scheduled for February 23.

Varese Sarabande will assemble a Live 'best of' for Ambrosia called The Biggest Part of Me - Greatest Hits Live planning to release the CD on March 9.

Hip-O Select will reissue City of Angels by The Miracles, releasing in DD and CD versions. Reissue date is pegged at April 20.

Hip-O Select will also release a 'best of' for The Runaways called The Mercury Albums Anthology on March 16.

Caroline Records has a Be Bop Deluxe Live DD (Digital Download) album on the calendar for February 16 called BBC In Concert. Cool!!

Mute Records has Possessed coming from Balanescu Orchestra on February 16 in DD.

Virgin Records will release the DD versions of Eternity/The Road to Mandalay by Megadeth on February 16.

Mute Records has scheduled Mix-Up from Cabaret Voltaire as a DD issue on February 16.