My Musical Journey 2009: Episode 1

Send us Fan MailIntro: Chicken Fried by Zac Brown BandAlbum 20: Fearless by Taylor Swift (2008)Song 1: White HorseSong 2: Forever & AlwaysSong 3: ChangeAlbum 19: Keep It Like a Secret by Built to Spill (1999)Song 1: The PlanSong 2: SidewalkSong 3: Bad LightHow I Got This List:Recap: In 2007, I decided to make a list of my favorite 20 albums that year. The list included albums that I discovered that year and loved (whether they were new albums that were released that year or were older albums that were new discoveries for me). The list of my favorite albums that year became like a musical journal for me of what I spent that year listening to the most. The list that I made in 2007 inspired me to create lists for 1990-1999 and also 2000-2006 (to the best of my recollection). I have also made a list every year since then. I have previously counted down my 20 favorite albums from 1990-1999 (March 2024), 2000-2006 (April 2024), 2007 (Nov 2024), and 2008 (Nov 2025) - so go check those out if interested. I have featured some of these albums previously on my podcast, especially during my favorite Albums Countdown series that I did in 2021. 15 of the 20 albums on this list showed up on my Album Countdown; for comparison: my first list had 17, my second list had 13, my third list had 12, and my fourth list had 14. 3 of the 15 albums on this 2009 list were in my Top 20 of my Albums ranking, and 8 of the 15 were in my Top 100. Even though I have featured several of these albums previously on my podcast, I will not repeat any songs that have been played previously, so you will be getting fresh songs! Also, for this series, I am not going to consult any websites to talk about these albums, so no “research”. I’m just going to share what I remember about the album from that time and also maybe how I feel about it now. A quick word about my Album rankings: My original Top 250 Albums list was made at the beginning of 2021 (and counting down that list was the main reason I launched this podcast in March 2021). However, I did a complete overhaul of my rankings at the tail end of 2023. So I will mention both rankings at times. Also before we start, I want to briefly describe my process for preparing these episodes: For each album, I would listen to the songs again, narrowing them down to my three “current” favorites. Then I would listen to my three favorites again, jotting down anything that struck me.