Ladies and gentlemen, I am having a bout of insomnia while trying to end my addiction to Benadryl and decided to write this despite the disturbing fact that I have to be awake in five hours. I've been sick since December 27th, and it sucks. First the stomach flu, now a cold that is slowly going away.

Now to the point. I have said for a long time that I don't have a favorite band. There are too many music artists to choose from. That's still very much true. But I can now say that I have a favorite album. I've owned it for over a year now and have finally decided it's official. I can't get enough of this album!

Opaline, by Dishwalla.

Opaline is, quite simply, freakin' amazing. It's basically soft rock. Almost all of the songs are acoustic, but there's a little bit of other stuff in there too. Some of you would probably complain that it's overproduced, but that doesn't bug me. Most of the songs have a peaceful, tender, passionate vibe that at times is sad or nostalgic, yet hopeful. If I'm having one of my deep moments, it fits perfectly. You might have heard one of the songs on it called Somewhere in the Middle. Another one called Every Little Thing is on my profile. The album has been out since 2002.

You might have heard of Dishwalla before. They are known as a one-hit wonder for their song "Counting Blue Cars" which you almost surely heard on the radio in the 90s. But their later stuff rocks and it's pretty much unknown. Opaline is the only album of theirs that I consider perfect. The other ones make use of too many weird keyboard/synth effects that sound crazy. I still like em, but this one stands out by far. They didn't overdo it with the keyboard.

My only complaint is sometimes the vocals are really high pitched "ooh" stuff that sounds kinda...I dunno, let's just say not manly. But really, I don't think it's that bad. There is not a single song on this album that bores me. You should seriously give it a listen sometime. If it's not your style, that's cool. But if you think you might like it after hearing previews on iTunes or something, let me know. It's rated as five stars on Amazon.com. That has to mean SOMETHING!

That's all for now :) Here is a sample portion of the lyrics from the song "Home":

it's some kind of life
forever days
we're in the cold
and unfamiliar way
so take this fear
and fade it out
it won't make me sad
cause I get sentimental lord
in other ways
and I don't wanna let me down here anymore
so come and take me home
lead me to your door
take me where you are
lead me to your door
and let me in
just let me in
and let me leave
just let me leave this world
come on now let me leave this world
at least just for a while