I spend a lot of time browsing record stores. While the majority of the human population has turned to buying/streaming/stealing their music digitally, there are still those who prefer to buy their music on vinyl.

I am not part of either party.

Instead, I still buy CDs. Remarkably, those round pieces of plastic from which this site is named have plummeted in cost over the past 20 years. Bargain bins can now be found everywhere with CDs costing anywhere between $1-5. I take advantage of this and buy up whatever I find remotely interesting. Heck, it’s cheaper than iTunes!

Last week I grabbed a copy of Tal Bachman’s self-titled debut which came out around the end of 1999. It’s lead-off single “She’s So High” received a ton of airplay and no doubt made listeners crazy with how frequently it was played. The second single “Strong Enough” was actually a better song (even if it didn’t have such a memorable hook) but didn’t take-off (no pun intended). Tal’s got a bit of a golden throat and the album was produced by Bob Rock, so the sound is super-slick. The songs are hit-or-miss with some nice shiny pop songs mixed in with some cheeseball ballads.

If the name Tal Bachman sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because Tal is the son of Randy Bachman from The Guess Who. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. So I’ve gotta ask – why is Tal faking the English accent?

The record has aged pretty well. It was released in a time when albums were getting progressively louder and denser with roaring guitars. Tal Bachman seems to have sidestepped this approach entirely with a more classic rock approach to songwriting. The result is a record that will never sound dated or passé. Unfortunately, due to the unevenness of the material, this album is better off selectively ripped to your computer with only a small handful of tracks making the cut. Or you can just grab “She’s So High” and “Strong Enough” for a buck apiece on iTunes.