For this album I did not hear anything before we all heard those sample clips. I’m listening to this CD completely fresh out of the box, taking it in. That’s why I’m excited to hear something “fresh” in full.

I have a certain method with how I listen to new CD’s for the first time, and I figured I’d share it with you.

I’m not saying this is the right way to listen to a new CD, I’m just saying this is how I tend to always do it.

Step 1: Open CD, read through booklet once.

Step 2: Play CD – go straight to title track.

Step 3: Listen to all the fast songs first. For me at least I pick up the fast songs quicker.

Step 4: I usually listen to the fast songs a few times. Each time I let the slow songs between play longer and eventually start picking out the ones I like more.

Step 5: Listen to the CD in full, from start to finish.

Step 6: Listen to all slow songs.  The reason I skip the slow songs at first is that since I don’t connect to the slow songs right away, I don’t want to listen once and sub consciously not like a slow song because I’m itching to just skip to the fast exciting songs. Like this I can give the slow songs their own respect.

Step 7: Read what all the bloggers, websites, twitterers, facebookers and friends say.

Step 8: Ask producer when the “next one” is coming.

How about you?

Today Benny Friedman and I went with Shmuli Evers of ShmuliPhoto.com to take some pics for Benny’s CD artwork. I brought my camera too, got some nice pics of the pics being taken. Like this one. We got some amazing pics, I think the cd artwork will rock. We actually were 90 percent done with a different cover but another CD came out that had similar elements so we nixed the original art.