April "16th" - Letter "N" = Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Let's take a walk back to the very early 1990s.  During that time, imagine a Mrs. O who was young and trying to find her own identity.  She was a law abiding daughter to strict parents, a member and captain (at times) on the cheer/songleading squads, a dancer, a straight A student, and pretty shy for the most part.  She didn't date (nor was allowed to at the time) and liked KROQ music when everyone else liked KISS-FM (Top 40).  She liked wearing black, but not in a goth way, more just as an aesthetic; however, was often forced to wear the school's purple & gold.  The only way she could distinguish herself as an individual was to immerse herself into music that was "hers".  No one else had to like it (and most didn't) because she was finally being true to herself.

Along comes a group called Ned's Atomic Dustbin.  Their debut album was released May 1991.  KROQ played their song, "Happy" and young Mrs. O flipped out.  She took cassette purchases very seriously because there wasn't money to buy everything.  She bought God Fodder in June 1991.  That summer she went on a cruise with her then, and now, BFF.  There were only two tapes that filled her Sony Walkman for the duration of the trip, Ned's Atomic Dustbin's God Fodder, and Big Audio Dynamite's The Globe. 

I admit I didn't continue to follow Ned's Atomic Dustbin after that first album, but God Fodder is still one of my favorites.  I remember trying to find a CD copy of it a few years back.  Online stores didn't sell it and stupid iTunes was only selling a "partial album" missing most of the best songs.  I went to my local record store, Criminal Records (Website), and asked if they had a copy.  They didn't have God Fodder, but they did have a used copy of a Best Of album.  Between that and the iTunes partial, I was able to recompile my favorite album from my youth.  In fact, I'm listening to it right now.