LaLa in the Cloud

Man, I'm starting to really regret that I didn't appreciate LaLa.com more when it was around.  I mean, I could still be checking out albums for free right now!  The deal was: create a free account, and then you can stream any album in their massive catalog one time for FREE.  Press play at the beginning, and let it go... - sorted.

I'm definitely missing it now, though, considering just so much awesome music there is around us.  Perhaps because I was raised on the "LP", I appreciate a collection of songs that go together & which create a whole larger than the sum of its parts.  Naturally, I do prefer to check out any specific song in the context of the album it was released in.  So in short, LaLa really was a cool thing. 

Needless to say, I listened to quite a few bands through LaLa that I was curious about. To mention a few: Beat Happening, Pink Floyd, Foals, even some obscure Beck.  Also, just after Oasis split up, I got interested in them again and checked out their later stuff (which I hadn't heard before).  In hindsight, I believe their last album is their 2nd best (with the 1st being, of course, "Definitely Maybe").

Anyway, last year Apple bought LaLa and then took it offline.  Apparently it's going to resurface as a subscription-type service - "in the cloud".  This is all well and good (for the right price), but personally all I really want is a place just like what LaLa used to be. So Dear Apple, if you're reading (and I'm sure you're not), please build LaLa in the cloud with the same deal as before!

Otherwise (and anyway), I'll be looking for a site that does the same thing.  A parallel "Grooveshark" for albums, if you will (and I *will*).  Anyway, def. put a comment here if/when you find something worth sharing...