5 Albums That Changed Your Life

[sad iron]

The Beatles: <insert>

Bob Dylan--Blood on the Tracks

Husker Du--Candy Apple Grey

Uncle Tupelo--Anodyne

The Band--The Band

I also have to give a shout out to Waylon, who was like a surrogate father to me, in the sense that my Dad justified his entire existence with Waylon songs as the thesis statement.

[vvv]

Tough to do this! It sucks I can't mention Nick Cave, the Who, Tom Waits, Zappa, Mazzy Star, Van Halen, The Jam, The Ruts, Chameleons UK, The Supremes, The Temptations, Dylan, Tommy James, Ricky Nelson, Tool, RHCP, Thin Lizzy, The Pixies/Frank Black/The Breeders, Nirvana, The Sex Pistols, The Vibrators, Smashing Pumpkins, SY, Helmet, G&R, Husker Du/Bob Mould, Ministry, Soundgarden, The Band, Tool, Cash, Cream, Grand Funk, NIN, Tom Petty, Luna, most recently DBT, Coltrane,, Davis, Scofield, Lester Young, Metheny, Chet Baker, Joseph Bowie, Living Color, Janes Addiction, all of whom have informed my music to a pretty large degree, and maybe the runner-up is David Bowie, (but I can't choose just one of his records). And those are the ones I can remember. But at this moment, it seems to me:

1. Led Zepplin: Led Zepplin

2. Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers

3. Neil Young: Decade

4. Steve Wynn: Melting in the Dark

5. Merle Haggard: 20 Number 1 Hits

[RefD]

too unfashionable to mention.

see, i don't understand how anything could ever be too unfashionable to mention.

if anyone is so worried about your tastes conforming to their idea of what is good then that's their problem and not yours.

Pink Floyd - Meddle

I was going to cited this one, but then I remembered that I arrived at it via a Floyd compilation called, "Works". I wore that vinyl out, quite literally. But, it doesn't sound as cool to admit that at 15 I had no idea about what I was buying. I just knew a lot of folks had a near religious devotion to "The Floyd" and I wanted to see what was up. So I played it safe and got a Best-Of.

i got "Works" when it came out in the early 80s and it served as a gateway to pre-DSOTM Pink Floyd for me, so it was a great investment for that very reason.

5. tie between "Flood" by They Might Be Giants and "Hounds of Love" by Kate Bush - both of these records have had a big influence on my opinion of pop music as a whole. They both have pretty singing on them (especially Kate) which has influenced the way I sing.

both great albums, tho, to my mind and ears, "Hounds of Love"/"The Ninth Wave" really seemed ground-breaking in so many ways...some of the Fairlight stuff hasn't aged well, however!

[ned]

Julian Bream - Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar : working in its favor is the fact that the songs were all written by some of the greatest musicians of the 19th century. The recording is muddy and drenched in too much reverb, but this guy is the most talented man ever to pick up a guitar. I hope that someday I can put a fraction of the passion and emotion into music as he does.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless : actually didn't hear this until just a few years ago, but it really changed how i thought about what rock music is supposed to sound like. And of course i immediately recognized the huge influence it had on everybody from smashing pumpkins to boards of canada.

Ennio Morricone - The Good The Bad And The Ugly : i get goosebumps listening to some of the songs on here.

Amon Tobin - Supermodified : my favorite of the sample-driven electronica stuff. the guy has a real knack for stitching together every type of noise under the sun and still making it sound cohesive. i also appreciate that he wasn't afraid to just crank everything to 10, regardless of how silly it may be. as odd as it sounds, this was the record that actually got me interested in jazz.

Pearl Jam - Vs. : this came out when i was in 4th or 5th grade and was the defining moment when i became aware of actually enjoying music and not just listening to it because 1) it was marketed to kids (m.c. hammer and kris kross) or 2) my mom and dad listened to it (cat stevens and the who).

[SoulOfJonas]

A couple of the albums in my top 5 change from time to time but here's what I could come up with now:

1. Cursive - The Ugly Organ
In my opinion, this album is perfect. The songs are spectacular with tons of variety, all the song transitions (interludes) are amazing and tasteful, and the production is tops. I can't say enough about this album.

2. The Clash - The Clash
Not particularly the most hi-fi album, but i think it perfectly captures my favorite band at that stage in their career.

3. DJ Shadow - Entroducing +1000
I feel like I've said this a million times to anyone who will listen, but unlike any other album I've ever heard Entroducing "takes me to another place". That sounds lofty and kinda hippy, but it's true. The whole album is brilliant but Stem/Long Stem is the stand out for me. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

4. Minor Threat - Minor Threat
Basically the same things I said about the Clash album. Not hi-fi but a perfect reflection of the band at the time. Also incredibly influential to me during my high school years.

5. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
This album is ridiculous. I love the songs but I think I like the production even more. One of my favorite albums of the last 5 years and I've admittedly been using it as one of the yardsticks for most of the work i do.

-JV

[;ivlunsdystf]

CCR cosmo's factory. Age 7. Lucky break that I heard that garage-y distorted guitar sound so early on. That, and the amazing slow burn of that version of 'grapevine'.

U2 war. First exposure to rock and roll with ardor.
Age 12 or so.

Papas fritas 1st s/t lp. Got me interested in pop methods to keep things minty fresh. Threw open the door to the entire history (and present) of pop, top 40, showtunes, and torch songs.

Spy vs spy, a john zorn and friends hardcore downtown thrashfest through ornette coleman's catalog. Made noise lovely to me (picked up where ccr left off)

Diga rhythm band s/t. First music to put me in a bit of a trance. This over the years led me to a whole new corner of my mind.

There are so many others but each of these got to me in a way that sent me on a quest for something over the years after I first heard it.

[lysander]

The first album I ever bought was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, so that's a biggie.

The first time I was aware I was listening to the Beatles was when our family went to go see the Harlem Globetrotters with friends. The other family had one of those 70s vans with an 8-track, and they were blasting A Hard Day's Night for the kids. That caught my attention, even more than the basketball. Safety belts? We don't need no stinking safety belts!

I discovered Big Star in the mid-80s on a loaned cassette; the second and third albums were a revelation.

I first heard John Hartford on the Prairie Home Companion show; he had the entire audience singing along with him in harmony. I went out and checked out his stuff, and really got into Headin' Down Into the Mystery Below.

The Modern Lovers album is right there for me as well.

[wren]

Arrested Development - Zinglamaduni
I "stole" this album from my parents when I was very, very, very young; it's the first thing I ever listened to by myself, without prompting. These days I definitely like 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of... better, but Zingamaduni was the first record I ever really loved, and I still have a soft spot in my heart for it.

Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Thus began my quest after all that is heavy. I was 7 when I convinced my mom to buy it for me, and I remember putting it on and being shocked (in the best possible way). I kept listening to the first 30 seconds of War Pigs over and over and over again; I was afraid to let the song run any farther because I was afraid that the song would become less heavy and intense.

Frank Zappa - Chunga's Revenge
Always been my favorite Zappa record for some reason.

Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
"Holy shit, classical music is awesome!" If I had to pick my favorite single song ("song"), this would be it.

Skinny Puppy - Remission
Something about it really appealed to me, and I quickly immersed myself in industrial. I still haven't looked back.

That was actually easier than I thought it would be. I feel like I left a lot out, but I'm pretty satisfied with those 5.

[BSigmeth]

The Beatles - Meet The Beatles (when I was 4)

Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain

David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name

The Band - The Band

Roger Miller - [probably a "Best Of"]


so many more! (of course)

[percussion boy]

too unfashionable to mention.

see, i don't understand how anything could ever be too unfashionable to mention.

if anyone is so worried about your tastes conforming to their idea of what is good then that's their problem and not yours.

True dat.

*glances shyly around the circle, gulps*

Three Dog Night, Cyan: Made me want to play an instrument. Floyd Sneed is still the world's most underrated rock drummer, guy's a fuggin' genius.

Wow, I feel different. I feel . . . clean.

[fossiltooth]

too unfashionable to mention.

see, i don't understand how anything could ever be too unfashionable to mention.

if anyone is so worried about your tastes conforming to their idea of what is good then that's their problem and not yours.

!!!!!!!!!

That gets 9 exclamation points.

NINE.

Count 'em:

!!!!!!!!!

9

[RefD]

too unfashionable to mention.

see, i don't understand how anything could ever be too unfashionable to mention.

if anyone is so worried about your tastes conforming to their idea of what is good then that's their problem and not yours.

!!!!!!!!!

That gets 9 exclamation points.

NINE.

Count 'em:

!!!!!!!!!

9

does that constitute an "AMEN!"?

[caffiend2049]

Queen - Greatest Hits
First record I bought....remember thinking "hey, this music stuff is pretty great"

The Clash - Combat Rock
One of my friends had this on constantly at his house. It was the soundtrack to the time at which I was trying to learn guitar, skateboarding and mind expansion

Motorhead - On Parole
Still one of my favorite records...even if it wasn't released with the band's blessing.
Some of the versions on here are heavy and soulful at the same time....not to mention hilarious

Metallica - Master of Puppets
I immediately began saving for a guitar. The first minute or so of Battery says it all.

Lenny Kravitz - Mama Said
Not particularly my favorite album...even by him, But I remember listening to this one night and thinking "I can make records that are at least this good."
I guess it hit that sweet spot where it was good enough for me to view it as a legitimate release, but it was also lame enough that it occurred to me that I could possibly write better songs and even eventually record them myself.

[noon]

What's unfashionable has a curious way of becoming fashionable. And even if it doesn't, often influences things that do.

[JGriffin]

Life-changing...let's say here are some records that changed the ways in which I thought about and approached music.


The Beatles, Red and Blue albums. First exposure to this band. Got the whole overview in one two-or-three week period. I still wonder what it would have been like to have the Beatles' career develop in front of me like, say, Radiohead's has. "Walrus" and "Strawberry Fields" in particular left an indelible mark on me, as anyone who's heard my last record can attest.

Gabor Szabo, "Dreams" Many of us start off musically by raiding our parent's record collections. This was one of my Dad's albums, the one he took around to stereo shops to test speakers with. It's got a sensibility I didn't hear anywhere else and really, still don't.

Fripp and Eno, "No Pussyfooting/Evening Star" Got these two albums on a single cassette release in 1986, and drove my roommates and band-mates nuts playing it all the time. Another kick away from listening to strummy-strummy/singy-singy music exclusively.

Radiohead, "OK Computer" expected, but still....this record gave me permission, as it were, to be a bunch more adventurous. I'd been bowing to peer pressure, production-wise, for a while and this was a much-needed kick in the pants.

Boston (first album) wow, let's see: grew up in the 1970s, so the emblematic signifier for summertime is hearing "Long Time" or "More than A Feeling" dopplering out of a passing car window. Immaculate vocal harmonies. Cool guitar tones. Melodic solos. Hooks on every instrument. Your first band in college, where every member of the group was the lead singer in their high school band, and the four-part harmonies on the Boston covers are miraculous and an immediate bonding agent...The rumor that spread through junior high school: Tom Scholz and Brad Delp are the only guys in the band photo you actually hear on the record...wait what? How does that happen? Oh, and it was recorded in Tom Scholz' basement? Holy shit! You can do that? As information starts to seep through the early-1980s musical information network at the junior high school, you put it together: ah, overdubbing...great records can be built, they aren't necessarily just a documentary photograph of a band in a room...they don't have to be made in a recording studio...HEY I CAN DO THIS!