19 albums that changed my life

[Magpel]

OK, got sucked into this at facebook, more germane here. Please play along if inclined

-----

ok, after Artie & Betsy, not the BEST but the ones that changed MY life. This means admitting to some influences I would rather not cop to, but so it goes. For me the question is youth focused, 'cause while much of the music I most love right now I've discovered in recent years, I consider it to be "beyond the range" of the ginormous influence that all of the below enjoyed--so it's not just what, it's also when. For instance, when I first listened to Randy Newman's Sail Away, I thought, "{censored}. I was supposed to be him." Didn't change my life, though. I often wish I could "re-choose" my biggest influences to be more in line with what I'd want them to be for socio-political purposes, but I am of the mind that THEY choose YOU.

 

The Beatles: Rubber Soul (love them all but this is the one that hit me first and hardest)

 

Squeeze: Eastside Story -- one of the critical albums in turning my ears away from prog and fusion and back to guitar pop

 

Tom Waits: Rain Dogs -- changed everything for me (and apparently a lot of other people too) and now that the Waits influence is so ubiquitous in the Indie rock world, I am angry and bitter, 'cause I was aping this stuff back in the late '80s...

 

John Scofield: Time on My Hands (maybe not his best but the one that launched me on a musical obsession that is now 20 years old and still thriving)

 

Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (immediate affinity for me and Malkmus that endures to this day-- i can listen to that cat rattle on all day long, for some reason. In fact I think I am one the few people STILL listening...)

 

The Dixie Dregs: What If (mostly because of Steve Morse as composer--probably the best "prog" composer misrepresented as "guitar god." As a youth, I was in love with precisely arranged, contrapuntal rock, and it doesn't get much better than The Dixie Dregs...except maybe Gentle Giant)

 

Gentle Giant: Free Hand

 

Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Imperial Bedroom (not his best, but the one I wore into a fine black powder.)

 

XTC: Black Sea (tough choice, as they've made a million good albums and no great ones--please don't say Skylarking. That is their critically designated "great album" in the absence of a genuine one; it probably doesn't even make my XTC top 5.)

 

Astor Piazzolla: Tango Zero Hour (Been chasing this sound ever since--nothing else like it, and never will be. He deserves to be considered alongside Ellington and Gershwin, et al.)

 

Pat Metheny Group (the "white album") (sigh--I wouldn't likely listen to this today, but of all my fusion obsessions, here's one that stood out. There was something really luminous about early Metheny--very much like the early REM of jazz)

 

Joe Walsh: So What? or: James Gang Greatest Hits: very specifically for planting the idea of "funky rock" in my head--otherwise a fairly "minor but quirky and interesting talent" in the big picture.)

 

Kansas: Masque (every night for three years, fell asleep to this and Song For America. That's life changing. The damage is irreparable.)

 

Little Feat: The Last Record Album (wildly under-appreciated band--I'd rather put The Band, by The Band, here, but my discovery of them was a relatively recent affair.)

 

The Grateful Dead: Europe '72. Why fight it? I grew up among deadheads and was always the one pleading--PLEADING--to listen to something else, but lord knows the Dead left their mark on me, and I know from crippling overexposure to the breadth of their career that it is the '71 - '73 period--i.e., the period in which they were a one-drummer band--that is inarguably great {censored}. Best songs, best playing they ever did.

 

Edgar Winter Group: They Only Come Out at Night. uh huh. Yeppers. Yep. Big influence. Wish it were a better album.

 

Trip Shakespeare: Lulu (I can not explain my affection for this modest, out of print album by this modest Minneapolis group, who went on to spawn--eek!--Semisonic. But there it is. I can sing you every note and nuance on this disc--they were like morning doves in the heyday of grunge)

 

RHCP: BSSM -- why not? I'd be hard pressed to name a more jubilant album than that one, and it is the one that got my son into rock, so it is special to me in myriad ways.

 

Jesca Hoop: Kismet -- I love me some Jesca Hoop!

 

IMPORTANT EDIT: Out of my respect to my father, a music fanatic-- I grew up bathed--BATHED--in the music of JS Bach and Bill Evans. I didn't even notice it then, but I am continually rediscovering how deeply embedded those sounds are in the fiber of my tastes.

 

So I choose as my last, 19th Life Changing album: Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, which I now engage and adore on my own terms, and simply put: nothing never got no better than Bill Evans.

 

So much else!

[Lee Knight]

Cool! And chronologically...

 

1. The Chipmunks sing the Beatles Hits - Hey, I was 5 years old. I didn't know The Beatles. But these little furry guys wrote some kick ass pop I'll tell you. It's what got me hooked.

 

2. Peter, Paul and Mary Ten Years Together. It's what got me into Dylan and folk in general. Don't Think Twice, Too Much of Nothin', 500 Miles, Blowin' In the Wind. Great guitar playing too.

 

3. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies. My friend had already snuck School's Out to school and I'd already had the pleasure of taking the panties off the vinyl. But Billion? Forget it. Great album. Twisted my little kid mind into the wreck I am today. I wanna be ELECTED!!!!! I Love the Dead. And Donavon's vocals on the title track. Sick good fun for a budding perv who's learning to like guitar plugged in thank you.

 

4. Edgar Winter Group - They Only Come Out At Night. Really Magpel. First album I bought with my saved money. I heard Frankenstein on our car's am and flipped. WTF is that? Then saw the cover art and had to dive in. I still love the whole album. Alta Mira. Round and Round. Dan Hartman's Autumn and Free Ride.

 

5. Johnny Winter - Still Alive and Well. At this point I'm beginning to dig anybody without pigment. Every now and then I know it's kinda hard to tell but I'm still alive and well! Yeah. I then began to go back catalog with both white guys and Derringer too.

 

6. Van Cliburn's performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. I picked this up at a garage sale. Just a kid thinking that there must be all kinds of music out there. This was a great start to opening my eyes and ears. Headphones and the soft oboe and flute at the top of the middle movement. Oh yeah.

 

7. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres. Now I'm actually playing with other guys,. We're plugged in and pounding tubs. A natural to learn your way around making a nasty sound. Sinister in a redemptive way. I still listen all the time to this one.

 

Oh, there's more...

[Lee Knight]

8. Edgar Winter - Entrance. So I'm digging back to the earlier releases and find Edgar's debut. It's jazz. Sort of. It's rock too. It not pop. It effing great is what it is. Hmm... jazz?

 

9. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True. I'm still playing with the same guys in high school. We're working up Credence covers. ZZ Top covers, and... some garage punk from the 60's. Pushin' Too Hard, etc. The guitar player says, "I know this album jacket looks totally nerdy but listen to this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...uh. I. I'm totally speechless. This... is what I've been imagining. Not this realized. But this. Songs. Cleverness. Heart. Anger. Fallibility. I bought it that afternoon and copied every nuance of his voice. A month later I started writing songs and began singing in our band.

 

10. Graham Parker - Squeezing Out the Sparks. After the epiphany with Elvis. And his following masterworks of cleverness, I wanted more. In steps Graham. What an angry son of a bitch. This guy is more pissed off the Elvis! Cool. But wait... "Did they tear it out, with talons of steel?" Gulp. What is this guy saying? Totally unafraid. Artistic focus and balls. Balls as in, "This is on my mind. Don't like it? There's the door" kinda balls. Great album.

[Kerouac]

 

Tom Waits: Rain Dogs -- changed everything for me (and apparently a lot of other people too) and now that the Waits influence is so ubiquitous in the Indie rock world, I am angry and bitter, 'cause I was aping this stuff back in the late '80s...

 

 

I was born in '83. I got into Tom Waits when I was about 13 years old and have been trying to push the Waits agenda ever since. I've only gotten ONE of my friends into him in all those years, but I'm always overjoyed when I meet someone who knows his work... it's a good barometer as far as if this person and I may get along.

[Lee Knight]

Rain Dogs will be on my list as well.

[Lee Knight]

11. Peter Gabriel - (drippy face) Atmosphere. Pre-Trent dark poetry. Abrasive sounds. Tribal sounds. What a great idea Pete! I wonder if they'll copy the {censored} out of your idea...

 

12. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs. A song about later pirates? Frickin' A!

 

Wipe him down with gasoline

Till his arms are hard and mean,

From now on boys this iron boat's your home

So heave away boys.

 

Totally organic sounds but still so on the edge creatively. Marc Ribot's guitar takes the place of the abrasive Gabriel samples. Room sounds, marimbas, struck brake drums. "and it's time, time time that you love me, yes it's time time time". Like an ancient lullaby on acid.

[sailorman]

some great choices.

Agree with Rubber Soul.

Also 'Are You Experienced' by Hendrix.

'In the Court of the Crimson King'; still remember where I was when I first heard that.

ELP's 1st.

'Light as a Feather' by Return to Forever.

'Three Friends' by Gentle Giant

'Nursery Cryme' by Genesis

'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy' - Sarah McClachlan

'Benefit' - Jethro Tull

 

I'm sure I could come up with more but have to get to work.

[Kendrix]

19?

 

Heres a few of mine:

 

Fab four: Meet the Beatles, Rubber Soul, Peppers:

They all took me to new levels.

I bought the (mono) Pepper the day it was released (June1) and listened to it every single day that summer. It totally blew my mind.

 

Hendrix Axis: The first one was amazing But Axis brought the tones and the songs to a new level. To this day some of my fav geetar tones can be found here.

 

Retun to Forever: Hymn of the 7th galaxy. Bill Conners worked much better with this ensemble than Dimeola IMHO. The band was hungry and very sharp at the time. The electric fusion stuff was very fresh.

 

Mahavishnu: Inner Mounting Flame: Stunning playing - even if I can hardly bring myself to listen to it today.

 

Roundingout the fusion era: MIles: LIVEEVIL: Quite a crew. Groundbreaking stuff.

 

Steely Dan: Kay Lied: Simply great pop tunes oozing Fagans signature sacrcasm and wit. I love the overall sound of this one.

 

J. Beck: Blow by Blow: I'm a guitarist. G. Martin producing J. Beck - what can you say?

 

Zappa: I have more of his releases than anyone elses: If you force me to pick its hard. Hot Rats was a biggie. The man was a genius composer and an incredible player. What a visionary.

 

Little Feat: Fee dont fail me now: "Tripe face boogie" and "Skin it back" cannot be denied.

 

J. Browne: Late for The sky: A sad one. Davied Lindleys soulful slide is what got me on this one. Its deep.

 

Allmans live at Filmore: Elizabeth reed felt like a timeless melody that I'd always known. Oh the tones.

 

Death cab: Plans: This is one of the few very recent albums that I really fell for. The lyrics are stunning and deep.

 

OK here are a few "guilty pleasures" that were big influences:

 

Grand Funk: On Time. Pure Rock energy.

 

Some very early singles also stick out to me:

F. Avalon: Venus: the production really grabbed me- still does

Mantovani: Summers Place: same comment as above

Theme from Exodous: Ah the melody.

 

Someone mentioned Bill Evans: His tune "Emily" is one of the most expressive piano pieces I've ever had the pleasure to listen to. I named my daughter Emily partly based on that tune. If its on I'm totally engrossed.

 

I'm sure there are many others worth mentioning that I dont recall at the moment. Was that 19?

[Lee Knight]

13. Chronology is shot. Crap. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers self titled 1st album. This is rock and roll. It's not punk or new wave or... but it sure fits. It made me dig the sound of a 1st position A chord cranked through a nice amp again. Nice sneer on the cover too.

 

14. The Beatles - Rubber Soul. There's nothing I need to say, right?

 

15. XTC - Oranges and Lemons. Black Sea is great and I'm having a tough time not putting in this list but... changed my life? Well, maybe. Close. But I go with Orange and Lemons. The pop ecstasy of The Loving and Mayor of Simpleton is too much for me. It changed me.

 

16. Crowded House - Crowded House. Though Woodface is probably a better album, the debut added another layer to my appreciation of post Beatles pop. Finn's deep earthy insights into us animals still freaks me out. His melodic sense crushes me.

 

17. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. Wow. I listen to this more than anything. Drummer Jimmy Cobb's ride cymbal hit in the album opener So What, right at the beginning of Miles first solo... kssssshhhh.... how can a ride do that? God, they listened to each other. Miles hears that cymbal too and just goes into this cool, comfortable, but out there place. Bill Evans, love Bill. And Coltrane who to me, takes a backseat to Cannonball Adderly on this disc. Great album. I'll listen to it till I die.

[Lee Knight]

18. Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Piano music for those who don't really like piano music. Evans could be "out" and pretty at the same time. Block chords with inner dynamics. Crazy man. Drummer Philly Jo Jones? His ambient intro to Porter's Night and Day is like the predecessor to Tom Wait's ambient recording experiments.

 

and...

 

19. Glenn Gould - The Goldberg Variations (1955). I never much got Bach before this. Sounded like math. Bach is like math like a crystal is like math. Math, sure. But how deep can you go? Listening to Gould's Bach turned it on for me. The intricacies and patterns and development brought to life something inside you. For music to trigger something inside you... instead of you being outside looking in. Well, that's the beauty of Bach. A tiny glimpse into God's mystery.

 

Like all great music.

[tremolounge]

Meet the Beatles (George made me pick up a guitar)

 

Les Paul & Mary Ford, Bye Bye Blues (my aunt had it... a guitar can do that?)

 

Dylan, Bringing it All Back Home

 

Dylan Highway 61 Revisited (spent my homework hours writing out Dylan lyrics)

 

The Rolling Stones Now (actually, all their early albums, cuz they made me go track down the stuff they were covering)

 

Velvet Underground (banana)

 

Laura Nyro (everything)

 

... hiatus...

 

Pat Metheny (white album) (can't play like him, but his style profoundly influenced mine)

 

Sex Pistols (not all of Bollocks, but Holidays, Bodies, Anarchy and God Save)

 

Patti Smith, Horses

Talking Heads, Buildings & Food

Magazine, Real Life

Magazine, Secondhand Daylight

Siouxsie, The Scream

 

[the above 5 pulled me back into music and made me start a band]

 

Nothing since then has been life-changing, maybe because punk was the last true revolution in music.

 

 

...seems like I only listened to white folks' music; nothing could be further from the truth, but these records had a huge effect on the way I do music.

 

 

p.s. a big +1 for "Squeezing Out Sparks"!

[Lee Knight]

 

Laura Nyro (everything)

 

 

 

I didn't know who she was when I was a kid but I loved the songs. Sweet Blindness, Wedding Bell Blues, Stone Soul Picnic, Eli's Coming, And When I Die.

 

This is the music I grew up on. And all those songs have a certain "wrongness" about them. They're just not pop songs. They're the aftermath of some strange artistic eruption. Then... they put them to a beat. Or tried to. I've since got into her albums and realized she pretty much arranged that stuff too. Or at least made it a no brainer for later arrangers of her stuff.

[tremolounge]

 

And all those songs have a certain " wrongness" about them.

 

 

YEAH! Because they're so intensely personal, and so unwilling to be confined by any arbitrary restrictions (like, say, a metronome) -- I'm talking about Laura's own versions.

 

I like to play the song "Timer" for people and ask, "Can you imagine anyone doing this today?"

[rasputin1963]

1. SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (this one was just the big "waker-upper" for almost everyone, no?)

2. Moussorgsky--- PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (gave me freedom to play any harmony I could ever want or dream up)

3. NO WAVE (A&M album compilation) (for a suburban kid like me, this was the doorway into Punk and New Wave)

4. SONGS THAT WON THE WAR, VOLS I&II (Pop vocal record hits of WWII. My grandfather had tried to make me listen to these... Why did I have to wait 'til he was gone to appreciate them? Sublime orchestral and tight "bop" harmony vocal choirs... Wow. This is when America was AMERICA.)

5. AUTOBAHN---Kraftwerk (What can any keyboardist born after 1950 possibly say?)

6. The Nelson Riddle collaborative albums of Linda Ronstadt (taught me all I know about American popular voicing and arranging)

7. TIME OUT--- The Dave Brubeck Quartet (taught me the rudiments of advanced jazz piano)

8. Leonard Bernstein---WEST SIDE STORY (for its day, a colossal summation of Latin, Bebop and Euro-classical stylings)

9. Lloyd-Webber--- JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (a colossal summation of Euro-classics, jazz and rock stylings; in some ways, has never been surpassed.)

10. THE HISTORY OF BRITISH ROCK, 1957--1963 (to understand Punk, one needed first to understand THIS... Pre-Beatles, Pre-British Invasion, Brit-Pop: Helen Shapiro, Val Doonican, Petula Clark, Frank Ifield, Acker Bilk, The Caravelles, Alma Cogan, Joe Brown, et.al.)

11. Original OST---AMERICAN GRAFITTI (my huge first exposure to the very strange American Black music of my father's generation; essential, say, for understanding 1970's Soul)

12. Carole King---TAPESTRY (has colored my piano playing to this very day... a certain kind of kinesthetic, warm approach... Like Carole, I don't want my fingers to dance over the keys like a daddy-longlegs... I literally like to feel the vibrations of the keys coming up through my fingers into my hands...)

13. RASTAMAN VIBRATION--- Bob Marley. (The one that first introduced me to reggae!)

14. Dionne Warwick singing the Bacharach/David anthology. (Introduced me to the genius of Bacharach; nothing's ever been the same since. the ne plus ultra of American, single-oriented pop.)

15. BELEZA TROPICAL--- ass't Brazilian tropical hits assembled by David Byrne. (Introduced me-- it wasn't Bossa!---to the orgasmically hip sound of Brazil: Caetano, Buarque, Gil, Bethania, et.al.))

16. Original OST of the movie PAPER MOON. (This soundtrack had an outstanding collection of American pop songs from The Great Depression... my first taste of this.)

17. TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME (RCA anthology of American pop---not rock--radio hits from 1950--1958. Kitty Kallen, Ames Brothers, McGuire Sisters, Como, et.al.) (Gave me my first glimpse into the sedate American pop that just preceded Rock 'n' Roll; to understand a genre, you must know what came just before it.)

18. OST of movie TOMMY, 1975 (Excruciating expose of the inner lives of postwar children; this one was a watershed for my generation)

19. The GOLDEN AGE OF COUNTRY-WESTERN, 1958--1968. (Ferlin Husky, Hank Locklin, Patsy Cline, Bobby Bare, Brenda Lee, Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton, Haggard, Willie, Statlers, et.al. First turned me on to your "better", post-Hillbilly, Countrypolitan oriented country music. This music is just a rite-of-passage for any Texan).

 

 

 

....and I fear I could go for another 19 now. I've always been a piano-man, and this list shows it... a number of these are anthologies... That's because I was always keen to absorb not only a song... but ascertain its role in a particular time milieu.

[Krypter]

hmm, i'll bite:

 

1. Dire Straits - Greatest Hits. (age:11) it was the first CD i purchased, all on my own. My dad used to listen to them constantly and since i only ever saw him in the summer (child of divorced parents, one in PA, dad in TX) it was something that always brings back great memories. Plus, im only now beginning to notice how much Knopfler's solo style influences me.

 

2. Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation. (age:12-13)Me and my best friend Tom listened to this album (on vinyl!) everyday after school while we got the newspapers together for our paper route. It was the first time i heard Rock and Roll. I mean, really heard it.

 

3. Metallica - Black Album. (age:13) my first exposure to the wonder of metal. Not my favorite of theirs, but it was the most influential, as i had never heard metal before. Actually, to go on a bit, the "Live {censored}: Binge and Purge" video is why im a musician. I saw Jason Newsted playing bass, with the lights and his foot on the monitor headbanging and playing this insane devils music....and at age 13 i said "Well, i dont know what that is, and i dont know what he is doing, and im pretty sure im going to hell for seeing this, but whatever it is...i HAVE to do that!" the rest is......

 

4. Pearl Jam - Ten. (age:14) I remember listening to it the first time and having to stop walking because i was so moved.

 

5. Guns n Roses - Use Your Illusion I and II (age:14) when i really started geeking out to Rock and Roll. When i really started to become obsessed with the idea, the mythos, the grit and grime of Rock and Roll. The essence of it all.....

 

6. Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood (age: 14) i found this album in a stack of my step-dads cds, i promptly stole it and rocked out every chance i got

 

7. Van Halen - Van Halen (age: 15) eruption.

 

8. Metallica - Ride the lightning (age: 15) I had a massive crush on a girl in school, i never told her. I played this at a christmas party our group of friends had and she kissed me for having good taste in music.

 

9. Dream Theater - Awake (age:15) first time i had really heard progressive metal and it floored me. I still have that album in heavy rotation to this day

 

10. Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (age:15) i didnt even know this kind of music existed until my friend stole the cd for me because it had two girls kissing on the cover. It became my peak of a perfect sound and album for most of my teens. Indeed, they are still my favorite band, and i take alot of inspiration from them.

 

11. Pantera - Vulger Display of Power (age:15) tought me the power and wonder and magic of the almightly riff. Fact, most guitarists of my generation are still chasing that peak of riffing perfection we heard on VDoP. If you like metal you have to respect Dimebag. The man was a riff machine.

 

12. Melinda's mix tape (age: 16-17). Ok.....maybe this isnt fair, putting a mix tape on the list, but the girl that gave it to me was my first real love. We never dated, but were close close friends....best friends. She made me a mix tape and it got stuck in my tape player in my car for almost an entire year. The tracks on this tape influenced me more than i can realize...even to this day. It was specific songs, specific phrases, bands, melodies that take me back to that time. Only when i got older did i find out she loved me too, just neither one of us would say it to the other, except in mix tapes. And, in the end, thats what music is all about for me.

 

13. Greatest 80s Ballads (age:17) "Another mix?!? ANOTHER MIX!?" You say? well, hear me out: I lost my virginity listening to this cd. So, yea, it makes the list

 

14. Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets (age:16) i never knew guitars could sound like that. A perfect blend of tone and virtuosity. Still in heavy rotation on my playlist. Still my favorite guitarist.

 

15. Unabashed - Desolate (age:18) Never heard of Unabashed?! Really? LOL! Thats ok, neither has anyone else. Stupid name...worse album, horrible bassist. It was my first bands first CD. First time i ever got a taste of what it meant to be a musician. The lights, the buttons, the sound board, the studio the gadgets.....i've been chasing that first studio high ever since. Who cares if what we made was terrible in retrospect? It was great to me.

 

16. Boy Sets Fire - After the Eulogy (age:19) when i got this album i actually had to pull over my car and listen to it. I was to excited to wait, to moved stop listening, and was rocking out to much to drive.

 

**special prize**

-Fate ends Now - No Such Thing As a Happy Ending (age: 20) My band (at the time) It became my first taste of success. Regional success, but some none-the-less. My first tour, my first name recognition, my first band van....my first...well, alot of things. This was when i really got a sense of what it meant to be a working musician, living, sleeping, and eating based on how many cd's you sell at some show in some no-name town in some what-ever state. It was, coincidently, my first painful band break-up as well.

 

17. Social Distortion - Sex Love and Rock and Roll (age: 23) i had heard these guys tons before, but this is the first time i really listened.

 

18. Iron Maiden - Greatest Hits (age: 28) oh sure sure sure, as a metal fan since age 13 i'd heard Iron Maiden before, i had headbanged and air-guitared to Seventh Son, and Powerslave and all the rest most of my musical career. But they were always down on my list of great bands......then i saw them live....and now i GET it. I mean i really GET IT. This band makes me feel like im 15 again, and i havent been as excited about anything in years. Its as if my eyes have been opened again for the first time. That Iron Maiden show was as close to a religeous experience as i've ever had. Well, with my pants on at least....

 

 

19. Krypter - Into the Arms of the Apocalypse (age: TBA) Yea, so what if its my band? So what if the album isnt out yet? This is the first time i've ever written a whole album worth of material by myself. First time as the LEAD guitarist, first time musically that i've ever been this far into the deep end of it all. I've learned more about myself, as a musician, while in this band, with these guys, writing this album than i ever had before. Its teeth gnashing, heart breaking, frustrating, mind eradicating, and nerve rattling work, but i love it. I really love it.

 

 

 

wow...this list was fun!

[tom_s252]

For us younger ones, it's often a case of discovering records made 20-or-so years before we were born, so there's less of a chronological element to this than to some of the above...

 

1) Word Gets Around and

2) Performance and Cocktails by Stereophonics. With hindsight, I see this band's chronic shortcomings, but I maintain that their first two records are great British rock albums, and more importantly I grew up learning their songs on my first guitar and persuading my Dad to drive implausible distances to see them.

 

3) Definitely Maybe by Oasis gets in for similar reasons, because I learned every note of most of the songs on it. Also, if you listen carefully enough to Oasis, you begin to realise that sometimes they sound a bit like they might have listened to bits of your Dad's record collection, like Electric Warrior, or maybe even...

 

4) Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band! I have a distinct memory of being on a bus back from a school trip when a friend offered to swap the CD I was listening to for the one he had; I had a Manic Street Preachers album, he had Sgt Pepper's. For the next 45 minutes, I listened, learned and realised what I'd been missing.

 

5) Time to take in a few other highlights of my Dad's record collection, and stuff in heavy rotation in my childhood included Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty. Later, this would lead me into the rest of TP's work, a full appreciation of Mike Campbell and realising who the Traveling Wilburys were, but for the time being it was just great rock and roll. Side One of Full Moon Fever is still one of my favourite ways to pass 20 minutes.

 

6) Fleetwood Mac (1975 self-titled) and

7)Rumours were both played endlessly too. Slowly, I worked out who was married to who, who wrote and sang what and why Lindsey Buckingham was someone to admire.

 

8) Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen; bought a vinyl copy for

[rasputin1963]

Cool! And chronologically.....

 

 

Four Texans on your list, Lee!!! The Lone Star State salutes you!

 

[the stranger]

Yeah, Texas. Don't buy that Bush {censored}. Texas got a bad rap. It is the great state

of Texas.

[the stranger]

In order of appearance (approx):

 

1. Billy Joel "The Stranger"

2. Billy Joel "Glass Houses"

3. Ratt "Out of The Cellar"

4. Twisted Sister "Stay Hungry"

5. Aldo Nova "Aldo Nova"

6. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts "I Love Rock and Roll"

7. Motley Crue "Shout at The Devil"

8. Beasties Boys "Licensed to Ill"

9. Metallica "Master of Puppets"

10. Slayer "Reign in Blood"

11. Anthrax "Among The Living"

12. Flotsam and Jetsam "No Place For Disgrace"

13. Dark Angel "Time Does Not Heal"

 

I have to interrupt and say that I have to stop listing thrash albums or I'll run out of room for the 19....

 

14. Obituary "Slowly We Rot"

15. Napalm Death "Harmony Corruption" (One of the biggest on the list)

16. Dick Dale "The King of Surf Guitar"

17. NWA "Efil4zaggin"

18. Dre "The Chronic"

19. Beasties "Ill Communication"

 

Uh, 19 isn't enough...

 

20. Cypress Hill "Cypress Hill"

21. Public Enemy -all of it-

22. ZZ Top "El Loco" (I forgot it up there somewhere...and I was born in raised in Dallas, Texas...so, if I didn't get ZZ on the list...)

23. Charles Earland -all of it-

24. Extensive forays into soul/jazz/funk/B3 goodness (Prestige, Blue Note...If Bob Porter and Rudy Van Gelder were involved, I'm on it!)

25. James Brown "Live In Paris - Olympia '71"

26. Pink Floyd "The Wall" (I forgot it up there...Dark Side of The Moon, too)

27. I was raised on classic rock, so....way too many of those to list...

28. Not an album, but GTA3 turned me onto a bunch of old school hiphop

29. Santana doing Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock made my hair stand on end like it hasn't in a long time...

30. I didn't mention Prong above, but I should have...

31. Kyuss "Blues For The Red Sun"

32. Helmet "Meantime"

 

[YOUTUBE]hgGyX7WPxuQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

33. Oh {censored}, I just remembered I haven't even covered the punk/hc stuff yet...

34. DK

35. DRI

36. Sex Pistols "Never Mind The Bullocks"

37. Discordance Axis & Assuck (Should be up around the Napalm Death)

38. Elton John "Greatest Hits" (The first one, should be up with Billy Joel)

39. Can somebody tell me what I'm missing, because I know I'm missing something...

 

Oh yeah, Black Sabbath.

 

I know there's more, but I think I'll stop back when I think of more...

 

Oh {censored}, I forgot country...just imagine everything from the oldest stuff on some AM station from the past up to Willie, Waylon, Hank Jr, and all those guys...

 

I also didn't get to list any big band/swing stuff...

 

Maybe I can just sign off the list with a smoking cut from one groovy soul:

 

[YOUTUBE]EbJeGiIp7bE[/YOUTUBE]

 

Want some more? I know you do:

 

[YOUTUBE]BLYUtgJYqoo[/YOUTUBE]

 

My version of heaven most definitely involves grooving jams like this for eternity.

 

The smoking B3 is one thing, but when you add the big band band swinging horns, it just takes me to another world.

 

Long story short...if it rocks and vibes me, I'm in there. I don't care about all this genre bs and classification. R&R, Metal, Pop, Rap, Country, Hiphop, Swing,

Big Band, Jazz, Soul, Funk, and whatever. I love it all.

 

And if I love an album, it changes my life. So, they all do.

[the stranger]

I forgot one big one:

 

Blondie "Greatest Hits" covers all the bases...

 

[YOUTUBE]xHPikUPlRD8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]iiBEFr20hE4[/YOUTUBE]

 

And I'm from the MTV generation. We were sitting there when they turned it on. This was back when one person in the suburbs had cable and the rest of us hacked their cable. You had like 9 houses getting cable from one feed.

 

So, I remember a lot of that...

[the stranger]

 

[the stranger]

 

I forgot Pantera, speaking of Texas. What's funny is I was into them way before Cowboys From Hell. I was into their hair period. Whe they went thrash is was the ultimate. Too bad it all turned out like it did.

 

I saw them playing in a strip club in Lawton, Ok. They were playing their pre-Cowboys stuff and a variety of Metallica covers.

 

Too bad about the Metallica thing, too. We miss ya Cliff. At least you didn't have to see what the future would hold.

[Thrashy]

1. Elvis-Frankie and Johnnie. this was my first album and after listening to it a few times my very young mind came to the realization that Elvis sucked

 

2. Ozzy -blizzard of Ozz. This was the first one I bought for myself at the tender age of 9 or 10. Randys playing truely changed my life. I knew for a fact that when I grew up, I was going to be a guitar player. I literally wore the grooves off of the entire first side of that album.

 

3. Metallica- Kill 'Em all When I heard this I was listening to all of the early metal staples, Iron Maiden, Judas preist, Saxon, etc. This album changed everything. Metal was not just good music that made me want to move, now it was speaking right to me as if I was one of them.

 

4.Yngwie Malmsteen- Rising force. Hey, what can I cay, I was a 13 year old budding guitar player. how could I not fall for that one? Plus It got me listening to classical, mostly Mozart and J.S Bach but it was a start.

 

5. AC/DC- Dirty Deeds. The best rock and roll band on the planet. IMO. The early work with Bon Scott was my favorite.

 

6. ZZ top -Deguello- I got this around the same time every one else was listening to Eliminator. I really didn't care much for the current stuff but man, cheap sunglasses was jsut so FAT. Oh yeah.

 

7. Suicidal Tendencies- This was so different from anything I had heard and It really taught me that you can have great aggressive music without a crushing riff and tight orchestration.

 

8. Paginini-caprices. Wow, that was a violin?? sick man, just sick. I would try and show my metalhead friends and they would just look at me blankly.

 

9. Beatles- Ssgt peppers. It took a little while for the Beatles to sink in to my brain. But sink in it did. I went on a bit of a 70's kick for a while, with the sabbath, Zeppelin, Alice cooper etc which led to .....

 

10. Pink Floyd- the wall. I totally blame pink floyd for my speaker/audio passion. The wall got me and then going back and listening to more Floyd, on better and better systems started it. Now I spend as much time tweaking my speaker designs as I do playing music.

 

11. Anthrax- I'm the Man- Rap and Metal??? no it will never work. but it kinda did, so I guess they are to blame for what came after.

 

12. Pantera- Cowboys from Hell- Up until this point every metal band had one weak link. I had always wished for a band with a total badass in every spot that also had the songwriting to match. This album made it so.

 

13. Public Enemy- fear of a black planet- I was always resistant to rap, there was not a large percentage of white kids in my school so it was pounded in my head a lot. This one got me though. Public Enemy was just like the above description of pantera...only for Rap.

 

14 Jane's Addiction-Ritual de lo habitual- Crazy, funky, atmospheric music. It took a couple of listens but then I was hooked.

 

15. Nine Inch Nails-Pretty Hate machine. I hated it the first time I head it. then I hated it less, then I couldn't get it out of my head. Now I listen to something from it every week.

 

16. Beastie Boys- pauls botique- This Cd jsut is a pleasure to listen to, great grooves, wonderful mixing, good songs. still one of my refrences

 

17. Rage against the Machine- What can I say, that dude is pissed and the Cd jsut completely drips anger. I love it.

 

18.Metallica-Load ( i think), whatever came after the black album. I was really waiting for them to get back on track after a small slump, what i got was just the worst drivel I had ever heard. from the mighty metallica no less. taught me to stay on your game or quit, nothing in between.

 

19. Stevie Ray Vaughn- The sky is crying-I was real late getting into the blues. This opened some big doors about how one not can be so important. and led me down the patch to the older masters.

 

Not all of these are my favorites but they all changed my perception of music in a big way and opened my horizions in one way or other.

[BlueStrat]

Beatles -Rubber Soul

Ray Charles-Ray Charles at Newport

Ray Price- Nightlife

James Taylor-Mudslide Slim

Grateful Dead- Workingman's Dead

Crosby Stills Nash & Young-Deja Vu

BB King- Live at Cook County Jail

John Mayall- Blues from Laurel Canyon

The Allman Brothers- Live at Fillmore East

Willie Nelson-Red Headed Stranger

Danny Gatton and Joey De Francesco-Relentless

Chet Atkins-Now & Then

The Police-Regatta de Blanc and Zenyatta Mondatta

Nirvana-Nevermind

Tommy Emmanuel-Only

Joni Mitchell-Hejeira

Hendrix-Are You Experienced

Albert King-Live Wire/Blues Power

Paul Brady- Spirits Colliding

Santana- Abraxis

ZZ Top- Rio Grande Mud

 

[Thrashy]

Ack, I forgot red headed stranger. That was probably my earliest influence, my parents used to have that going all of the time when we went to the mountains as I was growing up (colorado phase)