Albums that have shaped the person I am.
No reason why, I just like lists.
[In no particular order]
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
One of those first albums you remember hearing, this album is one of those for me. From a CD my dad bought sometime in the 80s when CDs were first introduced and now keep in my own collection. Reminds me of night-time road trips under a canopy of in obscured starlight in some location with no landmarks but darkness and the silhouettes of some mountainous region in the distance.
Elton John - The One
Yes, not one of those albums that Elton will be remembered for, but it’s one of my favorites, to me there is not a bad song on the record. Also one of those first records I remember listening, I found a CD version of it recently in the clearance bin of a record store near my house for $1, a steal in my opinion, and much needed since I only had the cassette version of it. It’s the first record after Elton's struggle with alcohol, drugs, and bulimia and features Eric Clapton, David Gilmore, Pino Palladino, and Olle Romo.
Pink Floyd - Pulse
Another road trip record and a record I would listen to when I was young. Pink Floyd were pretty heavy for me, but none of the elementary school kids would get it, typically they would pass on my suggestions for party music when I would bring up Pink Floyd, wasn't cool I guess.
Supertramp - Crime Of The Century
This band was pretty important in my childhood, prog-rock and an interesting band as well no doubt. All the covers that bands (Goo-Goo Dolls, and does Gym Class Heroes count?) though are annoying, you've probably heard many songs from this band and not even know it was them.
Dead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death
The first punk rock record I ever heard back in 7th grade at the behest of a friend of mine with a strange fascination for the Viet Cong and AK-47s, back when there was no punk rock kids or punk rock fashion, it was just punk rock. It was outrageous to me, "To Drunk To Fuck" completely blew my mind, it seemed like they didn't care about the singing or the playing, I could hear the mistakes clearly on the record but it spoke to me, this was around the time of 9/11 and I was starting to feel the animosity of racism for the first time.
Fugazi - Repeater + 3 Songs
This was the first record that expanded my idea of where punk rock can go musically. I first got into Pink Floyd, punk deconstructed that for me, but Fugazi was the first that I heard which brought the ideas of classic rock back into the music of punk rock, albeit in a different way. Fugazi wasn't about the speed or the mosh-pits, it was about the music again and that started my turn into the musical taste I have now. A huge influence on me, Joe Lally is a massive influence on the way I play bass.
Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
In my opinion, pound-for-pound, the greatest album of all time. Yes Sergeant Pepper's was a great record which unlimitedly influenced all music to come after it, but if we disregard that and just look at the weight of the album in regard to songs themselves, Double Nickels is better. Its 40+ songs, (not a bad or even just okay song in the batch, all amazing) with half of the album written in only a couple weeks upon learning that Husker Du's upcoming record Zen Arcade was to be a double album, the greatest result of one-upsmanship I personally have ever heard ("Take that Huskers" in the linear notes). A huge influence in every way, Mike Watt is also one of those bassists that shaped the way I play today.
Crass - Stations Of The Crass
Another punk band that took my idea of punk and changed it. Poetic, biting, and weird sounding, they had a strange musical approach that was more influenced by classical music and David Bowie then anything "punk". Pete Wright completes the trifecta of bassists that influences the way I play.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
People might take me the wrong way, I'm not trying to copy the way Kurt Cobain sings, I try to copy the way Karen O sings, because I adore her. This band showed me that you can be artistic with a heavy underground and musical background and be a successful mainstream act as well. In my opinion, they are the most talented act out there right now, and are absolutely amazing in every way. I love all their records, but I had to choose this particular one because it was my first foray into their world.
No Age - Nouns
I tried these guys out, learning about them approximately 3 days before they hit MTV, and while I didn't know much about noise rock at the time I learned that I liked it. It was like an abstract painting, it was good to not have the implicit meaning thrown in my face and to just feel the expression in what sounded like distortion grinding against metal over poppy SST influenced punk rock. Oh and Randy Randall is just about the coolest guy, though I haven't seen No Age yet live, I had the priviledge of seeing Randy put a solo guitar performance in a DIY art gallery that I volunteer at, that was an experience, and there was only about 5 people there, I was expecting a bigger crowd but its their loss.
Nirvana - In Utero
All said Nirvana is still an influence on me; I would be lying if I said that they do not affect me musically in any way. Kurt Cobain speaks to me, yes it may now be the 21st century, but I still feel as crappy as everyone else did in the early 90s, so what if Green Day is the soundtrack to our times, they are not as musically daring as Nirvana was, a complete anomily of mainstream music that will probably not happen again.
Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
Finally something like this blew my way, it was about time someone took the idea of taking Poison Idea and Pink Floyd and putting them together. Damian is also a ridiculously cool guy, giving me 20 minutes of his time to just stand outside of the Smell and talk.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
It's not necessarily his guitar chops that I listen to, (while they are amazing, but that I do not need to say) its his expression with the guitar. He played it as more then a guitar, he painted with it and he was a goddamn great painter at that. Everything he did with it was incredible, the blues, the rock, the noise...I try to emulate that with bass (at only a minute fraction of anything that he ever did, but someday I hope that it can come close to a marginally decent proportion).
Notable Entries:
Mastodon - Leviathan
Thank you Mastodon, I took a complete dive on this record having not previously heard any of their material but thinking that the album artwork was too ridiculously good for the music to be bad, and my assumption was correct.
Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion
Although Depeche Mode never really stuck on me as intensily as Elton John or Pink Floyd as a child, this record along with Violator was still something that I heard a lot as a kid.
Civil Disobedience - In A Few Hours Of Madness
My favorite 7", its crust punk, but its strangly atmospheric, and unlike any other crust punk that I've heard.
The Lion King - Soundtrack
It won an academy award for a reason.
Jimmy Page And Robert Plant - No Quarter: Jimmy Page And Robert Plant Unledded
My first listening experience with Led Zepplin-esque material. This is the last entry I'm making for a album that I heard a lot as a kid, I swear.
Michael Jackson - Thriller
I'm aware of the sudden boom of interest in his music after his death, but really he deserves it, and I owe my existence to Michael, if it were not for Thriller my parents would have gotten divorced before I was even born (long story).
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