Your Five Most Influential c.d.s (Share Why, Stories, etc.)

Syd · Jan 2, 2011

Just so it's clear: These are the most influential albums, not necesarilly my favourite, nor the ones i like the most.

Californication

This was my first rock album I ever bought. Back in 2001. So this is the one that started my love for real Rock music. Some of these songs are still my favourite, even though I dont really listen to RHCP that much anymore (maybe I start listening a lot to them in some more time). It was in this album that I started analyzing lyrics, and really started loving that bass guitar player (instrument which I play now).

The Stone Roses

This one was the album that I used to hate and now love (probably in my Top 5 favourite albums ever). This album taught me two important things: You always give albums, bands and everything in life more than one chance. I had to hear it a couple of times to kinda like it and everytime I listen to it I like it even more. So that taught me something. And also: A great album isn't necessarily made of greatest hits or really catchy tunes. It just has to be great music.

London Calling

This was the album that got me started in Punk-Rock music. I used to listen to stuff that was mainly on MTV (when they still played decent music there) so when I heard this I was kinda blown up. If I were to form a band, I would like it to have a Punk attitude, all thanks to this album, which started everything.

White Light/ White Heat

I had only heard a few VU songs and kinda liked them. But this album made me feel a special things (musical orgasm? probably yes) for weird, noisy, experimental music. Now VU is my second favourite band and I love everything about really trespassing the limits, the borders that are generally accepted today.

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

It was my favourite band and album for a long time. It got me started in all the 2000's alternative/indie music scene (which have a lot of my favourite bands and albums). My guitar playing style comes from records like this one, so I was really influenced in that way too.

(Bonus Track)

Help!

I couldn't do a list about anything and not put the Beatles in it. Why? Because I used to like music, songs, admire artists and singers, etc. All the other albums I posted were significant for something special, but really specific (like getting me started on some kind of particular genre). But it was with the Beatles, that i could experience what true passion for music was. Simple love songs like the ones in this album taught me what a love song really is and how it is supposed to be made, and now I worship beatles and music is one of the most important things in life for me.

Darkhymn · Jan 8, 2011

Looking through this thread, I have seen a lot of great albums. It's cool to see how music effects people.

My number one most influential album has to be Black Sabbath's 'We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll.' It was the first taste of the darker side of rock that I had as a child, and certainly opened my mind to much of the music on this list. I still have the cassette of this album, which I stole from my father (much to his chagrine). I still love anything Ozzy comes in contact with!

Number two is Godsmack's self-titled album. I heard 'Bad Religion' through a friend when I was eleven and fell in love immediately. I went on to purchase the album and became more enamored with each passing track. This was my first encounter with the alternative metal scene and I just couldn't get enough. This leads very directly into number three;

'Iowa' by everyone's favorite shock/numetal group, Slipknot. This album was literally given to me by an uncle who got it through some kind of promotion and wanted nothing to do with it. Frankly, after my first listen... Neither did I! However, a few months later I threw it in the 5-disc changer for no apparent reason, and the first track from the album that played on shuffle was 'The Heretic Anthem, which I loved immediately. After listening to the album a couple of times, I started to hear how complex the music was, and that was the moment when it stopped being 'just noise' to me.

Led Zeppelin IV. Until fairly recently, I was so far into death metal and some little modern rock, that there was little room in my reportoire for anything else. This album changed that. From 'Black Dog' to 'The Battle of Evermore,' this album brought me back to the classics in a big way.

'Like Gods of the Sun,' My Dying Bride's fourth album, was my introduction to Doom Metal, which has quickly become one of my favorite subgenres. To this day, 'For My Fallen Angel' and 'A Kiss to Remember' are two of my favorite tracks.

Sorry if this is a bit rambly... I can get like that.

Soot and Stars · Jan 9, 2011

Great entries everybody!!! :cheers2

therunt · Jan 13, 2011

What an amazing selection of music!!!!

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard A True Star, My introduction to the Runt and it remains my fave Todd album, its a diverse and at times odd album but contains the wonderfull Just One Victory, Reminds me of growing up around Glasgow in the 70s and the madness of those times....

Neil Young - Harvest, An album I keep going back to decade after decade - I doubt there is a bad song on it and it sounds as good now as it did waaaay back when... Reminds me of parties in student halls and cassette tapes that snapped or got twisted in the machine - well my copy did !!!!!

John Martyn - Solid Air, Saw the great man many times in the 70s and we kinda drifted apart in the 80s but this album still blows me away, heartfelt songs and wonderfull guitar arrangements - also happened to meet Big John on this tour, in a pub so no surprises there - despite what they said in later years seemed a hell of a nice guy....

Rush - 2112 - Nuff said saw them in the Apollo twice on that tour and have followed them along the way for more years than i care to remember - saw them in toronto 3 years ago - amaaaaazin, The DVD documentary shows how influential this album was - they flew in the face of what was deemed popular and came through...

Steely Dan - Cant Buy a Thrill - the geeetar, the way the songs flow, yeah theres a few stinkers on there but there is also Reelin in the Years - reminds me of going to see my fave pub band at the time cos the done a great cover of reelin..... The songwriting remains great to this day and later albums might be better but they lack something when compared to this..

Only 5 could prod do 25 :oyea:

kguitaros · Feb 12, 2011

I don't feel like cutting and pasting a bunch of links to pictures so here they are.

Guns N' Roses Greatest Hits:
This album is what got me into classic rock, even though they'er not really classic rock persay, they opend the gate way.

I hate to name the same band twice, but this album owned most of my teenage hood, I gotta give it a shoutout.

Appetite for Destrution.

After over playing the greatest hits, I wanted to hear more so I got this album. It quickly took greatest hits place. I played it so much that my sister threatened to break it. lol

The Best of Led Zeppelin Volume 1

This album came in a set with volume 2 but number 1 was the most influential for me. When I got this album I fell dead in love with Led Zeppelin. I have found my new obsession other then Guns N' Roses, they were replaced for a while by my new love.

Back in Black
This was the begining of my obsession with AC/DC. I bought every album of theirs here on after. I would be listening to this CD all day in the living room. My family would get pretty annoyed.

Experience Jimi Hendrix
The Best of Jimi Hendrix

This CD just Altered my opinion in music in general. Alot of other music paled in comparison to his amazing expertise.

Magnolia · Feb 19, 2011

Use your illusion I- Guns and Roses
This was the first hard rock album that I bought with my money. It's so special to me because many things I experienced are linked to many songs on this album.

Also, this album was constantly playing in the time when I started doing different things so it certainly has a strong personal meaning.
Slippery when wet-Bon Jovi
Yes good ol' Bon Jovi. This album got me into Hard rock, and it was the one that opened my eyes. I was still listening to crappy music untill my dad stuck this album into the Cd player and told me: "Now there's MUSIC in the house" .

And Justice to all-Metallica
By far my favourite album by Metallica, and by far the one I listened to most to.
Highway to hell-AC/DC
I always relax by listening to this album. It feels great to lean back and close my eyes, while Highway to hell plays in the background.
Love at first sting-Scorpions
This album is one of my favourites for no reason. I just love it.

pistolpete · Feb 25, 2011

1. Abbey Road - The Beatles
Before I really listened to Abbey Road, I never thought of an album as a piece of art. I just thought they were collections of songs. I can still remember when the light first came on, I listened to this album nearly every day for about a month. I never got tired of it (and I still don't get tired of it). This opened the flood gates into listening to the rest of the Beatles songs as albums and not just songs. It also propelled me into finding other artists like Dylan, Neil Young, and Springsteen and finding their truly great albums and not just their greatest hits. After Abbey Road, music became important to me, not just something I would turn on in the car.

2. Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
This album was the first album I heard where the artist was pouring his heart out in the songs. If You See Her, Say Hello breaks my heart every time I listen to it. This was a pretty big change for Dylan. He usually wrote observational songs, but he got personal on this album. He runs through all the feelings of a breakup: sadness, anger, being lost, being optimistic, being pessimistic.

3. Tonight's the Night - Neil Young
Another example of an artist pouring his heart out, but this time it is over a lost friend. You can hear his heart break and him trying to get over it using alcohol, drugs, and most importantly, music.

4. Are you Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix
The first album I heard where I said "Whoa, that is psychedelic!". I don't even have to be high to get tripped out on this album. Hendrix changed the way people thought about the guitar. Nobody has ever come close to him and I don't think anybody ever will.

5. Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
One of the biggest statements an artist has ever made is when he yells "I don't believe in Beatles" in God. It's a stripped down masterpiece. Just a guy, a few instruments, and his songs. The Clash sang "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust" on London Calling, but Lennon beat them to it by about 9 years. (Not that I don't like the studio tricks the Beatles and other artists used, but I like the straight rock'n'roll too.)

aspiesynnielexi · Mar 4, 2011

Lots of interesting stories here! It's great to see how music has changed people's lives. And now...dum da-da DAAAAAA...my contribution. In chronological order, the best I can remember.

1.

This is the very first album I remember hearing. I was very young (maybe 3 or 4), and it would always cheer me up when I was feeling negatively. Something in the progressions of the skilled acoustic guitar combined with Neil Young's endearing (if a bit off-key) singing got into my young head and stayed there, pleasantly. It was nice.

2.

The album (and film) that changed my life. This collection of Who live performances was explosive in all ways. I remember being five years old and swept away by the Woodstock performance of "See Me, Feel Me." I'm a music-color synesthete (meaning when I hear music, I see animated colors and shapes in my mind's eye), and Roger Daltrey's voice kicked that into high gear. For the first time I could completely see music. This was the album that made me fall in love with rock and roll entirely.

3.

This collection of CDs was highly influential. Soon after my parents' divorce at the age of 7, my mom was finally free to play the music she loved in the house (my horrid father wouldn't let her do ANYTHING, apart from get abused by him). Rod Stewart was, at the time, her favorite singer, and so these CDs were constantly going. And I loved this stuff. Rod before the American Songbook crap was fantastic.

4.

Not to get into an I-need-sympathy-please-feel-sorry-for-me lecture, but I was abused by my father for years. It sent me into a deep depression. This album, which was my favorite album for years, was one of my only sources of comfort in this dark time. My synesthesia disappeared, and I wanted it back terribly. But even without the synesthesia, I was able to follow this unique story and enjoy the great music of this album.

5.

The album that saved my life. During my depression, we got this CD from the library. I put it into the CD player just out of curiosity. The second I heard Brian May's guitar, something profound happened. I was inspired, and I could see my synesthesia stirring. My synesthesia was back--but only for that guitar. Gradually, though, it moved to everything else. I now had a tool to deal with my depression and my father's abuse, and I was able to do things again. While this was only one of a few things that brought me out of depression, it was an important one, and without it, I would have never recovered.

And thus concludes my collection of stories.

rockit · Mar 9, 2011

Soot and Stars said:
1. Smashing Pumpkins-Siamese Dream

My birth into music and everything it means to me started with "Siamese Dream". Before I bought this on cassette (remember those) I had never heard anything like it before. It was moody, spacy, melodic, emotional, otherworldly and epic all at the same time. My favorites before that album were Aerosmith and Gangsta rap. My taste have never been the same since!

Favorite track: Mayonaise

2. Fiona Apple-Tidal

Before "Tidal" I was into just guitar rock. The only female artist I had started to get into was Jewel and I had crossed the bridge into Tori Amos yet. I had heard "Shadowboxer" on MTV and I wasn't blown away but something intrigued me about it. It was a groovy, jazzy style I never heard in any my music and Fiona sang with a conviction I had never heard vocally before. It was also the first time I felt the power of a piano in a pop song. After that I saw the c.d. in the store I couldn't stop being drawn to the cover. Something about Fiona intrigued me and after I picked it up and put it back a dozen times I finally gave in and bought it. Needless to say, I loved it. It evokes more internal soul than almost anything since. This c.d. opened the floodgates to female artist as well as the piano which has been my favorite instrument ever since!

Favorite Track: Never Is A Promise

3. New Radicals-Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too

I used to hate pop. I rebelled against what I thought was pop until I became obnoxious to everyone around me. "Maybe You've been Brainwashed Too" slapped me in the face, told me to lighten up and made me respect what a good pop album could do. It took every pop contrivance, mixed into a blender, multiplied the pop soul times 1,000,000,000, added psychotic almost non sensible lyrics that may or not have been dealing ironically with evils of commercialism and all the doo doo doos, heys, and whoos you can shake a stick at. Not only did this c.d. convince me to spend the most amount of cash on any one c.d. ever, it did it twice. I bought both of Greg Alexanders solo c.d.s for $40 each. I even bought Danielle Brisebois c.d., who was also a contributor to the group for about the same price. After the New Radicals I opened myself up to artist without prejudice and eventually found myself enjoying c.d.s from everyone to Christina Aguilera to Mandy Moore to Justin Timberlake to more recently Kelly Clarkson and even Hanson! It also influenced me to discover groups like Junior Senior and Scissor Sisters.

Favorite Track: I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away The Ending

4. South FM-Drama Kids

SouthFM is my favorite band to come out since the Smashing Pumpkins but that's not what the influence is. South FM was the start of my finding bands that I wasn't exposed to on radio or MTV. Bands that were real discoveries. It wasn't the first band I had found through the internet but it was the first band to start my obsession of finding that hidden gem in music. I was on a lot of forums at the time and had Kazaa to download whatever I wanted at the time. One girl, who I still remember her name after all this time gave me tons of good suggestions. I worked at Best Buy at the time so I found the South Fm c.d. and payed a really cheap price for it. It was worth a LOT more! I LOVED it! I savored discovering and buying that next hidden underground band! I've been scouring and an addict ever since. Honestly, SouthFMs second and last c.d. is a lot better but "DRama Kids" was the influential one.

Favorite Track: Driving

5. Anberlin-Never Take Friendship Personal

While solid and gracing one of the most pure sounding and amazing vocalist in rock, Anberlins "Never Take Friendship Personal" didn't break the mold for a rock c.d.. I would argue their c.d. "Cities" came closer to attempting that and arguably succeeded but this one came first. What this c.d. did for me was once again eliminate my prejudice through great music. I always hated Christian rock. I had friends who were into and I wanted to be open minded to it but all the stuff I tried was the most generic pile of emotionless trash I ever heard. Anberlin changed that. It had a fierceness and passion I had never heard in Christian rock before and I could feel it without being beat over the head with blatantly obvious lyrics. It made me think about faith rather than ignore the topic altogether outside my own opinions. This c.d. opened the doors for some of the best bands of heard in the last three years with groups like Mae, Relient K (later stuff), Waking Ashland and Switchfoot!

Favorite Track: Feel Good Drag

I know that was long but I'm passionate about this sort of thing. It would be great to hear you guys do the same! Please share! Peace!

I engineered your first fav. Glad to see it on the list.
JT

Soot and Stars · Mar 9, 2011

rockit said:
I engineered your first fav. Glad to see it on the list.
JT

Then all I can do is say :bow:

! Seriously, I'm not going to be a cynic and say "No way!" I'm just going to believe you and say "How ****ing cool is that?" I would love to hear how that process was and as a moderator I'm taken liberties and not caring if this goes off topic! Anybody who's worked with the Pumpkins gets the floor here in my opinion! :cheers2

Your Five Most Influential c.d.s (Share Why, Stories, etc.)

Syd

Senior Member

Darkhymn

Junior Member

Soot and Stars

I AM SOOT!

therunt

Junior Member

kguitaros

Junior Member

Magnolia

Bad Apple

pistolpete

Junior Member

aspiesynnielexi

Junior Member

rockit

Junior Member

Soot and Stars

I AM SOOT!

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