Reading the Hendrix thread (and being old) got me thinking about albums (or CD's) that I listened to for the first time and thought Holy Crap, that just knocks my socks off, I will love this band forever ! They didn't take any repeated listening to appreciate and they've held up ever since, here are some of mine, what are yours? 1. Meet The Beatles - I was 11, to me it was the beginning of rock 2. Are You Experienced, Jimi Hendrix - My brother came home from college, I got to use his badass 396 Impala and Jimi was in the 8 track. 3. Led Zepplin 2 - Oddly I heard it before I ever heard Zep 1, it was also the first time I ever smoked weed...religious! 4.Disraeli Gears, Cream - I wasn't aware of Clapton as a Yardbird or a Bluesbreaker, I just couldn't believe what I was hearing 5. Aja, Steely Dan - I knew the Dan, Do It Again was a radio hit, but Aja was an epiphany and I ended up loving the entire catalog 6. Yes, Fragile - stunned by musicianship 7. Rio Grande Mud, ZZ Top - My first Topp, I was edging into blues and was so proud these guys were from Texas 8. Feats Don't Fail Me Now, Little Feat - dunno, I just dug it and still do 9. Texas Flood, SRV - see 7 above, my alltime #1 favorite artist 10. Who's Next, The Who - You know The Who had been around, a long time, but they did some offbeat sounding stuff like Meaty Beaty but, Who's Next was a Holy Crapper on the first spin
1. Duty Now for the Future - DEVO 2. Psychic, Powerless...Another Man's Sac - Butthole Surfers 3. The Man-Machine - Kraftwerk 4. Wormed by Leonard - Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 5. The Money Jungle - Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Max Roach 6. Out There - Eric Dolphy 7. Tago Mago - Can 8. Entertainment! - Gang of Four 9. Go Forth - Les Savy Fav 10. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Just a few, I'm sure more will come to mind -- In Search of the Lost Chord – Moody Blues – first psychedelic experience Overnight Sensation – Frank Zappa – see above Women and Children First - Van Halen – ah, graduation year of high school Uplift Mofo Party Plan – First time I heard the peppers Nothings Shocking – Jane’s Addiction – I actually saw them in concert on tour for the album before hearing it. A friend had an extra ticket and asked if I wanted to come along. I had never heard of them until that night. Wall to Wall sound that shook the building. Appetite for destruction – Guns N' Roses - Who didn’t go “woh” when they first heard that record? Midnight Vultures - Beck
Too many to name but here are the ones that come to mind: 1 - "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" - The Byrds - dazzling array of styles and done under the most contentious of circumstances. 2 - "The Band" - The Band - it can be argued that Robbie Robertson set the bar so high in songwriting that it was impossible for him to ever come close to this album again. 3 - "Forever Changes" - Love - an album that really gets better and better after every listen. 4 - "Country Life" - Roxy Music - before they became a slick new wave type band, this album proves that they could rock very hard; one of the few rock bands that used an electric violin and used it well IN ADDITION to a saxophone player! 5 - "A Night at the Opera" - Queen - so many different styles and so over the top, but yet this messy album comes together to work in a way that not many other Queen albums can do. 6 - "Blood on the Tracks" - Bob Dylan - unbelievable songwriting and playing on this album; worth it for just "Idiot Wind" and "Tangled Up in Blue" alone. 7 - "After the Gold Rush" - Neil Young - still the best Neil Young album ever and that is saying something when you have such classics as "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", "Tonight's the Night", "Harvest", "On the Beach", "Ragged Glory", and "Rust Never Sleeps" among others in your canon. 8 - "Kid A" - Radiohead - still a monument in music when it comes to marrying rock music with electronica; unbelievable album. 9 - "Dark Side of the Moon" - Pink Floyd - there is a reason why it was in the top album chart for 13 or so years. Every time you listen to it with headphones ("Kid A" is the same way), you hear something new; music that challenges your inner soul and being. 10 - "Agaetis Byrjun" - Sigur Ros - words can't describe this album (as it is with most of Sigur Ros' stuff); this is their best album by far. There's more but I'll leave my list to these 10 albums.
Outlandos d'Amour - The Police (Heard it for the first time as a freshman in high school at band camp, of all places. Changed my life.) Fair Warning - Van Halen (Nearly fainted the first time I heard the opening riff to Unchained) War - U2 (The Edge's unique style blew me away from day 1) Self Titled Debut - Red Hot Chili Peppers (True Men Don't Kill Coyote: Never heard slap bass and rap vocals in rock music before) Moving Pictures - Rush (Another life-changing album) What Ever and Ever, Amen - Ben Folds Five (Damn, those guys can sing and play!!! Where's the guitar???) Blue Album - Weezer (Heavy guitars like The Ramones + catchy melodies like The Beach Boys = pure genius) Friday Night Lights Soundtrack - Explosions in the Sky (First time I saw the movie, I HAD to know who did the music. Rest is history.)
amen on war - the edge is my all time favorite guitar player and the one whose sound i try to emulate (rip off) the most. my aunt got this for me after i got into the joshua tree in 88-89. van halen 1984 was the first "album" i ever heard. i was 9 and up to that point it was radio only. i dont think i even realized that there were such things as "albums". van halen was also the first band where i thought "this band, i like". i went to the mall and bought a vh poster w/ diamond dave doing a leg kick and everything! my bloody valentine - loveless - my all time favorite album. over 15 years later and i still hear new stuff on it. the first song on here starts w/ a drumroll right into the most mighty sonic bliss guitar work ive ever heard. instant gratification. pixies - doolittle - i was 14 when this came out and i remember my friends older brothers going to see them and playing it afterwards. i was blown away by how huge they sounded. i thought they would have played at the summit or something, but was surprised to hear it was only to a couple hundred people in a little club.
dashboard confessional - dusk and summer omg i musta cut my wrist like 10 times listening to this album
This Years Model - I justed started to listen to Elvis Costello and liked his stuff a lot. I had two big speakers in my bedroom and would have them on pretty loud. I put in this cd and waited to hear something to see if I should make the volume louder. The first thing I hear is Elvis singing in a quiet voice " I don't wanna kiss you, I don't wanna touch". While he's singing this I turn the volume up more and then Bam!!!! The music just erupted, gave me a good shock. I had only a few of his cd's after listening to This Years Model. I had most of his catalog by the end of the month. Pleased To Meet Me - I was watching 120 minutes one night trying to stay up so I could watch a video from a group I can't remember if I tried. Anyway Achin To Be came on and woke up me up right away. The only Replacements album they had at my local record store was Pleased To Meet Me. I got it even though Achin To Be wasn't on it and ended up playing it over and over and over and over. I became an instant convert with that album.
albums that knocked my socks off and blew me away with how amazing and different the music was : The Doors- self-titled Pink Floyd - Pipers at the Gates of Dawn albums that had that "i'll love this band forever" effect: Nirvana - Nevermind ( cousin introduced me to the album ,was really really young, way before I was a teen, and way before I knew what headbanging was, I found myself headbanging and going uncharacteristically crazy all over the room, throughout the entire album, I don't even recall the two acoustic songs playing - which later on gave me a different appreciation of kurt's songwriting- with how taken I was with everything else.) Janis Joplin - Pearl ( had never heard any female vocalist just entirely bare her heart and soul to a microphone on every song and sing with so much passion, energy, pain and love with such powerful delivery.) Jimi Hendrix- Greatest Hits ( yeah i know a "greatest hits" album.. but this is how I was exposed to Jimi for the first time.. and i remember being speechless start to finish.)
Van Halen I Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin Exit Stage Left - Rush Dream of the Blue Turtles - Sting December - George Winston Dirty Deeds - AC/DC Alive II - Kiss (I was in like 3rd grade at the time) Humming - Duncan Sheik Bellybutton - Jellyfish Revolver - The Beatles The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays Bach Operation Mindcrime - Queensryche Burning in the Woodhouse - Milt Jackson The Wheel - Rosanne Cash Edge of Insanity - Tony MacAlpine Rubén Blades y Son del Solar Live
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars I honestly just picked this up because I really liked the title track, but I was blown away at how great the album as a whole was. David Bowie has been my single favorite musician ever since. The Beatles - Abbey Road I never "got" the Beatles until my friend gave this to me as a gift and insisted that I listen to it beginning to end. Michael Jackson - Off The Wall Like most people my age, I grew up on Thriller. But I only recently picked up Off The Wall, which is absolutely awesome. Marillion - Misplaced Childhood Got this on the recommendation of my orchestra director of all people. I immediately fell in love with this album. Can't really say the band is one of my favorites, (I find them to be a little cheesy and repetitive) but I still love the album. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Vs. The Pink Robots I heard the title track on XM one day, and immediately went out and bought the album. The Soft Bulletin is even better. Love these guys. Sorry for picking "fish in a barrel" choices, but I think it's rare to be truly blown away by an album that no one knows about.
In order of my discovery.... Master of Puppets - Metallica Soundgarden - Louder than Love Minor Threat - Complete Discography Miles Davis - Kind of Blue Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come Radiohead - OK Computer Massive Attack - Mezzanine Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Abbey Road - what can you say? It's a masterpiece Pink Floyd - Meddle - hearing this album changed my life. Pat Metheny - Secret Story - track 4 is a world unto itself and probably way different than anything I have ever heard from anyone Pat Metheny - Travels AC/DC - Back In Black - still some of the greatest drum recording of all time. Peter Gabriel - So - this album is a masterpiece. I wasn't a Genesis or PG fan but this album is still one of my faves. Wes Montgomery - Wes Montgomery Plays the Blues - simply one of the finest recordings ever made. the quality of the recording is far beyond anything I have ever heard. Soulhat's first album. just a cool album and Frosty's drumming is in full effect. Probably the coolest drummer to watch ever (and I have seen a few). The Who - Quadrophenia & Sellout Anything by Richard Bona
