Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell Alice Cooper - Welcome to my Nightmare Pink Floyd - The Wall Iron Maiden - Powerslave Cledus Maggard And The Citizen's Band
I'm trying to go in some kind of order here....but it ain't workng. Twisted Sister -- Stay Hungry This was my introduction to the metal of the day. I was in 2nd grade, it was the birth of Mtv, and "We're Not Gonna Take It" was played like every other video, or so it seemed. This was the first band and album that I considered as "my own," if that makes sense. Motley Crue -- Shout at the Devil Same time period as above, and I had a college-age step brother who had this on vinyl. This is still my favorite Crue album. Their videos were awesome and loaded with hot chicks. Although I was too young to know what to do with the hot chicks, I sure as hell knew I liked them a whole lot. Kinda like looking at my dad's Playboys back then. Black Sabbath -- Paranoid Same time period; same step brother had this on vinyl. This was the first music that scared the hell out of me. At the same time, I was instantly hooked. At first I played it at low volume because I was afraid I would get in trouble for listening to it, it was so dark and heavy....then I learned better and blasted the hell out of it. A couple years later, I discovered.... Black Sabbath -- Black Sabbath My favorite Sabbath album, if I had to pick one. Their blues roots are really apparent, making some of the tracks more like "heavy blues" than heavy metal, which of course hadn't been coined at a term yet anyway. Beastie Boys -- License to Ill 5th grade when I first heard them, and I'd never heard anything like it before. NWA -- Straight Outta Compton I was about 13 or so. This one had a HUGE impact on me. I grew up next door to Acres Homes and went to Eisenhower. Being around black folks, rap, and gangs was nothing new to me. While straight-laced people decried this music, and this album in particular, what I heard was the anger, fear, hopelessness, and despair of living in the hood. Yeah, I was perceptive for my age. I was a weird kid....being a metal-head and listening to rap while wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt. Led Zeppelin -- Volume IV The overall complexity of this album made me a fan for life, and Zep instantly became (and still is) my favorite band. Ozzy Osbourne -- The Blizzard of Oz When Ozzy left Sabbath, I was sad. Then this album came out, and I knew my life would not be without the Madman. And Randy Rhoads was like Mozart with a guitar. That guy seemed to fly over that instrument. Van Halen -- 1984 A seminal album from a seminal band. "Jump," "Panama," and "Hot for Teacher": if you had Mtv back then, you've seen these videos. Metallica -- Ride the Lightening The first CD I ever bought. I went out the next day and bought all of them. Megadeth -- Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? I didn't know much about them until I learned that Dave Mustaine used to be in Metallica. This was my first Megadeth album (had it on tape and wore it out), but I bought it a few years after it came out. Guns n' Roses -- Appetite for Destruction This represented a huge shift in the hard rock genre to me. Its not metal, but it was something new from the metal and rock of the '80's. And it still rocks cover to cover. Pantera -- Far Beyond Driven My introduction to Pantera. 'nuff said. Pink Floyd -- The Wall My intro to Floyd. I'd never heard anything like them, and I've loved them ever since. Thats it for now.
John Coltrane - Giant Steps The album the started me on jazz. Tupac - Me Against the World My favorite hip-hop record of all time. Not bad song on the disc. U2 - Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop My holy triumvirate of U2 albums. Proof that you are allowed to evolve in rock n roll. Stone Temple Pilots - #4 A unabashed pop rock masterpiece.
No....32 in November. When I said I was 'in 2nd grade at the time' or whatever, I'm referring to when I first heard them. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
Basehead - Play with Toys (1991) - It was Hip Hop innovatation beyond anything I had heard before. It still holds up. BTW - if you are in a break up this album may be the greatest...or worst thing you have ever heard. Sweet Beats with super melo guitar and vocals...sort of like being on muscle relaxers at a house party. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (1971). - When I first heard this album in the '90s, I thought it had just came out. Amazing. History will be very kind to George Clinton Sonic Youth - Day Dream Nation (1988). Sophmore year of highschool - I was still 5' 4" and riding a rusted diamond back. I had angst. Swirling noise was my only friend. Sigur Ros - Agaetis burjun (1999) Soundscapes that were unoffensive yet edgy. Even better live Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (1991) Just bought a sweet stereo with my first student loan. All I could afford was mexican brick and this album. De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising (1989) - The reason I love Hip Hop.
Do you have this album? If not, you should really check it out. Forgot this one. Randy Rhoads was the Jimi Hendrix of heavy metal IMO and this album was his coming out party. (I don't count the Quiet Riot stuff)
nice! that is my favorite xtc record, but the first one i heard was black sea. i still can believe i went as long as i did before getting into these guys. respectable street-generals and majors-living thru another cuba is a great 1-2-3 punch to open an album. english settlement though, opens w/ that song runway, which is really good. "i celebrate their entire catalog"
Off the top of my head: Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream He may be a tyrant, but Corgan is a wizard in the studio. Incredible guitar and wall-of-sound sounds and great songs. I just started listening to this again and I still love it like the first day I heard it. Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde Jay Dee (J Dilla) is one of my favorite producers (RIP), and this record did it all. Serious songs, party songs, and most endearing for me were the songs showing vulnerability. Something not common in hip-hop. These guys actually sounded like they were having fun instead of the common false bravado. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue It's Miles f'n Davis, So What is one of best tunes of all time. LTJ Bukem - Logical Progression One of the three major drum & bass classics (along w/ Goldie's Timeless and Roni Size's New Forms), this is what makes me still write drum & bass songs today. It's like Blade Runner, made so many years ago (in this case only 10 years) but it still sounds like it was made 30 years in the future. Humans are not cool enough to listen to this.
Michael Jackson - Thriller Bone Thugs N Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal Bjork - Homogenic The White Stripes - De Stijl Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream Kanye West - College Dropout Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor
Bruce Springsteen- The E Street Shuffle It all starts with this. Cheap Trick- Dream Police When you get through the first 4- Dream Police, Way of the World, House is Rockin with Domestic Problems, and Gonna Raise Hell, you're spent. Genesis- Duke Like a song cycle. Even the hits Misunderstanding and Turn It On Again fit with the concept. The Cars- Panorama Played the holy trio Touch and Go, Gimme Some Slack, and Don't Tell Me No at least 20 times in a row when I first bought the cassette. Is anyone a more underrated guitarist than Elliott Easton? NO. U2-Achtung Baby Not one bad song on the album, not even close. Blows me away to this day. The Velvet Underground Just for Venus and Furs and Heroin alone. The Clash- London Calling "eating chicken brew for breakfast..." And the one that truly blew me away- so much that I just had to "be" Tony Manero: The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
I'm embarassed that I liked a few of these, but at one point or another they all had a profound effect. Presented alphabetically: Tory Amos - Little Earthquakes Beach Boys - Pet Sounds Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions Digable Planets - Reachin' Doors - Morrison Hotel Jefferson Airplane - Surealistic Pillow Led Zeppelin - IV Lush - Spooky Nirvana - Unplugged Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk at Cubist Castle PJ Harvey - 4 Track Demos Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power Radiohead -OK Computer Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine Sonic Youth - Dirty Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis Soundtrack from The Film Velvet Goldmine Mathew Sweet - Altered Beast Velvet Underground - Live 1969 Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
No need to be embarassed Otto, that's a great list. And seeing Springsteen one must mention Born to Run!
Between the Buried and Me - The Silent Circus I'm like... who the **** are these guys and how the hell can they sound like Pink Floyd, Tool, and Dream Theater all while using mostly death growl vocals. Their latest CD "Colors" is pretty great too. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen The introduction to harder vocals for many not-so hardcore metal fans. I must have listened to this album 100 times in a row before it finally left my Car's CD player. The Shins - Oh Inverted World Indie craze. Man it just sounds friggin cool. Tool - Aenima What an edgy prog-rock album should sound like. Muse - Absolution A ****ing great album from a genre I usually avoid. Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape I dare you to say any of the songs on this album suck. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP You won't ever hear one like this again. Kanye West - The College Dropout Revolutionary in inception, much like 50 Cent's major debut. These two could have saved the genre from the ****hole of worthless bubblegum MTV video rap, But I've come to loathe both of them to the point I've given up on that ever happening. Nas - Illmatic Amazing lyrical genius from a 19 year old kid.
