Albums that Changed Your Life

[GRIFT]

Every so often an album will come along at just the right time in your life to knock you flat on your ass, and make you do a complete 180. I remember the first time I heard Tool and thinking to myself, 'If my mother caught me listening to this she'd kill me.' I remember the first time I heard Pearl Jam's Ten, Bob Dylan's Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and Townes Van Zandt's Flying Shoes like it was just yesterday. They excited my mind and motivated me to ask questions, and not to take things through the rose colored glasses that many people attempt to lull our youth with.

But what albums had a big impact on you EWB?

[K]

American Psycho by the Misfits got me into music. Period. That was pretty life changing.

[VerbalPuke]

Paranoid - Black Sabbath

This is the album that turned me toward the sounds of rock and roll. I got the album in the 4th grade which would have been 1994. I still have that album so it's about 12 years old and I still love to listen to it at any time. I like everything Black Sabbath did with Ozzy but this album has a bit more of a special meaning to me.

Nevermind The Bollocks...Here's the Sex Pistols - The Sex Pistols

I had become a Ramones fan prior to hearing this album. At a friends urging I checked the album out and really enjoyed it. I think this album cemented me as a fan of punk rock and pretty much paved the way for me to look into other bands. Over the years I've come to discover better bands and bands that I like better, these guys are what lead me to the path I'm at today.

In a Better World - The Screamers

These guys were a pretty ground breaking band during their time. They were a very popular band amongst the California punks during the 1970s, yet they didn't use guitar or bass. The band consisted of synthesizers and keyboards along with a drummer. While they kept this electronic approach it in no way detracted from their gritty sound. With a charismatic lead singer like Tomata Du Plenty the band took off, but didn't actually have any record releases. They are living proof that it doesn't necesarily take a guitar riff to capture that raw punk sound.

Dirty Love Songs - G.G. Allin

The most vile man in all of rock and roll did indeed change my life. Now, you wont find me emulating his tactics on stage but I do respect his vision. I respect his idea that rock and roll should have no limits and that it was becoming too safe or too corporate. I respect a man that pushed the envelope the way he did, all for the sake of his craft. Much more impressive is that he was more than a rock and roll sideshow, he was something of an evil genius. Behind G.G.'s Allin decadence was a brilliant mind at work, beyond the drug abuse was an articulate and well spoken madman. G.G. proved to me that you can make a spectacle of yourself and take your show to the absolute extreme while still playing great music. Make no mistake that the Jabbers, Scumfucs, Holymen, and Cedar Street Sluts were accomplished bands. While the Murder Junkies were pretty much a novelty, G.G. Allin himself had also become a shadow of his former self.

[Summers]

Nevermind by Nirvana was like.. so deep.. and.. like... life altering.. It like.. really made me think about my.. like.. life.. Yeah..

[Liam]

Nevermind by Nirvana was like.. so deep.. and.. like... life altering.. It like.. really made me think about my.. like.. life.. Yeah..

Seconded, even if there is a hint of sarcasm >_>

Meh, it is cliche, but Nevermind got me into alternative music, opened my eyes to something outside of the mainstream radio stuff I had been listening to up till then. I've listened to many better albums, but none had the affect on me that Nevermind did.

The other two are In Flames "Clayman" and Jeff Buckley "Grace". In Flames was because this opened my eyes up to heavier metal stuff, and was just, to me, what metal should sound like. Jeff Buckley because that kinda opened my eyes to the singer/songwriter genre, and introduced me to a lot of good acts.

[Farmer Reil]

It wasn't so much the albums themselves, but listening to Blind Guardian - Blind Guardian Live and Hammerfall - One Crimson Night when I moved into uni got me into power metal and started me off with being REALLY interested in music, rather than just listening to it, if you know what I mean.

I had another little epiphany when I discovered Rhapsody, too

[Skummy]

Hmmm....off the top of my head, so I'll probably miss a few, but here we go:

Soundgarden - Superunknown

The first album I ever remember listening to in it's entirety. My brother was (and is) a huge Soundgarden fan, and this kind of blew me away. Got me in to music, really.

Johnny Cash At San Quentin

One of the top two or three live albums ever recorded, in my opinion. I listen to it at work pretty much all the time, and I dread the day that someone will buy it. It's what made me fall in love with Johnny Cash, and opened my eyes to genres beyond rock music, really, allowing me to look into country, blues and folk, and who knows what else.

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead

Music for the disheartened. Listening to it on vinyl is even better. It sounds of its time, and imperfect, and that's exactly how The Smiths should sound. I hated The Smiths for years, based solely on "This Charming Man", but a great friend of mine was talking to me about how life-changing they were for him, right around the same time I heard (and liked) Placebo's version of "Bigmouth Strikes Again", so I bought this album, and it remains one of my favourites. "I Know It's Over" and "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" have accompanied many, many memories.

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

One of the best albums ever recorded. I can't put it into too many words, it's just phenomenal. A fairly abstract concept album, but one that changed how I listen to music and, again, opened my eyes to so much.

The Velvet Underground & Nico - Andy Warhol

'nuff said.

[ROC]

Metallica - The Black Album

Simply put, no matter how dated it might be, it could be my favorite record ever for getting me into good rock and that rock eventually leading me to my favorite bands.

[GoGo Yubari]

Abbey Road by The Beatles

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

That may well be it, actually.

[VerbalPuke]

Johnny Cash At San Quentin

One of the top two or three live albums ever recorded, in my opinion. I listen to it at work pretty much all the time, and I dread the day that someone will buy it. It's what made me fall in love with Johnny Cash, and opened my eyes to genres beyond rock music, really, allowing me to look into country, blues and folk, and who knows what else.

Just two questions here for you Skummy. First question is why do you dread the day that someone will buy the album?

Two, did he play at San Quentin Prison or just the city of San Quentin? I ask simply because an old San Francisco punk band named Crime (who hated the idea of punks and punk rock but were blatantly punkers) played within the confines of the San Quentin prison. Actually it was awesome, they played in the court yard of this prison dressed as cops. The video is on youtube if anybody gives two shits.

[tristy]

It was recorded infront of inmates at San Quentin.

[Guest Preston]

U2- the joshua tree

just an amazing album really.

[Gabriel]

The Misfits... Famous Monsters.

The album wasn't the first I'd heard of the 'Fits, but it was the first one I bought, and I fell in love almost immediately. I now own eight of their CDs and am a self-proclaimed Fiend. I listened to a lot of stuff before hand, but really getting into the Misfits opened up a whole different level of musical doors for me to explore.

[fineintent]

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

I don't know when I first heard it, but my mum played it loads as a kid and, without really knowing it, it has shaped and set the tone for my musical tastes. My music tastes narrowed when I was about 12 till around 14, now I'll listen to pretty much any style of music - whereas for those two years I dismissed loads of stuff right off the bat.

Musically speaking as well, it's probably one of the finest albums ever written.

[Skummy]

Johnny Cash At San Quentin

One of the top two or three live albums ever recorded, in my opinion. I listen to it at work pretty much all the time, and I dread the day that someone will buy it. It's what made me fall in love with Johnny Cash, and opened my eyes to genres beyond rock music, really, allowing me to look into country, blues and folk, and who knows what else.

Just two questions here for you Skummy. First question is why do you dread the day that someone will buy the album?

Two, did he play at San Quentin Prison or just the city of San Quentin? I ask simply because an old San Francisco punk band named Crime (who hated the idea of punks and punk rock but were blatantly punkers) played within the confines of the San Quentin prison. Actually it was awesome, they played in the court yard of this prison dressed as cops. The video is on youtube if anybody gives two shits.

As has been answered already, yeah, it was played inside the prison itself. He plays "San Quentin", a song he wrote especially for the occassion, twice in a row because the inmates just go nuts over it, as well as the best live versions of "Boy Named Sue" and "Fulsom Prison Blues" I've ever heard.

And I dread the day that someone will buy it because, as far as I know, we've only got the one copy on vinyl, so I won't be able to listen to it at work any more. On one hand, I love selling good music to people, as it reaffirms your faith in humanity after selling shite records all day, but on the other hand I'd quite like it no one ever bought any of the better albums, because it leaves me with something to listen to >_<

[Number of the Breast]

Scorpions - "Crazy World"

Alice Cooper - "Hey Stoopid"

Guns N' Roses - "Appetite For Destruction"

The first albums I remember. Even back then, I loved them all, and it really shaped how I turned out today. My parents were (and still are) awesome.

Iron Maiden - "The Number of the Beast"

First Maiden album I heard, should be pretty obvious as to why that changed my life.

[Steeb]

Red Hot Chili Peppers - BloodSugarSexMagik

Slipknot - Iowa

Tool - Lateralus

Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command

And more recently, I find that Guillemots' 'Through The Windowpane' is really changing the way I think about songs, and music in general. Widening my scope nicely.

[YI]

""(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" - Oasis

"Travelling Without Moving" - Jamiroquai

"Metropolis Pt 2 : Scenes From A Memory" - Dream Theater

"Full Circle" - Pennywise

"Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues" - Strung Out

"Revolver" - The Beatles

I don't want to expand too much. But basically Oasis got me into music. Everybody loved Oasis, and as a kid I basically wanted to be part of that too. So basically I liked Oasis.

Jamiroquai, this was where I started to form my own musical identity. By me, I mean my brther started forming his, and I gave the album a listen and fell in love. Since then I've loved Jamiroquai so much....though I had a bit of a dry spell musically, where I wasn't into anything much.

Then a friend played me Pennywise, Strung Out and a handful of other bands (The 2 album selected are my favourite by these two bands). I haven't stayed in contact with him (Mostly due to me giving up on the idea of skating, because I fucking sucked..and broke my arm), but he got me into a whole new genre of music, which to this day I'd proffess as probably my 'favourite' genre.I love so many punk-rock bands. Bad Religion, Pennywise, Rise Against, Strung Out, Strike Anywhere, Propagandhi, Pulley, Whippersnapper, Death By Stereo, A Wilhelm Scream...whether it's poppy, angsty, metally, hardcore...it's all good. 'Punk-rock' is often looked down on as a genre. Whether it be for 'trying to recreate a scene that once was' (Which is total bollocks, for the most part they're just bands pigeon-holed into a 'punk' genre) or because they're seen as 'untalented' (Which is again bollocks...this brings me onto my next change).

I 'loved' Phil. He was a cool guy. He was the only person I knew who I could really have a musical conversation with (Still really to this day, but I rarely see him anymore...and last time I saw him, he'd got a bit faggy with lip-rings and shit...not the kind of guy you could just go out for a pint with). And boy did he love his prog-rock. Especially his Dream Theater....but he also loved his Jamiroquai surprisingly (He wanted to bumfuck Stuart Zender...or so it seemed ). But he was an elitest fuck. Dream Theater are the greatest band in the world...and he'd totally ignore the fact that unless they actually put their mind to it (For once or twice on an album), they couldn't write a 'song' for shit (Something which I admit they've improved on over time). But he lent me "A Change In Seasons" and I fell in love. He then copied me "Scenes From A Memory" and Jesus Christ that shit was awesome. And to this day remains one of my favourite albums (As do all the others mentioned here to be honest). I mean anything with a honky-tonk solo...fucking hell...brilliance.

Now this brings us onto "Revolver". I was brought up with The Beatles. Not excessively, but the only pop records I know my dad to own are "Abbey Road", "Sgt. Peppers" and "Revolver". He's much more of a Jazz/Be-bop kind of guy...but he's white with a big beard, he can pull that off. Basically the simplicity, but amazing songwriting of the Beatles still to this day really enchants me. There's so many great, beautiful songs on "Revolver". Eleanor Rigby especially, is an instantly recognisable classic. The Beatles music has aged horrifically, but it's still got this beautiful charm to it. Which I can't help but love.

[Bushmeister]

"From Enslavement To Obliteration" by Napalm Death. It was the stepping stone that tipped me over into extreme music. I had been slowly building up from the ground with groups like Rage Against The Machine and Chimaira, but hearing "From Enslavement..." the first time was just mind-numbing. I remember listening to the disc once, popping it out of the stereos and just exclaming "This is just noise." But the bastard grew on me, and soon it wasn't just Napalm, but Meshuggah and Cannibal Corpse and Marduk and Pig Destroyer as well...

I thank Napalm Death for really getting me into metal and grind. I have met a lot of great records after that, but none have had such a profound effect on me or my musical tastes as Napalm's sophomore effort.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Metallica's Master of Puppets

I owe a lot to this album. Were it not for this album, I'd have never got into Metallica, therefore I would have ostensibly never got into metal at all - this was the gateway album for me. I went out and bought most of Metallica's old records and then I became more interested in metal, hanging around with metalheads and visiting forums dedicated to the genre. Without this album I doubt I'd have ever gotten into black metal, doom metal, or any other 'extreme' forms - so it's important to me.

Metallica's s/t

Not nearly as important as MoP, I just have fond memories of playing the fuck out of this album when I was 14.

NWA's Straight Outta Compton

Album that got me into rap and opened me up the genre, 'nuff said.