As the long-form LP format slowly dies, those of us that have been around for awhile (and may even remember AOR format on the radio) have fond memories of the album as a whole, rather than a bunch of singles put together.
So...what album(s) changed you? Good or bad. Any decade. Any genre.
Remember: ALBUM, as in "the entire thing", not just for the singles. Concept albums welcome.
Not sure what you mean by album concept, but Led Zeppelin "Zoso" is my favorite album. By Album concept to you mean similar to Pink Floyd's The Wall? Sorry I'm not a huge music geek...
EDIT: googled it and figured out what you mean, lol.
I'm gonna have to go with something from my generation and go with Green Day "American Idiot". I thought it rocked pretty hard when it came out and would leave it in the CD player on replay for days on end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Idiot
K, sorry about that, clarified it a bit better.
No worries! What is your favorite one, Eric?
Pink Floyd's "The Wall" showed me the joys of vegging/mellowing out for an hour or so
Judas Priest's "Defenders of the Faith" introduced me to heavy metal and saved me from a lifetime of listening to pop rock.
Judas Priest's "Sin After Sin", the first real store-bought album I ever owned, showed me how good music could sound really loud and allowed me to disect the music in my mind while listening to it, hearing all of the nuances that are not audible on the ol' "Tape recorder held in front of the radio speaker" method all of my other music was obtained by back then...
Boston was the first album i ever bought, along with Steve Martin's "wild and crazy guy" back in 77. I was 9 or 10.
As for complete concept albums there are a few amazing journeys i have had. Anything by YES for sure, and some stand outs by others include Avalon by Roxy Music, one of the most romantic albums ever made. Voices by Vangelis of "chariots of fire" fame, and a amazing instrumental album by Billy Currie of Ultravox with Steve Howe of Yes called Transportation.
Two of the albums I have that I really took a liking to are Nazareth-Hair of the Dog and Pink Floyd's dark side of the moon.
AC/DC's Live, and a few months later, Def Leppard's Hysteria. I kid you not, I've literally worn out 7 copies of Hysteria....cds alone, won't get into how many tapes I've ruined form playing nonstop.
After that it was Godsmack, Disturbed, Stained, and probably the two poison albums between '88 and 91. Any GnR album, except for that hunk of shiznit Chinese Dumbshagcracy, and of course Pink Floyd's The Wall and Wish You Were Here.
I like the Celtic style of music, and certain songs have an affect on me. I'm also known to break out in song and poetry when i get deep into a bottle of liquor...which has been a thing of the past since around early 07. I always wanted to sing for a blues/hard rock band, but hate being in a large group of people. I do have one more album that means a lot to me...Black Label Society..Shot to Hell. Those cold nights when I swa putting the HO and T5 into the Sport, I'd play that disc on loop for hours...sometimes I'd just sit and think of all the bad shiznit in my past and realize that basically cars and music were what kept me from deciding to overdose on pills and liquor in 2005 when I lost my brother. I got past all that and now all this energy, and I've been writing again. This time without all the negativity and doom and darkness. Sometimes I go back to those old '80's and '90s tunes and just for a little while, I relive when I was 17, 18, 19 and was still immortal.....I think what I've learned most of all is to be lighthearted about life, we don't get outta here alive. So have fun. The music just brings it to the surface in a non-destructive way. BTW, I got clean and sober all on my own...I just needed to find the right time for it. Thankfully I lived long enough. There were at least 3 or 4 times where I should've been taken to an ER and treated for alcohol poisoning. It's not bragging, it's a public "thank you" to whatever is out there that I made it. And a big part of that is owed to the music i love, and that's why I wrote this little chapter of my past so that maybe someone who was messed up like me over the deaths of 9 friends and family in 2 and half years can use it as something to make 'em see that life IS worth living. It's never too late to put on another cd and hear a kickass tune...word.
i would have to say gnr appeptite for descruction it was the tape of it was in the tbird when i bought it which i thought was awesome.
One of the first albums I heard, my uncles listening with the big headphones..... REO speedwagon HI INFIDELITY. I bought it when I got a record player and have had it on every media since.
I still enjoy it anytime I listen to it.
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
You, sir, have excellent taste. :)
(I bought that new on 8-track for $7.58 at K-Mart!)
Sgt Pepper, and the White album as a young lad.
Revolution #9 still creeps me out..... lol
The Cult's "Sonic Temple" is the first album that had an impact. After that, anything by the Doors, The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd..........................................
I have a lot of albums that are excellent, start to finish...
Ozzy (Blizzard of Ozz), Journey (Escape), Alice in Chains (Facelift), Dokken (Tooth and Nail), The Fixx (Reach the Beach), Ministry (Psalm 69, Rio Grande Blood), Nine Inch Nails (The Downward Spiral), Pink Floyd (The Wall), The Outfield (Play Deep), Pearl Jam (Ten), Power Station (s/t), Queensryche (Operation: Mindcrime), Radiohead (OK Computer), Rammstein (Sehnsucht), Stone Temple Pilots (Core, Purple), Tool (Aenima), Twisted Sister (Love is for Suckers), Van Halen (Fair Warning)...
I can't do just one.
My top 10, in no particular order:
Blue Murder (self-titled) - My. God. An incredible sonic album from start to end, from the perfect power trio (John Sykes/Whitesnake, Tony Franklin, Carmine Appice/Vanilla Fudge, King Kobra). Wore out several of these tapes back in the day. It is big, it is loud, it is technical, it is pitch-perfect, it is catchy...it is unforgettable. Oh yeah, fretless bass FTW!
King Kobra - Thrill of a Lifetime - I remember Kerrang! magazine giving this album five K's in 1986. THAT was an accomplishment amidst all the metal back then. I. Love. This. Album. Wore out this tape as well. I cannot think of a better album to crank up while driving a convertible down the highway. It's too bad the singer had a shag change operation...LOL. (That's true, BTW)
The Police - Synchronicity - Aside from the obvious Jungian psychological references, this may be the most perfect album of the 1980s. Still holds up fresh today. What a monster of an album back in the day though...wow. Fitting as the swan song for the band. From a compositional point of view this album gets a slight edge over the others here.
Duran Duran - Rio - It was perfect. It is perfect. It will remain perfect. Nobody really figured these guys to be real musicians but this album is still relevant today. Definitely transcends the decades.
Waysted - Save Your Prayers - More rock than metal, but still one of the catchiest albums ever. Another summer party album. Lots of good memories from this one. It took me several years to find a CD copy of this album, and fortunately it was reissued in the last few years.
KISS - Creatures of the Night - All killer, no filler! The tightest, loudest, most underrated yet most balanced KISS album ever. Also the last one before unmasking in 1983. It will beg you to play it over and over...and LOUD (I love it...). Just remember to adjust your EQ because the bass recording is subpar. The remastered version didn't help much either.
Rob Dickinson - Fresh Wine for the Horses - Interesting story. Rob fronted the underrated 1990s alt band Catherine Wheel and is a cousin of Bruce Dickinson, the singer for Iron Maiden (both medieval torture devices--I just love that correlation!). Anyway, Rob has one incredible voice and a talent for writing gorgeously composed songs. It's his only album so far, but hopefully he'll have time in the future to work on new material. He's kind of busy now, restoring and remanufacturing older Porsches. Ever hear of Singer? Well...you'll spend all day here: http://singervehicledesign.com/
Musician, cousin of rock royalty, car guy. I want to be this guy in my next life.
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell - Enough said! An absolute sledgehammer of an album. Saw them live twice...good times. The be all, end all of metal.
pr0ng - Beg To Differ - Why was pr0ng not more popular? They influenced so many bands. This one is everything a major debut should be: raw, unapologetic, killer hooks, and succinct. It is a serrated knife.
White Zombie - Astro Creep: 2000 - Rob Zombie might be a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but this album had a odd kind of flow that defies description. It also shows a lot of restraint, where it could have gotten bogged down easily. If Slayer's South of Heaven is the soundtrack to hell, I think AC:2000 should, at the very least, be the soundtrack to purgatory. ;)
I'm not as old as some of the guys here.
My first cd was cake, comfort eagle. This is when I discovered music. I quickly branched out to other styles of music.
Rancid-rancid 1993. Nothing better then this. Its fast, has a good sound and matt freeman sings. Reminds me of the old punk rock days. I still listen to it when I'm in the mood. They just went downhill quickly from here.
Anything streetlight manifesto/catch 22. I like the well put together but still rough around the edges ska sound they had early on. With streetlight, they quickly showed them selves as musicians and not just a bunch of kids making noise. Goos, fast, and remain heavy, all with horns.
Love the mighty-mighty boss tones forr the more mainstream style of ska. You can listen to them and feel like a person wrote it, its not all show. Love the songs like "where did you go?" Where he is singing about waiting for someone to come home, just everyday normal stuff. I really didn't like these guys when I was younger, but I guess I have mellowed out some.
Reel big fish. These guys have an awesome sound, and put on an awesome show. Its hard to tell there live stuff from studio. Just consistanly good, and their funny, happy, over the top style make me feel better on a downer day. Another band I didn't get when I was younger, but love now.
Flogging molly just for the sound. Something cool about irish-ish drinking/folk music. Same for certain dropkick murphies. Another overplayed, but still good band is operation ivy. Changed the way I felt about music.
I find myself starting to listen to a lot of oldies now. Know about every beach boys song by heart, joe walsh/eagles, bunch of other stuff I find my dad listens to.
One more I have to throw in. I'm not usually a fan of covers, but if you like stray cats, you have to listen to reel big fish covering stray cat strut. The horns add so much without taking away ANY of the feel.
http://m.youtube.com/results?q=stray%20cat%20strut%20reel%20big%20fish#/watch?v=C4k48QOtATw
my first audio tape when I was a chap: Van Halen- Diver Down ; I loved that album,still do and have it on CD
The Beatles- Abbey Road ; my all-time favorite Beatles album
Radiohead- OK Computer; masterpiece
White Zombie- Astrocreep 2000; played loud many times in my old high-end Clarion tape deck in my 1989 Beretta GT
Black Sabbath- We sold our souls for Rock n Roll; soundtrack to drunken hide n go seek in an old cemetary
Lenny Kravitz- Are You gonna go my Way?; great album
Cake- Fashion Nugget; Trumpets, guitars playing funk-rock
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar shag Magik; still awesome, one of the best sounding audiotapes recordings!
Megadeth- Countdown to Extinction; I couldn't wait for that album too come out on audio tape!
Guns n Roses- Apetite for Destruction; I remember buying that tape at a headshop when I was 11 years old and seeing the Parental Guidance sticker, compliments of Tipper Gore.
Alice in Chains- Dirt; dark and haunting but guilty pleasure, hard to listen to after Layne Staley and Mike Starr died
there HAS BEEN alot of good music released..up until about ten years ago!
Joe Walsh - But seriously, folks.
I haven't met many people who know that album, but each and every song on it has a special meaning for me.
I always wondered why the tracks Second Hand Store and Tomorrow were never released as singles. They would have done well on mainstream radio in 1978, I would imagine.
The instrumental composition Theme from Boat Wierdos is an incredible journey through slap-back guitar solos, walking bass lines, mellow pan flute, and even a funked-out Clavinet played through a stereo phaser.
Go look for it and give it a listen. Do it. Do it.
during the late 80s.... I discovered Helloweens Keeper of the 7 keys part 1 & 2.....
I still listen to them to this day... It changed my song writing style forever
My progression was as follows-
As a youngster in the 80s:
Europe: Final Countdown (I know, "LOL", but it was the first 'rock' I could get into). I still like it, so there! My mom bought me the cassette and an 8-track adapter so I could play in in the living room stereo, heh.
Then one fateful evening, as an early teen, I was staying at a friend's house who had MTV and I saw "Headbanger's Ball"... I saw so many things I liked! When I got home, I walked to K-Mart and bought:
Metallica - Ride The Lightning (then "...And Justice for All", "Master of Puppets" and "Garage Days Revisited")
GnR - Appetite for Destruction (then "Lies Lies Lies")
Yeah I know those are all pretty mainstream metal, but this is coming from being raised in a John Denver / Neil Diamond household. It was near devil worship.
Then, in high school, I think the one song that changed it all was the day I was listening to a local college radio station's "metal jungle" late night show. They played a song so awesome that I made a long distance call on my parents phone (criminal!) just to call the station and ask who it was. It was "My Dying Bride - Crown of Sympathy". OMG. A 12 Minute song played in a way that I had never heard. Metal with a volin? Crazy. I had to go special order that CD "Turn Loose the Swans" at the local CD store (this was before I was on the internet, probably 93 or so) That CD got me into doom metal and symphonic metal. Symphonic metal is still my favorite genre.
Another time, while doing a wiring job in a lonely office building, I was experimenting with Shoutcast through Winamp. I was listening to foreign stations to find something new. A song came on that was so different, I had to come down the ladder and see what it was. It was "Nightwish - Walking in the Air". A symphonic song with an operatic female lead singer! I explored Nightwish and enjoyed their variety of soft and melodic to heavy and symphonic. This lead to Epica, Within Temptation, Sirenia, After Forever and other talented symphonic/metal bands with female leads.
Oh, and in high school, I had a brief run-in with rap. "Coolio- Gangsta's Paradise" was my gateway drug there. The choir won me over I guess, lol.
I guess I just enjoy complex music. Songs that are difficult to sing, take immense skill to perform, etc. A song that makes me think "holy !" at the end. I think it's funny that you will probably never find anybody with identical taste in music. Especially when you have specific weirdo taste like me, heh. Whatever gives you that tickle I guess ;)
Boston's first album--My cousin was 10 yrs older than me and I was in his room checkin out his 5 foot stack of playboys while listening to this incredible album on his marantz amp and klipsch speakers....I still love that album...and klipsch speakers!
As long as us dj's Scratch Vinyl record will still be made..
I'm a huge music nerd so this will be hard to pick just a few. I have over 3,000 cd's and listen to literally every genre of music, just depends on the day and my mood. So here is a few albums that speak to me, changed me, just plain rock, etc.
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) - Freedom of speech amplified, he is such a clever lyricist. I'm not sure if this changed me for the better or worse
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - United (1964) - Just a deep lovey dovey easy listening album, always played this when I was courting my wife. Straight. Up. Classic.
Eve 6 - Horrorscope (2000) - Just a kick ass easy listening album, always jamming this in the garage.
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (1968) My hero! the ultimate bad ass, this album makes you feel like you are a prisoner in folsom circa 1968, you can't hate this album
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin (1969) - Same as above, you can just feel the atmosphere in the music
Bush - Sixteen Stone (1994) Another fav in the garage, just classic!
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991) - Grunge at its finest!
Kid Rock - Devil Without A Cause (1998) - "Buy a yacht with a flag saying chillin the most, then rock that bitch up and down the coast" enough said
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Natty Dread (1974) Back in my teenage reefer smokin days, this was the ultimate for sitting on the couch. Legend!
2Pac - All Eyez On Me (1996) - 2Pac fresh out of jail for 2 discs, nobody made you feel what they were saying like 2Pac. Classic for 27 tracks
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E.1999 Eternal (1995) Just classic old school hip-hop often imitated never duplicated
Baby Bash - Tha Smokin Nephew (2003) - Just a chill album
Well that's just of the top of my head, I could do this all day, but these seem to stick with me and are in frequent rotation in the car/garage
Enigma - LSD.
Also not an album yet but someone has sent me a number of songs he has composed and I never thought I would like that type of music but I've looped those songs over and over many times. I'm not musically educated enough to describe the genre. Perfect cigar and cognac songs though.
Metallica And Justice For All
Metallica Black Album
Metallica St. Anger
I have a 3 Disc CD Changer in a buddies garage and we listened to those albums non stop while working on his '85 Monte Carlo SS and my Cougar.
Weezer Blue Album was the first Album I wore out. Went through two cassete tapes in my garage.
Def Leppard The Vault was the second Album I wore out on cassette.
System Of A Down Toxicity I jammed out to every day after school through all 4 years of High School and it is still one of my favorites to go through start to finish.
My Dad and I always listened to his vinyls and I have all of them. I don't remember specific album names, but Duran Duran, the Cars, Adam Ant, and Def Leppard he owned all of them and we would sit there and listen to each til the needle stopped.
He has numerous 8 tracks we listened to in his "70 Chevelle. I can't find the 8 tracks anymore but he still has the Chevelle which is equipped with an aftermarket Pioneer 8 track player with Power Booster.
Metallica's Black album for me. I never cared about music at all until I heard my dad listening to "Enter Sandman," it was like an epiphany. I listened to the entire album countless times, I then downloaded all their older stuff starting with Ride the Lightning. (this was like, 2004 mind you)
Billy Ray Cyrus Achy Breaky Heart
That changed me! :crazy:
:grinno:
Waylon's "Waymore's Blues (Part 2)" ...no clue as to why, but something clicked when I listened that album (well, cd)