Most Influential Albums
 

Due the unfortunate fact that we don't even really begin to get a glimpse of what our actual lives are outside of the limited scope of this board, its hard to really gauge what albums specifically influence how we think and interact and just live out of our lives away from the few minutes (okay, hours :D) we spend of our free time posting on here. I'm sure we all have dreams and ambitions and goals for ourselves, and maybe for the more cerebral folks here who like to mull over philosophy and other "pretentious" things (;)) I am sure that there are certain albums by bands that there is a special kind of connection to. At least for me this is true, therefore I've put together a list of albums that have really impacted my life deeply (with varying degrees depending on the album of course), or at least in some direct way have influenced me beyond just a base aural enjoyment of the music. Whether it be in my system of values, my ideas about life, my character, whatever it may be, these are some albums that I can say have significantly helped shape the person I am today. Like any good book, or any important person in my life, these are like companion pieces for my life. Hopefully you guys have some kind of attachment in this way because it is a really special thing to connect with another's art. These are their goals and ambitions and dreams that they achieved as musicians, and for me thats cool to think that how they were influenced by other people to reach their dreams of being musicians and now they are influences to me as well. Anyways, here's my list, post your too :party: Some discussion on this would be really great too. Notice they don't have to be by your favorite band, or even be your favorite album, as I don't even have a single Maiden album on my list. They were kind of the main general influence and really are the backdrop to what my life is now so its pointless really to put them on here because they influence is really all-encompassing. These albums just really stick out in my mind as being albums that impacted me a lot at whatever point in my life that was, so that's why its not so difficult to discern.


Rush- 2112
Rush- Grace Under Pressure
Rush- Vapor Trails
Tool- Lateralus
Tool- Aenima
Tool- 10,000 Days
Death- Symbolic
Death- The Sound Of Perseverance
Isis- Panopticon
Isis- In The Absence Of Truth
Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd- Meddle
BLAZE- Tenth Dimension
BLAZE- Silicon Messiah
Metallica- Master Of Puppets
Megadeth- Rust In Peace
Anthrax- Among The Living
Slayer- Show No Mercy
Dio- Holy Diver
Kyuss- Welcome To Sky Valley
Amon Amarth- With Oden On Our Side
I- Between Two Worlds
Immortal- Sons Of Northern Darkness
King Crimson- In The Court Of The Crimson King
Mastodon- Blood Mountain
Moonsorrow- Verisakeet
Queensryche- Operation: Mindcrime
Motorhead- Rock & Roll
Deep Purple- Machine Head
Judas Priest- Painkiller
Rainbow- Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
Black Sabbath- Heaven & Hell
Children Of Bodom- Hatebreeder


As you can see there's a range of different styles and bands here, some albums I've had for years, some I've had for mere months, but they are all linked in that they have meant so much to me and are albums I could never part with.

Even though its not the easier thing to narrow down sometimes try and post your guys' list of highly important and influential albums :cool:

[QUOTE=ADD;142411]


Amon Amarth- With Oden On Our Side
I- Between Two Worlds
Immortal- Sons Of Northern Darkness
Mastodon- Blood Mountain



:[/QUOTE]


these are pretty recent..I dont know how influential they can be, at this point in time.

Though they all kick ass :D

Add, this is a really cool idea, for a thread and in life in general. There are many people, and even some on this board, that won't "get" this thread/idea. I think that is a shame. For those who truly love music, this should be fairly thought-provoking because there will be some albums that come to mind immediately and other albums that will take more reflection. For us old folks, it might be a [I]very[/I] long list.

:metal:

[QUOTE=es156;142416]Add, this is a really cool idea, for a thread and in life in general. There are many people, and even some on this board, that won't "get" this thread/idea. I think that is a shame. For those who truly love music, this should be fairly thought-provoking because there will be some albums that come to mind immediately and other albums that will take more reflection. For us old folks, it might be a [I]very[/I] long list.

:metal:[/QUOTE]

:fist:

[QUOTE=ChildrenofSodom;142415]these are pretty recent..I dont know how influential they can be, at this point in time.

Though they all kick ass :D[/QUOTE]

I don't know why you have Sons Of Northern Darkness up there since its really not THAT recent (it was released before I was into metal we'll say), but of the other ones, yeah definitely. But that doesn't mean they aren't highly impacting for me. People change constantly, I could hear an album tomorrow and thrust it up into this list. It's all about what you feel from the combination of the lyrics, the concepts, the music itself, the emotions, where you are at that point in your life, the memories that listening to those record invoke, all those things are equally important. It's not a clear cut list at all, just the ones that stand clearly above the rest in how they've helped shape my life. My thoughts and actions all reflect in some way on those albums in particular, although I think its obvious that we are influenced somehow by everything we hear or see or do, etc. Music is so important to me though, therefore I can be more selective in choosing what influences and impacts me more than in other aspects of life that have bearing on who I am.

[QUOTE=ADD;142418]I don't know why you have Sons Of Northern Darkness up there since its really not THAT recent (it was released before I was into metal we'll say), but of the other ones, yeah definitely. But that doesn't mean they aren't highly impacting for me. People change constantly, I could hear an album tomorrow and thrust it up into this list. It's all about what you feel from the combination of the lyrics, the concepts, the music itself, the emotions, where you are at that point in your life, the memories that listening to those record invoke, all those things are equally important. It's not a clear cut list at all, just the ones that stand clearly above the rest in how they've helped shape my life. My thoughts and actions all reflect in some way on those albums in particular, although I think its obvious that we are influenced somehow by everything we hear or seem or do, etc. Music is so important to me though, therefore I can be more selective in choosing what influences and impacts me more than in other aspects of life that have bearing on who I am.[/QUOTE]

yeah I get what you're saying...good idea for a thread

umm...heres mine...(of the CDs I own)

Manowar-Kings of Metal
Rainbow-Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow
DIO-Holy Diver
Live-Throwing Copper *
Helloween-Walls of Jericho *
At the Gates-Slaughter of the Soul
Rammstein-Reise Reise
Kreator-Pleasure to Kill
Queensryche-Mindcrime *
Megadeth-Rust In Peace
Iron Savior-Dark Assault (my first power/speed metal album :eyes: )
Grave Digger-Tunes of War *
Grim Reaper-Fear No Evil *
Grim Reaper-See You In Hell *
Judas Priest-Painkiller
Fear Factory-Demanufacture
Black Sabbath-Paranoid *
Iron Maiden-Number of the Beast *
Dio-Very Beast of *

While all of these have shaped my musical tastes today, the ones with (*)s are some of the first albums I ever bought that really got me into rock and then metal.

Oooh, this'll be fun. I won't list a ton, because I want to be able to explain how each of them has changed my outlook on music :D They're more or less in chronological order.

Goo Goo Dolls- A Boy Named Goo
The first album I ever bought, when I was in 4th grade or so. They were my favorite band from then all the way until high school, when I discovered Maiden.

Green Day- Insomniac
Introduced me to punk. I literally wore out my cassette, I listened to it so much. It's still one of my favorite albums.

Metallica- Ride the Lightning
This one pretty much got me interested in metal, but there's a few other albums I listened to that also did that, like Megadeth's Cryptic Writings, but this one is the best ;)

Dead Kennedys- Give Me Convienience Or Give Me Death
Introduced me to "real" punk. I'd never heard anything like them before, with Jello Biafra's demented and bizarre vocals and the creepy surf-guitar tone that they used. In a way, DK also influenced my fucked-up sense of humor, because I found songs like "Funland At the Beach" hilarious, with the chorus of "Crushed little kids, crushed little kids, crushed little kids adorn the boardwalk!!" and shit like that.

Minor Threat- The Complete Discography
Along with DK, they also introduced me to hardcore punk. They're more abrasive and aggressive than DK, which really appealed to me for whatever reason. It was angry, fast, and violent, and for a angsty high school kid, it was perfect.

Iron Maiden- Powerslave
This was my first Maiden album, and by getting into Maiden, that opened the floodgates to countless other bands and kinds of music. My friend gave me a copied cassette of it, and at first I only liked "Aces High," and only then because of the lyrics (I'm a military buff). After a while, though, I really started to appreciate it, and he started giving me copies of NOTB, Piece of Mind, Seventh Son, etc, and I was totally hooked. The rest, as they say, is history.

Opeth- Blackwater Park
My high school science teacher (who at one point let me borrow a shoebox full of punk CDs, including the aforementioned DK and Minor Threat albums, and also was the one who got me into Maiden) mailed a burned copy of this to me one day, saying that I should check it out. I'd never heard vocals more extreme than, say, Slipknot to this point, so it really threw me for a loop. However, I didn't dismiss it or even dislike it. I enjoyed the musicianship, and eventually got used to the vocals. I credit this album with introducing me to extreme/death vocals and basically all of extreme metal.

The Clash- London Calling
London Calling is now my favorite album of all time. I bought it on a sheer whim; the only Clash songs I'd ever heard were Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go, neither of which are on this album. But I was blown away by the diversity of styles: Reggae, rock, punk, jazz, pretty much anything you can think of. No two songs sound alike.

Sleater-Kinney- The Woods
And now we come to the most recent of my "life changing" albums. Two summers ago, I read a Rolling Stone review of this album (it had just come out). I'd heard one of their songs on an anti-Bush compliation I had, and I liked it, but I didn't really give it a second thought. After reading the review, I decided to download The Woods and check it out. I wasn't prepared for the avalanche of howling feedback, thundering drums, or Corin Tucker's earth-shattering wail. It was one of the only albums I've ever heard that made me just sit back and go "Whoa. What the fuck was [I]that[/I]??" Needless to say, they instantly became one of the my favorite bands ever.

So there you have it, my musical history :D

Hmmm, uh....


Slayer - Reign in Blood
A mix CD of (real) black metal that was given to me in 10th grade
Everything by Priest and Maiden, and early Sabbath


That's my list, until I'm sober, haha.

Oh, and as for my punk side, which I was into before metal, let's see...

Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters/In God We Trust, Inc.
Operation Ivy - Operation Ivy (still love about half of this album, I can't stand stand the ska stuff)
Bad Religion - No Control


Those are the big ones.

When I first considered the thread, I imagined it wouldn't be much different from a "favorite albums" list. But when I started thinking it through, I came up with some surprisingly different things. In approximate chronological order of intersection with my life:


The Beatles - [I]Hey Jude[/I]

Iron Maiden - [I]The Number of the Beast[/I]

Soundtrack for the film [I]Terminal City Ricochet[/I] on Alternative Tentacles

Public Enemy - [I]Fear of a Black Planet[/I]

[I]The Grunge Years[/I] (an anthology from SubPop records)

Tom Waits - [I]Bone Machine[/I]

Iron Maiden - [I]No Prayer for the Dying[/I]

The Chess Box - 4-disc box set of blues musicians on Chess records

Uncle Tupelo - [I]March 20-24, 1992[/I]

Ani Difranco - mix tape my friend Margaret made for me, which drew heavily from [I]Not a Pretty Girl[/I] and [I]Out of Range[/I]

[I]The Story of Great Music[/I] from Time Life Records, 5 box sets from a series of ?, each box containing four vinyl records and a book outlining background/program notes.

Braid - [I]Movie Music, Vol. 1[/I]

[I]Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968[/I], 4-disc box set

Dismemberment Plan - [I]Change[/I]

Charles Mingus - [I]Mingus Ah-Um[/I]

Iron Maiden - [I]Brave New World[/I]

Opeth - [I]Lamentations [/I]DVD

The Coup - [I]Steal This Album[/I]