Wednesday, May 13, 2009

10 Albums That Changed My Life

You know how on the Yahoo homepage, they have the stories of interest of today? Well, I'm skimming online and see an interesting title and click on 10 Albums That Changed My Life. After reading the guy's picks and quite a few of the reader's posts, I wondered about my top ten life-changing music albums. As the Yahoo writer points out (and untold numbers of readers refuse to notice), these are not always my favorite or even the best albums to me, but they mark a significant time or change in both my life and how I approach music. Hopefully you read these and come away with your own list (or maybe a nostalgic feeling in the nether regions of your soul). Chances are you may think "what the hell ate this guy's brain and caused him to listen to that?" I say it was Smokey the Bear force-feeding me Kool-Aid, sans water, that made me this way. Anyways, here's my list in no particular order, hope you like it:

Def Leppard - Hysteria : From the funky album cover to the one-armed drummer to 'Pour Some Sugar on Me', way cool. You know you're singing it right now.

Tupac Shakur - All Eyez On Me : Brought a fire to music not seen since the Vietnam era, even while showing a poetry to rival anyone. With appearances from George Clinton and samples from Richard Pryor, a little "California Love", and everyone's favorite nizzle, Snoop, broaden your horizons and pick this up.

Bell Biv Devoe - WBBD Boot City : Just plain fun beats and lyrics, the first New Jack Swing to grace my shelves. Also the first tape I ever bought myself.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Greatest Hits : Classic groove music, be it fast or slow. For you younger people, you may not know the name, but believe me, you know the songs. Think Chevrolet and Forrest Gump.

Kenny Rogers - The Gambler : As a kid watching the movie, loved him before the chicken and orange complexion. Embarassing moment, at a restaurant/club in Texas with my Dad, asked the house cover band to play The Gambler, they asked me to sing with them (they meant sing-along, I thought they wanted me on-stage), I cried in fear. Hey, I was 8, shuddup.

Guns 'N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I & II (gotta count them as one album): Axl Rose, for all his shenanigans and issues, may be one of the most talented song writers of our generation. Slash is gotta be the coolest musician since Elvis was young. And those videos with Stephanie Seymour, thank you thank you thank you.

R. Kelly - 12 Play : Marvin Gaye's work as a whole may make him The Love Doctor, but is there any other single album better to make love to than this?

Foreigner - 4 : The album that really made me appreciate rock and roll, where before I had always tried to ignore the "oldies". The raw power of the vocals in "Jukebox Hero" will have you feeling like you're outside the walls listening in with the guy in the song.

Jimmy Rogers All Stars - Blues Blues Blues : Brought me to Muddy Waters, which in turn brought me to just about every guitarist after. Clapton, Jeff Healey, Jagger and Richards, Plant and Page, Johnnie Johnson, Stephen Stills. Can't miss with all those giants on one album.

Michael Jackson - Thriller : C'mon, is there anyone born before 1980 (or after) that hasn't holed up in their room with this for hours at a time?

What are yours? Send it to me, or blog your own. Doesn't matter how, but it will make you feel good, trust me. You trust me, right?

1 comment:

  1. Gotta say I have never listened to any Michael Jackson album, holed up in a room or otherwise...

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