15 Albums that Changed My Life

Ah, such is the Facebook life. I was sucked into a note from Golenium this morning and was compelled to compile my own list.

Since music reminds me of times in my life more than anything else I'm gonna be more of a story-teller than a list-maker today...deal.

Life-Changers:
1) Gold - Ryan Adams
RA is my favorite artist of all-time and this album started it all. After getting through just the 1st 9 tunes (right after "Nobody Girl") I was compelled to call my best friend and tell him he had to go buy it...right now. This album is the reason I play guitar the way I do.

2) Blind Melon - Blind Melon
Blind Melon will forever be my favorite band with my favorite album (this one) and favorite song ("Change", #6 on Blind Melon). This album has been the soundtrack to my life since I was 14.

Influential Obsessions:
3) Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
The first CD I ever owned (Christmas gift in 7th grade). I knew all the singles from Core, but this album put STP on the top of my favorite band list with Live. This is not their best nor my favorite STP album (that would be Tiny Music...) but this album was my first digital obsession. Oh, and "Silvergun Superman" is just badass.

4) Throwing Copper - Live
Ah, my first analog obsession. I must have listened to this tape (pirated on those old Maxell tapes) 50 million times in middle school. Their best album, by far, I still get amped listening to "I Alone" and "Shit Towne".

5) I - Led Zeppelin
The heaviest album they, or anyone, ever recorded (heavy != loud || heavy != distortion)

6) The Complete Recordings - Robert Johnson
I was obsessed with the stories behind the songs when I got into the blues in college and, I'll be honest, I almost went to a cemetery in North Dartmouth one night in college to play some Robert Johnson tunes on the 'ol guitar...worked for the Allmans, right? Everything me and you learned about the blues we got from Robert Johnson (and his derivatives).

7) Rubber Factory - The Black Keys
Speaking of the blues, how 'bout them Black Keys? Their first two albums were dirty, messy and awesome. Their 3rd album, however, was concentrated rhythmic heaven as you can't help but bop (yes, bop) the entire listen. "10 AM Automatic" and "Girl is on My Mind" taught me that awesome solos really can be that easy.

Moments in Time:
8) Sea Change - Beck
The ultimate album of sadness. Whenever I'm down, broken and feeling uber sad I spin this album...and get sadder! Something about this horribly sad album (recorded after he ended a 9 year relationship) makes me feel worse but, by the end, I'm feeling a much better.

9) Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd
In college I went through a huge Floyd kick and came to one conclusion: Syd Barrett was Pink Floyd. Post Barrett-ian Floyd was awesome (Wish You Were Here is one of my all-time favorite albums) but they were a different band. Listen back to Atom Heart Mother, Meddle and Piper..., and you'll hear an experimental band that was fantastically out there.

Change of Taste:
10) Trouble Is... - Kenny Wayne Shepherd
My first real blues album...from a kid only a tad older than me. Along with Blind Melon this album was always in the CD binder for most of high school.

11) Come Away with Me - Norah Jones
Before discovering this album (by discover I mean "be alive in 2002") I was never really into female vocalists. Of course, this was mainly due to my only exposure being Salt-N-Pepa, TLC and Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries). Me and Dr. Momentum were thoroughly obsessed with this album during my sophomore year of college. These songs ultimately led me to some of my favorite artists (male or female), Missy Higgins, Ollabelle, Lucinda Williams, Brandi Carlile, Janiva Magness and the like.

12) Pneumonia - Whiskeytown
Reason I started listening to Whiskeytown? Ryan Adams, of course. While this isn't super country-fied and, on his own, RA has twanged it up way more I consider this my first true foray into (albeit, alt.)country land. It broke me out of that "country music is crap" mantra I had since I was a kid. Now my mantra is "country music on 98.1 WCTK Country is crap."

Guitar Stuff:
13) Wildflowers - Tom Petty
Honestly, for the first couple years I played guitar this was my blueprint.

14) BBC Sessions - Led Zeppelin
It's ok to solo for 15 minutes? Awesome! While I apologize to all of you who listened to my bands around this time, this is how I learned to play rock music.

Just Because:
15) Lucy - Candlebox
This album was awesome but not super influential, excepting for what it represents to me. This was the last album I ever purchased on cassette tape, signifying the end of my analog music days. I don't ever long to go back to analog mix tapes, but sitting alone in my room for hours on the weekend making a good mix tape will always be one of my fondest memories.