Silent Steeples by Dispatch has played a big role in my life. What are yours?
Dookie - Green Day I listened to it on a cousin's walkman and the world changed. Suddenly I went from the Lion King soundtrack to hunting real music. The genre didn't matter, it was the day my eyes opened to the world of music and the emotions it could bring along with it. I was hooked...I did't want to listen, I wanted to play.
Too bad they never released anything quite the same :(
I love all of their albums, each for different reasons. YHF is certainly the one that had the greatest impact though.
Phenomenal record. What do you think of the "Tweedy" record? Some real gems in there but personally I think they could've trimmed little fat to make a more solid cohesive piece of work. I would've preferred that with the other songs released as b-sides, but hey, it's their call and I love the material. My Tweedy jam:
I love Tweedy, all the way trough. I think it's some of his best songwriting in years. Also, normally I'd be skeptical of the whole "father/son" dynamic as just a dad appeasing his kid, but damn dude, Spencer can play. I'm a fan of his band The Blisters as well. Check them out, their album Finally Bored is fantastic. But yeah, Tweedy is great!
Word! I haven't had a chance to listen to Spencer's band yet but I had the same thought about the father/son dynamic, but Holllly hell can he drum. I love how the album kicks off in what seems to be a really weird time signature when it's actually 3/4 --- very cool stuff. I'll be sure to check out The Blisters. All the best to you!
I'll be sure to check out The Blisters. All the best to you!
and to you. Let me know what you think of the Blisters album. The bassist is a friend. They're tracking a new album. I'm pretty psyched.
The Dark Side of The Moon. I have trouble expressing and feeling my emotions, but am very empathetic, so I've found that by experiencing other people feeling what I feel I should feel I can get the emotion out. Whenever I need to cry I put on that album, near the end there's a song where a woman screams out in sadness, it gets me every time.
Metaphorical Music - Nujabes When I was younger I would get irrationally angry over the smallest things; I had pretty bad anger management. When I discovered Nujabes I absolutely loved the relaxed feel of his music and would listen to it all the time. Home, school, everywhere. I pretty much had Nujabes perpetually on repeat on my iPod for a year or more. I don't know whether it actually influenced my anger management, or I just discovered it at a time where I was just maturing anyway. Regardless, the time when I began to fall in love with this genre of music was also the time where I really began to feel more relaxed and my general outlook began to change pretty dramatically.
It's hard to say why exactly, maybe just the time in my life when I heard it, but this album by Todd Rundgren has always stuck with me. It's like Todd baring his soul; so human.
Love between the ugly is the most beautiful love of all
Jack White Blunderbuss. It was the first CD I bought where I had really started branching out from focusing on the style and lyrics of the music and focusing more on the quality. I'd gone through a heavy rock phase, but only liked the more popular songs,, which lead to buying an embarrassing number of "Best of" CDs. Blunderbuss seemed to be much more about achieving a certain quality than conforming to a certain genre, and it's not like most of the lyrics make much sense. I started to see albums as coherent works of art, designed by the musicians as a holistic piece, rather than just being carriers for various seperate art works. I eventually realized writing, visual art, learning, and life in general can be viewed in a similar way. Take things as just parts in a grand opus, and try to find the quality works.
This is an interesting question. I would not say my favorite albums have had a lot of influence in my life. I just like how they sound and the way I feel while I listen to the music. I love listening to them, but do not think about them much when I am not actually listening to them. The single album that has had the most influence in my life is Trevor Hall. I am not religious at all. I often struggle to understand why people are religious. There is something about this album that allows me to better comprehend the perspective of people that are religious. This album changed my life by making me a little less judgmental and a lot more tolerant of something I did not understand.
That's a great perspective! I asked this question instead of favorite albums because that usually generates a lot of the same answers, but an influential album has just as much to do with the place or situation in which you are listening to it as the actual music itself. Great reply!
American Idiot - Green Day That album really got me during a rough track of my life. I probably owe more to that album than I do to other people. But not only did American Idiot help change my life, other G.D albums did too. If I were to describe my state of life at this moment it would be a mix between the mentality of Dookie and Nimrod
Life is long! Tablo's Fever's End, Part 1 is extremely important. Epik High's Map The Soul and Pieces, Part One. Nell's Slip Away. CocoRosie's The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn and Grey Oceans. These were all essential at different parts in my life.
In my life, jeeez, that is a long period of time... I would have to go with "Transistor" by 311.
Hmm. It's a toss up between: As Cities Burn: "Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest" Underoath: "Define the Great Line" Norma Jean: "Oh God, The Aftermath" All Christian post-hardcore bands. I'm not a Christian, but all songs have great messages on top of exemplary musicianship.
It's all crazy! It's all false! It's all a dream! It's alright! It came in at a real crazy time in my life and resonated really heavily. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_All_Crazy!_It's_All_False!_It's_All_a_Dream!_It's_Alright
I'm the opposite. Their normal sound doesn't really appeal to me but I loved this album.
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon These two albums. The wall because I can particularly relate to Comfortably Numb, it's a song that I can literally unwind and lose myself to. Dark Side of The Moon for the same above reason. Pink Floyd were always able to really express passion and feeling in their music, which is something I can struggle with myself as a person. I almost feel as if it's a "reaching out" moment.
Of course there are multiple albums at different stages in life, but this one hit the hardest at exactly the right stage in life. The combination of brilliant songs and a philosophical bent really had a huge impact on how I live my life. It's an album that managed to be sad and happy simultaneously whilst sounding like no other band on earth. Be happy seems to be the main message, but behind that there's an implication that no-one really knows what it's all about. I listened when I was a mopy teenager and it turned my life around.
Not sure I can say just one. But I listened to No Code, by Pearl Jam a millions times walking by the beach after getting my first walkman. Good old days.
Blink-182's 'Dude Ranch'. Before that i was raised on country and classic rock. But Dude Ranch taught me that music could be fast, and more importantly, it could be fun! Jokes flying left, right, and centre, plenty of teen angst for poor misunderstood me, and catchy hooks that were easy to play, leading me to learn guitar.
Deja Entendu by Brand New After I heard this for the first time, something just clicked and I saw the beauty that can be found in music. I realized that an album is more than just 10 or so songs put together, it's more like a snapshot of an artist's life at that one point in time. And everything from the lyrics to the instrumentation to every subtle note has a purpose of being there. Today I listen to a wide variety of genres and I have this album to thank for exposing me to music I could really connect to. I'd highly encourage anyone who hasn't heard this album to give it a shot. I don't expect it to change your life or anything, just some good music.
Regional At Best - Twenty One Pilots. They became my favorite band back in 2012 when I first started listening to them. That album and the songs Kitchen Sink and Car Radio in particular just got me. Made me think and think and think. I remember not being that into Car Radio then one day it just clicked and I found a new meaning in it and I fell in love with it. Kitchen Sink I loved from the start. This band always makes me think and in that way it has a big influence on me.