5 Albums that shaped you

[sunvalleylaw]

Over on facebook, folks are picking 5 albums that shaped you and I thought it might be fun to do here. I added in the comments 3 more I wanted to fit in the 5. So here are the 5 I listed, and the 3 runners up. Please list your five and up to 3 runners up (no more, or it gets to be just an endless favorites list).

1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
2. Boston - Boston
3. 1962-1966 (red album) - Beatles
4. U2- Under a Blood Red Sky, Live
5. Clash - Combat Rock.

___Runners up

Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
VanHalen, VanHalen
Gratitude - Earth, Wind & Fire


This is not a favorite albums list. I tried to pick ones that impacted my life in some way. These are the ones I listened to most and/or changed my directions in musical taste in some way. I could list way more, but then the point of the exercise is lost. So what say you guys?



EDIT: I am also going to add that I went back on Facebook and changed my list, swapping in Gratitude by EWF and bumping Combat Rock. Only because I am trying to answer really honestly, and though Combat Rock did get me into punk (that is why I picked it and not London Calling, which I now like better than Combat Rock), and I have listened to like music ever since, EWF was more of a shaping influence in my earlier years.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Since I did three of the "5 Albums that Shaped Me" lists on Facebook, I'll do a compilation with comentary.

Okay, here are mine:

1. Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) by Praxis; the first album I heard Buckethead play.

2. El Rayo-X by David Lindley. Introduced me to David Lindley

3. Vol. 4 by Black Sabbath. I used to listen to this for hours when I was a jaded teen metal head. :rotflmao:

4. Lyle Lovett and His Large Band by Lyle Lovett. Made country music "acceptable" for me.

5. The Wall by Pink Floyd. David Gilmour made me want to play guitar.

Runners up:

1. Nevermind by Nirvana (killed hair metal/shred gutar dead which, at the time, was a good thing)

2. Guitar Town by Steve Earle (Further indoctrination into C&W)

3. Born Again by Black Sabbath. Yet another of my jaded teen era guilty pleasures. I'd put this cassette on and skip rope to build up my endurance for wrestling when I was in high school.

tung

 

[Spudman]

Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Yes - Fragile
Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are
Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

I think that's right

 

[piebaldpython]

Hmmmmmm......geez.......are we different or what??? These albums shaped my musical taste to the guitar more than anything else
In no particular order:

SRV debut album......Just brilliant....The Renaissance after The Dark Ages as it were. :rotflmao:

ABB---Eat a Peach.....First there's Duane slidin'; then the twin lead guitars (side by side) churning it all up; without ABB to spur it on, would there have ever been Southern rock as we know it?

SANTANA debut album......the intro to the genius that is Carlos Santana

George Thorogood--Move It On Over-----proved that the debut was no fluke and showcased that his blues/rock playing could work just as well on country-ish tunes.

C,S,N & Y-----DEJA VU/4 WAY STREET-----yeah, I know it's TWO albums but taken as a combined unit it displayed the awesome and varied talents of Stephen Stills as an outstanding guitarist. Scorching yet creamy smooth electric leads and quite dazzling on acoustic too.

 

[R_of_G]

1. Leave Home by The Ramones - I practically played this one into the ground when I was in high school. There was a long stretch during one of my high school years where this album (and the other three first Ramones albums) were the only things I listened to.

2. Abbey Road by The Beatles - The first Beatles album I ever got and a record I played endlessly. All I ever wanted to be when I grew up was George Harrison.

3. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. - I didn't really like or understand jazz when I was a teenager but for some reason I always liked this record. I think it was hard for me to get into other jazz at the time because it didn't sound like that.

4. Moving Pictures by Rush. - This was the first album I ever bought with my own money when I got my own stereo. I couldn't get enough of it. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I still think it's a pretty damn good album.

5. American Beauty by The Grateful Dead - This was my intro to the Dead. There isn't really a way to accurately describe how much things changed for me after that. I have never looked at music the same way again.

SVL got to give a few honorable mentions so I will give but one. My first exposure to Tom Waits was Rain Dogs. It was not only the first time I heard Waits but the first time I heard Marc Ribot. Nothing's been the same since.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Hmmmmmm......geez.......are we different or what???

Absolutely! I have more extensive lists around here somewhere that track the development of my taste or favorites list, but to boil it down to what albums (not bands, not songs, albums) shaped me, these rose to the top. Obviously when you were raised makes a big difference, and now that I have had many more years to discover more, I like a broader spectrum, and love all those you posted too. That is why the question is interesting to me, if one sticks strictly to the question.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

R_of_G, I really wanted to include a jazz album, since I do love jazz, and have a long time. But I couldn't truly find one jazz album that was a huge influence in shaping me. At least in my earlier life. I love that Coltrane album though. Ditto the Ramones, I would love to have listed them, but The Clash, Combat rock brought me to the Ramones, and not the other way around.

Tung, "Nevermind" was a big influence in my adult years. I was in my late 20's when it came out, and being a Tacoman, I have always related to it.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

1. Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
3. Jimi Hendrix - Axis Bold As Love
4. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
5. America - Greatest Hits

 

[tunghaichuan]

R-of_G, I really wanted to include a jazz album, since I do love jazz, and have a long time. But I couldn't truly find one jazz album that was a huge influence in shaping me. At least in my earlier life. I love that Coltrane album though. Ditto the Ramones, I would love to have listed them, but The Clash, Combat rock brought me to the Ramones, and not the other way around.

I'm not a big fan of jazz, but if I had to pick one or two, I'd have to say either Guitar by Sonny Sharrock or Ask the Ages by Pharaoh Sanders and Sonny Sharrock.

Tung, "Nevermind" was a big influence in my adult years. I was in my late 20's when it came out, and being a Tacoman, I have always related to it.

For me, there was something liberating about "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Not the pinnacle of guitar playing, but there was something raw and emotional about it: something honest.

I was in my late 20s as well when it came out as well. It reminds me of a very happy period in my life: I had just met my future wife to be, I was in grad school, finally learning something that was interesting to me. I had just quit my crappy college job and all I had to do was go to class, study and turn in papers. Good times.

tung

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, the "Nevermind" through "Vs." years were good for me too. I had finished law school, met my wife to be, had disposable income and no real responsibility. Fun times!

 

[msteeln]

#1 - Electric Ladyland's, 1983..., this was my first heavy trip 'without any outside help', into what music was all about.

#2 - The Doors - Starts off with the best album opener of all time, Break On Through, and doesn't let up 'until The End'. My top band for a year+ during my 'wonder years', until Jimi.

#3 - Led Zeppelin II - After hearing Whole Lotta Love on the radio, it was obvious something new was afoot.

#4 - Black Sabbath, the group, the album, the song.

#5 - Tie, between the first Dust, and Captain Beyond LPs, and Ted Nugent's - Call Of The Wild. All were favorites to blow minds of those yet to know.

Runner's up - Jimi's Woodstock masterpiece, The Star Spangled Banner, or BOG's Machine Gun.

 

[just strum]

I'm still being shaped, but here goes (not in any particular order)

The Beatles early releases all played a role, but the one with a real kick

1) Rubber Soul - The Beatles
2) Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones
3) My Aim is True - Elvis Costello
4) London Calling - The Clash
5) From The Cradle - Eric Clapton

Too many runner-ups to mention.

 

[Geraint Jones]

Harvest - Neil Young
The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
Surfa Rosa -The Pixies
Let it Bleed- The Stones
Wish You Were Here - The Floyd...man

 

[Suhnton]

I wish I had a cooler list, but these albums are "turning points" for me:

1) Troops Of Tomorrow - The Exploited. This was the first punk album I bought (I missed the first wave). IIRC I was 12 years old.

2) Holy Diver - Dio. The first "HM" album I bought. It took a while to get into it, but once I did it never left the cassette deck.

3) Sketches Of Spain - Miles Davis. I'd been turned on to "jazz" by a friend, and although I wasn't the biggest fan of the genre, kept buying stuff from noisy ol' Ornette Coleman to muzak-ey Lyle Mays. In reality it's a tie between Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain and Pat Metheny's Still Life Talking, but S.O.S is the album I bought twice.

4) Apocalypse 91 - Public Enemy. The first rap album I bought. I'm pretty sure PE was the catalyst for me getting into drum'n'bass in my 20's.

5) Ágætis byrjun - Sigur Ros. As a genre, "post-rock" is pretty generic sounding stuff, but this band and Mogwai seem to stand out from the crowd.

 

[street music]

Abbey Road-The Beatles
Scarecrow-John Mellencamp
Highway Star- Deep Purple
House of The Rising Sun- The Animals
One -Three Dog Night

Their not in order but it gives you an idea of my warped mind.

 

[Algonquin]

Not sure how to interpret the word 'Shaped’, whether it's emotionally, socially, or musically... but all of these albums had some type of influence on me.

Outlandos d'Amour - The Police
Frantic City - Teenage Head
London Calling - The Clash
Fully Completely - The Tragically Hip
Scarecrow - John Mellencamp

 

[WackyT]

Here are the albums I played the most growing up.

1) Aerosmith (1st album) BAY STATE ROCKERS RULE!
2) Led Zeppelin II
3) Toto (1st album)
4) Beatles: White Album
5) Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon

Runners Up:
1) Rush: 2112
2) Boston (1st album)
3) Moody Blues: Days Of The Future Past

 

[bigoldron]

I guess I'd have to say these 5 did it for me:

(pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd) – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bridge of Sighs – Robin Trower
The Captain and Me – The Doobie Brothers
Fandango – ZZ Top
Casting Crowns - Casting Crowns

There were countless others. Many times, it was a single song by an artist that turned me in the direction I took. I like Led Zeppelin (OK, who doesn't?), but "The Immigrant Song" was the first Zep song I ever heard and one of the earliest "rock" songs I ever heard and I wore out a record playing that one over and over. I didn't start collecting albums until late high school. Before then it was 45's and compilation albums.

 

[R_of_G]

I'm not a big fan of jazz, but if I had to pick one or two, I'd have to say either Guitar by Sonny Sharrock or Ask the Ages by Pharaoh Sanders and Sonny Sharrock.

Those are both phenomenal albums and I listen to both quite a lot. Pretty much all of Sonny Sharrock's work has had a tremendous effect on me, but keeping in line with SVL's original post, I'm not sure I'd have ever listened to Sonny's stuff or Pharoah Sanders or a lot of other people I listen to all the time now had it not been for Kind of Blue. It's not my favorite jazz album, or even my favorite Miles album, but without it, it's possible I'd never have listened to others. It opened the door for me. If we do another "change your av" month, I'll do my favorite jazz albums.

 

[Jimi75]

To pick out 5 albums in general is very difficult, because I think that I could seperate my guitar life in different stages and for that stages I could pick 5 albums each....anyways here are the albums that come to my mind, becaue I have spent quite an amount of time listening and playing to them and maybe they are the foundation of my playing and opened the doors for so many other artists and styles that I later on studied (choice can change, ask me in two months and the answer is different....*lol*)

No special order:
1. Metallica "And Justice For All"
2. SRV "Texas Flood"
3. Jimi Hendrix "Axis Bold As Love"
4. Joe Satriani "Flying In A Blue Dream"
5. Pearl Jam "Ten"

:AOK:

 

[duhvoodooman]

Disraeli Gears - Cream
Led Zeppelin I
Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones
Texas Flood - SRV

 

[Steve206]

I used to listen to the early "underground", [remember the term?] FM radio in San Francisco and the listener sponsored KPFA, across the bay, in Berkely, Ca. They enabled me to listen to brand new ideas from everywhere, without having to pay for their ownership. I was 7 or 8 years old, in Los Angeles, when Jackie Wilson was being played on the radio.

1. The Lovin Spoonful - Do you believe in Magic. Traditional and original music by an american band. Played the first album's music, right out of the grooves and had to replace it. Took it to a party where the standard was to take your fave 45s. I put it on the turntable and after the hit played, and the second song started, the audience got nervous because it did not recognize what was coming next.

2. The Sons of Champlin - Loosen up Naturally. After Al Kooper, started his horn band, "Blood Sweat and Tears", everybody saw the beauty in the experiment. Local horn band that pretty much played what they wanted to, mixing in Vibes and Hammond B-3s along with the saxophones and guitars.

3. The Blues Project - A compendium of the very best on the urban blues scene. A friend sent a friend to get the Blues Project album, fairly hot at the time. The second friend comes back with a best of album, featuring, Dave Ray, John Koerner, Tony Glover, Dave Van Ronk and Eric Von Schmidt. All accoustic, all blues, not a hit tune in sight, anywhere. The first friend listens to it one time and offers it to me. I take it and spin it once and put it away for about 15 years. It is top five, easy.

4. Harvey Mandel - The Mercury Years. Learned a lot of guitar in Chicago at the feet of Buddy Guy and other local greats. Joined Charlie Musselwhite and moved to San Francisco in the late 60s. Played Gibson 335s and developed a sound mixed with pedals and custom amps. Cristo Redentor is the first solo album, instrumental at that. Then came Righteous. He was the first player I knew of, who used the studio to put things together like a mad scientist. Recording parts forward and backwards and blending them together for a final mix.

5. Pretty much anything that Ryland Cooder puts his name on. There have been exceptions and I am still not sure if the fault is mine alone, or does Ry, have to carry some of the weight. Movie soundtracks with one minute snippets of excellent music, mixed in with serious songwriting, can be very interesting.

John Lee Hooker - The Healer.
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodo

Steve

 

[Geraint Jones]

Hey Steve I was thinking about Astral Weeks an album which i played for the whole summer in '88 myself also Sweetheart of the Rodeo is one of my favourites, defineately top 10 .
Strange nobody has picked Pet Sounds yet or there`s no women artists . I remember Michelle Shocked , Short Sharp Shocked being another constantly being played at the about the same time .

 

[tunghaichuan]

I remember Michelle Shocked , Short Sharp Shocked being another constantly being played at the about the same time .

Gillian Welch's "Time (The Revelator)" is an excellent album that shaped my listening habits. Love her music.

tung

 

[marnold]

It's hard for me to say "shaped" really, but maybe calling these albums "momentous" might be more accurate.

These two were the first true metal albums I heard and I heard them back-to-back, very loud. I was a metalhead from that point onward.
Dokken "Tooth and Nail"
Metallica "Ride the Lightning"

This one defines what an album should be for me. It's the only one in my collection that I really have to listen to from beginning to end.
Queensryche "Operation: Mindcrime"

This one opened the world of the blues to me.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble "Couldn't Stand the Weather"

It's kind of dopey to have a greatest hits album in here, but this one got me at the right time. I got interested in Queen from hearing "Another One Bites the Dust" on the radio. While on vacation in 8th grade I bought this album and really opened up a new world for me. All the different styles of music with great guitar and bass work to boot (John Deacon is a vastly underrated bass player, IMO). Since then I've gone back and purchased several of their older albums. I must say, though, that most of their work after the greatest hits album really doesn't appeal to me very much (with some exceptions like "I Want It All" and "Hammer to Fall").
Queen "Greatest Hits"

 

[Geraint Jones]

Gillian Welch's "Time (The Revelator)" is an excellent album that shaped my listening habits. Love her music.

tung

Indeed , Dave Rawlings guitar work is fantastic .

 

[lurcher]

Oh this is a hard one. My number one is dead easy though.
The Gods, Genesis LP. So full of classic rock before we knew it was classic rock. It taught me barre chords and some great ideas on solos. Thanks Joe, if you're reading this.
2, John Mayall, Blues from Laurel Canyon. Excellent intro to Brit style blues and a great help with the blues scale.
3, Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here. No explanation necessary
4, Uriah Heep, Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble. Does what it says on the cover.
5, Fairport Convention, Full House. For something completely different.

I'm sure my wife will say, 'What about.....?' and I'll chamge the list a bit.

Brian

 

[thekiwidisciple]

I'm still a youngster, so I don't know they really count just yet, but so far:

1) Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon: Need I really explain this one?

2) The Best of SRV - SRV: I know, I know, it IS kinda sad to put a greatest hits album as an album that shaped me, but the reason I do so, is that SRV is my musical idol. I've always felt a huge connection with him, and his music, even though he died before I was born, he influences my playing more than anyone or anything else. So I guess it's fitting to put the 'culmination' of his work as an album that shaped me.

3) Layla - Derek & The Dominoes: While mainly a fan of Clapton, this album is great. It really speaks to you in a way that no other album can do. This album really brings out the blues side in me...as SRV's work does. Blues is my natural style...it just comes to me and I don't really have to think about it...I just have to channel emotion into it. This album helped a lot with my playing.

4) Pink Floyd - The Wall: This one really is one of the greatest albums. It provides a huge sense of comfort and help when you really need it...it lifts your head back up and lets you see things in a more positive light...(if you really listen to the WHOLE album)

5) Roger Waters - Amused to Death: I don't listen to this one very much, but it's really superb. IMO this is one really shows off Waters' ability to write songs about things that wouldn't normally inspire music...and to absolutely blow away the audience with it!

 

[Kazz]

ok...I will play

1. Kiss - Hotter than Hell this was the first real rock music I heard....my mother kept firm control of the stereo in the car and house and we had to listen to her music beit country or neil sedaka or Elvis.....2 older boys in the neighborhood who I idolized allowed me into their circle one day and as we played pool they opened my eyes to the music that was out there....this was the first experience for me....after that I could not get enough of Kiss and Rock n Roll as a genre

2. REO SpeedWagon - Hi Infidelity
3. Ozzy Ozbourne - Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman...heard them both for the first time together....just blew me away.
4. Queen - The Game...altho Bicycle Race and Fat Bottomed Girls off of Jazz really opened the door for me to want to listen to The Game
5. Tesla - Mechanical Resonance.....my musical tastes changed forever when I heard the first few bars of Modern Day Cowboy for the first time. Since then....Tesla has been the best blue jeans rock n roll band of all time.....in my less than humble opinion.


Honorable mention to The Black Crowes for Shake your Money Maker....this was the first cd in a long time that I remember you could play it backwards and forwards.....not literally...but you could play it from track 1 to track 12 or whatever it was...there was not a bad song on this cd. Which for the time was extremely rare.

 

[Lev]

U2 - Achtung Baby
Steve Vai - Passion & Warefare
John Mayer - Continumn
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
The Beatles - 1962-1966 (red album)