5 albums that changed your life

chrishill901

Man this is tough!! There are better albums than what is on this list but these are the most influential ones!

1. Thunderstruck Obviously I meant The Razors Edge - AC/DC - When I was a toddler my dad had this on cassette and used to listen to it on every car journey. I loved it aged 2/3. As I got older my dad stopped listening to hard rock and I forgot all about it. I remembered that he used to play this tape and as a 3 year old I used to think there was a little tiny monster in the speaker making the sound of Brian Johnson's voice but aged 10 when getting into rock music I didn't even know what band it was. Thumbing through the rock section in Woolworths when I was about 12 I picked this album up and something about the name gave me goosebumps. I bought it, listened to it and had the weirdest nostalgia trip ever as the dots finally connected. Probably the subconscious reason I'm into rock music.

2. Use Your Illusion (both) - Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion 2 was the 'other' cassette my dad had in the car. This didn't resonate as much with 3 year old me but I remembered the name so when I was 10 and starting to get into rock music I went to Woolworths and bought 'Use Your Illusion 1' (I didn't remember which one it was so I logically started at 1) - although it wasn't what I remembered something about that album just kicks ass, and 'Don't Damn Me' through to 'Coma' is probably the best end to any album ever. I bought UYI2 shortly after and then Appetite after that. Appetite should make this list as its the greatest album of all time but the list is about albums that changed my life and UYI changed my life more!

3. Rage Against the Machine - RATM - The reason I got into rock music at 10 which made me seek out the above. The Matrix came out, I was 10 and that film is just awesome. But at the end when he hangs up the phone and 'Wake Up' comes on I suddenly realised that S-Club 7 was s**t and there was something else out there. I had never heard anything like it before, the riff still resonates with me and I asked my brother what it was and he said so he got hold of a dodgy copy of the album (through the same means I saw the film in the year it came out without going to the cinema!) I have since bought it, and the XX version

4. Audioslave - Audioslave - Got this when it came out as I was a RATM fan and it just blew my mind. It introduced me to Chris Cornell who fast became a huge influence on me and by far the greatest singer I've ever heard. It got me into Soundgarden which subsequently got me into Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. I still listen to it regularly and enjoy it as much as I did the first time I heard it.

5. Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan - The above naturally got me into playing guitar. Once I was playing a mate of mine in school said 'listen to this' and lent me this album. Mind = blown. Changed my playing style totally.

Ironically only one of these would make my top 5 albums of all time (not that I could ever whittle it down to 5) and it would be the last one you'd think. Audioslave's debut album is astonishingly good.


Sorry for the long winded and pointless look into my 90s/00s childhood.

strumjoughlamps

The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
Mark Lanegan - Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Love Battery - Far Gone
Red Red Meat - Jimmywine Majestic
Velocity Girl - Copacetic

Winny_Pooh

Van Halen 1 - aged 11 this made me want to air guitar, awesome

Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries 
Eric Johnson - Ah via Musicom/venus isle
Set me on a trip lasting years into guitar virtuosity, slapping, tapping & shredding in my bedroom. 

Tom Waits - Rain dogs
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Started me on a gradual 180 course from guitar obsession to become a songwriter

Placidcasual79

Not my favourite but most influential - like many I'd imagine these are early records for me

Oasis - definitely maybe 
Primal Scream - screamadelica
Roots Manuva - brand new second hand 
Toots and Maytals - best of
Portishead - dummy 

Honourable mentions - 

Stone roses - stone roses
Leftfield - leftism 
Funkadelic - maggot brain 
Wu Tang Clan - forever 
Super furry animals - Radiator 
Al Green - greatest hits 

I know best of/greatest hits are poor - but hey - thats where I started with some stuff. 

axisus

First for me was:

ELO - Out of the Blue. First album I bought. I'd been massively into the top 40 for a few years, and loved all the singles off the album, but it seemed like a massive step of faith to buy a record with loads of stuff I hadn't heard. Seems a funny thought now, but it was a thing at the time.

My best mate's older brother had amazing records from bands I'd never heard of. My mate would lend them to me without telling his brother. The next four were all from this period of my life (late 70s):

Led Zep 4
Yes Fragile
Van Halen 1 & 2.

They all blew my mind, I never knew that there was such amazing music so far from the top 40 stuff in terms of guitars and excitement.

Lastly for me, The big musical love affair of my life was:

Fish era Marillion, so Script for a jesters tear. It was out during the best period of my life, 3 years at art college in Norwich. Fabulous times.

OK, that's 6, but I really had to include both VH 1 and 2.

Phil_aka_Pip

@axisus Not many people reference Script for a jester's tear but I thought it was a cracking good ablum. Although there was a mate who said he'd got 3 Genesis albums, Foxtrot, Wind and Wuthering, and Script for a jester's tear.

munckee

Similar to a number of people I assume are similar ages to me:

First Stone Roses album, my mates and I used to listen to this and Soup Dragons Lovegod about 5 times a night each!
Pixies, Doolittle - half way through listening to them for the first time ever I fell in love with them and still listen to them loads and principal reason I picked up a guitar.
Radiohead, Pablo Honey - Later liked the Bends better but a great album and one where I had to rush out and buy as soon as I heard of them.
Pink Floyd - DSOTM not my favourite album of theirs but reminds of college years and many chemical experiments, ahem.
Jam Greatest Hits.  My brother had this on vinyl when I was first getting into music and I used to sneak into his room and listen to it whenever he was out.
I realise its 6 but have to add Sigur Ros, Takk as also a massive memory of having to absorb as much of their music as I could.  In terms of making something which is sonically pleasing possibly the greatest band ever.

EricTheWeary

Phil_aka_Pip said:

@axisus Not many people reference Script for a jester's tear but I thought it was a cracking good ablum. Although there was a mate who said he'd got 3 Genesis albums, Foxtrot, Wind and Wuthering, and Script for a jester's tear.

I'm sure it's Script that has an ashtray somewhere on the picture on the inner sleeve with the FAG logo on it. I worked for FAG* at the time and a bunch of us went to see Marillion on tour as our little homage to them. I also saw them at Donnington a couple of years later. I liked the Fish era stuff but couldn't enjoy the later stuff, although I'd moved onto other things by them as well. 

*It was a disciplinary offence at work to call the company Fag, you had to pronounce it Eff Aay Gee.  

axisus

EricTheWeary said:

*It was a disciplinary offence at work to call the company Fag, you had to pronounce it Eff Aay Gee.  

Pretentious twaddle.

axisus

axisus said:

.......The next four were all from this period of my life (late 70s):

I should mention, that was the year, not my age ....