Meme: 15 Albums which changed your life

[Eric P]

shameless stolen from facebook, but i'm actually very curious to see what other people come up with.

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!

The challenge: do this in fifteen minutes; as if nobody is judging your answers...


1. Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder, the album which introduced me to hard bop jazz and really fostered my love of the music

2. operation ivy - energy
3. minor threat - discography, these two were given to my in highschool and it started my love affair with hardcore and punk in a big way.

4. The Toasters - Dub 56- another highschool thing, my first ska album purchased at my first ska show. an instantaneous
love affair which has lasted to this day.

5. metallica- and justice for all, this more than any other album really ignited my love affair with metal showing that the genre is more than the popular hair metal which was all i knew at the time

6. franz ferdinand - franz ferdinand, after listening to EDM exclusively for many many years, this was the album which made me break away from the rave scene and start going back to rock

7. kmfdm - angst, fun industrial as opposed to all the macho grinding shit

8. rage against the machine - rage against the machine, though a joke now, this album really opened up a lot of my mind to radical thought. look, it was 1992 and i was 16. probably the only time in history it's acceptable to say such things.

9. mudhoney - superfuzz bigmuff and early singles - first band i "discovered" on my own which lead me away from having music "fed" to me by radio and mtv. in a time before the internet, this was harder to do. YOU EVER SEND AN SASE TO ENGLAND TO GET A CATALOG, YOU PUSSY?

10. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine, his first and best album. also the first one i stole, which has led me to my current life of crime. lol, shoplifting. But really it's a great album.

it's amazing to me how much of this music i discovered in high school. i still seek out new and exciting music but nothing is really revolutionary or life changing. is it because the music i hear now i can track back to its antecedents and i see the connections. rarely does anything really spring forth truly new from the head of Zeus.

11. beastie boys - license to ill, this is the first rap album which didn't drive me insane when i heard it.

12. nirvana - nevermind - though i'm not really a nirvana fan, i cannot discount the impact this album had on the way i consumed music. i was able to springboard from being a sponge accepting of all marketing and manipulation to being willing to become musically adventurous, WANTING to seek out more.

13. Various Artists - Rave Til Dawn - the first time i ever heard rave music was with the 1992 release of this compilation. and we all know what happened from there. *looks at wall of records* (first edition, not the re-release)

(i am forcing my girlfriend to listen to Azzizo Di Bass's Doom's Night (Timo Maas remix)

14. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? - Randomly found this on a torrent site and then couldn't stop listening to it. Ended up buying it on 4 different formats when it was finally officially released and has lead to a love affair with Kevin Barnes's music.

15. Ray Barretto -Acid, my first introduction to Bugaloo and Latin Soul. Huge influence on me currently.

[Van Cruncheon]

i can't think of a single album

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Can't think of anything

[BlueTsunami]

1. Enigma - MCMXC a.D: One of the first albums I ever listened to from start to finish (I was around 11 or 12 years old). I think this is also what lit up the interest in music for me. The CD was my fathers and I'm not sure why he had this CD (its the only album he's owned of this type of genre). Its still something I come back to multiple times a year and listen to it completely.

2. Kate Bush - The Dreaming: I absolutely love every song on this album. Its the album I listened too out of her discography that solidified her as one of my most favorite musical artists. The album also contains my favorite track (Night of the Swallow). She's able to bring out oodles of emotion when she wants to and ultimately when its needed. Screw technical abilities, abilities as a singer and everything like it... when an artist can "feel" the music and is able to have this personal craft connect with the listener? I'll always dig it.

3. Cocteau Twins - Treasure: Coming back to "feeling" the music, Cocteau Twins has lots of this. I remember listening to this and not having any experience listening to shoegaze music... I was absolutely blown away by Guthrie's guitar playing. Elizebeth's voice also introduced me to a different styling of using the voice as a pure instrument of musical sound, instead of trying to convey words along with it.

4. Tool - Aenima: Powerful album. I dont' listen to it as much anymore but I remember using and buying it back in my early teens. Obviously being an emotional preteen, liking a Tool album is a give in but I've listened to it in my twenties and it still satisfies as it did back then just not in the same emotional context.

5. Diane Arkenstone - Aquaria: A pretty obscure New Age album (I would think) but the soundscape in this album is absolutely beautiful. The album name (Liquid Blue Trancescape) is actually where I adapted my hotmail email from, years back. It could be considered a guilty pleasure since it comes off as a bit cheesy (lyrically) but its easy to sink back into another plane of existence with this album.

6. Paul Schwartz - Earthbound: Classical and Electronic fusion. Its a weird mix but Schwartz does it so well. The lyrics are also a bit cheesy but they sound like arias that are translated to English.... so I love it for that. Something about the this fusion of these genres that appeals to me. It also introduced me to the this particular styling, which can be considered similar to...

7. Jens Gad - Achillea: Love, love, LOVE the otherworldly sound of this album. Its very unique and Enigma'ish (not surprising since Gad worked on earlier Enigma albums). Vocals are beautiful, so beautiful. Emotional guitar thrown in for good measure... I still listen to a couple of tracks on this album from time to time. Its what introduced me to Jens Gad and what made me love the classical sounding electronic genre even more.

8. Kate Bush - The Kick Inside: My first experience with Kate Bush is with this album. I immediately fell in love with her lyrical style and the melancholic style of her music. The albums varies in tempo and feel but I can still listen to most of it. Great album to start off with when getting into Kate since she only gets better from here (its her first album).

9. Various - GT vs. Project C Series: This is a free online electronic music duo. They always have tracks up on di.fm "Vocal Trance" station. Just another case where my taste in electronic music kept expanding and expanding, this pushed it along and introduced me to various vocal trance tracks and subsequently, the artists that created them.

10. Pink Floyd - Echoes (various tracks): I don't really remember a point where I went Floyd crazy. I used to hear their tracks all the time on a local Rock station during the day and mostly late at night (when everyone was smoking up and calling in, probably). Echoes is the first album from them that I had actually bought and sat down with. Its the perfect case of a compilation album shotgunning my ears and mind with wonderful tracks from all their albums. I remember playing the titled track "Echoes" constantly. It also gave me this tremendous urge to play the guitar.

11. Roisin Murphy - Overpowered: I was never really into the whole contemporary pop sound but Roisin Murphy, oohhh Roisin Murphy do I love you. So funky, vocals are absolutely perfect. I went a couple months on a Murphy trip, going from her current and past solo albums, to Moloko. Like a learning experience that introduces you to new things, Roisin introduced me to similar acts and expanded my tastes ever so slightly.

12. The Fountain (Movie OST): This is what got me into Classical, hard. I was never, ever into classical music but the Fountain OST flipped some sort of switch, I just got it. I could feel the emotion behind the violin and many classical instruments. Maybe I just wasn't comfortable enough with the sound, thinking it sounded too formal, too technical but not anymore.

13. The Roots - Game Theory: Not into Hip Hop at all but I remember being intrigued by The Roots. Ended up downloading this album and had grown an appreciation for these fantastically produced, lyrically genius Hip Hop albums. Expanded my taste in this direction and I'm all the better for it.

14. Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies: One of the first Rock albums I listened too. Got introduced to them from a childhood friend back in the day and this obviously opened me to similar acts (Soundgarden <3). My interest in Tool, Vast, Sublime, Sevendust all came from chillin and listening to some Alice in Chains tracks.

15. Deep Forest - Deep Forest: My cousin introduced me to Deep Forest. Deep Forest sits with Enigma in that it really made me fall in love with this (at the time) eclectic sound. World Music is absolutely beautiful and more people need to give it a shot.

[Eric P]

i can't think of a single album

i had to jump start my own list by looking at my vinyl collection

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Music tends to supplement my life rather than change it

[rubber feathers]

God.  I can't think of one.

Boston and Metallica (and arguably Bon Jovi) are the reasons why my music tastes are the way they are, though.

edit: and yeah, the music I listen to hasn't really changed my life.  I could be listening to Katy Perry and Nickelback and I'd think I'd personally be the same.

[Propagandhim]

Propagandhi - Less Talk, More Rock
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Bad Religion - Suffer
Bad Brains - I Against I
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables/Give Me Convenience or Give me Death
Elliot Smith - Either,Or
Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West, Moon and Antarctica, actually almost everything they've released
Foo Fighters - The Color and the Shape
Fugazi- Repeater
Megadeth - Rust in Peace
Minor Threat - Everything
No Means No - Wrong
Pearl Jam - Ten
SNFU - And No One Else Wanted to Play
The Misfits - Walk Among Us

[Van Cruncheon]

i can't think of a single album

i had to jump start my own list by looking at my vinyl collection

music is really just something i code, write, or drive to -- needs to be fairly high energy, which is why i like metal and trance. well, for writing, i prefer slower shit, which is why i have vivaldi (and the matchbox 20 :'() on my zune

[TEEEPO]

welp i'm at work and bored out of my mind so why the hell not. instead of numbering anything numericaly, i decied to list the 15 albums that changed my life in a linear order as if i was a historian, starting from when i was a kid.

wutang - enter the 36th chambers
the first three albums i had ever listened to in their entirety were n.w.a's straight out of compton, dr.dre's the chronic and wutang clan's 36th chambers. all three had a huge impact on me, i was only fucking 7 or so, but wutang is the one that stood out for me the most. hip hop had become ingrained in me.

beastie boys - ill communication
WHITE PEOPLE! SABOTAGE!

portishead - dummy
having just seen akira for the first time, someone on irc was coincidentally streaming the akira ost and afterwards, he started playing this shit. i was reallly confused but i remember going to the floor and laying down, trying to absorb as much of it as i can. it haunted me for the next two or three years until i got my grubby hands on their s/t release.

nirvana - nevermind
i wouldn't have ever accepted the guitar as a legitimate musical instrument up until maybe lil wayne's prom queen without nirvana. and yes, i still love the album. <333 kurrrrrt 8===D 

korn - korn
fuck my dad

v.a. - wipeout xl
though i saw hackers during the same year, i owned this album first. it got me heavily into every single band on this mix as well as electronic music in general. 6th grade was an awesome time. korn, prodigy, smashing pumpkins, 2pac and p.diddy. can't top that.

dead can dance - the serpent's egg
once electronic music was introduced into my life, i was desperately trying to find a band that had ethereal qualities of enigma without all the cheese factor. mcmxc had some good tracks but it was so fucking cheesy even for me back then. not only was this album what i was looking for, it got me exploring classical music.

brian eno - discreet music
before ever listening to the album, i read the story about how brian eno came up with the concept of the album. although it introduced me to ambient music, it made me aware for the first time the concepts behind the music. if you don't know the story, you can read it at our favorite scholarly website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discreet_Music

dj krush - milight
i bought this album from tower records because at the time i thought krush was such a cool dj name. i didn't know it was a hiphop album since it was categorized under dance music. i became obsessed with underground hiphop following that.

sonic youth - sister
cotton crown. cotton crown. cotton crown. cotton crown. cotton crown. cotton crown. catholic block. schizophrenia. the album that got me into noise/experimentation.

my bloody valentine - loveless
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<3

bjork - homogenic
this album made me stronger since my brother used to beat me up and call me names for listening to it .

neon genesis evangelion - ost 1
eva got me into anime, its music, jpop and atlus

radiohead - kid a
i always liked radiohead before hand, loved creep and thought ok computer was great but it wasn't until the release of kid a that i became a fan. it's as if everything i was listening to at the time, dj shadow, autechre, nirvana, my bloody valentine and the bands that are associated with their respected genres as well as the merging of new culture/music/politics that was occurring due to the technological advancements had all converged together . i feel like i wouldn't have survived 10th grade without it.

arvo part - für alina
tintinabuli style
modern classical

[TEEEPO]

i just realized i forgot to fit in minor threat and MICHAEL JACKSON! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

[tiesto]

Hmmm...

1. Some Billy Ocean tape - my aunt bought this for me when I was like 4 years old because I loved "Get outta my dreams... get into my car!" and "Carribbean Queen". The first tape I ever got, ushering me in my music-heavy life
2. Information Society - Information Society - in NYC at the late 80's, synthpop/freestyle was all the rage, I'd listen to the radio stations and hear this stuff (Hot 103.5, which then became the famous rap station Hot 97, would play this)... a biiiiig influence on my later music tastes,
3. Metallica - Master of Puppets - my babysitter introduced me to heavy metal, and this band. This was like nothing else on the planet, for the next few years I would be a big metalhead.
4. Metallica - Black Album - favorite album ever as a kid
5. Final Fantasy IV osv - just hearing the Red Wings theme for the first time blew me away, I was shocked game music could sound that awesome
6. The Orb - UFOrb - one of the big ones... a friend whose brother lived in Britain told him about The Orb, so being curious I got the album... and was blown away. It was unlike anything I've ever heard... my first introduction to ambient, downtempo, and most importantly, my big introduction to edm.
7. Paul Oakenfold - Tranceport - Introduced me to, among other things, epic trance, superstar DJs, the whole party scene, and mix compilations... heard it for the first time at a prom afterparty and I remember it waaaaay more than the actual prom
8. Sasha - Xpander EP - My first progressive house purchase, Xpander remains my favorite song of all time, between this and listening to my friend's San Francisco GU, Sasha was the first DJ I started following, nearly shit my pants when I met him in Miami last year
9. John Digweed - Bedrock - My friend bought the CD, I had one taste of "Heaven Scent" and I needed more, this further laid the 'bedrock' of my love of progressive
10. Sasha - GU013 Ibiza - one of my 2 favorite albums of all time
11. DJ Tiesto - In Search Of Sunrise 3 - the other of my 2 favorite albums of all time, 2002 is the year I became the Tiesto fanboy I am today, and this album encapsulates his sound from that era. I also saw Tiesto live for the first time that summer, and got his autograph, in probably my most cherished concert memory ever... this is a good representation of his set that I heard.
12. Sasha - Involver - such a creative mix of downtempo, breaks, and prog... all mixed with Ableton, this album more than anything made me want to d/l Ableton and fuck around on it.
13. James Holden - Balance 005 - really great album, years ahead of its time, diverse mixing of genres like house, techno, breaks, prog, trance, etc...
14. not an album but Cagedbaby's essential mix from 2005 - early electro house and minimal/tech house... made me totally aware of what was going on in the German underground and opened me up a bit beyond a trance/prog bubble
15. Luke Fair - Balance 011 - great introduction to funky proggy house, the genre I spin and mostly listen to now.

[Human Snorenado]

Looking back at this list (I'm writing this after finishing it) most of the albums on this list either came out during 1995-1997 or that was when I was exposed to them.  I was a senior in HS in 95-96, and was working at Blockbuster Music part time, so it makes sense- not only was I working with music like four or five days a week, I was exposed to cool older people with some varied tastes.

1. Miles Davis- Kind of Blue
Holy fuck, jazz made sense all of a sudden.  Heard this my senior year in high school and to this day it remains the one album I'd take anywhere with me.  You can fuck to it, too.

2. Guns n' Roses- Appetite for Destruction
I'm pretty sure this came out when I was in 5th or 6th grade.  Up until that point, I had just kind of listened to whatever my parents did and either liked it or didn't.  This was the first album or even group I heard that wasn't some old tired hippie shit or crappy pop music.  Still a really good album, too.

3. Radiohead- OK Computer
Came out the summer between freshman and sophomore year in college.  Holy shitburgers.  I still kind of think of this as the first album of the 21st century in a lot of ways.  At the time I was majorly into brit pop (Blur, Suede, Charlatans etc) and classical music.  This kind of changed all that.

4. Dr. Octagon- Dr. Octagonecologyst/Instrumentalyst
Holy flaming hell was this awesome.  Hadn't really given hip hop much due before this album but I started to pay a lot more attention afterward, especially to Kool Keith who remains a pleasure (guilty and otherwise) to this day.

5. Beck- Odelay
The world's coolest Scino.  Sure this album owes a lot to Paul's Boutique, but it was a pretty big damn masterpiece in it's own right.

6. Bonnie "Prince" Billy- I See A Darkness
This is the album that got me on my modern day folk kick, which I am to this day still on.  And that was what, about ten years ago.  Christ.

7. Goldie- Timeless
I bought this album on a recommendation from a friend a couple weeks before I moved to Athens for college.  I loved it when I heard it, but it's more of a blueprint for the next four years of my life, which I spent in clubs dancing to, taking drugs to, promoting and even occasionally spinning drum and bass.  Sea of Tears might be the most awesomely haunting piece of modern instrumental music, too.

8. Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Living in Athens, GA, in the late 90's was a privilege that I kind of wasn't aware of looking back on it.  Working at Wuxtry, drinking with madmen, and listening to these guys a couple times live.  Possibly the best album of the 90's, which is saying a lot.

9. PJ Harvey- To Bring You My Love
Little girl, big voice.  And what a fucking voice.  This album was the first I started paying attention to primitive blues music, which is a fascination to this day. 

10. Aphex Twin- ...I Care Because You Do
Holy flaming hell.  This was the album that got me into electronic music at all.  Up until that point (95) I was one of those "it's not worth listening to unless you play some instruments" people.  I think I bought like 9 Aphex Twin cds within the span of three weeks, but this is the one that got me started. 

11. Bill Hicks- Rant in E-Minor
This was my first exposure to Bill Hicks.  Sadly it came after his death.  I had always liked stand-up, even as a young kid I'd watch Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, George Carlin and even Gallagher stand up tapes.  Fuck off, I was like 8 and he was beating the shit out of food and had props, I was fucking stupid.  But this was the first time I heard a stand-up that really, really had balls.  Pryor and Carlin's stuff was great and had similar sensibilities, but it was more dated.  Hicks is the fucking man, to this day.

12. The Black Keys- Rubber Factory
Holy shitburgers, that guy is white?  That was my response to the first time I heard some of the Black Keys music.  Amazing modern day blues shitkicking that manages to sound old and awesome at the same time.

13. Saint Germain- Tourist
Downtempo jazz awesomeness from some french dude.  I think he's french.  Whatever, it's awesome, go buy it or download it and stfu.

14. AIR- Moon Safari
More french shit.  These guys are awesome.  One of my favorite memories of my college years was a night a friend and I had just taken some ecstasy maybe half an hour earlier and were just starting to feel the effects.  I carefully drove the couple miles home and we listened to the first couple songs on this album.  Crazy night.

15. David Cross- Shut Up, You Fucking Baby
I wish this guy would do more stand-up.  I'm sure acting pays better but the stand-up has to be more rewarding, especially if you're as good at it as he is.

[BlueTsunami]

I love this thread

[TEEEPO]

man, i really skipped out on metallica, didn't i

[Human Snorenado]

I love this thread

I agree, and I refused to do this on FB.  Don't know why, but it feels like it belongs on a forum moreso than on FB.

[TEEEPO]

i promise i wont laugh /

[TakingBackSunday]

I did this on facebook.  I approached it more of the music that shaped what I listen to now, so there's a few weird, and admittedly shitty ones on my list.  It's fairly safe, too.  I expect everyone here to make fun of me.  Here it is on my blog:

List omg

[Eric P]

Looking back at this list (I'm writing this after finishing it) most of the albums on this list either came out during 1995-1997 or that was when I was exposed to them.  I was a senior in HS in 95-96, and was working at Blockbuster Music part time, so it makes sense- not only was I working with music like four or five days a week, I was exposed to cool older people with some varied tastes.

nice list, i was debating GnR but while i love the album it didn't really change my life, same w/ Goldie's Timeless, but I blasted Angel for like a month straight.

Mest - Wasting Time
Mest - Destination Unknown

i liked mest when i was introduced to them but they weren't really game changers for me.

[Barry Egan]

don't really think I can come up with 15 but...

1. Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children

2.  Do Make Say Think - & Yet & Yet

3.  Daft Punk - Alive 1997

4.  Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

5. The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat

6.  The Beatles - Sergeant Pepper

7. Pixies - Doolittle

8.  Radiohead - Kid A

9.  The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Dead

10.  The Books - Lemon of Pink

Indie faggotry

[TakingBackSunday]

The Unicorns
Grizzly Bear

[tiesto]

Fuck, can't believe I forgot "Homework" and "Appetite For Destruction"

[patrickula]

I'm not sure these have all changed my life, but they've at least been important in the progression of my music tastes:

Beck - Odelay: One of the few albums I listened to all the time in high school (it wasn't until college that I got heavily into music beyond various songs I liked).  It's still great.

Rage Against the Machine - Battle of Los Angeles: Another high school album... It was more political than any other media I was into at the time, though I was interested in politics otherwise.  I still think Rage is good stuff.

Gorillaz - Gorillaz: Got me into a lot of music by the people involved (Del and other Damon Albarn and Dan the Automator stuff).

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon: Got into this at the end of high school, it helped me realize what a complete album could be.

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral: One of the first albums I got into early in college, another good cohesive album, though I can't really listen to much NIN anymore aside from individual songs.

Radiohead - Kid A: I got into Radiohead pretty much all at once, and this is my favorite album which had the most impact on me.  It's still one of my favorite albums.  Getting into Radiohead also got me into a lot of other bands they liked.

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing: Not sure what I can say about this one, but it's one of my favorites, and I listened to it a lot.  The kind of album it is was new to me.

Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On: One of the first indie bands I got into.  Good album, I got to see them perform it live last year.

Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica: A girl I was seeing got me into these guys before "Good News..." came out and really blew them up.  I thought it was weird at first, but then I loved them.  They were also a part of my getting into weirder and more indie music.

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust: Went through a kinda glam phase with this one primarily.  It got me into Bowie, who I adore, and I bonded over it with my now-fiancee, then new girlfriend.  It's not my favorite by him anymore, but it's fantastic and might be his most solid album anyway.

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense: Not my favorite Talking Heads recording, but it got me into the band and it's a great concert film.  My Dad got me into this actually.

Brian Eno - Before and After Science:  I'm not sure if there's a particular Eno record to pick, but his pop stuff is my favorite.  He's a brilliant guy and has had a pretty big impact on how I think about music and creativity in general.  His work with the Talking Heads is awesome.

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds: I still run into some people who don't get liking The Beach boys seriously, but I think their work (Brian Wilson's really) stomps The Beatles'.  This album makes corny sentiment and saccharine pop into perfection, and it kind of widened my horizons for the kind of music I was ready to appreciate.

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On: Started me off into getting more seriously into a lot more classic soul and funk music.  It's an amazing album, with a heartfelt message.  When I read about how his dad killed him when I was getting into his work, I cried... which was surprising for me.

Neil Young - Tonight's the Night: I love Neil, and this album and On the Beach are my favorites of his.  Tonight's the Night feels like a pure document more than almost any other album that's not just a live recording... it's a sloppy mess, the sound of raw emotion, and comes out better as a result.

[Human Snorenado]

After having the opportunity to think a bit, I'd probably say that both Massive Attack's "Protection" and Nick Drake's "Five Leaves Left" had more of an impact on my life than either the David Cross album (good, but just kind of reinforced the "wow things are fucked up" feelings I had in 93/94 moreso than being a life changer) or St. Germain.  But then again, this was supposed to be a spur of the moment thing so there you go.

[Phoenix Dark]

(no particular order)

1. Tupac - All Eyez On Me

I can still remember the first time I saw certain movies - Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Star Wars. Tupac is the only music artist who had such an impact on me that I remember the first time I heard him. The album defined my teenage years, especially the later years.

2. Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP

I was homeschooled at the time and heard the album at a buddy's house, during a StarCraft lan romp. Needless to say it blew my ears wide open.

3. Nirvana - Nevermind

I was into rock before hearing this album but the band's chemistry made me truly appreciate the genre. Every piece fits together, the production is flawless...it's just such a clean sounding record.

4. Metallica - Master of Puppets/Black Album

I heard the Black album first and it really shat on the nu metal stuff I liked at the time. But Master of Puppets is what really introduced me to metal. Every song is amazing, every song has a theme or concept behind it. I still listen to it today

5. Creed - Human Clay

First album I bought, fuck haters. I tricked my parents into allowing me to buy it by convincing them the band was a christian band. I sure felt badass. WHAT IF WHAT IF WHAT IF

6. Jay Z - The Blueprint

I only "borrowed" it from my uncle because I saw Eminem's name on the back of the CD. After one listen I was convinced Jay was the best of the best (smh) which lead to many hilarious arguments with Nas fans

7. Nightfall in Middle Earth - Blind Guardian

Used to listen to the album non stop on mp3.com back in the day. Master of Puppets introduced me to metal but this album showed me the variety of the genre

8. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life/Talking Book/Innervisions

It's scientifically impossible to not like Stevie Wonder.

9. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

My exposure to the band occurred right around the time I got kazaa. In between attempting to download porn on a 56k AOL connection I'd be trying to download the entire album. 2+2=5 blew my mind. Definitely the album that expanded my musical taste/range the most

10. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory

2000-01 was defined by Eminem and Linkin Park for me.

11. Nas - Illmatic

It didn't blow me away the first time I heard it. A friend of mine let me borrow his cd to school me on "real rap"; I definitely liked it at the time thought it was no Blueprint or Marshall Mathers LP (smh). Yet today I consider it to be the best hip hop album I've ever heard, by far.

12. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Still my favorite band

13. Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Souls for Rock and Roll

Found it in a garage sale. My mom found it in my CD player a few weeks later which resulted in a family meeting  

14. Jimi Hendrix - Axis Bold as Love

"Holy shit, a guitar can sound like that?" I was lucky to find a badass rock station that played current and classic rock. I remember hearing Little Wing and being so amazed that I took the bus to Borders and bought the album after school. It's scratched up, the case is broken...but it still works

15. Kanye West - College Dropout

I obsessed over this album almost as much as I did over All Eyez on Me. I'm Kanye's biggest critic now but he introduced me to so much stuff - from Mos Def to Fiona Apple to Portishead to Bjork.

[Human Snorenado]

Creed

[Phoenix Dark]

I still say their first album is classic. I might go to the reunion tour

[Human Snorenado]

You should be forced to sport an avatar that says "I like Forrest Gump and Creed, disregard anything I say"

[TakingBackSunday]

The Unforgiven avatar is proof enough.

[VALIS]

Sorta in personal chronological order

Kiss - Love Gun
'Cuz it was the first rock record I owned.

Led Zep II
'Cuz it was the first GOOD rock record I owned.

Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
The first metal album I owned

Ozzy - Speak of the Devil and Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Gave me a life long appreciation for hard rock

Metallica - Kill 'Em All
The first "underground" metal record I owned (well, they kinda were at the time)

Cramps - Off the Bone
First punk record

Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets and Grateful Dead - whatever that uber-popular 70's comp was called
A lifelong appreciation for psychedelia, drugs (even if I don't do 'em anymore) and hippies. I'll let myself out now. 

Zappa - We're Only In It For The Money and Captain Beefheart - Shiny Beast/Bat Chain Puller
These turned into an obsession for their work and an appreciation for arty farty music in general

The Velvet Underground 3rd
Just 'cuz I love it so damn much

Can - Monster Movie
My first "Krautrock" record, which is definitely one of my favorite genres

Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Way up there in my personal pantheon. This and the rest of his 70's albums are ungodly clever talented

Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
The first jazz record I really loved that didn't seem like quaint music for old people

I'm not sure if that's 15, whatever.

[ToxicAdam]

Chronological:

J. Giles Band - Centerfold

Prince - Purple Rain / Sign o the times (it's a tossup)

Don Henley - The End of Innocence

NWA - Straight outta Compton (EP)

BDP - Edutainment

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

Nirvana - Nevermind

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Rage against the Machine - self-titled

NIN - Downward Spiral

Johnny Cash -  Original Golden Hits vol 1

Al Green - Best of

Marvin Gaye - Best of

Stevie Wonder - Best of

Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar

[ch1nchilla]

My list is pretty much all recent albums, but I'm pretty young and have only recently (past 3-4 years or so) started to diversify my music taste, or even actually attribute meaning to what I'm listening to:
In no particular order:

The-Dream - Love/Hate - Yeah, I can feel the hate. As much as anyone might despise this choice, it has so many great songs, many of which define much of my first year of college. Easily in my top five of 2007/8. Also, "I Luv Your Girl" is the story of Bacchus7's life.

Clipse - We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 2 - I <3 THE CLIPSE. This firmly cemented Clipse as my favorite rappers, as a group or alone. It also made me realize how much Sandman sucks-- it's awesome that he's no longer a member of the Re-Up Gang. Also, Pharrell's Maybe (Remix) is one of my favorite songs ever (who cares if the beat and chorus are more or less stolen from Outkast!).

The Dear Hunter - Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading - I don't know why. But it's on this list.

Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger - The Coast is Always Changing.

Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War - The soundtrack to my cross-country trek to college.

The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die - I think it was a mutual knowledge of hip-hop that initially started my friendship with who I now consider my best friend. I remember playing REmake and blasting this album while discussing whatever 8th graders discuss.

Eri Nobuchika - nobuchikaeri - Yeah, it's j-pop, whatever. I love this album, and while I don't know how it changed my life (it's in the moon language!), I'm sure it did in some way. This also cemented Shinichi Osawa is the king of awesomeness in my mind.

Asobi Seksu - Citrus - furthered my shoegaze infatuation, was the definition of a large part of my senior year of high school, and is still played frequently to this day. A super-diverse album.

Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City - The perfect soundtrack to a depressing year in high school.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm - This album was HUGE in the diversification of my music taste, especially expanding from rap, which I had listened to almost exclusively until its release.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend - Also helped me stay positive last year, and was the soundtrack to what was easily the craziest and possibly the best weekend of my life. I think I've overplayed it though, now.

The Depreciation Guild - In Her Gentle Jaws - Helped me stay positive last year, fueled my shoegaze infatuation.

Coldplay - Viva La Vida - Made Japan so much better (saw them at Summer Sonic 08) and in a way helped me fall in love with Tokyo (again) (yeah, it sounds kinda gay), was the soundtrack to my move back to college at the end of summer.

Kanye West - The College Dropout - I'm not even kidding, this album made me stop dressing like a jackass.

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury - I realized how awesome modern rap could be, and how Pharrell is a bitchin' producer, and definitely changed my outlook on a few different things.

This thread is awesome, BTW.

[Himu]

Can't think of any album that has changed my life. There are important albums to me, but nothing that crazy.

[Bloodwake]

15 Albums that changed my life (in no order)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication. The first album that made me appreciate music that wasn't in a film or on a video game. Before this, I just really didn't care. Plus, the fact that it's probably the second best or the best album by this artist doesn't hurt things. That's right, I'd put this right up there with Blood Sugar Sex Magik any day.

Nirvana - Nevermind. It made several peoples lists already, and for good reason. Although I now prefer In Utero, this album was the intro course to Nirvana and to 90's music. After this, my Napster/Kazaa lists became less "what I heard on the radio" and more "let's experiment with music my friends seem to like and see if it's actually any good." Of course, this led to disastrous consequences in high school (Fall Out Boy) but sometimes awesome results (Radiohead).

Weezer - The Blue Album. I'm sure we all saw the video on Windows 95 to Buddy Holly, but when I really decided to explore Weezer's discography, In The Garage was basically the best song ever in reference to my geek lifestyle in high school and my love of Claremont era X-Men.

The Beatles - 1. Yes, I know it's a "greatest hits" compilation, but it introduced me to the Beatles. How could this not be "life-changing?"

Metallica - Ride the Lightning. The first thrash metal album I've ever listened to. Keep in mind that most of the music in the 2000s that was considered hard rock or metal had "screams." This made the genre less noise to me and more instrumental excellence and enjoyment.

The Postal Service - Give Up. This album was so influential on my music tastes, it's incredible. Whenever I first heard this album, I fell in love with it immediately. It led to my love of music that has synths present in the songs, from new wave 80's music to Radiohead's later work. I also loved the lyrics. This album connects with me and my personality so well sometimes, it's frightening. For one, being a film major and listening to Clark Gable when it comes up on random when I'm looking at a girl I want to ask out, or walking through the hallways or around campus at high school or college and listening to This Place is a Prison. Finally, there was just something about Ben Gibbard's voice that I loved. Which, of course, led me to discovering...

Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism. If you ask me, this is still the best work the band has ever done. For one, just like Give Up, the album is a complete work that can be listened to all at once and all of the songs make sense. I still listen to The New Year every January 1st. So many great songs full of longing, which connected with me every time. This is one of the first albums I listened to that I memorized from beginning to end. I've cried to this album (Transatlanticism, We Looked Like Giants), made out to this album (Passenger Seat), and have felt better about myself for this album (Expo '86, if you can believe it).

Death Cab for Cutie - Plans. Only for one real reason. If it wasn't for the song Marching Bands of Manhattan, I would have never gotten off the bus for marching band competitions my senior year.

My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. I learned that I really needed to stay away from this shit. Ugh.

Radiohead - OK Computer. My music taste became more defined immediately after listening to this album. Now I had a direction. This basically also defines the summer of 2006, the summer I graduated high school. This spun around in the CD player of my car and house so much I'm surprised the data wasn't stripped off of the disc.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over The Sea. Wow. If I were to rate albums from the 90's, this would easily be in the top three, if not number one. Even Radiohead isn't as diverse as Jeff Mangum and crew on this album. Fucking monumental. When I heard this the first time, it influenced almost all of my emotions. Some specific songs: The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3 is the song I want to sing every time I go to church for the lulz. Oh Comely is the song that I would assign to Airport Girl (fuck, I think she thinks the same way, she listened to this song almost every time we hung out).

Pink Floyd - The Wall. I started smoking weed. End of story.

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. Women. End of story.

Old Crow Medicine Show - O.C.M.S. I never thought I would ever like bluegrass. Old Crow changed my mind. Great album that helped me identify with the region of the country I live in.

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas. I realized that Rock Band 2 is becoming so diverse that I can widen my music taste through gaming now. Hell yes.

[tehjaybo]

I don't think I can do 15, but I'll do what I can.  No order, just what I think of them in.

The Offspring - Americana
This was the first CD I ever bought.  It was a big step for me. "The Kids Aren't Alright" became my theme for a while.  You just have to know the place I grew up.

Team Sleep - Team Sleep
The first album I ever put in my first car's CD player.  I drove to that CD until it skipped so badly it wouldn't read anymore.  I still love the music for any time I need to calm down and not kill something.

Tom Petty - Wildflowers
One of the few memories I have of my brother and I bonding was when my mother forced him to take me with him to somewhere, and he had this cd playing "It's Good To Be King" the whole time.  It brings back memories of a better time for me.

Catch 22 - Alone in a Crowd
My introduction to ska.  This was the first ska album I ever downloaded.  I think I was looking for audiobooks to listen to in high school, and found this instead and just went with it.  And I'm glad I did.  "Alone In A Crowd", "Bloomfield Avenue", and "What Goes Around Comes Around".

Barenaked Ladies - All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001
It's a greatest hits album, but I don't care.  It has all of my favorite songs, and introduced me to new favorites at the same time.  I can't say how many times I've bawled to "Call and Answer" because of women problems.

Korn - Follow The Leader
I have my reasons for loving this album, and I don't think it's important why I like it.  I just do.

Daft Punk - Discovery
Some of my fondest memories of this part of my life come from sitting with my (then) girlfriend and watching Interstella 5555, over and over.  It felt to me like "Digital Love" was talking about the two of us.  To this day, I can't listen to that song anymore.

Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water
I got arrested listening to "My Generation" going 101 on I75.  Off my nuts.  "DJ LETHAL, BRING IT HOME" [blue lights] "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

The Postal Service - Give Up (+B Sides)
I love this album so much, I actually have it on vinyl.  That's saying a lot for me.  And some of the songs, I prefer the remakes that are on the b sides, like The Shins version of "We Will Become Silhouettes", and the "Such Great Heights" Remix by John Tejada.

Tsunami Bomb - The Ultimate Escape
Angry girl music.  And Agent M is fucking hot.



That's what I've got.  10...  a lot better than I thought it would be.

[Ecrofirt]

Albums that changed my life? Not so much.

Bands? Sure.

Metallica - 7th grade - Before the 7th grade I didn't really listen to any music at all. Then one day one of my friends had me listen to Metallica, and everything turned around.

Ozzy - 9th grade or so - I got into Ozzy bigtime around the 9th grade or so. Ended up going to see Ozzfest in 2002 or so, which was my first concert. Saw Rob Zombie live, and Ozzy live, and holy shit concerts were awesome. I had to go to more!

Manowar - Summer or 2005 - I had no fuckin clue what Manowar was or what they sounded like. I knew that some of my friends liked them, and they were called the kings of metal. Then I went to a Rhapsody show in June 2005 that was headlined by Manowar. Holy fuckin fuck.Fuck.Fuck. This band was fuckin awesome. They blew my goddamn head off, and I've been listening to them nonstop since. Went to see them in Germany last summer, got to meet them during some press stuff. Awesome fuck.

[drozmight]

The Budos Band II turned me into a pimp named Will Cracker, but I soon realized it was a bad idea... but the experience changed my life.

[Cormacaroni]

there are plenty of albums i like better than these (both have a couple of amazing tracks and are otherwise weak) and I certainly have a lot of 'cooler' ones in my collection, but these are the 'gateway drugs' of my musical life.

Rush - Permanent Waves

I was about 10 yrs old when a neighbour dubbed a copy of this on cassette for me. I was obsessed with it like nothing before or since. It was just hard to believe 3 guys could make such a huge, amazing sound. I turned into a massive 70's rock/guitar solo/prog/metal/thrash fiend for most of my adolescence. Everything rock or metal that I've ever liked can be traced back to first hearing 'The Spirit of Radio' on vinyl via speakers the size of an armchair. It also turned me into a retro fiend - I was listening to stuff released in the year I was born or before it all through my teens, rather than the Smiths and stuff that I SHOULD have been listening to. (I got caught up later, don't fret).


John Coltrane - My Favorite Things

- a friend brought a folder with all his jazz CDs over to my place one sunny day. When he put on the title track, neither of us spoke after the first few seconds. When it ended, I was a jazz fan for life. Sadly, he left the folder in a taxi on the way home (curse you, demon alcohol!).

And then there's this, which is still utterly perfect in every way
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The first Irish music that made me not utterly ashamed of my heritage. How wrong I was. Irish music is actually awesome. It was just that I was scarred at an early age by the indignity of dancing lessons.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Talking Heads kinda did.  Bartok's string quartets

[xnikki118x]

I've been wanting to do this for a while and I'm still having a really hard time, haha.