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most influential albums of your life LOCKED

jp by jpOG 2003 · Jul 26, 2007 · 708 views · ·

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what albums were most influential on your music taste, your life, who you are?

mine has definitely got to be blink-182's Dude Ranch. noticing that it's the tenth anniversary of this album inspired this topic, as a matter of fact. while i didn't discover the album for a couple years after its release (about 7th grade - all i listened to up until then was the beach boys and the beatles) it certainly was a major influence in my life. energetic, confused, immature - yet searching for maturity, naive...it's all what a teenager can relate to.

to me, dude ranch is skating around the beach town with my cousins, wreaking havoc, it's listening to it on repeat for hours on end in the back of my parents' van, it's driving home from a class trip and singing the words with my friends who had similarly recently discovered the magic of dude ranch.

i guess it's not as musically poetic as some of the more "mature" albums some of you guys will write about, but it was pretty much the best thing ever at age 13.

not much has changed at 21.

96 Comments

englandkid englandkidOG 2003 ·

Stereophonics - Performance and Cocktails

theremin thereminOG 2002 ·

MMMmm, tough to condense this into a short list, but these would be on that list:

U2 - Achtung Baby!
U2 - War
REM - Automatic For The People
Pearl Jam - Ten
Nirvana - Nevermind
INXS - Welcome to Wherever You Are
Depeche Mode - Violator
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - What Hits!?
Soul Coughing - Irresistable Bliss
Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom
M. Doughty - Skittish
Radiohead - OK Computer
Radiohead - Kid A
Roni Size - New Forms
Dieselboy - A Soldier's Story
Aphrodite - Aphrodite
Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed the Fish?
The Clueless Soundtrack

juicymango juicymangoOG 2003 ·

whoah speaking of childhood music memories

when I was a little kid in Poland.. this guy was all my dad listened to

This and Led Zeppelin..

seit2see seit2seeOG 2002 ·

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Metallica - Black album
Green Day - Dookie
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Deftones - Adrenaline
311 - Grassroots / Transistor
Radiohead - OK Computer
Bjork - Debut

seit2see seit2seeOG 2002 ·

OH and..

Primus - Suck on This / Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Tool - Undertow

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

really?

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

i'm co-signing this whole list. minus 311. sup, ryan?

seit2see seit2seeOG 2002 ·

What's up buddy? Long time no speak..

juicymango juicymangoOG 2003 ·

whoah! hi!

yeah i agree with pretty much all of this. Except I was never really THAT into Radiohead or Primus. Like them, but was never SUPER into them.

Oh yeah Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

seit2see seit2seeOG 2002 ·

Hey dude,

Good call on the RHCP, I add Blood Sugar Sex Magik to my list, how could I forget!

flomojopoanode flomojopoanodeFounder ·

hey Ryan!

forrestina forrestinaOG 2002 ·

eek. one album from hundreds. I'm going with Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

ilikebirds ilikebirdsOG 2002 ·

Wonderful world of sam cooke.
violator.
it was written

ilikebirds ilikebirdsOG 2002 ·

Aquemini, let the rythm hit 'em, that frickin' spin doctors album.. i remember it being played by a certain individual all day everyday

coreyfeldman coreyfeldmanOG 2003 ·

Various Artists - Blacktop (a terrible rap mix, but it was my first CD, I didn't even own a CD player, but after buying that I had a reason)

The Single most Influential Album of my life:
Weezer - The Blue Album

Others include:
Pearl Jam - Vs
Bush - Sixteen Stone
Green Day - Dookie
Smashing Pumpkins - Melloncollie and the Infinite Sadness
Weezer - Pinkerton

coreyfeldman coreyfeldmanOG 2003 ·

Now that I'm reflecting back i am in a good mood, but absolutly amazed thinking about the power of a sigle cd. It helped define me, I could get girls because I wore a weezer shirt (it was junior high, it didn't take much) i chose art school with it's influence, i picked my college roommates because they liked weezer, the first conversation i ever had with liam involved weezer.

I could go on for days about how weezer totally parellels my life, but I won't.

Pinkerton, what made that soo cool was that after the blue album, most people who had grew to like weezer didn't like pinkerton, which made it that much cooler, because it was rejected by the mainstream.

it's sad how much I love weezer

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

its so funny, cause i NEVER got into them... like... i tried... i really did... but i couldnt. I respect that they are pretty good live, from what i hear, buuuut.... yeah... i dunno.

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

we've had this discussion on here before,but the two times i saw weezer they SOUNDED good, but they had a boring stage pressence. He just stood there and sang, and basically didn't say two words to the audience. And other people said he's gone nuts on stage. hmph

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

guess who im going to see this friday....

oh yes... im seeing goldfinger. yeah... ur jealous. i know.

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

wait a sec. where? i thought they werent touring til next year. only like, local CA shows. WHERE? haha

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

i WANNA GOOOOOOO!!!

i'm getting plane tickets right now

wo-ah, like walkin in the dark ...

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

john feldman is an old fart

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

no way! i love him! he has the best voice, and...he's hot.

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

hmph my wife says this also

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

i agree with this... the guy def is hot.

the a pro vegan thing kinda gets annoying tho.

superhero superheroOG 2004 · rocksupastar

yeah and the whole "don't kill animals they're friends" is lame

rob thomas was vegan for a while and i was scared he was going to get like that but now he eats meat, so i don't have to hear any lame songs about cows or whatever

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

ANSWER MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

i never liked them before at ALL (I hated on them a lot on here) but then i like

where i come from isn't all that great, my automobile is a piece of CRAP

i like saying that. over and over and over.

also that's it

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

used to be a huge Weezer fan. saw 'em live like 6 times. i kinda outgrew them. still love Blue and Pink quite a lot. Rivers is a turd.

coreyfeldman coreyfeldmanOG 2003 ·

yeah, i've sort of out grown them as well, but this post reminded me of how much i loved them.

I saw them 3 times and I agree with j's post they could have better stage presence, but it is all part of the we don't want to be rockstars attitude.

rivers is weird yes.

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

ive seen them a couple times and like 5 years ago they didnt move or talk at all. really annoying. but just about a year ago, adam & i saw them and they were AWESOME! rivers came out into the crowd...and it was just fantastic

thatdarngirl thatdarngirlOG 2002 ·

This is what I keep trying to tell everyone! I've seen them twice (first time in 2001?) and both times they were great, like awesome stage presence. Rivers was so chatty! He must have been on his antidepressants.

thatdarngirl thatdarngirlOG 2002 ·

It's not sad. Weerez is great.

juicymango juicymangoOG 2003 ·

this is a good thread

g.f.s.rocks g.f.s.rocksOG 2001 ·

Here are mine (In no particular order):

Fugees - "The Score"
Wyclef - "The Carnival"
DMB - "Crash"
The Wallflowers - "Bringing Down the Horse"
The Verve - "Urban Hymns"
Verve Pipe - "Villains"
Sublime - "Sublime"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Lets Face It"
Korn - "Korn"
Deftones - "Around the Fur"
Blink 182 - "Enema of the State"
Nirvana - "Nevermind"
Foo Fighters - "The Colour and the Shape"

These are just a couple, I could probably continue all day adding more. Isnt it interesting that as you think back you can remember the same feelings you had when you used to listen all the time to the songs on that album and where you were and who you were hanging out with... who says songs dont have an influential power... man this brought back some good times.

I also realized when I look back at when these albums were released that my musical youth started when I was around 15... how sad...

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

I will co-sign:

Deftones, Korn, and Bosstones

hunkpapap hunkpapapOG 2003 ·

Mine:

Oasis-What's the Story Morning Glory
REM-Monster
Nirvana-Nevermind
Blues Traveler-Four
Third Eye Blind-
Tonic-Sugar
Splender-Halfway Down the Sky

etc, etc, etc.

juicymango juicymangoOG 2003 ·

ahh Tonic

good stuff

nostalgia

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

aw, oasis, reminds me of bermuda, went to see an oasis cover band, pretty cool. i was like 15.

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

we all have a lot of similar ones, and obviously it's cuz we are all around the same age, but it's just funny how one album could have meant so much to so many people. cool.

web-toedchloe web-toedchloeOG 2001 ·

This reminds me of "High Fidelity" when John Cusack rearranges his record album autobiographically.

My autobiography:

Pink Floyd - The Wall
Foo Fighters - The colour and the shape
Bush - Sixteen Stone
Jawbox - For your own special sweetheart
Jawbreaker - Dear You and 24 hour revenge therapy
Shudder to Think - Pony Express Record
Saves the Day - Can't slow down
Day 19 - Live on 13 legs
Dashboard - Swiss Army romance
Get up kids - Something to write home about

I know I'll add to this.

iwz iwz ·

Oh, this is a good idea!

tesoro tesoroOG 2001 ·

(Wow, Livy so many of the same)

Bringing Down the Horse- The Wallflowers ("One Headlight")
Jewel- Pieces of You (Every song)
Sarah McLachlan- Surfacing
Goldfinger-Hang Ups ("If Only")
Live-Throwing Copper ("All over you")
Midtown-Living Well is the Best Revenge-("Perfect")
Dashboard Confessional-Swiss Army Romance ("Ender Will Save Us All")
Weezer-Pinkerton("Why Bother")
Third Eye Blind-S/T ("The Background")
Good Charlotte-S/T ("Change")
Trapt-S/T ("Echo")

Wow, all of my fav. songs on these albums are like, heart wrenching, driving down the Long Island Expressway, with the windows down thinking about my current "love". haha

Ahh, the teenage years, it's pretty nice to be past them.

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

i think my list is very close to yours.

Bringing Down the Horse - I've been listening to this album for so long, I think I got it in 1996 and have been listening to it constantly ever since. I have all their albums and love each and every one.

Jewel - I just like the song "Near You Always" because it's really good. I gotta say I never really thought Jewel was that amazing, but somehow I ended up seeing her because she opened for Rob Thomas. They did some duets together - (actually Rob got her on stage by having the whole audience sing Hey Jude but changing it to Hey Jewel ...it was hilarious) and they did a bunch of covers together - of course my brain escapes me as to what at the moment. Very good though.

Sarah McLachlin - If there's anyone who needs a greatest hits CD that's not a stupid live "Mirrorball" cd, it's her. I love "Sweet Surrender", "Possession" and also "Adia". I actually got a cd single by her in 1997 or so, 4 tracks on it were Building A Mystery, Possession, Adia, and something else. Best $3 I ever spent.

Goldfinger - Every album except the newest one. I have a rarities CD by them, so good. Favorite rare track is "Walking in the Dark".

Midtown - Both albums (1st and 2nd one) are amazing. The newest one is terrible, I keep trying to like it and it's not working.

Good Charlotte - me and lauren were listening to this on the way to work this morning, coincidentally. i think complicated and seasons are great. I heard there's an mp3 of thai singing seasons. hhaha.

I gotta make my own list....

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

Darren's Coconut 'Butt' is great.

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

also, trapt is lame.

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

I gotta agree with you on Dude Ranch too... or wait.. was it the next album we listened to on that trip down to um... crap... where was it? like Delaware or something? where we made fun of ben the whole time and he hated us?

GOTTA LOTTA HEARTACHEEEE BENS A LITTLE WEASEL!!!!!

aww man... we were retarded. i think our parents wanted to kill us like 2 hrs into that trip.

jp jpOG 2003 ·

got a lot of heartache!!

yeah thats the next album. good too. but that one actually took me a while to warm up to. then i loved it, and adjusted the words to be about ben.

we went to washington DC.

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

good times good times... that was the holocaust museum trip.

juicymango juicymangoOG 2003 ·

Fiona Apple - all of them
Third Eye Blind - ha - the first one
Tool - all of them

that's all i can think of at the moment

originalsnob originalsnobOG 2004 ·

Oh yeah Third Eye Blind def! Jumper_ a personal fav from their self titled album of '97. Sometimes this song just pops into my head sooo good!

jp jpOG 2003 ·

gotta love self titled 3eb.

originalsnob originalsnobOG 2004 ·

Collective Soul- COLLECTIVE SOUL
Bringing Down the Horse- The Wallflowers
Mary J- Share My World
Jewel- Pieces of You
Sarah McLachlan- Surfacing
Sheryl Crow - SHERYL CROW
Fiona Apple- Tidal

thewalkhome thewalkhomeOG 2003 ·

Weezer- PINKERTON.
Elvis Costello- My aim is true
Modest Mussorgsky- Pictures at an exhibition - Part 1
Elliott Smith- either/or
The Smiths- you pick it, anything you'd like
The Beatles- The White album
Bright Eyes- Lifted
The Clash- The Clash
The Get Up Kids- Something to write home about
Stevie Wonder- Songs in the key of life

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

I'll definitely cite Pinkerton as well. I used to play that album nonstop.

Bright Eyes is a more recent thing for me. I only like a couple songs off Lifted, but I'm Wide Awake It's Morning really got to me. Lovely album.

thewalkhome thewalkhomeOG 2003 ·

i dont think my list got enogh play. should i add social D? rancid? GNR appetite for destruction? I NEEEEDDD TOO BEEE LOOOVEDD!!!!

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

Guns and Roses, absolutely

socalgal socalgalOG 2003 ·

social d....mos def!

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

rancid, heck yeah , me and tim armstrong are boyz

A
alexOG 2001 ·

me and stretch armstrong are boyz

superhero superheroOG 2004 ·

haha lame

iwz iwz ·

Radiohead's OK Computer

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

The Bends got to me first. Ok Comp is totally amazing though.

thewalkhome thewalkhomeOG 2003 ·

nice choice. i do have fondness for pablo honey though.

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

I used to have that album. May have been one of the CD's Jacob destroyed when he was a baby.

g.f.s.rocks g.f.s.rocksOG 2001 ·

Great album... good choice

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

Live - Throwing Copper

A
alexOG 2001 ·

neil young's album crazy horse was pretty influential just because i remember that album being played a lot in my house when i was little. whenever i hear neil young, tom waits, r.e.m, bob dylan, and stevie ray vaughan, and a few other bands, it just takes me back to when i was a little kid.

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

Stevie Ray Vaughan was amazing.

A
alexOG 2001 ·

thank you, captain obvious!

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

Someone is very obnoxious tonight. What'd you find a pimple on your nose...

thefunkyfresh thefunkyfreshFounder ·

it's funny even when you guys agree, you argue

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

Ezabel would suck without the two of us.

forrestina forrestinaOG 2002 ·

I typed a big reply to this and it didn't post! I was reflecting on music from my childhood and I can remember the constant spinning of records at our house and both of my grandparents homes. In our house, it was opera, classic rock, motown, doo wop. At my paternal grandparents, it was the Italian singers: Frank Sinatra, Lou Monte, Perry Como, Connie Francis, Dean Martin, etc. At my maternal grandparents, we were exposed to country, big band, western swing, rockabilly. My maternal grandfather played accordian for a band in the south Jersey country circuit. It's hard for me to get anything done without music playing.

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

Off the top of my head...

Faith No More : The Real Thing
Smashing Pumpkins : Siamese Dream
Nirvana : Nevermind
Helmut : Betty
Ned's Atomic Dustbin : Are You Normal?
Sublime : 40oz to Freedom
"Singles" Movie Soundtrack
Notorious B.I.G. : Ready To Die
Dr. Dre : The Chronic
Beastie Boys : Ill Communication

jp jpOG 2003 ·

i love ill communication. almost as much as i love pauls boutique. that will always be my favorite from the b-boys...

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

Nine Inch Nails : Pretty Hate Machine
Metallica : Black Album
Brad : Shame

web-toedchloe web-toedchloeOG 2001 ·

Singles, man, that movie and soundtrack ruled me when I was like 15. And when I turned 23, I thought about Bridget Fonda's speech constantly:

I'm 23. Remember how old 23 seemed when you were a kid? I mean, I thought people would be traveling in airlocks and I would have 5 kids. Here I am, 23. Things are... things are basically the same. I think time is running out to do something bizarre. Sometime around 25, bizarre becomes immature.

"Breath" and "State of Love & Trust" are Pearl Jam's absolute best songs in my opinion.

hunkpapap hunkpapapOG 2003 ·

amen

fivezero fivezeroOG 2003 ·

awesome

juicymango juicymangoOG 2003 ·

oh wow, yeah, singles soundtrack.. i love that movie.. i have to watch it again and see if it's as awesome as it was when I was in high school

R
rocksupastarFounder ·


Face to Face : Self Titled album...
This album got me through my teenage years... Track 8 was probably on repeat during every hard time i had in my life after that.

A
alexOG 2001 ·

this album sucks! you suck! face to face sucks!!!!

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

Hahahahahaha....

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

hey, you like face to face? i have pretty much all of their albums, and i dont listen to them ever (i won them on 89.5) so if you want them, you can have em!

A
alexOG 2001 ·

i'll take them. i actually do like face to face.

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

oh i meant to reply to mike, but if you want them they're yours. message me your address.

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

no send them to me... alex only KINDA like face to face...

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

what will you give me for them?

B
brothermanOG 2004 ·

Hahaha... Funny how Alex would get them for free and Mike has to barter for them.

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

hahaha i was just thinking that if two people wanted them... i might be able to benefit some how. haha

no but really, if you guys want any ones specifically i have :
face to face live
how to ruin (the disk)
standards and practices
and ignorance is bliss.
i thought i had more....i should double check though.

flomojopoanode flomojopoanodeFounder ·

no wonder you never listen to them, you got all the crappy ones except for the LIVE album...

R
rocksupastarFounder ·

I WONT STEP ON YOU LIKE A LITTLE MIDGET!!!

um... i dont have any britney spears cd's sorryyyyyyy

punkprincess punkprincessOG 2001 ·

Fiona Apple "When the Pawn..." is one of the most influential of my life....Shes amazing.

another is Weezer "Blue" any song any time any place.

thatdarngirl thatdarngirlOG 2002 ·

Weezer "Blue" for me too.

I think Weezer might be one of the first bands I decided I liked on my own, not just because I had been listening to them since before I could remember (Beatles). As much as I love Pink, Blue is just...amazing. It can make me smile anytime.

A
alexOG 2001 ·

pennywise's album "straight ahead" was pretty influential to me. even though i don't listen to pennywise all that much anymore, i have to say that it was that album that got me into punk music.

also, the beastie boys albums "Licensed To Ill" and "ill Communication" had a lot of impact on me. i think because they are so diverse and original, it opened me up to a lot of other styles of music.

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