15 Albums

**MeSue** · 2009-03-01, 14:00

This is going around the social networks, and I thought it would be fun to do here. Links not required--I just thought it would add to the fun.

15 Albums

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.

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

**bhr1439** · 2009-03-01, 15:08

In no particular order here's what comes to mind, sometimes for the whole album, sometimes just for a single song. These are not necessarily the 15 most significant, but the 15 that came to mind with 15 minutes of effort and quickly twirling the thumbwheel on my SB Controller.

1. The Beatles - LOVE
2. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
3. The Who - Tommy
4. Cheech and Chong - Los Cuchinos ("Doctor -- he's got Ft. Knox up his nose!")
5. Steely Dan - A Decade of Steely Dan (greatest hits shouldn't count, but this one made me sit up and notice what a body of work they'd accomplished)
6. Soundtrack (London Cast Recording) - Jesus Christ Superstar
7. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
8. Jackson Browne - The Next Voice You Hear (again, greatest hits shouldn't count, but this woke me up to great stuff beyond the radio hits, e.g., "Shape of a Heart" and "Lives in the Balance")
9. Chicago - Chicago II
10. Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band - Live Bullet
11. Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream and Other Delights (hey, I was 10 years old at the time, OK?)
12. James Taylor - Gorilla
13. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
14. John Mellencamp - Scarecrow
15. Jeff Buckley - Grace (thanks to MTV's many playings of "Hallelujah" over news footage of 9/11 destruction in NYC)

--Steve

**Mike Meyer** · 2009-03-01, 16:08

In no special order....

1. Guns 'N roses - Appetite For Destruction
2. Def Leppard - Hysteria
3. Michael Jackson - Thriller
4. George Michael - Faith
5. Wham! - Make It Big
6. Little River Band - No Reins
7. Pink Floyd - The Wall
8. Kamelot - The Black Halo
9. Foreigner - 4
10. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
11. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
12. Queensryche - Empire
13. Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood
14. Toto - IV
15. REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity

**Kyle** · 2009-03-01, 18:33

In no particular order:

1. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek and the Dominos
2. Tapestry - Carole King
3. Aqualung - Jethro Tull
4, Abbey Road - The Beatles
5. Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
6. Couldn't Stand the Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan
7. Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago
8. Live at the Fillmore East - The Allman Brothers
9. Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan
10. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
11. Leon Russell & the Shelter People - Leon Russell
12. Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
13. 4-Way Street - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
14. Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
15. Dire Straits - Dire Straits

**Dogberry2** · 2009-03-01, 19:07

Man, it's tough to pick "the" 15 in just 15 minutes. But for what it's worth, these are the ones I came up with, that really were watershed albums in my life and really affected my musical explorations and listening habits, beginning in early childhood. If I took longer to ponder over the list, I might waffle and change one or two, but really each of these put me on a musical track that affected me deeply and brought me many and vast delights.

Let's Go - The Ventures
Whipped Cream & Other Delights - Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
Jesus Christ Superstar - Andrew Lloyd Weber & Tim Rice
M.F. Horn - Maynard Ferguson
The Swing Era - Time Life Recordings
Rhapsody In Blue (The 1925 Piano Roll) - George Gershwin
The Beatles (White Album) - The Beatles
Cosmo's Factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Mystery To Me - Fleetwood Mac
CSN - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Soul To Soul - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Guitars And Other Cathedrals - Adrian Legg
Attainable Love - Christine Lavin
The Gershwin Songbook - Oscar Peterson
Prokofiev Piano Concerto #3 - Ashkenazy (soloist)

**bklaas** · 2009-03-01, 19:33

Who doesn't love lists...

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Cat Power - You Are Free
David Byrne and Brian Eno - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Devo - Duty Now For The Future
Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
Massive Attack - Protection
Nirvana - Nevermind
Everclear - Learning How To Smile
Peter Gabriel - Security
P.M. Dawn - Of The Heart, Of The Soul, And Of The Cross
PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Portishead - Dummy
Pixies - Doolittle
R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
Ween - Chocolate and Cheese

**Philip Meyer** · 2009-03-01, 16:04

I tried to put these in the order in which I discovered them, but I can't remember, so there's no particular order! Typically, these albums are the first ones that I recall hearing from the bands, and thus got me hooked. They are not necessarily my favourite by the band:

1. Led Zeppelin - IV
2. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
3. Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
4. Mike Oldfield - Five Miles Out
5. Portishead - Dummy
6. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
7. Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways
8. King Crimson - Red
9. Groundhogs - Thanks Christ For The Bomb
10. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
11. Global Communication - 76:14
12. Paul Weller - Wild Wood
13. Radiohead - The Bends
14. AirSculpture - Impossible Geometries
15. Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain

I'm sure if I thought longer than 15mins, I'd recall a whole bunch of other albums that influenced my subsequent purchases over the years. Seems that most of my choices are old (but I do listen to a lot of modern music too); does this indicate that albums from this decade are not as influential as the golden ages of invention?

**iPhone** · 2009-03-02, 09:14

Hey Sue, what happened to Collective Soul?

Anyway, I have two lists. One for Rock and one for Jazz.

Rock Albums:

Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
The Beatles - Blue Album 1976-1970
Kansas - Point of No Return
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Yes - Fragile
Pink Floyd - Wish Your Were Here
The Eagles - Hotel California
Paul McCartney & Wings - Wings Over America
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!
Boston - Boston
Eric Clapton - Slowhand
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Collective Soul - Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid
Van Halen - Van Halen
Keb' Mo' - Just Like You
LeRoux - Louisiana's Le Roux

Jazz Albums:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Coltrane - Blue Train
Domnerus Group - Jazz at the Pawnshop
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Steve Lacy - Scratching the Seventies/Dreams
Sam Rivers - Waves
Return to Forever - Light as a Feather
Stan Getz - Cafe Montmartre
George Benson - Breezin'
Herbie Hancock - Mr Hands
Al Di Meola - Land of the Midnight Sun
Flim & the BB's - Tricycle
Julian Snow Trio - JST

**MeSue** · 2009-03-02, 10:13

Originally Posted by iPhone

Hey Sue, what happened to Collective Soul?

Well, I was going for the ones I look back on and can associate with certain times in my life. Since I only discovered Collective Soul in the past 4 months, they don't (yet) have that quality. Also because I got all their albums around the same time, they all blend together and I would have a hard time picking just one album to make the list. I did fret over excluding them, though! (And many others... picking just 15 is hard!)

**Blisteringblue** · 2009-03-02, 10:49

Now this is a post that makes you think. Mine again in no particular order but isn't it funny that most are from your mid to late teens :-) :

Counting Crows - August and Everything After
Howard Jones - Humans Lib
The Smiths - Hatfull of Hollow
Simple Minds - Once Upon a Time
Pet Shop Boys - Please
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Peter Gabriel - So
Queen - Jazz
David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees
New Order - Substance
Talk Talk - Colour of Spring
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Duran Duran - Rio
Tears For Fears - The Hurting
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman

I'm so 80's ......... LOL

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