Albums that changed your life
 

Every once in a while, I'll hear an album that totally catches me off guard and influences my musical taste for years after.

Here are some of mine and why, what are yours?

Led Zeppelin - I
Somebody gave me a dubbed tape of this album in Jr. High. It was my introduction to classic rock/blues.

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
High School, bought it on a whim after reading some of their lyrics. I was hooked right away, shaped my tastes for a long time.

Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Another dub tape somebody gave me. My introduction to rap music...opened my mind and sent me on a long love affair with urban radio.

Pavement - Watery, Domestic
I bought this EP from a small hipster store in college because it was cheap and I liked the cover. My first indie album, and one of my faves to this day.

Cool World - The Soundtrack
My introduction to techno. Yeah, it sounds really dated now, but once upon a time it was exciting and new...still a "guilty pleasure" album

Honorable mentions: Portishead - Dummy, DJ Cam - Mad Blunted Jazz, Mr. Bungle - s/t, Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat, Negativland - Helter Stupid

Layla- Derek & the Dominoes; what rock SHOULD have been in the early '70's
Blood on the tracks- Bob Dylan; Commercial Dylan?
A Night at the Opera- Queen; brilliant, just brilliant

Led Zeppelin II - My first infusion of Classic Bluesrock. Later came the rest of the albums, but that's another story.
Jeff Buckley - Grace - The most beautiful album of all time
Oasis - What's The Story Morning Glory - It was the first album I ever bought. Rarely listens to it and don't really like it anymore, but it was my first...
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland - What can I say? God playing on an electric guitar. Wow. My biggest inspiration to pick up the guitar myself.
Tool - Lateralus - When I boght this album it was the first newly released album I had bought in 2 years. Now don't get me wrong I have a LOT of music, but in those years 1998-2000 everything that came up sounded like shit to me, so I only bought music that was pre-1975. Tool opened the whole metal scene to me. Plus it's a kickass album.

Queen-A Night at the Opera: First album I ever got

KoRn-Follow the Leader: One of my first two metal albums

Rob Zombie-Hellbilly Deluxe: The other of my first two metal albums

Nine Inch Nails-Pretty Hate Machine: Introduced me to Industrial music

Mystic Circle-Drachenblut: First Death Metal I listened to

In Flames-Clayman: First Black Metal band I listened to

Eminem-Thw Lim Shady LP: The first rap music I listened to because I actually liked it, not because it was "cool" to do it (Thankfully, I grew out of the fitting in phase fairly quickly)

Obituary "The End Complete"- First death metal CD bought. Began the long journey into darker metal.

Summoning "Stronghold"- Glorious.

An album that literally changed my life: I bought the Replacements' first album, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, when I was fifteen or so. (This was in 1987 or '88.) It was my first exposure to punk, which led me to a lot more punk, the politics of which led to an interest in politics in general; plus punk opened me up to a lot of other independent / underground / avant-garde music, not to mention literature and movies, etc. Best six bucks I ever spent. (P.S. If you've never heard the Replacements, check them out, especially their first six albums.)

"Pinkerton" by Weezer was the first CD I listened to that I still listen to today.

The first Ramones cd was my first "punk" cd. Public Enemy's "Fear of a Black Planet" was the first rap CD.

Rage Aginst the Machine - Self Titled

Beastie Boy - Check Your Head

U2 - Joshua Tree

Pink Floyd - The Wall.

Nine Inch Nails - The downward Spiral.

Tool - Aenima.

Nirvana - Nevermind.

And more recently, Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf.

:)

Zep III

dark side of the moon

rumours

too many more to mention

Led Zep - I - II - III
Doors - LA Woman
Floyd - Dark side of the moon - The wall
Elton John - Honky Chateau
Stones - Beggars Banquet
Queen - A night at the opera and A day at the races


Most of these albums were relesed years before I listened to them, but they were the one's that "awoke" my interest in music. Like flyman says, there are too many to mention, these are the ones that first entered my head.

Green Day...first album i ever bought and it was the first step i took away from my parents and toward being an individual
That's probably why i love the band
I went and seen them last year....sucky seats but the concert was still great

huh, this is tough, cuz there is so much that just made me STOP.

REM - Murmur
Replacements - Pleased to meet me
The Doors - best of (cuz i ain't THAT old, sorry it's a greatest hits)
jimi hendrix - are you experienced
wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot

fucked up list, eh? that's just the drunk beginning

In no particular order:

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Deep Purple - The Book of Taliesyn
Iron Butterfly - Metamorphosis
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Led Zeppelin - II
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Nine Inch Nails - And all that could've been live
Rush - Exit...Stage Left

The only one i can think of off the top of my head is Master of Puppets...thats the album that put the guitar in my hands.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (Best album of the 90's, fuck Nirvana)

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon

To a lesser extent RHCP - Californication

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon changes my life every time I listen to it. I didn't like The Wall so much though, except Comfortably Numb...

Coldplay's Parachutes came to me in the mail from my girlfriend at a time when we weren't getting along so well... in a small way, it helped me fall in love with her again.

And that sounded sappy as hell. Ah well, it's the truth. :)

In no particular order:

Signals- Rush

Don't Tell a Soul- Replacements

Low End Theory- Tribe Called Quest

Big as Life- Hamell on Trial

Life's Rich Pagent- REM

Poses- Rufus Wainright

Wow! Good choices. LAOALS and Blood on the tracks were my two top choices, along with Automatic for the People by REM. These three albums have influenced me so much. Layla is what I base my musical roots in. When I learned how to play guitar, my first thing I wanted to do was to learn every single song off that album. Blood on the Tracks (along with Nashville Skyline) really got the acoustics out of me. Automatic for the people is just the most sincere album I think. It brings tears to my eyes how well written that album was.

I also really love Tony Rice's Manzanita. Perhaps the greatest display of bluegrass talent ever.

Counting Crows - August and Everything After
NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
REM - Automatic for the People
Spin Doctors - Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause was my first CD. I can't believe I didn't wear that disc out!

Deep Purple- The Battle Rages On <---was my first cd
Nirvana- Nevermind
Led Zeppelin- I
Led Zeppelin- II
Led Zeppelin- III

their's so meny Hendrix the most

Any Metallica album

You might want to give a listen to the 3 discs of the "Old & in the way" series; it was a live performance recorded one weekend in 1973 at the Boarding House in S.F. The band is David Grisman, Peter Rowan, John Kahn, Vassar Clemins and Jerry Garcia (yes, THAT Jerry) playing live bluegrass; EVERYONE I've ever turned onto this series LOVES it; great energy, good music; a real "live" feeling- kinda warts and all.

Albums that changed my life...lets see.


Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar.
Introduced me to metal and industrial music.(Admittedly this album is not strictly either of those). It opened up the world of darker music for me. It also showed me that appearances can be deceptive: They may dress up like a bunch of idiots, but DAMN if they don't make good music.

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile.
Wow! An absolutely awe-inspiring double cd album. To me, this was the album that brought nine inch nails to a whole new level of artistic achievement, stretching the industrial genre to whole new heights. Many people dislike nine inch nails, judging them purely on the harsh tones of "the downward spiral". They should give this album a listen, and see if they form a different opinion of Trent Reznor.

Chemical Brothers - Surrender.
My first electronica album. Proved to me that all electronic music is not the "Ummph..Ummph...Ummph...Ummph" of dance music. A brilliant album, that introduced me to electronica and "IDM".

Aphex Twin - I Care Because You Do.
Aphex Twin is now one of my favourite modern musicians. This album is amazing, especially Icct Hedral, almost unbearably tense, wonderful stuff. Oh and it contains "that" track: Ventolin. Beautiful in its own special way ;)

Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports.
This is an absolutely amazing album. It introduced me to ambient music, and the idea that music can be listened to on an unconscious level. Played in the background, gently colouring the atmosphere. It also introduced me to the idea of "systems music". The idea that music doesn't have to be meticulously "composed", yet can be created by systems of "rules", which led to the idea of "generative music"

what really did it for me was pink floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"

Time change my life!

Frank Zappa ...The Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka
Slayer...Seasons in the Abyss

I've listened to these albums literally hundreds of times, Zappa for the technicality and originality, and Slayer for its sheer brutality.

Favorite Zappa album is and always will be; "Hot RATS"

what, no Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Who, Spirit, Traffic, Chicago (first two albums)?
I guess I qualify as the old guy here

I kinda doubt that; I'm 56, I've been seriously collecting music for roughly 40 years; I just developed a dislike for "mass music" at an early age; if an album didn't meet my definition of "serious", I didn't bother with it. That's not to say that the preferences I posted earlier are the only albums I like; the three that I mentioned just grabbed me right from the first note; they still get a lot of play on my equipment, and they haven't aged.

Great subject!

Green Day - 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
James - James
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
The Beautiful South - Welcome to the Beautiful South
Spiritualized - Pure Phase
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
A.F.I. - Sing the Sorrow

Please don't crucify me for leaving out all the obvious choices. I'm post-modernist for crying out loud!

SNARF \m/

Great thread, WildZero!

loganmule, I'm there for you!

In (my) chronological order:
Meet The Beatles
Sgt Pepper's...
Woodstock (The Real One!!)
Led Zeppelin I
Low Spark...
Runt/Ballad
Boy/War/Joshua Tree

Thanks for jogging the "old guy" memories, WZ.

At the Drive-In - Relationship of command

In my opinion the greatest album ever recorded. It totally changed the way I look at music and broadened the range of music I listen to. These guys would have changed music had they not prematurely broken up.

jeezus... where does a list like this stop?
well, back in my formative years:
Bad Brains - Bad Brains
Negativeland - Helter Stupid (and U2)
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Ice-T - Power
NWA - NWA and the Posse
Crass - The Feeding of the 5000
Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park
Joy Division - Closer
The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

More recently...
Patty Griffin - Living with Ghosts
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein

Beatles - Sgt. Pepper
Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow
CSNY - Deja Vu
Derek & The Dominos - Layla

richeee and warrrreagl named some good ones...I have to add Hendrix's Are You Experienced LP, as it coincided with an unusually good sexual encounter (and it's also really good)

I forgot about Alan Parsons Project- I Robot- awesome album!

mos def and talib kweli are blackstar

up to that point, i was listening to pretty much pop rap or whatever got spins on the radio. this cd was the gateway to other hip hop acts like blackalicious, the roots, j-live, etc.

Lostprophets - Thefakesoundofprogress.... became one of my favorite albums, still is, upon 2 seconds (literally) of listening.

The Apex Theory - Topsy-Turvy.... just the most inventive, amazing thing that I had EVER heard to that date... probably still is.

Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute... I just LOVED the songs on this CD, and I actually spent a day interpreting the meanings of the songs.... yes, this is true.

Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence.... This CD is just SO powerful... the messages are really blunt, and kind of frightening when you think of it.

Townes Van Zandt - The Late, Great Townes Van Zandt.... This man is the greatest songwriter who ever lived.... just listen to him.

Best of Broadside Box Set - Various Artists.... in a word... INCREDIBLE. You have to hear some of this stuff to believe it... greatest social commentary there is

Metallica - Master of Puppets.... I haven't heard a better metal album... ever.

Bob Marley - Legend.... This is the most widely accepted CD ever. The songs from it can be played on ANY music radio station and be accepted... think about it, it's true.

And lastly...

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables... first CD I ever owned, still one of my favorites. Got me into music BIG... and think of how different my musical taste would be if I bought the OTHER CD I wanted that day... sadly, because I hadn't made my mind up about what I really liked yet, it would have been The Village People - Ready for the 80's. EEK.

NIN - The Downward Spiral
TMBG - Flood ... got this for free, and i listen to it all the time, just now it is on my iPod. I still go see TMBG when they come to Austin each year.
Paul Okenfold - Tranceport ... the first techno cd i ever bought and probably still the best although Juno Reactor Bible of Dreams comes in a close second.
Hellsing OST - RUINS ... My first foray into Japanese music and it is an anime soundtrack, almost all the tracks are in English so that is a plus

red hot chili peppers - bssm
jane's addiction ritual de lo habitual
The doors - s/t
the clash - london calling
tool - aenima
dead poetic - four wall blackmail
buckethead - colma
pink floyde - darkside of the moon
rancid - lets go

The Beatles: sgt peppers lonely hearts club band

Wow, so many for so many reasons...top 3 though that impacted me were
Motley Crue-- Shout at the Devil
Metallica--Ride the Lightning
AC/DC-- Back in Black

YES! Ha the first and only to mention these albums. They're mine! You can't have em!

Made me wanna start writtin beleeeah dat!
http://www.lyricscafe.com/w/wu_tang_...er_wu_tang.jpg
http://64.95.118.51/images/opti/c7/c...resized200.jpg

Asta!!

And in my young age.....a rock group that really made me appreciate rock had to be this band and this CD right here. First time I heard Jeremy my jaw dropped at how amazing it was. Before that I only really ever heard the older stuff my parents used to play for me. Like Queen and Bowie...and Chicago or Super Tramp....among others.
http://www.portalmix.com/discos90/img/ten.jpg

Asta!!

evanescence - fallen
this album changed my life because it showed me a different side of music and feelings. I never listened to too many women singers before Amy Lee but now im open to a lot more music...and i love her depressed views about life. I can relate it helps the days go by sometimes

Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory

Although I have a couple, the most memorable for changing the way I view a great deal are Metallica - Black album and Nirvana - In Utero.
I could write a page about this stuff but I will keep it simple - they just worked for me. The music was engrossing and opened me up to earlier music/albums they put together. Nirvana led me to the whole Seattle sound and bands along those roots. I still enjoy sitting back, as I am doing at the moment, going through video clips from these original albums.

Isis - Oceanic
Cult of Luna - Salvation
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
Agalloch - The Mantle
Protest the Hero - Kezia
Russian Circles - Enter

I do not attend church but I am a spiritual person. These are some of the albums that, to me, are far more than just music. Whether it's the furious, barely contained energy of Kezia or the mournful chords of The Mantle, these are some of the albums that always send shivers down my spine and remind me what it is to be human - they are some of my only posessions that I truly value.

It's been a real long time since I've even cared about such things......but the one that probably mattered most was Roxy Music "For Your Pleasure"
http://www.superseventies.com/sproxymusic2.html

The old reviews are pretty funny...dudes didn't "get it"....but I did. :cool:

OMG! :eek: One reveiwer says "The Art Deco of rock" too cool! :cool: :cool:

My first cassette was that of Anton Dvorak, the New Wold Symphony and Carinvle Overature. Blew my mind. I've not been the same since.

Adding on to my last post...


Jay-Z - The Black Album
Deftones - Around the Fur
The Clash - London Calling
The Who - Tommy

Led Zeppelin IV
Santana - Abraxas
Beatles - Abbey Road
Allman Brothers - Eat a Peach
Chicago - VI
Free - Fire and Rain
JoJo Gunne -Run Run run
Crosby Stills and Nash - DejaVu
The Who - Live At Leeds
and of course..................Woodstock

In some sort of chronological order of my discovering them:

- Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction - This came out when I was in 7th grade, and up to that point, I was your typical 80's pop fan. Suddenly here was something that was dark, ugly, and extremely tantalizing for a 13 year old boy.

- Metallica - And Justice For All - The GNR lead me to this, opening up my first peek into metal and music that wasn't on the radio

- Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason - A weird album to get into the band with, but PF became my favorite band of all time. I went from this to The Wall, then DSOTM, and then the rest. I would buy used vinyl for $2 an album and dub them to tapes for my walkman.

- Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste - Heard it at a party in 10th grade. I had never heard anything so fast, so heavy.

- Nirvana - Nevermind - It was like someone turned on a light bulb in the darkness that was early 90's dance pop. Music mattered again.

- Bad Examples - Cheap Beer Night - My first taste of a "local" music scene when I moved to Chicago for college.

- Ralph Covert - Eat at Godot's - Bad Examples singer/songwriter's first solo effort. One of those albums that you swear EVERY song was written about you and you alone.

- Beastie Boys - Check Your Head - Completely redefined what hip hop could be.

I'll think of more

Oh, I love threads like this!
chronologically, as much as I can tell....

My Mom and Dad's albums...early stuff:
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Let It Be and Abbey Road
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
McCartney - Paul McCartney
The Who - Tommy Movie Soundtrack
South Pacific - Broadway version
Jesus Christ Superstar - Movie soundtrack


Then when I started buying my own stuff...
Cabaret - Movie Soundtrack
Kiss - Destroyer
Queen - Night at the Opera
Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Saturday Night Fever - Movie Soundtrack - ya can't deny I loved it
Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Billy Joel - 52nd Street
The Police - Regatta de Blanc
The Clash - London Calling
The B-52s - self-titled
Talking Heads - Remain in Light

After that point the only music I'd consider life-changing that I ever found would be Radiohead...The Bends absolutely changed my life...maybe The Shins, Dave Matthews Band...

o my.
there are many.
another day, the list would be different too.

in no particular order:

captain beefheart: trout mask replica
mothers of invention: freak out, we're only in it for the money
john coltrane: a love supreme, impressions (india in particular)
art ensemble of chicago: nice guys
eric dolphy: out to lunch
stockhausen: klavierstucke 1-11
john cage: sonatas for prepared piano, imaginary landscape 4 (for 12 shortwave radios)
eliane radigue: adnos
john carter: nightfire, castles of ghana, ghosts
erik satie: vexations
chris watson: weather report
genesis: the lamb lies down on broadway
fripp and eno: evening star
my bloody valentine: loveless
fela anikulapo kuti: kalakuta show, zombie, black president, original sufferhead
sun ra: space is the place, concert for the comet kahotek, cosmis tones for mental therapy, out there a minute
george russell: the african game

i forgot about roxy music--they were a really big deal to me when i was in high school. just the idea that another way of doing things was possible, with that level of glam degeneracy--turned a new hampshire boy's head all around.

actually, there's tons of stuff.
i have had my brain rearranged by a number of performances as well, and these not necessarily by folk who are particularly well-known--just that particular night in my particular state of mind etc...

music will fuck you up.
it's lovely that way.

I had an experience like that once...a local band that opened up for the Revolting Cocks. Bad Afro Experience, they were called. Their music was eclectic and uncategorical - and they just kind of disappeared.

:love:





I forgot to mention a very important album that rocked my world. I can't believe I didn't list it, esp. since I mentioned it on another thread just the other day...

My sister nonchalantly handed me a tape one day...

Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy

...and it tapped into some long dormant gooey brain stuff.

first album I ever bought with my paper route money. changed my life immeasurably.

yup, i'm an old fuck........:lol:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/08...g?t=1168558250

It All Started with Nivrana - Bleach, they were the first band to get me INTO music.

When Kurt died I was at a bit of a loss and it was a difficult time in my life. He was no longer a hero cuz he gave up. I couldn't listen to Nirvana...

U2 - Zooropa and Led Zepplin - Physical Graffiti were introduced into my life. I think these albums saved my life. I still remember poping in Zooropa everytime I was stressed. "Down by the Seaside" always made me think of better times to come.

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dreams - This album got me laid. Especially disk2. I have a possitive anchor to almost every song :D

Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole - brought new energy into my life. They are one of the few bands I still listen too on an almost daily basis.

Amon Tobin - Permutation - I was introduced to his music by a friend and his sexy, jazzy beats have been a muse for me ever since. Though my love of Amon Tobin I found the Thievery Corporation

I think that's about it...I listen to allot of music but now days I download songs rather then whole albums. Music continues to play a major role in my life and gives me spirit to move forward.

Disc 2? Are you sure you don't mean "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"?

Beatles - Abbey Road (named our dog Abbey haha)
Athenaeum - Radiance (Seriously good songwritting)
Collective Soul - Collective Soul (this was my highschool soundtrack)
Van Halen - Balance (the best Van Haggar album in my opinion. Inspired me to play guitar)
Shiina Ringo - Muzai Moratorium (my god, this girl can sure arrange music. this completely opened me up to a new musical culture)

Hmm...I may just be a young'un but...Tommy - The Who is high up my list as are both Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, on a different note, I love anything by the Misfits, American Psycho was and still is probably my favorite album ever, and almost any punk music that isn't like...FallOut boy and crap like that..

Gordon - Barenaked Ladies. First real album I ever owned, and it was because my father had two copies. I used to listen to it when I went to sleep.

The Strokes: Room On Fire. Turned me onto rock and roll and then indie which I am constantly emersed i now.

Gosh, can't believe I hadn't answered this one yet.

First, Judas Priest, Screaming for Vengence. Got from my brother, it was my epiphany, for the love of metal.
Second, Ramones, Mania. This is a compilation, but made me love, love punk music.
Third, RATM, self titled. Man this was great.
Forth, Stone Temple Pilots, Core. I still listen to the whole thing, at least once a month.
Fifth, Public Enemy, It takes a nation. This was a killer album.

And many many more, these are off the top of my head. Of course there's some Led Zep, and Pink Floyd in there too, in the top 10.

london calling - the clash
 

i was a who freak in high school. a total pete townsend disciple. i would buy & read anything with his name on it.

rolling stone had an interview with him in ~1979 & asked him what his favorite band was. he said the clash. i bought london calling, and that album pulled me from a life of listening to "classic rock" forever into a world where i am constantly looking for new stuff.

i have it mounted next to the elvis presley cover that it ripped off.......

it changed my ears.

Damien Rice - O

What really bothers me about that isn't the fact that you said something negitive about Fallout Boy but rather that you dislike them because of something they have never claimed to be. I don't like them because of their music, not because they aren't 1970's english punk, or because they aren't some 1970's, late 1980's, early 1990's californian revival. If anything those bands stole punk and bands like Fallout Boy brought it to another generation. It's people that harp on "pussy" bands like green day and blink 182 for writing pop hooks when realy all they wrote were three chord progressions set to fast tempo drumming. Isn't that The Clash? Isn't that The Ramones? I don't even like "punk" in general, although there are great bands. But until someone can justify claiming a certain type of music is bad for a reason other then "they suck because they didn't start it" I'll be pissed of. It's unfair to blame a band for not being the same as your favorite band, because if they were youwould still hate them for "copying" your favorite band. You're just hating for the sake of hating.

Again, not a fan of fallout boy, that just really makes me angry. It's ignorant.

Oh, I want to get in this too, FallOut Boy sucks because they make horrible music and their singer is god awful. They are no where near what punk rock is/was/will ever be, and I agree, they never claimed to be. But then again, so many "punk" kids claim they are punk, so it goes both ways.

As for my picks, I will only list four (right now), I know they have been listed on here before but they have had a huge impact on me:

Nirvana - Nevermind - first Nirvana CD I ever listened to, I was young and it opened my eyes to Nirvana and I have never looked back.

Rage Against the Machine - Self Titled - This CD had so much energy and anger in it, I love it!

Led Zeppelin - Untitled (aka IV) - This album makes me happy in so many ways. It is the one that got me interested in Classic Rock and I am thankful everyday for that.

and more recently

Wolfmother - Self Titled - This is a complete throwback to Classic Rock. It never fails to help cheer me up if I've had a long crappy day. The album feels very epic and helps my imagination run away with itself.

So many life changing events...

Professor Longhair - Rock-N-Roll Gumbo
Marshall Tucker Band - Together Forever
Todd Rundgren - Somthing/Anything?
Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park
Charlie Parker - Talkin' Bird
Elton John - Caribou
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Jean Luc Ponty - Individual Choice

This is an easy one for me. It's The White Room by The KLF. Not only was this the first CD I ever owned, it also impacted (albeit somewhat indirectly) my life with regard to literature, sci-fi and metaphysics. And it's a pretty cool CD, as well.

I was a big fan of The KLF in when they released The White Room in 1991. About six years ago I got curious about what they had been up to, so I began searching for information on the internet. It turned out that The White Room contains many themes from a set of books called The Illuminatus! Trilogy. So, of course, I went out and bought The Illuminatus! Trilogy. It's one of the most fascinating and entertaining books I've ever read fnord.

A tape of RATM someone gave me (with the tibetan monk burning).
The Roots - Things Fall Apart ...was the first REAL Hip-Hop album I was given (I think most rap isn't Hip Hop), and since I've been finding out about similar music that I really like.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon. Oh man. I can't describe it in words. It's truly a life-changing experience.
And a DVD that I watched and listened to while staying at my friends apt for what was an unforgettable week: Stevie Ray Vaughan - Austin City Limits. Beautiful, amazing music.

G&R~ Appetite for Destruction
I remember watching Welcome to the Jungle for the first time on MTV at my buddies house. I went out and bought the tape, and day after day listen to it over and over.

Garth Brooks~ Ropin the Wind
I liked his first one too, but Roping the Wind. Was the first country album that I ever bought.

George Micheal's~ Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
Don't Laugh he was the shit back then. I loved that CD and listen to it all the time.

Queensryche~ operation mindcrime
At first I really didn't care what they were singing about. I just liked it. Later I got the whole message/story

Morphine~ Cure for Pain
All I could think was wow! I loved it, played it over and over. Something that I never heard before

The first album that even made me aware of the music sceene was Pearl Jam's Animal. This was when it was on cassette.

My first CD purchased though was The Offspring's - Smash.

The song about road rage made me thing that they were super hard at the time.

My first rap album that got me hooked was Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001 that my cousin gave me as a gift. Before that it was all singles off of the radio or ftp sites.

My brother got Pearl Jam's debut Ten when I was little. I have grown up listening to that CD at different phases in my life and it has simply gotten better. I can honestly say that is the finest album I have ever listened to.

Les Miserables......................Original London Cast

Pronouced.............................Lynyrd Skynyrd

IV...........................................Led Zeppelin

Marauder................................Blackfoot

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.....Elton John

Rising......................................Rainbow

Dalbello - "She"

The biggest...Metallica - Master of Puppets. Now, I got that long after it was released, but before I listened to it I was listening to mostly mainstream stuff (Which, in the nineties, meant NSync and Backstreet Boys mostly.) So I thought this would have been completely against my style. I was so wrong. That album changed me practically over night.

Another big one is In Your Honor by the Foo Fighters. That one got me in the heart. I find it is the one album I can listen to when I have writers block, and come out with a rejuvenated flow of ingenuity.

Honorable mentions go to The Battle for Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine and Lateralus by Tool.

Husker Du : Zen Arcade

There has been a few, but here are the most life changing for me:

The Stranger- Billy Joel
Ten - Pearl Jam
Apple - Mother Love Bone
Mama Said- Lenny Kravitz
The Mollusk- Ween
Shooting Rubber Bands at the Stars- Edie Brickell & te new Bohemians

Led Zeppelin IV

Metallica - ...And Justice For All

Weezer - Blue Album (Deluxe Edition)

Nirvana - Nevermind

Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent

Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar

Odd answer I know, but it just changed my life somehow. I don't even know how, but I know I wouldn't be the same person without having heard that album way back in the day.

Nirvana - Nevermind - Was there anybody who grew up in the 90's that didn't own this album? This is the album that got me into music in general. It was the first album I owned, along with Offspring - Smash, Soundgarden - Superunknown, and Silverchair - Frogstomp.

Metallica - ...And Justice For All - This album set into motion the events that define who I am today. I had heard Enter Sandman and the Black Album before I heard this album, and I just wasn't really interested in Metallica. After I heard "One", though, I had to have this album, and then subsequently bought every album released before it. This album made me start playing guitar, and start growing my hair long. When I moved out of state (I was 13 years old), I didn't have any friends and only had my guitar and Metallica albums. They kind of shaped my personality and outlook on life in general. When I was a little older, I joined a band and experienced a lot of... experiences. I give this album credit for almost everything that happened to me after I got it.

Primus - Frizzle Fry - For a period of time after Metallica, I was very close-minded when it came to listening to music. I only listened to metal, anything that wasn't metal was pussy shit (pardon my language but I had to accentuate the immaturity of that statement). My older brother introduced me to this album and it just blew me away. It showed me that music can be awesome, and not be metal. Because of that, I started giving other bands a chance, and it just kind of opened up a whole new world of music to me. A musical epiphany if you will. Even after Primus' magic has dwindled, Les Claypool still manages to churn out the same musical genius on his solo albums that made Primus special.

In Flames - Colony - This isn't my favorite In Flames album, but this is the first In Flames album I ever heard, and it reassured me that metal is, in fact, NOT dead, or dying for that matter. It was during a sad period in metal: Metallica cut off all of their hair, and started releasing rehashes of the same music over, and over, and over. (I'm sorry, but Load and Reload are basically remakes of the black album). Megadeth started getting really pretentious and silly (Risk, anyone?) Pantera was on a long break, and their last album was just not that great (Reinventing the Steel). Sepultura turned into a nu-metal Korn-ripoff band. I was convinced that metal was in its final death throes, and then In Flames came riding in, on their shimmering steed, and pulled me from the wasteland of mainstream metal. Through In Flames, I found out about many other Swedish metal bands that were also excellent, i.e. Soilwork, Arch Enemy, and Dark Tranquillity. Then, that branched out to other Scandinavian metal bands, i.e. Children of Bodom, Amorphis, Ensiferum, Kalmah, the list goes on and on. In Flames showed me that metal will never be dead.

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Beatles - pick one, but in particular Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road
Doors - All of them
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon, I don't know how many copies of that record I wore out in various formats before the advent of CD's
Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
John Coltrane -just about any of them

Growing up, it was country music that my parents listened to. I started with the outlaws, Waylon & Willie and Johnny Cash. Then I moved into the KISS stage back in the early 70's. But all of that ended with an album many have already referenced:

Darkside of the Moon

Two things got me: the tom-toms on the Time intro, and Brain Damage/Eclipse. The beauty of the lyrics and the passion of the music have melded into a seamless thing of joy for me.

That chance listening has led to a 30 plus year infatuation with Pink Floyd, as well as a rather large (and growing) collectible collection. Have seen the Floyd, and have seen the solo acts. My life is complete.

Yes, nobody can never emphasize Dark Side of the Moon enough. It can change anyone's life, and not for the worst. I still believe that album has been unequaled in quality.

The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon.

Zeppelin blues rock in the first albums.

Quadrophenia

Vladimir Horowitz playing Beethoven sonatas

Kind of Blue

Nevermind comes close

Plenty of albums have great material, great singular songs, but the above are the ALBUMS that did it for me. There is a rare art to putting it all together.

Nirvana "Nevermind"
and
Oasis "(What's the story) Morning Glory

I am still a tyke when it comes to music, but I have no qualms in stating the first great album I experienced was the Gorillaz Demon Days, and then a subsequent introduction to Daft Punk's Discovery. There are very few album's nowadays that flow consistently and have every song an integral part of the whole. If one song is omitted, then the entire album is lost. Both albums here seek to convoy a story, a symphony if you will, and the progression through each song plays its part perfectly in creating a most memorable experience in music. And to think, I experienced both life-changing albums within a year, with the last being only four months ago.

(Note: I tend to be slow in picking up albums, hence the apparently-skewed time-frame between both albums. Heh. Albums released 2005 and 2001 respectively.)

Three words:

Daft Punk: Homework

Stereo Modus - Ex Tempore
Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
The Clash - London Calling
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
VNV Nation - Praise The Fallen
AFI - Art of Drowning
Christian Death - Only Theatre of Pain
h2o - FTTW
Aphex Twin - Richard D. James
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Wu-Tang - Forever
Radiohead - Kid A
Jeremy Enigk - World Waits

Wow! So Primus had the exact same effect on me, except I was into rap for the most part. My cousin turned me on to Primus and Mr. Bungle and today I still think they are my favorite bands of all times... They didn't fit a genre, cookie cutter mold. They were about creativity... :thumbsup:

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz at Oberlin
Fugazi - Red Medicine
Mozart's Requiem
Refused - Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent
Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressible

Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity
Matisyahu - Not really an album, per se, but the first time I came across his music
The Doors - Best of The Doors
Green Day - 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours

Stereo Modus - Ex Tempore
Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
The Clash - London Calling
Buckethead - Colma
Pink FLoyd - Darkside of The Moon
Radiohead - Kid A
AFI - Art of Drowning
VNV Nation - Future Perfect
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Jeremy Engik - World Waits

Peter Gabriel's "Us" opened up a whole new world for me, lyrically and musically.

Also:

Crowded House - "Woodface"

XTC - "Nonesuch"

BT - "Movement in Still Life"

Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti - My dad has been playing this since I can remember. When I got old enough to actually develop musical interests he'd play it for me, constantly having to fast forward over the naughty bits. I think this was the start of my dad's huge musical influence on me. Plus I think if you hear Zappa from birth it's got to have some kind of impact on your subconcious.

Peter Gabriel - Secret World Live - More the video that came with it than the album itself. This is another thing about my dad. He'd put this on and blast it, singing along and everything.

Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines - I had always liked them, but I really grabbed onto them in junior high, when life was seriously sucking. Now they're my favourite band... hearing their music is like (don't laugh) coming home, in a way. I know it all inside and out, it's a part of my life now.

Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill - Lent to me by the guy I was secretly in love with through high school, it opened up this whole new window to all kind of metal. Most of which he showed me. I remember hearing Floods for the first time with him. Now we've been dating for almost two years... Now when I hear Floods it's like hearing the start of everything again.

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Nirvana Nevermind and Metallica's The Black Album were very influential in influencing my musical tastes. As a freshman entering college I was really only influenced by Rap and R&B. That was all my friends listened too and all I listened too. I grew up in a part of town (the bad side of the railroad tracks) where I didn't have many white friends until high school and even then I still hung with a lot of the people I grew up with.

Once I got to college I was paired with a hick from down south that listened to mostly southern rock and country, but it was also the same year that Nirvana and Metallica released two very influential albums for me. He had purchased both but didn't really like them much so he didn't notice that I constantly borrowed them to listen to while I walked to class. That opened me up to TONS of other music.

That eventually lead to my discovery of Pink Floyd's DSOTM which is my favorite album ever and because I've listened to it soooo many times it's been the soundtrack to many good memories for me. Now I can just put that album on and it transports me to a very calming and almost transcendental place. It's helped me through a lot of tough times.

Even typing this about how much the album means to me makes me feel good.

RHCP - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Weezer - Blue Album and Pinkerton

Muse - Absolution - This album completely caught me off guard. There's something about their music that makes me love them so much. I can't explain it. Yeah, I know they supposedly sound like Radiohead, but I don't care. I like them better.