The Albums That Impacted My Life…Until Now
A long and enormously entertaining conversation with friends recently about Music has lead me to reflect on which record albums have most impacted me in my life up to this moment. I use the term “impacted” here defined as those musical works which still today deeply move me emotionally, those which I still continuously search for within my collection, bring up to remember in conversation & regularly continue to listen to during “my quiet moments” or with the company of friends.
There are hundreds of well elaborated & published lists of the type, “The Records That Changed My Life” all over the Web, however it will not be this case here exactly or the main purpose of this post to illustrate strictly “life changing” aspects essentially speaking.
Obviously ones biological age plays an important & perhaps crucial role in the manner one selects & makes up such “lists”, being a psychological & empirical fact that during ones young years emotionally moving “moments” are more deeply engraved & sequenced within the brain & the subconscious. I now have a “certain” age and it’s reasonable to suggest that what is stamped deeply within my “musical soul” is not the same as for a person with 15, 20 or 30 years of age. That is to say, that a teenager or a young adult could consider my selection of record albums as perhaps mostly “irrelevant”, “vintage”, “old school” or even “freaky”, being something from the far past. It’s logical to presume from their lived experience and perspective, however a list as the one below could “open doors” to discovering music that perhaps was out of range by regular listening habits or simply that one was not conscious that it existed. In my case, I learn and discover everyday new bands, artists and music thanks to the many music loving “veterans” & today’s youth through what they publish & share throughout the World Wide Web or through simple conversation. What is important is keeping an open mind, the curiosity levels high, be enthusiastic about receiving the “new & unknown” & maintaining the spirit of discovering “the different” alive & healthy.
Within the above described context, placed below — without any specific ordering — is a list of the records (albums) that most have impacted my life until now. I say now, for I desire to still be continually impacted & moved by music that will come in the future. My list has not many other artists & bands that could have been added but are finally not, this is especially the case of those within the Jazz & Blues genre, these latter styles were really discovered, appreciated & loved much later in life. Those that do appear are the record albums which have profoundly left a mark emotionally early & are still greatly relevant, although I must add all music in general can have, and does have, moving and impacting effects on me.
I do hope that the below list serves and is of some use to the more “younger reader” whom I have the buzzing sensation that some may be surprised to discover the long history, the richness & quality of past music. The history line is very, very long & profound and I do encourage that you search and consult similar lists and musical opinions throughout the Web from other many people very much passionate & expert about their music.
All the below mentioned record albums do have the inbuilt artistic potential & magic to really “impact ones life” like they have done to millions and millions of people apart from myself.
To finish, musical taste & the power to be emotionally moved by certain music is a very subjective and personal thing. What moves you is certainly beautiful, very special, intimate and impacting that is equally valid and strictly respectable as any other lists or opinions from any other persons.
The Albums that Most Impacted My Life (…till Now)…in no particular order of ranking:
The Beatles — Revolver & Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin — II & IV
Talk Talk — Colour of Spring
REM — Green
NWA — Straight Outta Compton
Public Enemy — It Takes a Million
Massive Attack — Blue Lines
Deep Purple — Made in Japan
Michael Jackson — Off The Wall
Midnight Oil — 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
Sonic Youth — Daydream Nation
Leftfield _ Leftism
Eric B & Rakim — Paid In Full
Simple Minds — New Gold Dream
Blondie — Parallel Lines
Doves — Lost Souls
The Sand Band — All Through the Night
Cruel Sea — This is not the way Home
U2 — Joshua Tree
Fugazi-Repeater
Primal Scream — Screamadelica
Stone Roses — Stone Roses
Supertramp — Breakfast in America
The Cure — 17 Seconds
The Clash — London Calling
Galaxie 500 — This is Our Music
Black Sabbath — Paranoid
Depeche Mode — Music for the Masses
The Police — Reggatta de Blanc
10cc — The Original Soundtrack
The Cars — Heartbeat City
Oasis — What’s the Story Morning Glory
Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit
Guns N Roses — Appetite for Destruction
Travis — The Man Who
Beastie Boys — Check Your Head
AC/DC — Back in Black
The Eagles — Hotel California
New Order — Low Life
The Church — Heyday
Ryan Adams — Love Is Hell
The Blue Nile — A Walk Across the Rooftops
Prefab Sprout — Steve McQueen
Fleetwood Mac — Rumours
The Lotus Eaters — No Sense of Sin
Pink Floyd — Dark Side of the Moon
The Prodigy — The Fat of the Land
Kiss — Destroyer
Elton John — Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Ride — Nowhere
Sex Pistols — Never Mind The Bollocks
Pet Shop Boys — Please
Mercury Rev — Deserter's Song
The Style Council — Café Bleu
What about you? Which Records most impacted on your Life…until now?
