15 albums that changed my life

My gal-pal Gayle said to write down my 15 albums that changed my life in ten minutes or less. It really puts the pressure on. Anyway, I did it and then I went back and made a little note about each one.

I should add that my criteria for 'life changing music' is stuff that I heard and blew my mind and made me want to make music. Also, they created a style that others tried to imitate but had difficulty doing it. All of this list isn't hip, but it did shape my music tastes. You should do it too. I'd love to hear it. Onward!

1. Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Heard this in my friend Jason’s car in high school. I didn’t like it at first because it was ‘so weird’, but then it grew on me. It was so smart and economical with words and sounds.

2. NWA-Straight outta Compton
Living in the taint of Florida, I had never heard songs from this perspective. Catchy and angry. A weird mix. We listened to it everyday after school.

3. Elvis Costello- My aim is true
I went the opposite direction of most folks with Elvis. I knew the singles. Then I bought the reunion album with the Attractions. Then I started getting the back catalogue. This was Elvis at his best. Fiery, young, and with a sharp wit. It all clicked for me. I thought, "Wow, I totally get why people love this guy."

4. They might be Giants- Lincoln
Most friends I had at the time hated TMBG. This album was so weird. They were smart and simple and sometimes funny. This one blew my mind and made me rethink what I expected from songs.

5. Tom Waits- Frank’s Wild Years
I’m dim-witted sometimes. Often times. Tom Waits didn’t click for me for a long time. And then one day he did. My pal George said (when I didn’t like Waits) that he paints a picture then he takes you inside it (I’m paraphrasing a tad). This album did that to me. I was like, “Ohhhh, I get it.” And then everytime I listen to it I get something else.

6. Lemonheads- It’s a shame about Ray
I like happy music. I’m not ashamed. And it spoke to me at a time when I needed speaking to. It said, “Have fun. Life is short. Appreciate the small things.” And so I did. It was also a gateway album. He made drugs sound fun.

7. Ben Folds Five-self-titled
This album made me go out and buy a chord organ. Why? I dunno. Ben didn’t play one, but it did let me know that you can rock with any instrument you choose. And the lyrics were so personal in a hilarious way.

8. Guided by Voices- Alien Lanes
The best albums change your gears. I hadn’t heard much low-fi until this album. In much the same way The Ramones inspired people to start bands, this album showed that there was low-hanging fruit. Of course, when you try to do what they did, you realize how great they were at it.

9. Beatles-White Album
Everyone loves this album and if you don’t, you’re a douche. The End. I grew up on the Beatles cartoon and the ‘love me do’ era, so hearing this was really weird. My mom always sounded like she felt betrayed when the Beatles went psychedelic. It blew my mind.

10. Wilco-Yankee Hotel FoxTrot
I was a decent Wilco fan before this album but became a HUGE fan afterwards. It’s pop, it’s rock, it’s mellow. It’s the deconstruction of music and rebuilding of it. It blew alt-country out of the water and made it seem narrow-minded to me.

11. Descendents- Liveage
I was never a good punk rocker. This was the first album by the Descendents I ever listened to. I loved how funny they were and self-deprecating and sweet. It was the first punk that really spoke to me. It was punk but it was personal.

12. Decemberists- Castaways and Cutouts
I described this album, when I first heard it, as sounding like something you found under the floor boards of an old cabin. It made me miss playing (or trying to play) music. Smart stories and great instrumentation. It was exactly what I was missing that I didn’t know I was missing.

13. Public Enemy- It takes a nation of million to hold us back
I was scared when I first heard this. No shit. I really thought there was going to be some crazy revolution. Very intelligent, thoughtful, and angry in a focused way. It became my measuring stick for intelligent hip-hop. I quoted from it constantly in 9th grade.

14. Simon Joyner- Room Temperature
Caught this guy live back in 1994. It was my first exposure to punk-rock folk music. I wanted to play guitar fiercely after that. Caught him a few more times and completely nerded out on that guy. Come on, he wrote a song about how the world was going to Hell under Reagan-omics and all he wanted to do is play Defender. It spoke to me like nothing else. And it apparently spoke to Bright Eyes as well.

15. Alan Sherman- Hello muddah, hello fadduh
My parents had this on 8-track. I can’t say I understood all of it (and I had no idea what a Jew was) but I knew one thing, he was hilarious. I couldn’t believe my parents listened to things that were funny. We all laughed as a family and I knew I wanted to make people laugh like that. It also exposed me to parody for the first time.

Honorable Mentions: De La Soul's "Three feet high and rising", David Dondero's "Spyder, West Myshgen", The Pixies "Trompe Le Monde", Ice Cube's "The Predator", Frank Black's "Teenager of the Year"