Maybe this is a well-trod path, but it's always fun to revisit.

Inspired by DHRjericho's thread, list the 5 albums that shaped your musical tastes... maybe not the ones you still listen to, but the ones that brought you to where you are today, musically...

Judas Priest - Point Of Entry
Inspired me to pick up the guitar and was pretty much the first album I ever loved that was NOT "my parents'" music. In fact, they hated it. But it was the beginning of my obsession with music.

Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun
My first intro to the "College Music" underground. It was my Gateway album, as it were... where as before I was mired in a sea of Metal and Classic Rock, the Pups opened a whole new world of strange, different music.

Uncle Tupelo - No Depression
The influence here was two-fold. First, it opened up the fact that country music could be cool. Second (and I remember this well)... I remember onebrownjeff commenting on how great the songwriting was on this album, and that gave me the idea to shift my focus from my guitar playing to really being a songwriter. Yeah... the song IS the thing, isn't it? (Even in college you were a teacher, Jeff!)

Television - Marquee Moon
Made me rethink the way guitars could be used, arranged, and played. I simply never heard anything as cool as the intertwining guitars in the title track.

Shrimp Boat - Duende
Yeah, you saw this coming. It just opened me up to the idea of a genreless band. Or, one tha creates it's own genre. It set a standard for me, as far as how creative a band could get with its sound. Still organic... yet insanely creative. This record (after it grew on me) made me feel excited about music, after I thought I had already heard it all, as a college DJ. Too cool.


Your turn now...

Neil Diamond - Tap Root Manuscript
I wore this album out on my Fisher Price record player and my parents had to buy me a new one. I listened to "Soolaimon" constantly when I was like 2 or 3.

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
I got into Elton John at a fairly young age and still listen to his classic stuff with some regularity.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Skynyrd's Innyrds
The first classic rock band I got into and the album that tore me away form the top-40 crap I'd been listening to in Jr. High.

Dinosaur Jr - Where You Been
The first "grunge-era" band I got into. I bought this CD because I liked the band name and they quickly became my favorite band. I've been obsessed ever since. Also the album the got me listening to newer music instead of only classic rock.

Radiohead - OK Computer
Sort of took "concept album" to a whole new level for me. I never thought an album could be so good from start to finish with such a sense of continuity.

There's a bunch more that I could swap in for some of these but this is top of mind so probably pretty accurate.

Nancy Sinatra - Boots
Electronic - s/t
Thousand Yard Stare - Hands On
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
The Wipers - Is This Real

I have a "best of" of the Wipers qued up in eMusic to download at some point. Is it better to go with Is This Real or to go for the compilation? Also, who would you compare them to? I've only read about them and figured I should check them out but have no real idea what they sound like or if I'd like them.

The Beatles - Meet the Beatles, The first song I can ever really remember loving is I Wanna Hold Your Hand. I made my parents play this all the time and in alot ways I think it's the foundation of my musical taste.

Dr. Dre - The Chronic - This is the album I remember most as an awakening to more rebellious music. Straight Out of Compton had an impact years before but I think I was still a little too young to get it. Hello teenage.

Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits Vol 1 - Bob Dylan certainly wasn't the toast of my friends in my high school or anybody at my highschool. This opened my eyes that there is more music out there to be found even if Dylan really isn't obscure. It just seemed that way.

Johnny Cash - Greatest Hits - Stole this from my Dad in High School. I was kind of ashamed to admit that I liked country music but Cash always seemed cool. Kept my love for country alive.

Pixies - Doolittle, When I discovered this in college my change from top 40 listner to indie rock geekdom was complete. My wallet and time have been forever changed with this purchase.

5 most important albums of my youth, pre-18:

01) "purple rain" prince
If there was a "1 most important", this'd be it. The ultimate combo of eccentricity and funky fun!

02) "thriller" michael jackson
Had a cassette copy from a friend. Non-stop fun even the metal heads were bangin to. i once hearted jacko.

03) "invisible touch" genesis
The album that started my genesis obsession (which really didn't start until early college). Pure pop goodness, with some interesting long-players.

04) "hysteria" def leppard
My favorite hair metal album of the time (5th grade?). i still get hysterical. i still maintain they misspelled my last name. Cassette copy.

05) "so" peter gabriel
The "b-side" to the "hysteria" cassette copy, this nuanced pop album has grown to become a real treasure for me. Probably the "darkest" album i had pre-18.

tears for fears.the hurting and songs from the big chair
new order.substance
U2.the unforgettable fire
prince.purple rain
a mixtape of REM songs my oldest bro made for me.

Y'all listen to some pretty gay music.

Hell, lets see. Probaby all of the albums/bands are such that they keyed me into expanding my musical interests and breaking down preconceived notions (i.e. ignorance) about various genres... (In no particular order)

Paperchase- Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know- provided me with the understanding that structure and melody could be there, granted buried rather deep down below a schizophrenic surface. Made me practice at being an active, rather than passive, listener.

Led Zepplin (all but lets say 'III')- introduced me to the blues and traditional songs- at a time when 'music' (ignorantly limited mainly to a 'classic rock/rap/country' definition) was boring to me. Got me on the Dixon, Johnson, Wells, Waters kick that ultimately became the base for much of my musical interests during college.

Gram Parsons (GP/Grievous Angel) and Gene Clark (No Other)- offered a backdoor into country music for me. Mainly from two directions- country-rock and up into more contemporary alt-country and then back down into classic country. Helped realize that Nashville today does not represent the quality that is out there.[/b]

Love- Forever Changes Represents the perfect album to me. Introduced me to a host of artists and approaches to music.

Gang of Four- Entertainment!- I cant even begin to mention the influence of this album. But contemporarily with Television-Marque Moon and Talking Heads, these albums opened up a lot of rock sub-genres for me.

The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Lacked the immediacy of Revolver and the drama of Abbey Road, but Rubber Soul will always stand out as the quintessential Beatles album. I listened to The Fab Four religiously while growing up, wrote more than one book report on them and also did a history fair project on their recording techniques. This disc stands out as the most influential.

Led Zeppelin - II
I guess this and Husker Du is as close as I ever got to heavy metal. LZ II is the ultimate hard rock album for me. It doesnt get as much pub as IV, but is at least equal to that disc in pure rock 'awesomeness'. My dad had all these on vinyl and I spun them all, even getting into 'Presence' and 'In Through The Out Door'. Most anything with a thumping bass, rattling drum, and destructive guitar can be directly traced to this album.

The Pixies - Doolittle
My introduction, in 1989, to the world of alternative rock. Id had albums by The Cure and everything by R.E.M., but I think Thompson and Co. turned me on to something new, opening the door for me to Sonic Youth, Husker Du, Smashing Pumpkins, Teenage Fanclub, etc.

R.E.M. - Murmur
The first pure indie record that I purchased. I got into R.E.M. with 'Document', but understood there was more to this band. After picking up 'Murmur', 'Reckoning', 'Fables' and 'Pageant' on vinyl for a dollar in 1988, I began to realize. The second side of this disc stands out as possibly the greatest recording of the last 25 years, in my eyes.

The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
'The Queen Is Dead' has its place, but 'Bombs' is the perfect Smiths record. Short, catchy songs, reflecting both the internal disarray and the showmanship of this four-piece. Ive always enjoyed spinning this disc and its helped to turned me on to such diverse bands as Belle & Sebastian, The Vaselines, The Minus 5, The Clash (retroactively), and Jellyfish.

See, you do fit right in. And you were worried they wouldn't accept you.

your house is all windows?

i might listen to the ghey but i'm the termigheytor!

Go for Is this real to start with. I guess you could namedrop bands like Mudhoney, Minutemen, Green River for the sound likes. You always hear The Pixies crop up first in conversation about Nirvana's influences, but i always hear The Wipers more than anything else.

Neil Young - Harvest: The first album I loved.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here: This is the album that turned me into a music-head.

Wire - Pink Flag: This is the album that told me there was a whole world of music beyond the force-fed radio fare.

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus: The album that opened-up my tastes to jazz.

Luna - Bewitched: After leaving the alternative rock music scene in the late '80s, and missing most of the '90s, this is the album most responsible for brining me back.

I would proudly rather listen to the Pipettes and Dressy Bessy than Judas Priest, Elton John, Nancy Sinatra, Michael Jackson, or Prince.

Sad really- lets see where the Pipettes and/or Dressy Bessy are in music history 5 years from now. Then compare them to MJ, Prince, etc

wow, I don't know if I could narrow it to 5. This might be embarrassing, but then again, we're talking about the music that "shaped" our current tastes.

1. Duran Duran - Duran Duran - duh. I was enthralled with the fusion of visuals and music.
2. David Bowie - Young Americans - my sister had this one on 8 track, and when she was at school, I'd sneak into her room to listen to it.
3. The B-52s - s/t - Again, big sis brought this home from college and I loved it.
4. R.E.M. - Murmur - first proper R.E.M. album I listened to, and I was jazzed they were from Georgia too.
5. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - there are so many good tunes on this album. Again, it was big sis's record. Wow, remember when Elton used to be GOOD?

i guess i'm glad i didn't list erasure then....

Here's 6:

Zwan Mary Star of the Sea It may sound stupid, and i never really even liked this record that much, but after disliking SP's last couple of albums, i thought i'd give this a shot. From there i found Matt Sweeney & David Pajo, who both link to pretty much everything. Slint, Tortoise, Will Oldham. and every other band i discovered henceforth from learning that they collaborated with them at some time.


Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Tender Prey

Hot diggety damn where do i begin.

The Bad Seeds, lead back to The Birthday Party, as well as Magazine (Barry Adamson) (leading to Buzzcocks) and the Triffids (Martyn P. Casey) and Die Haut (Thomas Wydler/Roland Wolf) and Einsturzende Neubauten (Blixa), The Cramps & The Gun Club (Kid Congo Powers) and the Dirty Three (Warren Ellis), which leads to Low (In the Fishtank), and Cat Power (Jim White/Mick Turner), which leads to Steve Shelley, and thus Sonic Youth and then on to a million other things. Damn, that's a full on education on the entire realm of contemporary music right there. And that's just bands with only members in common.

I just got into that sound, and his voice led me to discover other great voices: Cash, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and everyone else who has a powerful distinctive vocal.


New Order Get Ready

This record got me onto Joy Division, then from there to Interpol, which entirely rekindled my liking for modern music.


Kanye West The College Dropout

Taught me that hip-hop wasn't all bad: i was just under-exposed to the good shit and over-exposed to commercial shit like Ja Rule.


The Velvet Underground The Very Best of The Velvet Undergound

My sister got this for me when i was like 14 or 15. It brang out the music lover in me.


Jeff Buckley Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk

I first heard this when it first came out (i was about 9 years old i think? Maybe 10. Fourth grade? and loved it so much i saved up and bought my own copy, even though my brother and sister both each owned their own copies and still lived at home back then. They wouldn't let me listen to their ones anyway. This I think was the first cd i heard and thought: this is pretty different to most stuff out there. I dig it. And let me tell you, it isn't easy going through primary school in the late nineties and not liking the Vengaboys or the Backstreet Boys or Fred Durst or Nu Metal.[/i]

Great job. This is what I wanted to do for my picks, but I got lazy. Now I feel shame.

If Dressy Bessy changes their name to a symbol and the Pipettes start molesting little boys, the children of the future are better off.

these are the albums that I think most got me into the music I currently like/expanded my horizons

1. Bob Dylan - Desire. Not my current favorite Dylan album but for some reason, the first album of his that I bought. Opened up a whole new world to me.

2. Paul Westerberg - 14 Songs. Yes I bought Westerberg solo before any Replacements albums, but again, this got me into the Replacements, and through them, Big Star, Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk, etc.

3. Son Volt - Trace & 4. Wilco - AM. I bought both of these around the same time. At the time I really didn't like country but both of these really got me into the alt.country stuff like Whiskeytown, Old 97's, Richard Buckner, etc., etc.

5. Neil Young Unplugged - my first NY album, first of many.

Funny, I thought we were talking about music. Good luck with the Pipettes though..

damn I forgot jeff buckley

Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique, It is probably one of the primary reasons I got into listening to classic scratch albums and also respecting techno music and the art of a great sample.
Fugazi: Red Medicine, My first true indie rock album after listening to gangster rap and metal in high school
Radiohead: OK Computer, the reasons are limitless
Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane over the Sea, the first band that had a euphonium player as a member.
The Faint: Danse Macabre, It is probably the primary local album that sucked me into the scene.