Albums that changed the way you think about music

For me, it's the albums that are gateways to other things that have the most meaning to me. They're usually not even the best example from their genre, they just happen to be what got to me first

Appetite For Destruction ... it hit at a perfect time for me (that kid in 6th grade going through their folk's nasty divorce) and steered me away from the kiddie pool of top 40 radio
Nevermind ... in case you ever wondered about all that narrative about music immediately taking a turn, it absolutely did ... my gateway into punk and alt-rock
Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way, Baby ... gateway record into MULTIPLE genres of music I otherwise never gave a chance to
Jerry Jeff Walker - Viva Terlingua ... I grew up listening to this record in rotation at home with parents who had a respectable outlaw country record collection. It still holds up and I'm reminded every now and again that not all country music is godawful

Here's one from the bitter pill department ... Metallica's Load ... or how I learned to quit being such a fanboy ... this was the beginning of the slide away from the genre in general
 
I meant to participate in this way back when. Here are a few of mine

ELO- A New World Record. My parents playing this and the Beatles 1 on the way to visit my grandma when I was a wee lad is my earliest distinct memory of actual music. I think I was 2 at the time and it was a few weeks before Christmas, because I recall my parents talking about how George Harrison had just died.

The Beatles- 1 (as mentioned above; it was my first introduction to my lifelong love of the Beatles music)

The Mothers of Invention- Freak Out!

Todd Rundgren- A Wizard, A True Star

John Frusciante- To Record Only Water for 10 Days

Joni Mitchell- Blue

The Beach Boys- Surf’s Up

Gentle Giant- In a Glass House
 
Here are some of mine, click the album title to hear my favorite song from each:
  1. The Books - The Lemon of Pink - Changed the way I thought about composition. Made out of found sounds, but in a musical and emotional way (instead of a noise collage).
  2. Deerhoof - The Runners Four - Pop music can still be weird & insanely energetic.
  3. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above - I'm not putting anywhere near this kind of effort into my own music.
  4. Bjork - Vespertine - I'm not putting anywhere near this kind of raw emotion into my own music.
  5. The Field - Cupid's Head - Traditional-sounding electronic music is NOT boring.
  6. The Microphones - It Was Hot, We Stayed In The Water - You don't need more gear, you need more quiet.
  7. Women - Public Strain - Guitar is not dead. Oddly enough, reminds me of The Smiths now.
  8. Pat Jordache - Steps - An album changes each and every time you listen to it. - I loved the first Pat Jordache album, but hated this one on first listen, it sounded like it was sent through a broken, half-sentient flanger. I would go back to it every once in a while and hated it a bit less each time. Now I think it's an absolute banger.
 
Definitely enjoying these threads, been dipping my toes in unfamiliar waters due to you guys so thank you. Here are some albums that sparked new interests for me and an influx of album purchasing.

The claudia quintet - royal toast
Stravinsky - the rite of spring
Bad religion - suffer
The meters - look ka py py
Madvillain - Madvillainy
Paul Simon - Graceland
Cuong Vu - Bound
Emerson string quartet - Shostakovich collection
Eddie Floyd - Knock on wood
Herbie Hancock - headhunters
Zappa - hot rats
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi battles the pink robots
The Bad Plus - these are the vistas
De la soul - buhloone mindstate
Paul Galbraith - Bach violin sonatas and partitas
Menomena - friend or foe
Fela Kuti - expensive shit
Medeski Martin & Wood - combustication
 
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Mentaltossflycoon said:
Medeski Martin & Wood - combustication
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Oh wow, I haven't heard that name in forever... Love me some MM&W!

They do an amazing version of Syeeeda's Flute Song by John Coltrane, the big boomy kick drum is so cool. I also dig their albums with John Scofield, Out Louder in particular.
Mentaltossflycoon said:
Menomena - friend or foe
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Also a big fan of this album, such a cool mix of pop & experimentation. Wet and Rusting is an absolute gem.

I remember reading that they created most of their music collaboratively through a looping Max/MSP patch. There is even a section on wikipedia about it.
 
bowanderror said:
Oh wow, I haven't heard that name in forever... Love me some MM&W!

They do an amazing version of Syeeeda's Flute Song by John Coltrane, the big boomy kick drum is so cool. I also dig their albums with John Scofield, Out Louder in particular.

Also a big fan of this album, such a cool mix of pop & experimentation. Wet and Rusting is an absolute gem.

I remember reading that they created most of their music collaboratively through a looping Max/MSP patch. There is even a section on wikipedia about it.
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Yeah, I sat behind Brent on a flight once. Nice dude, pretty sure he was irritated I fanboyed Menomena but knew nothing of his current band.
Supposedly he went as far as writing his own code and making his own sort of writing and editing program discovering ableton much later on. Props to the next level music nerds, right?
 
I think for me in chronological order

REM- green

Nirvana - nevermind

Sonic Youth -Dirty (saw skateboarding in the 100% vid and as a suburban kid who knew very few other skaters I was hooked)

Flaming Lips - Clouds Taste Metallic

Then many other albums by other bands and a few by the ones I mentioned (if you’ve never heard The Soft Bulletin you’re missing out big time).
 
Big Monk said:
Echoes fundamentally changed the way I thought about guitar. In many ways DSotM did too, but later in my life, long after I first heard it.

In my youth, a guitar was like a hammer and everything a nail. Riffs, riffs, riffs were the ruler of the day.
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Damn, that's a really interesting insight. I remember playing a delay pedal for the first time as well and it being an eye-opening experience. I had played mostly in punk bands, so leaving space (or just not making noise for any period of time) was quite foreign to me. Delay offered room to breath and focus on the expression, and the space wouldn't feel so empty.

I had a similar experience seeing a looper used for the first time. There is an old video of Dosh doing his looping magic with an Akai Headrush, a Rhodes, and a drum kit, and it just immediately hit home for me. The ability to have an idea, record it, and expand it right away was exactly what I needed at that time. The video is still up on the Anticon channel, although the quality is a bit lower than I remember from 2007!
 
U2's War album really changed the way I saw guitar. As did pretty much anything by the Cure! Pixies' Bossanova was a big one for me. Having grown up surrounded by jazz and blues-based music and gypsy jazz anything which moved away from blues and 12-bars was foreign to me. So bands like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, ZZ Top all just confirmed what I already knew. U2, The Cure, Pixies, Killing Joke, Birthday Party - these bands made me rethink what I thought I knew. I was impressed that I could play with extremes of emotion without blues licks!
 
This is a great thread! I'm glad it got a bump as I enjoy reading about all of the music you like here.

More recently, within the last four or five years, I discovered Destroyer's album "ken."

Something about that album sucked me in and I went down the Dan Bejar rabbit hole. I found his music and his process to be really inspiring. It's the album that got me to buy my first synth and has opened the door to lots of other music for me. He really helped to expand my musical taste and opened up a lot more sounds for me.

 
I guess like most I went through a few iterations starting at a young age listening to what my dad liked, stuff like Pink Floyd Meddle definitely is where it started then I found Guns and Roses Appetite for destruction and Metallica And justice for all... then a little later it was Tool Ænima and Meshuggah Chaosphere... and this is where my ideas of what song structure should be went right out the window. The most recent would have to be more obscure lesser know albums like Vitalism Causa , Wide eyes Terraforming and Polyphia New levels new devils.
 
Loving this thread! I also was born in the 80s (82) so the usual suspects for me have been Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden - all very influential in my teens, together with Pink Floyd (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Animals above all) and the Beatles (Sgt Peppers and Abbey Road were on heavy rotation growing up), which are still influential to this day. But I also listened to a lot of classical and jazz which definitely influenced me later on. For jazz: Coltrane, Miles, Jarrett and later Hancock and various jazz guitarists. For classical: Bach is at the top of my list (cello suites, well tempered clavier, musical offering, Goldberg variations and many concertos), but I also love Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy which I listened to a lot growing up.
The more I write the more other stuff comes to mind so I’m gonna stop here!
 
giovanni said:
Loving this thread! I also was born in the 80s (82) so the usual suspects for me have been Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden - all very influential in my teens, together with Pink Floyd (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Animals above all) and the Beatles (Sgt Peppers and Abbey Road were on heavy rotation growing up), which are still influential to this day. But I also listened to a lot of classical and jazz which definitely influenced me later on. For jazz: Coltrane, Miles, Jarrett and later Hancock and various jazz guitarists. For classical: Bach is at the top of my list (cello suites, well tempered clavier, musical offering, Goldberg variations and many concertos), but I also love Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy which I listened to a lot growing up.
The more I write the more other stuff comes to mind so I’m gonna stop here!
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Also born in 82 👋
 
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