Albums That Changed My Life

I have listened to a lot of albums over the years. And as you know, as a listener, one passes through many phases in his or her life-long musical journey. The simple pop tunes that capture your heart as a child may be of no interest as you find more exciting and challenging music as a teenager (but that doesn't mean you'll never come back to them when you grow older and more nostalgic). And even as a teen, what's cool one year may not be the next. Trends and fads can influence your likes and dislikes. Or not. Some people know what they like and are very single-minded about their musical tastes, listening to nothing but dance-pop or country music their whole lives. That's fine, too, but that's not me.

Even early on, I found something to like in all sorts of genres. Hell, for a while there as a kid, I was even hooked on a weird old Jerry Lewis record ( he sang!) I found in my mom's collection. Once I'd graduated from kids' records, (story albums adapted from Disney films, stuff like that) and I was buying pop and rock for myself, there were no rules. Some Stevie Wonder here, some Pink Floyd there, a little BeeGee's, the movie soundtrack from Star Wars. You see?

But when I think long and hard about truly important albums, ones that I later realized defined me as a person, I am now able to spot the sign-posts in my development as a music fan and as a human being. So what albums really changed me, gave me new direction, and contributed to who I was, and who I am today?


Here are The Albums That Changed My Life, in chronological order:

More of the Monkees... the first record album I ever bought, this began my appreciation for pop and rock, not to mention it made me a Monkees fan for life. I loved the TV show as a kid, maybe not so much now, but the music was timeless perfection. Light and fun and expertly composed by professional songwriters early in the Monkees' career... after a few albums, they insisted on writing and playing on their own songs. I admire the boys for wanting more than a few bucks for miming onstage. 

The Beatles' Second Album... the second long-playing record I ever bought, this North American release began my personal Beatlemania and interest in guitar. I've still got the Great Songs of Lennon & McCartney songbook I used to learn my first tunes (like the Daytripper riff) on guitar. It took me years to finally get all of their original albums, but along the way, I snapped up tapes of the odd release. My mainstays were the two double-album compilations, the first of their early years, the second of their later years. Today, I am Beatles complete, though there are loads of outtakes and alternate recordings that I'm missing. I'm happy with the studio albums and the smattering of rarities on my shelves.

Kiss... their self-titled first album was my introduction to heavy rock. My love of hard rock and metal endures to this day. Even though their later disc, Destroyer, would become my fave Kiss album, I give credit to the first one for instilling in me an appreciation for earth-shaking music, shouting out loud, pumping my fist, and considering wearing Kiss make-up... but never doing it. Oh, well. I never saw 'em in concert but I did catch an "official", Kiss-endorsed tribute band one time... pretty impressive, and nearly as good - if not as good - as the real thing. 

Rocky, movie soundtrack... a frequent reminder of the powerful boxing film that I loved when I saw it in the theatre at the age of twelve, and inspired me to start and continue to keep fit and healthy for the rest of my life. I never boxed, but I "tried" some jump rope, and did stick with a weight program and cardio (running and cycling) for many years. Also, as my first soundtrack, this introduced me to music other than guitar-oriented pop/rock. Hey, I was a blank slate and open to anything.

2112, by Rush... this heavy, epic concept album quickly became my favourite in my collection. 2112 kicked off my Rush fandom and love of progressive rock and metal. My obsession bled into all areas of my life... I did artwork of the band members, saw them in concert several times, assembled massive "scrapbook" binders loaded with photos and articles and all manner of collectibles, I amassed a whole wack of Rush posters - over forty of them (only a few actually made it onto my walls), hunted down scads of memorabilia, and wore a "concert jacket" covered with dozens of Rush pins, buttons, badges, and patches to shows. And more. Thankfully, the mania has subsided and I now carry on a relatively normal life. Hmm, or do I?

Fragile, by Yes... this opened up a wider world of prog rock to me, which included more varied instrumentation than even Rush offered. I grew to recognize the genius in this band, from Howe's stellar guitar work to White's intricate percussion to Squire's complex yet melodic bass, and Wakeman's god-like virtuosity on keyboard. As any self-respecting Yes fan would know, I was well aware that the band had many personnel changes, yet even the substitutions of Kaye, Bruford, Horn, and Downs were successful. I saw Yes in concert a few times... with different line-ups each time.... but the music was masterful and spellbinding. My love of Yes led me to check out other UK proggers of their era, like King Crimson, Camel, and Caravan.

Beethoven's 9th Symphony... this was the first classical recording I ever owned. I bought the Deutsche Grammophon (Von Karajan conducting) cassette tape back in the early 80's. It was the film A Clockwork Orange that first acquainted me with the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven, and it was the 9th Symphony that played a prominent role in the movie. I fell in love with the piece, so it was only logical that the 9th would be my first classical purchase. And of course, that led to me buy all of the symphonies... plus some collections of concertos, sonatas, and so forth. Then about a decade later, I upgraded to CD, and found even more Ludwig tunes to enjoy for the rest of my life. My interest in classical expanded from there; I built a modest collection of the works of most of the greatest composers of all time (Bach, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, and Stravinsky among them).

Time Out, by Dave Brubeck... the first jazz album I ever owned, captured on tape from a family member's record. I kept and played that tape for years, eventually buying a proper CD version, which led to my broader love of jazz, which included the legendary Miles, Rollins, Blakey, Coltrane, Guaraldi, and Monk. I got into the habit of attending the local jazz festival each summer, and even saw the 89-year-old Brubeck in concert back in 2010. Amazing, even at that age!

All For You, by Diana Krall... this was just a random CD I borrowed from the library, but I immediately adored Krall's smoky vocals and plucky piano renditions of Nat King Cole standards, so I quickly bought my own copy. This was the second jazz album I ever owned, after Brubeck's Time Out. All For You sparked my love for Krall's music and marked the start of my serious jazz album collecting. I saw Krall in concert back in 1999, just before she skyrocketed to international fame. Good timing, for my tickets were easy to get, affordable, and the seats were great.

Tranced Out and Dreaming... I can't recall how I came upon this... it must have been an arbitrary choice at the CD store back in the mid-90's. Anyway, I tried it out at a listening station, bought it, and loved it so much that I would conduct weekly test-runs of unknown-to-me electronic music CDs, discovering a lot of strange and beautiful stuff. Early on, I stuck mostly with compilations, so I could get a taste of the many sub-genres and decide what I liked most and wanted to investigate further. I built myself a tidy little library of great experimental and progressive electro... which included faves like The Grid, Leftfield, BT, 808 State, FSOL, Fluke, and Empirion. Funny how that exotic-sounding trance album led to a long-time affection for electronic music and even some modern dance-pop. I also find myself listening closely to movie music, which often features amazing electronic artists worth checking out.