Coming from a non-English speaking country, the first album I ever owned was a gift tape - The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo in 1987. This got me into rock music. Before it was all Harry Belafonte and Beatles...but no conscious connection.
( all in 1990 when I was close to turning 11)
Beatles - White Album
Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Floyd - DSOTM
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
(1991)
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
(1992)
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends (This got me into underground metal. There was no looking back for another couple of years. It was all attitude, blasphemy, pillage, neck-wrecks haha)
1994
Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground & Nico
Taj Mahal - Giant Steps
(these served an entry back into rock music and a first step into blues. Leadbelly was next)
1995
Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
(this warped my tastes to an extent I never liked linear stuff from then on)
1996
Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido
John Coltrane - Ballads
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
(I loved Motorhead always but Hawkwind played the right acid-drenched, occasionally liquid blues that captivated my mind. Who said music has to be intelligent? Ballads was some of the most passionate music I had heard)
My tastes were "developed" in 1996.

Plus I have nostalgic favourites:
Deep Purple - In Rock
Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead (Dead were one of the main reasons I explored quite a lot outside rock).

Radiohead's albums Hail to the Thief, OK Computer and The Bends, which I started listening to about 1-2 years ago, were major stepping stones for most things I like now.

And speaking of Cat Stevens, The Teaser and the Firecat was the first album I really liked as a kid, so hearing it again would definetly bring back memories. Though I'm not sure of its relevance for this topic, considering I don't really listen to anything of the sort nowadays.

I'll have to echo Biggles on the Radiohead thing. For me, The Bends really introduced me to the group. If it weren't for that album I probably would've given up on them as much of OK Computer and Kid A didn't immediately appeal to my then budding musical tastes.

Electro-Shock Blues by the Eels and Beck's Sea Changewere a couple other influential ones. I was feeling pretty crappy around that time, and those albums really spoke to me and led me to explore a lot of other good, sad music.

Going back even further, August and Everything After was the first real album I owned and listened to.

If I go back farther yet, I come to the stuff my dad listened to when I was growing up. The stuff that's really stuck with me is by Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Young.

Hmm...it's very hard for me to pick one...

I guess I'd have to go with Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home.

Because I used to listen to more generic mainstream stuff, and when I decided to check out classic rock, it took two seconds of 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' to change my musical tastes forever.

Took me a week to realize half the bands I liked sucked.

I haven't been listening to music very long so personal influences are a bit limited. I guess I owe Muse - Absolution for making me interested in music in the first place. And Arcade Fire - Funeral, for blowing my mind when I first heard it and making music the obsession it's become.

influenced at time of release:
U2 - unforgettable fire
peter gabriel - so
kate bush - hounds of Love
the cure - disentegration
crowded house - crowded house
pj harvey - rid of me
nirvana - nevermind
spiritualized - ladies and gentleman....
radiohead - the bends
amon tobin - permutation
avalanches - since i left you
wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot
jaga - what we must

influenced much after it's release - digging in the vaults so-to-speak....

genesis - duke
genesis - seconds out
john coltrane - love supreme
joy division - Unknown pleasures/substance
new order - substance
depeche mode - music for the masses
beatles - sgt peppers lonely hearts club band
neil young - decade
miles davis - kind of blue
dave brubeck - time out
outkast - aquemini

The Pixies- Doolittle
Radiohead- OK Computer

I heard both for the first time in 1997 at the age of 17. They changed my life as a musician and made me the music fan that I am today.

Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Elvis Costella & The Attractions - Get Happy!!
David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
Radiohead - OK Computer
King Crimson - Discipline
Pixies - Trompe Le Monde
Big Black - Songs About F***ing
Patti Smith - Horses
Tubeway Army - Replicas
The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Albums that for some reason or another have affected me. I listen to these records all the time and would say they are my favorite.

1. Beatles - Abbey Road, Let It Be: Growing up my folks use to place their old Beatles records and their music resonated with me as I grew older.

2. The Strokes - Is This It: This album got me away from hip-hop and back to listening to rock music again.

3. The Clash - London Calling: This album got me listening to old school punk music, a favorite genre of music.

4. The Specials - s/t: Best damn ska band around (well, they used to be).

5. Violent Femmes - s/t: The one record that I could connect with as a misunderstood youth. Was affected by songs about relationships, chicks, angst and er...chicks.

6. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People: The album that my brother and I jammed to while driving to the city on Friday nights. After my brother died 'Nightswimming' became that song that reminded me of him. His band used to due REM covers in high school.

7. The Roots - Things Fall Apart: The record that got me back into Hip-Hop.

8. De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising: The album that helped me realize that not all rap was bad or all about being a gangsta.

9. Portishead - Dummy: The sound resonated with me during a dark time in my life.

10. Massive Attack - Blue Lines: opened my mind to different kinds of music beyond hip-hop and rock music.

11. A Tribe Called Quest - Peoples Instinctive Travels...: The first Hip-Hop record I ever bought.

12. Radiohead - OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac: Their entire catalogue has affected me since I first heard 'Creep". I've been listening to them since Creep first dropped and their records have been coming out at critical moments in life. Starting high school, my first girlfriend, first year of college, graduating art school, getting married, and finishing grad school. Maybe they come out with a record when I'm ready to have kids. If its a both I'll name him Thom...psych.

13. Hooverphonic - Stereophonic Sound Spectacular: The first out-of-the-box album my future wife and I got into together, while we where enjoying herbal refreshment of course.

14. Weezer - s/t (Blue Album): Still rock to this album with my long time buddies.

15. Arcade Fire - Funeral: I can connect with this album because the death of my brother and my grandmother are always going to be on my mind. Funeral helps me to tap into those feelings.

16. Nirvana - Nevermind: Still rock to this album with my long time buddies.

17. Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

18. Fleetwood Mac - Rumors

19. Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain

20. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights, Antics:

1) by the way - rhcp. even though most longtime fans hattted this album, i love it. I think the peppers have definetly gotten better lyrically over time, even if musically they have mellowed out (a bit). i think the band, really, just influenced me to listen to listen to stuff outside of mainstream rock because of their influences.. everything from gang of four to sly and the family stone. so for that, i appreciate the peppers

2) sgt. pepper's - the beatles

3) blue album, pinkerton - weezer

4) grace, sketches - jeff buckley

and kind of embarrasingly...

5) underneath - hanson... really, i just like good rock pop :P does anyone else actually like hanson, or just me?!

I think its just you. sorry.

quote:

does anyone else actually like hanson, or just me?!

Well . . . . they are kinda cute.

REM, Out of Time - Bought this when it came out, when I was 13 or 14. It's the first album I remember playing constantly, day and night, just listening to the words and melodies and thinking there was more to music than poppy beats.

Tragically Hip, Fully Completely - My first foray into Canada's biggest band, and it changed my life. I've seen them 17 times since that album, and it's a new experience each time.

Tool, Undertow - At a time when my musical collection was comprised mostly of grunge and harder metal (Pantera), this album was a revalation that good, loud tunes need not consist of guitar feedback and/or Phil Anselmo-style screaming.

Nick Drake, Pink Moon, Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool - Both were discovered at roughly the same time, and collectively turned me on to the fact there was great music outside the boundaries of rock.

Growing up in a small town in Central California and having to drive 40 miles just to buy any music that wasn't Top 40 or popular country made it difficult to hear new music. I had to discover most of what I listened to on my own. In rough chronological order according to when I discovered them, I think these albums had the biggest influence on me:

Bay City Rollers 1st album - hey I was only about 7 years old!
Elvis - Some greatest hits compilation
Queen - News of the World
Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Kiss - Love Gun, Rush - Moving Pictures, Van Halen - s/t, Scorpions - Blackout, Metallica - Ride the Lightning, Led Zeppelin - IV, AC/DC - Back in Black
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Freaky Styley (my intro to non-metal)
REM - Murmer, The Replacements - Let it Be, U2 - The Unforgettable Fire, Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward, The Cure - Staring at the Sea, The Smiths - Meat is Murder
Prince - 1999
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
The Clash - London Calling
Los Lobos - How Will the Wolf Survive
Pixies - Sufer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
Radiohead - OK Computer
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Coltrane - Blue Train
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Rage Against the Machine - s/t
Outkast - Stankonia
System of a Down - Toxicity
White Stripes - White Blood Cells

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smilani,

OK Computer - Radiohead

I first heard this album about 4 years ago...I had a giftcard to Wherehouse Music, and I wanted to get something by a real rock band, just to try something different. It blew my mind to think that a modern band could release a filler-less album. Listening to "Exit Music" and "No Surprises" I couldn't help but be struck by the fact that all the rock I was hearing on the radio was pure shit.

Fugazi - Repeater
Rush - 2112
Black Sabbath - We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'N' Roll
Boston - s/t
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
Neurosis - In Times of Grace
Le Tigre - s/t
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
John Zorn - Masada
311 - Soundsystem (not a GREAT pick, but it takes me back)
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
Various Artists - So So Def Bass Allstars

These albums have had a profound impact on me:

AC/DC, Back in Black (this was the beginning . . . the first album I ever bought)

Beck, Sea Change (classic - good song writing - I relate to the lyrics on a deep level)

The Chemical Brothers, Come with Us (the first "techno" record I every bought - the beginning of my dance/party period)

The Cure, Disintegration (I think I'm still in love with Robert Smith . . . )

Deftones, White Pony (dark, heavy music for those times . . . this CD is still in heavy rotation)

DJ Shadow, Endtroducing (good music for creating a vibe)

Elliott Smith, Figure 8, (I love all of his CDs - he is my personal favorite. Nobody does it like him!!!!)

Hole, Live Through This (as a female, I can relate to the emotions expressed in many of Love's songs)

Human Waste Project, e-lux (Aimee Echo is a great songwriter - classic songs that reflect the female condition)

Korn, Follow the Leader (I played this CD a lot while I was writing my dissertation - it reminds me of feeling frustrated while doing research in the UCLA University Research Library - good
music to vent to)

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (one of the first records that compelled me to memorize ALL the lyrics)

Lenny Kravitz, Mama Said (songs to play when love goes sour)

Love/Hate, Blackout in the Red Room (um . . . this CD literally changed my life because I wrote a fan letter to the song writer and ended up marrying him . . . )

Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral (this CD seemed groundbreaking when it first came out. I still put it on a pedestal and play it regularly)

Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here (reminds me of the days when I ONLY played whole CDs in one sitting . . . now I admit I'm victim of the shuffle-play generation)

Prince & the Revolution, Purple Rain (this CD stood the test of time - my first concert!)

Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf (guitar worship)

Radiohead, The Bends ("Bullet Proof . . . I Wish I Was")

T. Rex, Electric Warrior (a voice that always calms me)

White Zombie, La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol 1 (Rob Zombie knows what he's doing - dance music A++)

Wilco, Summer Teeth (quality song writing that never, never grows old)

I guess the importance of Radiohead can't be overstated. I bought "OK Computer" in grade ten because I kept hearing things about it, and it was the key to the lock on the door of the world of good music. That led to "Kid A", and "The Bends", which is currently helping me deal with my boyfriend moving away.

PJ Harvey's "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" was also hugely influential. As a young female musician it's such an affirmation to hear a woman yowling and cooing in equal measure according to what the song demands rather than what she thinks she should sound like. Also, her songwriting, though simple, continues to floor me. I love almost every song off "Uh Huh Her". "Shame" nearly brought me to tears.

Also: Broken Social Scene's "You Forgot It In People". Each time I hear it, I think about how if I ever made something that sounded so intricately beautiful and effortless I'd have to disappear and become a hermit because I could never do anything that incredible again. I sure hope they don't disappoint with "Broken Social Scene" this fall.

Two albums that got be deeper into music were AEnema by Tool and OK Computer by Radiohead. Both took some time to absorb and because of that they were fascinating, especially for a young kid who had listened to very little music up to that time.

Now, though, I can hardly listen to either group. Unfortunately they both sound silly and pretentious to me. I generally like what Radiohead does musically, but I have definitely tempered my views on their albums the past few months and will never say they are one of the greatest bands of all time. Both bands actually evoke a strange type of humor with how seriously they take themselves.

Another album that blew my mind was Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis. It is still incredible after two years of listening to it. So luckily that one won't fade from my interests. Hopefully.

The Guess Who "American Woman"- My older brother & his friends played this constantly over and over again when it was released.

Alice Cooper "Killer"- My friends and I played this constantly over and over again when it was released.

Savoy Brown "Looking In"- Well, I liked it. My life long wonder of liking music that people I knew either didn't like, never heard of or didn't like and didn't want to hear began here.

Bob Dylan "Blood on the Tracks"- Still my all time favorite album which also started me on discovering older music (plunging through Dylan's back catalogue in this case), something I've never quit doing, no matter how much I keep up with today's music.

The Ramones "The Ramones"- Bless the day someone brought this to work to play on the company turntable (my turntable on loan to work). How I survived the late 70's.

Green On Red "Gas Food Lodging"
REM "Murmur"
Bevis Frond "Inner Marshland"
Uncle Tupelo "No Depression"
- Surviving the 80's/early 90's.

Man Or Astroman? "Destroy All Astromen"- So began the surf instrumental phase, though MOAM aren't really surf instrol. I needed a break from vocals as no band at the time was singing anything I could relate to.

Aimee Mann "Whatever"- I don't know why it brought me back to listening to new music considering it was released pre-"Destroy All Astromen". I listened to it a lot, mid-late 90's.

DM3 "Road To Rome"
Jeffrey Foskett "Thru My Window"- I don't know, I guess you had to be there. I had to either lighten up or die or something like that.

Bevis Frond "North Circular"
V/A "Africa Funk The Original Sound Of 70's Funky Africa"
The White Stripes "The White Stripes"
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends "The Virginian"
Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks "The Birdnest Years"
- Most current influential albums. The Robt Johnson cd is a raw & gritty lo-fi surf/rock instrumental compilation of the band's early recordings. The fringe of rock. Nice influence if you can find it.