I was recently tagged by my friend Brad to list the top 15 albums that have had a profound effect upon me, regardless of their musical merit. At first, I dismissed this inquiry as futile, because I don't really know the name of most of the stuff I like, by virtue of the radio being my primary exposure to music. However, once in a blue moon, I like something well enough to actually find out the name of the artist and make a purchase, or I will acquire an album through sheer happenstance. So, for your reading pleasure, here are the top 15 albums that have influenced me. Taking after Nick Hornby's
High Fidelity, the albums are listed autobiographically, with the year of influence in parentheses.
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (1995)Imagine a fourth-grader sitting in the back of a white Dodge Colt Vista on the way to school, singing along to "Hand In My Pocket" along with her mom and brother, and you'll get a pretty good feel for what my childhood was like. Not only was this one of the main cassette tapes that my mom played in the car when I was in late elementary school, but "Ironic" was inspiration for a definitional essay that I had to write for my AP English Language course junior year.
Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving (1996)Like Alanis Morissette, Jamiroquai was another cassette tape staple in my mom's car. I can recall being immensely perplexed by the artist's voice, because I was unable to determine whether it was a man or a woman singing. I later bought the CD for $5 during my sophomore year of college, and rediscovered just how crazy the lyrics to those songs really were.
Weird Al Yankovic - Bad Hair Day (1996)This was the first CD that I ever purchased. Yes, I am a nerd. To this day, Weird Al represents the highest number of albums by one artist in my iTunes collection, at seven. The first concert that I ever saw was a Weird Al performance at Great America (an amusement park in Santa Clara, CA). Weird Al helped shape my appreciation for certain types of humor, especially word play, sarcasm, parody, and self-deprecation. Plus, if it weren't for his parodies, I guarantee that I would have an even more dismal grasp of pop culture references. Though, that has backfired in some respects; for example, I was recently in a situation in which everyone started singing "American Pie" and I quickly realized that I only knew the lyrics from "The Saga Begins." My, my, this here Anakin guy...
Lou Bega - A Little Bit of Mambo (1999)I don't recall the exact circumstances under which "Mambo No. 5" was played during my 8th grade English class, but that was my first exposure to Lou Bega. After that, I repeated ran across the song on Radio Disney (AM KMKY, ha ha)--granted, it was an edited version that had replaced the plethora of female names with Disney characters, and I believe he referenced a "candy store" instead of a "liquor store." I thought the song was really catchy, so I bought the CD. I listened to the entire album, and was shocked by the blatant chauvinism. I was also shocked by Radio Disney's censorship, which helped to spur me on to more mature radio stations.
Barenaked Ladies - Maroon (2000)I associate this album with my dearest friend from middle school, Morgan, for several reasons. Most prominently, the summer that "Fat Lip" gained popularity was the same summer that Morgan gave me a fat lip while we were roughhousing up at her family's cabin in Tahoe, and I thus always think of that incident when I listen to the song. Also, Morgan was, is, and will always be cooler than I am, which included her knowledge of music. She introduced me to FM 104.9, the Bay Area's alternative rock station, which drastically improved both my knowledge of and taste in music. Thanks, Morgan.
The Beatles - 1 (2000)Growing up, I had only a cursory knowledge of the extreme importance of The Beatles. I found myself continually surprised to discover that song after song that I had heard was actually by The Beatles. After a while, I decided that I needed to educate myself about the evolution of classic rock. This endeavor would last several years, aided in part by my sophomore year World History teacher, Mr. Humphrey, who actually wrapped up the year with a fantastic, off-the-wall unit on rock and roll. We each had to write a report on a different influential band; I chose The Buggles, whose hit "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the first video aired on MTV.
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home (2001)My dad brought this CD home one day. I have no idea why he happened to have it, but he handed it to me, and I never gave it back. Wow! Bob Dylan sparked an interest in 1960s folk rock, such as Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & the Papas, and the Byrds. Actually, that's a good segue into
Forrest Gump, as a matter of fact...
Forrest Gump (soundtrack) (2001)Forrest Gump is quite possibly my favorite movie of all time. I've watched it dozens of times, I can quote most of the movie from memory, and my family will sit down and watch it every time it plays on television. After watching it a few times, I realized that this movie, as much as it is a brief summary of the crucial events of U.S. history from the 1950s through the 1980s, is also a good compilation of major songs from those decades. The soundtrack greatly supplemented my musical self-education, formally introducing me to Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buffalo Springfield, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Three Dog Night, and many others.
No Doubt - Simple Kind of Life (2001)In my high school French class, we earned play money Euros for participating in class. At the end of each semester, my Mme Reak conducted an auction for prizes, using the Euros as currency. We all brought in contributions to the auction, which Mme Reak "bought" from us for a baseline amount of Euros, and then bid on the items in French. It was always a lot of fun, and, thanks to my prolific participation in that class, I was often able to outbid my classmates on the best stuff. One such item was the "Simple Kind of Life" single. No Doubt was one of the bands that I listened to on the radio and loved, so I was excited to see the CD, which had presumably been discarded by my classmate because they had acquired Return of Saturn, the full studio album. I mark this moment as the start of my appreciation for what might be called post-grunge music.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (2002)I love every song on this album, with the possible exception of "Porcelain" (frankly, it's a downer). The songs were arguably overplayed on the radio around the turn of the millennium, but my love for this album never diminished. I didn't get around to purchasing the CD until the middle of high school, but, once I did, I listened to it on repeat for ages. I hadn't liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers' music before this album, which seemingly heralded a shift in their style, and I still don't like their stuff before 1999 very much, but I am a fan of everything they've done since then.
Les Miserables (Broadway soundtrack) (2003)More high school French stories! I was co-president of the French Club my junior and senior years of high school, and I must say that Erica and I were determined to make stuff happen. I don't recall if the trip technically ended up as a French club or French class field trip, but the upshot is that a bunch of us went to see
Les Miserables in San Jose. I had never really heard the music before in its entirety, but I was deeply moved by the performance, and immediately started saving up to buy the CD of the Broadway soundtrack, which was rather pricey. To this day, my mom teases me for listening to what she disparagingly terms "show tunes."
The Strokes - Room On Fire (2003)This album epitomizes my high school discovery of post-punk revival bands, such as Franz Ferdinand, the Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, the Kaiser Chiefs, etc. I really enjoy this style. There is something about the guitar and bass work that makes me want to dance in front of my bedroom mirror. This is good wake up and get ready for the day music. It makes me happy. Some of the songs are fairly vapid, content-wise, but not every song has to trigger an existential crisis, right?
Glay - Blue Jean (2004)Alissa, another good friend dating back to middle school, introduced me to Glay, which is a fantastic Japanese rock and pop group. Even though I don't speak Japanese, their music really appealed to me, and it was fun and educational to explore the intense world of music fandom through this group, with Alissa as my guide. With most groups, I'm lucky if I know the name of the song to which I am listening, but Glay revealed to me that there is an entire culture of musical appreciation outside of mere listening, such as the dynamics of the band members, the extravagant quality of live concerts, the anticipation of future albums, and the discussion of music with others. I had no idea. I still remain an outsider to these practices, but Glay helped me to expand my understanding of the music industry vis-à-vis its fan base.
Madonna - The Immaculate Collection (2005)I am not at all a Madonna fan, but this album is relevant to my freshman year of undergrad. In the spring of 2005, I joined Alpha Delta Chi, the Christian sorority at UC Berkeley. Each semester, the new pledge class is dubbed with pledge names. My pledge class was the Madonna Class, with names taken from Madonna's Immaculate Collection album. The logic of my sisters is still somewhat beyond my grasp, but my pledge name was "material girl." (Forgive the lack of capitalization--it's an alleged ADX pledge name rule.) My only rationalization is that they chose this name for me to be ironic, because I am not particularly materialistic, but do appreciate sarcasm. Pre-2005 ADX girls, care to shed any light on this mystery?
Beck - Guero (2005)The opening of "Girl" was my cellphone ring tone for at least a year. To this day, I cannot listen to the song without an instinctual lunge toward my cellphone. Beck is so quirky and creative. His music is what I imagine SFMOMA would sound like, if some of the art came to life, grabbed musical instruments, and started jamming. Beck's music sounds like a collage. It sounds like photography. Does that make sense? No, but I daresay Beck would not be too worried about it.
Thus concludes my top fifteen list of albums pivotal to me as a person. I'd be curious to read your musical autobiography... Have at it! It's fun to go back through your music and reminisce.
