Top Five Most Life Changing Albums

 

Now, I may not be the most prolific blog-poster in the world; nor am I any sort of great audiophile, but when I look towards the ground and find a shiny, little digit encasement nestled amongst the dewy blades, I know it has been brought, y’all.

 

So, let the fisticuffs begin.

 

There are way to many albums that make me squeal with joy — I really am a media omnivore, — that it is hard to pin down just five. I really can’t choose from amongst my babies in such a way. Also, The albums I like the most aren’t necessarily the most well constructed. Seriously, MP3s have destroyed the construction of music, but that’s a whole other post. So what follows are the albums that, for better or worse, have had the greatest influence on my life.

 

“Let It Be” by The Beatles

 

 

January 14, 1997 4:45 p.m. was the last time I ever listened to this album. Seriously, thanks to the current re-release of The Beatles studio catalog I can no longer sit in a coffee shop or browse a bookstore without an exit plan for when Paul’s failed attempt at reuniting the band starts wafting from the speaker system. It’s not even that I liked The Beatles so much. Much of their work, pre “Rubber Soul“, was the empty vapid middlings of teeny-boppers.

 

I much more preferred the  same era’s Rolling Stones, or later The Stooges, The Clash, Velvet Underground, The Smiths etc.. But, they were everything for my mom.

 

Her history with this band was deeply tied to her sense of self and identity. When her father used her collection for target practice, she hid these songs deep in herself. Music became a protected secret, along with her ambitions to become a doctor and so many other things , that she had to shelter. The Beatles are the reason that a piano suddenly appeared in our house, sitting where just the week before my swarm of guppies waged an all-out-war on my sister’s goliath carnival goldfish – an all-consuming monster so enormous that its monicker was just “FISH”.

 

The day after the piano’s arrival we were whisked away to a mildewy downtown studio to learn the complex device. My father and sister dropped out instantly as they had no need for such things. I followed, mostly for the cherry slurpee purchased as reward for my hour spent hammering blindly at the instrument. (Did I mention I’m a lazy musician?) Meanwhile, my mom spent hours upon hours practicing Billy Joel, Elton John and, of course, the Beatles. “Lady Madonna”, “Hey Jude” and “Let it Be” became household anthems calling us to play and dance in silly spirals on our father’s crimson, Iranian rug.

 

She was blued and pale that evening when we returned from school that January day. My dad’s face was the dark sienna that he only gets when he is completely lost and thrown upon Life’s mantle. The entire Beatles catalog was whispering in the background as we gathered – I holding her head as her eyes jerked wide one last time.

 

There was a pronouncement from the distance. My dad went to the grandfather clock. And, I got up and threw something at the CD player as it rang, ” …. speaking words of wisdom, let it be.”

 

“Rent: The Musical”

 

 

Whew!

 

I promise the rest aren’t that big of downers. Take for instance “Rent”. OMG, I have so much love for this album that you would not believe.

 

Growing up knowing you’re queer in the 1980’s and early 90’s, the spectre of AIDS was part of daily life. If you expressed your love, you were going to get it, you were going to be spit upon, and you were going to die an early, lonely, gruesome death. That was it in Ohio. I had resigned myself to that. Then, this thing came out of the squarest place of all – Broadway. And… it blew all that crap out of the water.

 

“Rent” didn’t have people wallowing in pity. They were celebrating! These characters were OUT in all capital letters and dancing and having fun and I… my little pre-pubescent head exploded. It became a little personal revelation of identity that I could be myself and that it didn’t have to be a complete death sentence. There was “no day but today” to start living my life.

 

“In Utero” by Nirvana

 

 

The 1990s were f***ing awesome so, yeah, don’t give me that whiny power ballad crap. This album was raw and fun and gave me a reason to smash up my sh**. It’s sad that the Seattle rock movement dried up as soon as it was discovered, but Cobain opened up a musical door to earlier work like the Misfits, Vaseline and even Big Bill Broonzy.

 

The MTV Unplugged may have the best arrangements, but this and “Bleach” are the most alive. Eddie Vedder, why couldn’t you be as awesome?

 

Kind of Blue by Mile Davis

 

 

okay, intellectual time. Sure Coltrane’s ” A Love Supreme“ should probably be here too, but Miles hit me first.

 

He’s on here too, anyway. I can’t find enough to say about the album. It is so rich with a complex-yet-simple construction that just wraps me with warmth on a rainy day. I find myself bringing this album along to test speakers and separations. I listen and listen, and I find something new every time. When talking about great works of modern art, you have to mention Guernica, The Chrysler Building and Kind of Blue.

 

“Pink Moon” by Nick Drake

 

 

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I only discovered Nick Drake after listening to a VW commercial. It also helps that VW gave away free CDs at the Detroit International Auto Show that year.

 

He used such interesting chords and he had such a touching melancholy yet uplifting voice. This album made me rethink how I played guitar. It opened up much more than the 1-4-5 progressions and over-extended solos that I had been mimicking before. I think Nick Drake, though his life was tragically short, has really lived on with today’s musicians. Take Grizzly Bear or Bon Iver or the countless other bands out recently. They all show the remarkable influence of Drake and this album in particular.

 

So blog-o-sphere, that be my five. What’s yours? We will resurrect this meme yet.

 

 

BTW, y’all totally need to employee your local cheese monkey cred. I am making illegible flyers for thanksgiving.

 

peace.

 

Tags: favorites, meme, miles davis, music, nick drake, nirvana, rent, The beatles, top five

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 9:11 am and is filed under Personal, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.