Big Daddy Gouda

I briefly glanced at yet another one of the FACEBOOK lists a few weeks back, asking members to list “The 15 Albums That Changed Your Life”.

I remember thinking, “yeah, I gotta steal that”.

I wouldn’t say the list below consists of albums that “changed my life”, but they are 15 that I listened too, ad naseum growing up. Most of them I still dust  off today.

None of these are more important than the others as far as this list is concerned. Instead I decided to group them in the order I remember discovering them.

1. MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller

I didn’t have the cd, I had the little grey cassette tape. I remember playing it in my room on my black “Boom-Box”.  Back then, “Beat it” rocked my world, but today, I’ve realized that Billy Jean is the real gem on that classic album.

Best Song: Billy Jean

2. BON JOVI: Slippery When Wet

Once again, a little grey tape, blaring Living On A Prayer from the boom box in my room. I knew all the words to that rock anthem before I reached double digits in age.

BEST SONG: Living On A Prayer

3. POISON:Open Up And Say Ahh.

They looked like Women! Scary Women! But those cheesy danceable tunes from Bret, Bobby, Rikki and CC,  sounded so good and all the girls loved ‘em, so it gave you something to talk about with your crushes in school.

BEST SONG: Nothing But A Good Time

4. GUNS N ROSES: Appetite For Destruction.

Simply put, one of the greatest rock albums ever. And what adolescent male didn’t study the tape insert depicting the slutty woman being assaulted by a robot. My sister and I used to laugh our asses off watching Bob Berglewicz mimic Axl Rose, strapped to the chair in the Welcome To The Jungle video.

Best Song: Sweet Child O Mine

5. DEF LEPPARD: Hysteria.

Pour Some Sugar On Me….nuff said.

6. AEROSMITH: Pump.

I knew every word, to every song on this album. Aerosmith was the first concert I ever saw, touring in support of this album.

Best Song: Love in an Elevator

7. PEARL JAM: Ten.

I liked the song Alive and truth be told, I thought the pink album cover was really cool so I bought it. Little did I know how influential this album would be. More than any other record I’d purchased up to that point, Ten made other albums, by Poison, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi seem really, really cheesy.

Best Song: Release

8. REM: Automatic For The People.

I bought the record because I dug the tune Drive. Every song on the album turned out to be gold. Except for maybe Everybody Hurts.

Best Song: Nightswimming

9. TOAD THE WET SPROCKET: Dulcinea.

This album became the soundtrack to my high school life. I’ll always associate it with my senior year and all my friends.

Best Song: Crowing

10. THE COUNTING CROWS: August and Everything After.

This album still makes it into my cd player on occasion. Though I always skip over Mr. Jones. A once great tune, ruined by radio.

Best Song: Rain King

11. LIVE: Throwing Copper.

One oddball, vague, ambiguous, yet catchy tune after another, make up this 90s classic.

Best Song: Selling The Drama

12. U2:The Joshua Tree & Achtung Baby.

I really dug the tunes Mysterious Ways and One, so I bought Achtung Baby.  The guy at Strawberries said it was their best album ever, besides of course, The Joshua Tree. So, while in the store, I bought that one too. Listening to the two albums non-stop for weeks began my love affair with the band. To this day, they are still my favorite band and the only musicians whose albums I still buy.

Best Song: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (Joshua Tree) and Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World (Achtung Baby)

13. DAVE MATTHEWS BAND: Under The Table and Dreaming. The album is great. The concerts at The Meadows were better.

Best Song: Warehouse

14. THE SAMPLES: (The Checkered Album).

A band I discovered at Keene State College. The best album by “the best band in the world that you’ve never heard of”. Seeing them each year at Toad’s Place became a tradition.

Best Song: Birth of Words

15.  THE BEATLES: Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Yes, I discovered the best band ever mad late in my music listening career. I now own basically ALL their albums, but this one is my favorite.

Best Song: A Day in the Life

This entry was posted on March 24, 2009 at 5:31 am and is filed under Stuff . 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.