How Did You Discover Your Top 10 Albums?

[LoathedVermin72]

Simple idea: how/when did you discover your top 10 favorite albums? What did you think when you first heard them? Where did you find them?

Mine:

Kanye West - Yeezus
My initial dive into Kanye was documented on RM, actually. It was only a few years ago. I listened to his discography in order, and while I was already convert before this album, this was the one. This will always be the one.

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
I was on the frontlines of the (disastrous) roll out for this album. I streamed the Tidal launch party at Madison Square Garden. I tried to buy a download before they pulled it. I was at work the day it hit Tidal, and had all kinds of technical problems that prevented listening. I drove home on my lunch break - during a blizzard - to try to fix it through my computer, but I ran out of time and had to go back to work with nothing. Finally, I got it to work, and it was love at first listen. I spent the next few months having an epic text conversation with two friends discussing the album and deciphering its narrative. It was great.

Acid Bath - Paegan Terrorism Tactics
I used to be obsessed with sludge metal, but it was so hard to find stuff I liked because I hated most bands' vocals. But when I first played Acid Bath's debut album, When the Kite String Pops, and the opening dirge "The Blue" poured out of my computer's speakers, it was love at first listen. This album is even better.

At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
Bought this CD at Best Buy when I was a teenager. I listened to it in the car on the drive home, and I remember my dad mentioning that it was very "screamy."

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Under the Running Board
I got into Dillinger a few years ago, but I didn't hear this - their early seven-minute EP (yes, the entire EP is only seven minutes long) - until I was already a full-blown fan. But this blew my mind in a whole new way. There is a staggering amount of musical depth and innovation crammed into this record - everything is always moving and changing. Songs that last 2 minutes contain more ideas than most bands explore in a whole discography. It never fails to astonish me every time I listen to it.

Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Another CD I bought at Best Buy as a teenager. It quickly became one of the defining albums of my adolescence.

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
You know what? I honestly don't recall how I got into Electric Wizard. I do remember listening to this album in high school, though.

Daughters - Daughters
I can't remember much about this one either. It's just kind of a musical fixture in my life at this point.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
See above. I downloaded all his albums and listened to them in order.

Melvins - Lysol
My memory is a little fuzzy on this one. I know I bought the CD, and I do have a faint recollection of being totally mindfucked when I first listened. That MASSIVE, prolonged, breathy drone finally being pierced by Dale Crover's piledriving drums...fuck me. Fucking MUSIC.

[tragabigzanda]

[LoathedVermin72]

Hail, hail to Dopethrone, LV. Vinnum Sabaathi is one of my favorite songs ever.

What a way to open a goddamn album, man.

[doug rr]

this seems like a lot of work

[epilogue]

What a great thread idea, LV. Love this. I'll post mine soon. Looking forward to others' lists.

[Kevin Davis]

Cool idea. Will report back.

[doug rr]

this seems like a lot of work

i can't do 10 but i'll make a list of some that stick with me..my dad was/is a big jazz listener and my older brother had an influence as well..its a bit like when the kid discovered his sisters records in almost famous..

miles davis Kind of Blue: my folks used to throw dinner parties in the 70s and all of us kids would have to stay downstairs. I always remember that album playing and took a liking to it at age 8

Herb Alpert This guys in love with you..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWjbUAYcxII..another one i still hum to this day from 70s parties..

Tom Petty damn the torpedos..this is when i started going into my brothers room and randomly playing albums..refugee blew me away

all beatles albums from my brothers room..revolver and rubber soul always stood out for some reason

dylan blood on the tracks..still my favorite album to this day..another stash from my brother that really made sense to me as an early teenager..

Muddy Waters Folk Singer from 1964..was just starting to play guitar in junior high and my teacher put this on..mind blown

and of course all zeppelin albums from my brother

[verb_to_trust]

I don't really know what my top ten favorite albums even are. I remember buying Yankee Hotel Foxtrot at a Wall Mart shortly after it came out. I didn't know a lot about Wilco at the time and was just taking a chance. I used to go to an FYE and buy CDs a lot without much an idea what I was getting into. I did this with College Dropout when it came out. I was in on the ground floor with that and LV had to DL later...lol

[Bammer]

I bought some CD with Lil Jon guesting on like 3 of the songs ... I can't remember who the main artist is or the name of the album. But anyways it's my favorite and I was turned on to it when I heard it in the background of some porn I was watching.

It was a Lana Rhoades porn

[Jammer XCI]

At the Drive In, Acid Bath and Electric Wizard's albums you posted are fucking amazing, but that is far and away too much Kanye. Dark Twisted Fantasy was the last one that was any good, and I really only like his first 3 records otherwise, Yeezus onward's been shit.

Melvins, Dillinger, Interpol, those are pretty good too.

I'm just gonna post my top 1. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing, untouchable.

[LoathedVermin72]

Endtroducing would probably be in my top 15.

[tragabigzanda]

[guestT]

Started to do this but realized the answer to half of them is "read about them online."

[verb_to_trust]

I saw David Yow on some Netflix movie recently with Elijah Wood.

[epilogue]

I have a feeling these stories are gonna get out of control. So, I'm gonna do one at a time as to not bog down the board too much with walls of text.

[epilogue]

#1:

Tom Waits - Bone Machine
My first introduction to Tom Waits came by way of movie soundtracks. The Fall of Troy and Walk Away were songs included on the Dead Man Walking Soundtrack; those were the first two Tom Waits tracks I remember hearing and I was lukewarm on both of them (though, I liked Walk Away significantly more and even included that on a couple of mix-tapes back in the day).

Then in 2000, the film Keeping the Faith featured Waits' song Please Call Me Baby, which I loved! It became one of my all time favorite songs from a film soundtrack and I put that on a ton of different mixes over the years.

A year later Tori Amos released a covers album called Strange Little Girls. The best track (hands down) was her version of Waits' Time. Her version is breathtaking and arresting. Still, to this day, it's one of my favorite covers. I remember wanting to track down the original version but I was apprehensive, uncertain that it could possibly be as powerful as Tori's version.

Later that same year (2001) I was at my grandparent's house in Kentucky and my grandfather and I got to talking about music, as we tend to do. After debating the virtues of Vince Gill for the better part of an hour my grandfather switched gears to "something I might really like." That's when he asked if I'd ever listened to Leonard Cohen. I told him no but that I'd been meaning to ever since hearing Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah. Then he said, "What about Tom Waits?" I told him I knew like three songs but that was it. So (Ralph Kats being the hippest grandpa of all time) he gave me two burned CD's: one was Leonard Cohen's The Future an the other was Tom Waits' Mule Variations.

Somewhere between that exchange and 2010 (when I started posting regularly on RM), my friend Eric kept talking about this album called Rain Dogs and how it was the greatest album he'd ever heard. I said I didn't know it. Then he said, "How the fuck do you know Tom Waits but you don't know Rain Dogs." I confessed that I knew OF Tom Waits but I was certainly not a fan. I'd given Mule Variations a spin when grandpa first gave it to me, and it was fine, but nothing I wanted to listen to really. I liked a few of the songs but it was a difficult listen; I mean that voice! Yikes! Eric got mad, totally flipped out on me, and drove me over to Best Buy where he made me purchase Rain Dogs. I took it home and listened to it (by myself, Eric had to get to work). It was... not my cup of tea. At the time I didn't much care for Mule Variations but I fucking hated Rain Dogs. What a mess of an album! The one bright spot was that I finally got to hear the original version of Time... but sadly I was heartbroken to discover that it wasn't anywhere near as good as Tori's cover (I have since completely changed my mind on this). The whole thing was a giant let down and I couldn't get past that booze soaked gravel voice and oddball musical arrangements.

Jump to 2010. I'm on RM, like, A LOT. I start getting wrapped up in the Tom Waits thread. Many of my favorite posters, people I really respect and share a lot in common with, are huge Tom Waits fans and I want to appreciate him on their level. I want to finally "get" Tom Waits, whatever it took. So, I start over. I put on Rain Dogs first. It's a record I hadn't given a second thought to in years. But now I was able to discuss and dissect the record with people who are huge fans with deep knowledge and passion. Plus, my tastes have shifted significantly and I've expanded my musical exposure. Slowly, things start to click and I begin to really dig Rain Dogs.

It's through the Tom Waits thread on RM that I begin my deep dive. Different people recommend different Waits records for me to move onto. Bone Machine is the fourth Tom Waits record that I listen and digest. It quickly becomes my all time favorite album. The music is simultaneously unlike anything I've ever heard and completely familiar. It evokes all kinds of strange emotions and mental pictures and it inspires me in exciting new ways. And still, even now, every time I listen to it, I'm blown away by how fantastic the record is. It always feels new and dangerous. It's a constant thrill that always exceeds expectations and reveals new truths.

[AndySlash]

JJ Cale Naturally; Really; Okie; Troubador; 5 (1972-1979)
From a production/sound standpoint, these five albums are indistinguishable from one another. I've had them on a shuffle playlist for about five years now, and that playlist never leaves my phone. I found Naturally in a used CD bin one day, and was immediately seduced by Cale & co's incredible ability to sound hushed, breezy, and cool for every single recorded moment. They all settle into a mellow groove that reminds me of reggae in its relaxed approach, but musically is completely different. Just a brilliant body of work, and something that, were I to add up the total number of hours played, would probably outpace Pearl Jam as my most listened to artist.

[epilogue]

#1:

Tom Waits - Bone Machine

Spoiler: show

My first introduction to Tom Waits came by way of movie soundtracks. The Fall of Troy and Walk Away were songs included on the Dead Man Walking Soundtrack; those were the first two Tom Waits tracks I remember hearing and I was lukewarm on both of them (though, I liked Walk Away significantly more and even included that on a couple of mix-tapes back in the day).

Then in 2000, the film Keeping the Faith featured Waits' song Please Call Me Baby, which I loved! It became one of my all time favorite songs from a film soundtrack and I put that on a ton of different mixes over the years.

A year later Tori Amos released a covers album called Strange Little Girls. The best track (hands down) was her version of Waits' Time. Her version is breathtaking and arresting. Still, to this day, it's one of my favorite covers. I remember wanting to track down the original version but I was apprehensive, uncertain that it could possibly be as powerful as Tori's version.

Later that same year (2001) I was at my grandparent's house in Kentucky and my grandfather and I got to talking about music, as we tend to do. After debating the virtues of Vince Gill for the better part of an hour my grandfather switched gears to "something I might really like." That's when he asked if I'd ever listened to Leonard Cohen. I told him no but that I'd been meaning to ever since hearing Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah. Then he said, "What about Tom Waits?" I told him I knew like three songs but that was it. So (Ralph Kats being the hippest grandpa of all time) he gave me two burned CD's: one was Leonard Cohen's The Future an the other was Tom Waits' Mule Variations.

Somewhere between that exchange and 2010 (when I started posting regularly on RM), my friend Eric kept talking about this album called Rain Dogs and how it was the greatest album he'd ever heard. I said I didn't know it. Then he said, "How the fuck do you know Tom Waits but you don't know Rain Dogs." I confessed that I knew OF Tom Waits but I was certainly not a fan. I'd given Mule Variations a spin when grandpa first gave it to me, and it was fine, but nothing I wanted to listen to really. I liked a few of the songs but it was a difficult listen; I mean that voice! Yikes! Eric got mad, totally flipped out on me, and drove me over to Best Buy where he made me purchase Rain Dogs. I took it home and listened to it (by myself, Eric had to get to work). It was... not my cup of tea. At the time I didn't much care for Mule Variations but I fucking hated Rain Dogs. What a mess of an album! The one bright spot was that I finally got to hear the original version of Time... but sadly I was heartbroken to discover that it wasn't anywhere near as good as Tori's cover (I have since completely changed my mind on this). The whole thing was a giant let down and I couldn't get past that booze soaked gravel voice and oddball musical arrangements.

Jump to 2010. I'm on RM, like, A LOT. I start getting wrapped up in the Tom Waits thread. Many of my favorite posters, people I really respect and share a lot in common with, are huge Tom Waits fans and I want to appreciate him on their level. I want to finally "get" Tom Waits, whatever it took. So, I start over. I put on Rain Dogs first. It's a record I hadn't given a second thought to in years. But now I was able to discuss and dissect the record with people who are huge fans with deep knowledge and passion. Plus, my tastes have shifted significantly and I've expanded my musical exposure. Slowly, things start to click and I begin to really dig Rain Dogs.

It's through the Tom Waits thread on RM that I begin my deep dive. Different people recommend different Waits records for me to move onto. Bone Machine is the fourth Tom Waits record that I listen and digest. It quickly becomes my all time favorite album. The music is simultaneously unlike anything I've ever heard and completely familiar. It evokes all kinds of strange emotions and mental pictures and it inspires me in exciting new ways. And still, even now, every time I listen to it, I'm blown away by how fantastic the record is. It always feels new and dangerous. It's a constant thrill that always exceeds expectations and reveals new truths.

#2:

Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
I wasn't a Pearl Jam fan from day one. Of course, like all kids in the early 90s, I had MTV and I watched it with fervor and an unhealthy level of addiction that only prepubescent boys can fully understand. I knew Even Flow, Alive and of course (the ubiquitous) Jeremy. My friends were huge Pearl Jam fans. But my mother hated them and made fun of Ed's trademark hurr-durring mumble-growl. I was eleven so I trusted my parents and their taste. Guys, I was a fucking Eagles fan! Pearl Jam was super uninteresting to me.

In 1993 Vs dropped. I was 13 and my best friend, Travis, had gotten me a copy of Ten on cassette. I loved the record (especially Black, Release and Once; all early favorites) but I wasn't ready to commit to the band. My past was riddled with too many unfortunate examples of bands who had one great debut album but then turned out turds as follow-ups. So, in October of 1993, I went over to my dear friend Adam's house. He had Vs on CD. I wanted to hear it before I bought it and he was dying to share it with me. It blew me away. I was officially hooked, ready to tattoo die-hard status on my skin.

Now, in 1994 I was eagerly awaiting Pearl Jam's third LP, Vitalogy. I remember when Spin the Black Circle (the album's lead "single") dropped. I had to go to school so I put my stereo on my favorite local rock station and put a tape in the deck. I hit record, hoping that I'd catch the drop if I just let the thing run. When I got home from school I had a two hour tape waiting for me. I had to wade through a ton of nonsense but I finally got to the premiere of the newest Pearl Jam song. I liked it. But I didn't love it. Okay, so fine. I was not detoured. I was still excited. As we all know now, Pearl Jam didn't want to release official singles for the record at first. As a result radio stations dropped whatever song they wanted after StBC. As a result, before Vitalogy dropped, I'd heard StBC, Corduroy, Nothingman and Better Man. The latter of which I heard in my parents car as we drove from Kansas to Kentucky to spend Thanksgiving at my grandparent's house. I had my headphones (I was listening to Garth Brooks' incredible In Pieces record) and my mom tapped me and told me there was a new Pearl Jam song on the radio. I dropped my headphones and Dad cranked the volume. All three of us really loved the song. It's amazing how much my parents turned around on Pearl Jam after I started to get into Nirvana. But that's a much different and longer story.

ANYWAY... cut to February of 1995. Vitalogy had been out for about three months. I still hadn't had a chance to pick it up, tough. One night, my mom said, "Hey, we haven't hung out in a while. How about I take you to the mall and you can buy whatever you want?" I was thrilled! The thing I had her buy me was Vitalogy, on CD. I was SO pumped. We stopped off at Baskin Robbins on the way home. I flipped through the liner notes as mom picked up a couple of cones. We sat at a cold table by the fogged window.

Then she dropped the hammer. "So, have you had sex?" She asked me. Out of fucking nowhere. I was shocked. I was still 14 (I'd be 15 in April) and my girlfriend at the time was two years older than me. Yes, we'd become sexually active. But we weren't fucking advertising it! I told my mom no, said she was crazy. She said, "Oh, okay, because I found this in your jeans." She pulled a note from her pocket. It was a note my girlfriend had written me and passed me in school. It was extremely sexually graphic. There was a lot of "I can't wait to have you inside me" type stuff in it. I read the entire note, debating in my mind what lie I could tell. I considered making up something about how it was a fake letter that I left in the laundry intentionally as a way to trap my Mom, as evidence that I KNEW she was spying and digging through my stuff and violating my privacy.

In the end I decided to tell the truth. I admitted to my mom that her 14 year old son was indeed having sex with this 16 year old girlfriend. As an aside: it was also the day I vowed to learn to do my own fucking laundry. We talked for about an hour. When I got home I didn't even want to listen to Vitalogy. I spun it in the morning, laying in bed, letting my head spin. I hated the record. But that probably had more to do with how I felt about being "caught" than anything else. It was years before I was able to fully appreciate the album and not feel embarrassed and attacked while listening to it.

[LoathedVermin72]

I am loving these, Joey. That Vitalogy one particularly. I was riveted. This part especially:

Then she dropped the hammer. "So, have you had sex?" She asked me. Out of fucking nowhere. I was shocked. I was still 14 (I'd be 15 in April) and my girlfriend at the time was two years older than me. Yes, we'd become sexually active. But we weren't fucking advertising it! I told my mom no, said she was crazy. She said, "Oh, okay, because I found this in your jeans." She pulled a note from her pocket. It was a note my girlfriend had written me and passed me in school. It was extremely sexually graphic. There was a lot of "I can't wait to have you inside me" type stuff in it. I read the entire note, debating in my mind what lie I could tell. I considered making up something about how it was a fake letter that I left in the laundry intentionally as a way to trap my Mom, as evidence that I KNEW she was spying and digging through my stuff and violating my privacy.

Man, I can relate to this in a very specific, deeply personal way. You catapulted me right back to high school. Fuckin A, man.

[epilogue]

I am loving these, Joey. That Vitalogy one particularly. I was riveted. This part especially:

Then she dropped the hammer. "So, have you had sex?" She asked me. Out of fucking nowhere. I was shocked. I was still 14 (I'd be 15 in April) and my girlfriend at the time was two years older than me. Yes, we'd become sexually active. But we weren't fucking advertising it! I told my mom no, said she was crazy. She said, "Oh, okay, because I found this in your jeans." She pulled a note from her pocket. It was a note my girlfriend had written me and passed me in school. It was extremely sexually graphic. There was a lot of "I can't wait to have you inside me" type stuff in it. I read the entire note, debating in my mind what lie I could tell. I considered making up something about how it was a fake letter that I left in the laundry intentionally as a way to trap my Mom, as evidence that I KNEW she was spying and digging through my stuff and violating my privacy.

Man, I can relate to this in a very specific, deeply personal way. You catapulted me right back to high school. Fuckin A, man.

It was the best of times, it was the fucking worst of times, amirite?

My trust issues with my parents (my mom specifically) go way, way back. In fact, they go as far back as Santa Claus. Even though, the one listed above was sort of my fault (for leaving the note in my pocket in the first place) I still look back to it as one of the most egregious violations of privacy/trust in our relationship.

Maybe that's part of the reason I love Gilmore Girls so much right now. Because Lorelai and Rory have the kind of Mother/Child relationship that I've always wanted, unlikely or perhaps unsustainable as it may be.