I was checking out my iTunes, and realized I have never posted about the albums that have changed and shaped who I am. So, with some down time..Here it is….And yes, it is as random as you’d think.
This is in no particular order. I don’t even really expect anyone to read everything, but maybe if one of these albums influenced you, you’d read about what it did to me too..
PS-I hope the alignment isn’t horribly off, on your computer… It looks fine on mine, but I KNOW that isn’t always how it is.
311
‘Transistor’
This album came out around the time that my parents finally got the internet on our little IBM Thinkpad. Every time I listen to this album, I have memories of putting the cd into the computer and checking my ‘hotmail’ using ‘aol im’ and going into ‘chat rooms’.
Yes..The early days of the internet…
The Beatles
‘Meet The Beatles’
When I was around 8 my parents got me a drum set. My dad handed me a copy of The Beatles ‘White Album’ and told me that this band was a good influence. I was into “Vanilla Ice” at the time so “The Beatles” were lame…. Little did I know later in life one listen to this album would converted me into a Beatlemaniac for a good portion of my life.
Cindi Lauper
‘She’s So Unusual’
No one will ever know if this was my first or second album that I owned, but it was one of the first. I have very vague memories of this because I was born in ‘82, and this came out in ‘83. But I do remember listening to the record spin and play ‘Money Changes Everything’ ‘She Bop’ ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and ‘Time After Time’ CLASSIC ALBUM
Dashboard Confessional
‘The Places You’ve Come To Fear The Most’
Have you had the moment, where something comes along, and for the first time in your life, it finally explains who you are? That was this album for me. I finally felt like a part of something. That other people felt the same as me. I’ve always said, ‘I was emo before there was a name for it’.
“A reading from the book of Chris Carrabba”
The Beach Boys
‘Endless Summer’
True story, I learned how to play the drums (for real this time) in a weekend while playing this record. Yes, I had to play lightly, because if I hit to hard, the record would skip. This album has all the classics hits.
I liked a random song on it, most. “Wendy”
Michael Jackson
‘Thriller’
This is the other album that we are unsure if it was my first, or second. I remember being very young and listening to it. The ’scary’ voice in the song “Thriller’ used to give me nightmares.
I think MJ was a total weirdo, but the music on this album speaks for itself.
New Found Glory
‘New Found Glory’
In 2000, my girlfriend came down to my college and my roommate and her ended up getting together. I was hurt. But then I realized I was in love with my OTHER friends girlfriend. I didn’t have anywhere to turn. But a friend handed me this album, and after one listen it totally described what I was going through. I lived by the words in this album.
No Doubt
‘Tragic Kingdom’
I met Gwen Stefani in Summer ‘09. I told her I had 13 copies of this album, and she gave me a weird look. I was too nervous to tell her it’s cos I listened to it SO MUCH, it would skip, then I’d have to get a new one.
This album changed me a lot, because I had been listening to nothing but The Beatles for 2 years, then something about this album helped me move on to more ‘modern’ music.
Salt N’ Pepa
‘Very Necessary’
You weren’t ANYONE on the bus in 1993 unless you were listening to this tape. For real. I actually had to get a copy of this from my Aunt because my mother thought it was too risque. Upon further analysis, one of the songs was called, ‘Sexy Noises Turn Me On’… I was 11….
It WAS too risque.
The Spice Girls
‘Spice’
One summer night in ‘96 I was playing guitar to the music videos on MTV. This one song came on with a very distinct piano line. By the time the video was done I had figured out the part on my guitar and thought, ‘That was a fun song to play, too bad I’ll never hear it again’..
That song was “Wannabe”
Taking Back Sunday
‘Tell All Your Friends’
After the honeymoon was over with my best friends girlfriend, she ended it. I was so hurt and annoying. My friend brought me into ‘Boarders Books And Music’ in Raleigh, NC, put the big black headphones on my head and said, ‘I think you’ll like this’ then played this album. He was wrong.
I didn’t just ‘like’ it….I ‘felt’ it.
Third Eye Blind
‘Third Eye Blind’
I stole this album. From someone. I can’t remember who. The very first song I ever performed live with a band was ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ and guess what? I didn’t know ANY of the words. I totally made them up. There is video of this…But I own the only copy 
To know anything about putting together a great song, you HAD to have been influenced by this album.
Tegan & Sara
‘The Con’
As a musician, the first thought that came to my mind when I heard this album was, ‘OH S**T! Tegan & Sara just wrote MY story’. Every song was exactly how I felt about things going on in my life. I wish a lot of lesbians would stop swooning over them for their looks and actually listen to what they have to say. They’re lyrics are deep, their music is catchy, and those girls can write AMAZING songs.
Ace Of Base
‘The Sign’
In 1994 my family moved from one side of town, to the other. I had to make new ‘neighborhood’ friends. Our closest neighbor had a daughter exactly my age. She was funny, and went to another school. We had a good time. Then one day I was listening to this album and she told me ‘Ace Of Base SUCKED’…. I never hung out with her again.
The Used
‘The Used’
One of my bandmates in ‘02 told me that if I listened to this album, it would change my life. And it did. I ‘felt’ this album just as much as I did with Taking Back Sunday. I remember one time my friend was sad about her girlfriend, so we drove around in my little red convertible with the top down in the North Carolina sun, SCREAMING these songs. I was in a rough spot too…..It helped us both.
Vanilla Ice
‘To The Extreme’
I got a copy of this from my little brothers friend. He brought his tape over and I played it in one tape player, then set up another tape player next to it to record the songs. That’s how we did it back in 1990. I had a microphone machine in my basement called a ‘Star Stage’, turned off all the lights, and would rap ‘Ice Ice Baby’ to my stuffed animals. Yes, from the beginning, I was a ’star’. haha
MC Hammer
‘Too Legit To Quit’
My parents bought this album for me for getting good grades. Remember when tapes used to have those big plastic things with locks on them so that you didn’t steal them?
I remember being upset with this because it had ‘Too Legit To Quit’ but it didn’t have ‘U Can’t Touch This’. That’s very upsetting for a 9 year old….
The Beach Boys
‘Still Crusin’
My parents went shopping one night, and brought this home for me. I was around 11. I haven’t listened to this in a while, but I remember it being ’80’s Beach Boys. You know, with all those ‘electronic’ sounding instruments, instead of real ones. Kokomo was on this. But my favorite was the song ‘Make It Big’….Because i remembered it from my FAVORITE MOVIE, ‘Troop Beverly Hills’
The Starting Line
‘Say It Like You Mean It’
In my North Carolina drivers license I am wearing a ‘Starting Line’ t-shirt. I discovered this group along with The Used and Taking Back Sunday, and they are probably the band I’ve seen most, live.
At that time in my life it was great to hear a song with the lyrics ‘She’s just a lost cause that you’re waiting on!”
Reel Big Fish
‘Turn The Radio Off’
Oh yeah….Late 90’s this is the album that influenced my whole ‘SKA’ obsession. And I was obsessed. I had a 13 piece ska band called, ‘The raSKAls’…Horns and ‘dub style singing’ was something I was SO into. There were a few local ska bands in Maine too. The Taxis being the greatest of them (in my opinion). Rustic Overtones. The Skatistics…..and don’t forget The raSKAls…
Dashboard Confessional
‘A Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar’
This is the album that had the Electric Version of “Hands Down” which I would put up in my top 2 favorite songs of all time, and somewhat consider my ‘Theme Song’.
Sadly this is the album in which I thought Dashboard ‘lost it’….But hey, $10 is a fair price for the song “Hands Down” especially the last 1 minute 10 seconds of the song.
Fleetwood Mac
‘The Dance’
In 1997 Fleetwood Mac were ALL OVER MTV & VH1. They had reunited, and no matter how much you wanted to avoid it, if you turned the tv on, there were 3 really old dudes and 2 old chicks playing music. Not cool for my MTV…..But then I listened closely. These were some of the most talented musicians I’d ever heard! Have you ever watched Lindsey Buckingham play guitar? He is my FAVORITE. Screw Hendrix.
Counting Crows
‘August and Everything After’
Did you know that The Counting Crows is one of Chris Cararaba’s favorite bands? (Dashboard Confessional). I got this album for having good grades, and it’s STILL one of the best albums I own.
The only thing that sucks is Adam Duritz doesn’t sing the songs live the way they are on the album. He ‘changes them up’ and that’s stupid.
The Dixie Chicks
‘Fly’
This is the only album I feel a little uneasy to put on this list, because I never technically owned it. But I did live in The South a little after it came out, and EVERYONE ELSE owned it. This was the first album that made me say, ‘Hey…. I can like country!!!’ Of course this is ‘Pop Country’ like Taylor Swift, but it’s still so good. The musical break in the end of “Cowboy Take Me Away’ still gives me goosebumps..Though my favorite is still “If I Fall (Your Going Down With Me)”
Blues Traveler
‘Four’
I am a pretty good guitar player now, but there was a time when I didn’t know you were supposed to push down on the strings. Seriously. I was about to give up, but then my parents invited their friend “Steve Buzzell” over so he would teach me something. I gave him the song “Run Around” and asked him to figure it out for me. He did. G C Am D…He wrote the tabs out and I practiced for MONTHS, the same 4 chords.. When I finally could change them, I decided to keep playing guitar!
Gin Blossoms
‘New Miserable Experience’
It was around my birthday in ‘93. I had this tape and my brother, cousin and I would give fake ‘concerts’ where I would sing and play a baseball bat. My mom said, ‘What do you want for your birthday? A guitar?’ and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’
I wrote the lead singer a fan letter, and a year later I got a letter back. He sent me a hand written letter and autographed guitar pics. I was young and stupid and used those pics to learn how to play guitar…
John Fogerty
‘Centerfield’
In my early life, I was really into baseball. My dad played the classic song “Centerfield” for me, a lot. One day I borrowed the album and realized there were other AWESOME songs on here. Especially “Rock & Roll Girls”. John Fogerty writes the perfect mix of catchy pop songs with a great message.
Plus I LOVE John Fogerty’s voice. CCR Forever!
Snow
‘12 Inches Of Snow’
Apparently this didn’t go as national as I thought, cos I am meeting a lot of people in the North West that DONT know who Snow was. I was obsessed. I loved how he rapped cos one of my hidden talents is I can rap really fast too. If you had the CD version of this album you got 2 extra songs. One was “50 Ways”…. I loved that song, but I only ever had the tape version, so my favorite was “Lady With The Red Dress On”…
Tegan & Sara
‘So Jealous’
All the lesbians were into this, and I didn’t want to be part of that….Stupid wussy acoustic Ani Difranco/Melissa Ferrick crap music…Tegan and Sara were the same…… Oh wait, what? There are drums? And these songs are really really f-ing catchy…
I was driving with my girlfriend and she put this album in. We didn’t speak. At the end, she said, ‘What are you thinking?” I said, ‘I didn’t want to like it, but that album was fucking GREAT!”
Taking Back Sunday
‘Where You Want To Be’
This album came out on the day that I moved from North Carolina to Seattle. I bought it, hopped in my little red convertible, and headed west. It was my dream. It was summer. I was alone. I have the greatest memories of being exhausted with the sun beating on me and singing along to this album. Thinking about how differently life was going to be in Seattle. Excited. Nervous. I can still smell and feel things from that trip when I hear these songs. Is that weird?
The Lion King
‘Soundtrack’
This was my first ever CD. Before this, I owned tapes. I found that if you plugged a set of headphones into my CD player’s ‘mic’ input, one of the headphones would end up being a microphone. I have a tape somewhere where I used that technique to ‘DJ’ songs off this record. ‘That was Hakuna Matata’ and now it’s ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’…The humble beginnings of my radio career.
Bush
‘Razorblade Suitcase’
One dark night I was playing guitar. My CD player was on a high shelf. I do NOT believe in ghosts, and there is no logical explanation, but my CD player came FLYING off the shelf a good 10 feet and landed on this cd that was on my floor. It crushed it to pieces.
I always thought it was the ghost of ‘John Lennon’ pissed that I was listening to something other than The Beatles……and ya know, in the back of my mind, I think I’ll always believe that.
