Cowboy Junkies cover of “Sweet Jane”. The first time I heard that on the radio I remember thinking, “What the hell was that song and when can I hear it again?”
I heard “Summertime” in a car commercial, it became an earworm, and I googled the lyrics to figure out who it was. I found the Flaming Lips’ website and was able to listen to the entire album online… I think I bought the CD within a matter of days.
I absolutely love everything I’ve ever heard by The Mars Volta, and it was all because of Eriatarka. My brother gave me a CD with a whole bunch of mp3s on it, and I transferred them to my player to listen to at work. For some reason, this song (which my brother hadn’t intended to give me, because he didn’t like it) was tucked into the folder with the Killer’s “Hot Fuss”. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that this track was very, very different, and so I finally looked at the mp3 filename, and decided to google it, not knowing whether “Eriatarka” or “The Mars Volta” was the song name or the band name. Again, a few tracks online and I was hooked. I bought Deloused in the Comatorium immediately, and proceeded to buy the other albums one after the other. While my husband prefers some albums over others, I love them all.
And Nine Inch Nails. I could listen to a track of Trent Reznor eating cereal, and probably love it.
Pre-internet, in a small town, the only music to be had was a local “album rock” station, and a couple of music stores at the local shopping mall which only carried big label sellers and no back catalogs of anything that wasn’t popular. Most buzz bands in Rolling Stone, for example, I could only read about since no one carried the music to buy.
A friend came back from vacation in LA with a copy of Love and Rockets “Express”. I was knocked over and mesmerized, a new sound that captivated me like none else. I henceforth became an alternative “before alternative was a genre” music scrounge like none other, becoming the favorite of the “special orders” guy at the music store. “More of your weird shit is in, son :dubious:” I’d hear on the phone machine, and off to the store I’d rush…
I’ve nominated Losing My Religion by REM in a similar thread. I’ll stand by that one, because it perfectly captured how I was feeling at the time and I realised that other people had gone through the same sort of profound shift that meant rethinking their personal reality from the ground up. Though it’s a pretty bleak song, it still inspires me.
For the album, my dad brought home Never Mind The Bollocks by the Sex Pistols (had to be a step up from Abba and the BeeGees according to him). I didn’t like it, but I could see why it was going to change things. I still have it in a cupboard somewhere, mind blowing album, only played once.
Neil Young, both Weld and Ragged Glory. Zeppelin IV. The song Sweet Leaf by Sabbath - one of the heaviest riffs ever. Back in Black. Bone Machine by Tom Waits.
Probably some others.
Joe
Ooh, great choice. That’s a fantastic album that I used to wonder if no one else on the entire planet but me has ever heard. Stupid, of course, but I occasionally find myself feeling like they must have made that album just for me.
I’ve thought about this before and there are several albums that changed my tastes immediately upon hearing them. In the order I was exposed to them:
Kiss Alive (5 years old or so)
Dr. Feelgood (11 or 12 I think)
And Justice for All. (13 I think) This was a big shift for me into real metal. I was blown away the first time I heard that album and listened to it over and over for several months.
Vulgar Display of Power. I was amazed at how much I liked Pantera. (15 or so)
Sepultura Arise (16 ish). It was the first speed metal album I heard that I liked. This album threw me into metal for good.
Ministry Psalm 69.
Then there was a 4 year period or so where nothing really rocked my world.
Then I heard Hatebreed Satisfaction is the Death of Desire. That turned me on to simple, chugging, hardcore metal. Still one of my favorite albums to this day.
The most recent albums to kind of rock my world are tied between Trivium:Ascendency, Agony Scene: Darkest Red, and Divine Heresy:Bleed the Fifth.
I find as I get older my world doesn’t get rocked as easily.
Phish - Rift In high school, laying back on my bed after finishing some godawful novel, I popped in the blue disc that a friend had loaned me, clapped on my headphones, and laid there with a sketchbook to doodle. I didn’t draw a thing.
Led Zeppelin - II In college one of the a cappella groups sang Ramble On at the orientation concert. At my tryout, I asked them what song that was, and who sang it, and could I borrow the original. One of the seniors invited me over to his place and we gave the whole thing a once-over while we drank tea.
Radiohead - OK Computer After college I joined the Air Force. A buddy of mine was talking about Radiohead and I said “oh yeah, the guys who sang Creep” and that did it. He stood there for a moment and then headed to his shelf, grabbed me OK Computer, and said “You need to listen to this the whole way through at your earliest opportunity.” He was right.
When I first heard Bat Out of Hell I thought it was an amazing accomplishment, both in terms of composing and performing.
It’s still an awesome piece of work.
First one was the Beatles’ Rubber Soul. I couldn’t listen to it all the way through for six months after I bought it because it was so painful.
Then the Let It Be album.
Led Zep’s first four albums blew me away in college. I’d grown up on 80’s music, and I thought that only the stoners listened to heavy metal. Led Zep convinced me otherwise.
After that, nothing really blew my mind until '03, when I saw Shane MacGowan for the first time in If I Should Fall from Grace with God, and became an instant Pogues fan. Pretty much every Pogues album featuring Shane has blown my mind since then.
Bostons first and second albums.
This is indeed a bizarre coincidence.
I was browsing iTunes last night and stumbled onto The Go! Team. Thought, what the heck, I’ll try Thunder, Lightning, Strike
After the first three tracks I had already gotten back on iTunes and had bought and was downloading Proof of Youth.
These guys are kicking my ass with awesomeness. I listened to both albums through, on repeat, about three times last night. So great. I’m angry at myself for not noticing the group earlier. I think I was turned off by all the reviews focusing on the optimism and energy of the music - I think I had been expecting “The Alt-Rock Mickey Mouse Club”. But damn, these are just two magnificently happy albums.
Great recommendation - I honestly found the albums before reading it, but I heartily endorse it. So good.
The first time I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version of “Little Wing”, it made me cry. The song itself (original) has special meaning to me, and this version was so recognizably “Little Wing” and yet so amazingly Stevie Ray, I was overcome with emotion. I was in the car and had to pull over to recover.
Actually, I think “The Alt-Rock Mickey Mouse Club” is a pretty good description!
And while I am here, Animal Collective has officially blown my mind with the first song off their new album, “In the Flowers.” Specifically the part where they go
Sparks: Kimono My House. I’d heard their early 80s stuff and was rather impressed with the lyrics, if not all that enthusiastic about the music itself. On a whim, I got a battered LP of this on eBay and put it on while I was cleaning my room. The wave of impeccable crazy-ass greatness hit me around “Thank God It’s Not Christmas” and I froze in my tracks, totally agog. Once it was done I went back online and proceeded to have my mind blown in a similar fashion by Indiscreet, Propaganda, and No. 1 in Heaven. God I love those crazy Maels.
Talking Heads: Remain in Light. Before I heard this album at age 15, I’d been a passive consumer of music. I really didn’t know what I liked or disliked - whatever was on the radio would do, and as far as I knew it didn’t get any more complicated than Top 40 and “Eighties at Eight.” Remain in Light opened my eyes to what pop music could be, and after that my tastes developed rapidly to make up for all the time I’d lost.
The Mickey Mouse Club could never drop Titanic Vandalism. It’s been a long time since a group made me smile so uncontrollably.
Now stop recommending bands. I’m broke enough as it is.
Amen.
“Little Earthquakes” by Tori Amos: I was a little grungy metalhead when I encountered this album, and the emotional starkness of it really rocked me. I’ve been a huge fan of her ever since, and even got to briefly meet her once.
“Blood Sugar Sex Magic” Such a raw combination of talent, divergent styles, politics and emotion. The iconic masterwork of a great band.
Both of these hit me at just the right time, when I was 14 or 15 or so. I think that music is never as important as during adolescence.
I’ve listened to songs that get to me, but the first one that made me cry when I first heard it was, embarrassingly enough, “Andante, Andante” by Abba. I was at the house of the guy who owned the album, and apologized for crying. He was kind enough not to laugh, and said that Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” did the same to him. I have never listened to that particular Abba song again.
My brother has a friend who has been a Sonic Youth fan since high school. He introduced me to them, and the first time I heard their Washing Machine album, I fell in love (with the album, not the guy. He’s nice, but he’s my brother’s friend, for chrissakes! Not going there!) Since then I have made sure to always have a copy of Washing Machine on hand in whatever format is available, and am currently on my fourth copy - one tape copied off my brother’s friend, one tape bought at a record store, and two CDs, of which I currently own the second. I let my ex take whatever CDs he wants but he ain’t taking this one.
A couple of years ago I was riding in the car with my brother when he played a mix CD that had some Decemberists songs in it. “Eli the Barrow Boy” in particular touched me, and I made him sit in the driveway so I could listen to the end of “The Mariner’s Revenge Song.”
Recently I discovered a podcast called “Radio Three Sixty,” which plays all kinds of songs. I’ve been finding songs that I like on there. Two that stand out for me are “Crash and Burn” by Fishbunny and “Long Long Time” by Kid Galahad.
Albums: Dead Can Dance’s Aion and Cocteau Twins’ Victorialand *
Songs: The Cure’s Primary, Bauhaus’s Spirit and* Joy Division**'s Atmosphere.