No way can I name a fave song of all time, but today I was thinking about albums that just rearranged my musical sensibilities, caught me off guard and left perminent impressions.
Here are a few, along with when I first heard them:
1986: Grateful Dead--Anthem of the Sun (their most experimental album, from 1968)I listened to it start to finish, wordless, in my sister's room. After trying and failing to to get me into the Dead, this album finally got me. I didn't want mandolins, 3 part harmonies and flange guitar. I wanted feedback and noise collages. I was in 8th grade.
1988: Syd Barrett--The Madcap Laughs/Barrett. Oh, Syd just keeps coming back.
Just tonight I walked into Turn It Up just as "Bike" was starting. It freaked me out because that song was a recurring topic of discussion on the tour I just did. In fact I just made a Syd (Floyd and solo) mix CD for someone.
Then I looked around and saw 2 Syd CDs on the staff picks and a big picture of him near the listening station.
I love those solo albums, and I don't care what any Stuntmen keyboard players say, I will take the most crazy Syd Barrett song over any song from The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon any friggin' day. I like hooks. I like spontanaity. I like a humourous shell with a crying soul inside. Not a crying shell with a millionaire's soul.
1989: The Stone Roses (self titled)--I'd just gotten my license and it was fall turning into winter. This was a new band that I could relate to. I was now a part of the human race, free, on wheels, and in the moment.
1990: The Buzzcocks--Singles Going Steady. Wow, it's like the early Kinks but 15 years later! This rearranged my drumming sensibilities and I played along to it a lot that summer.
1990: Sonic Youth--Daydream Nation. I had Goo and dug it. Then a friend lent me the cassette of this 1988 album. I sat in the living room after school with headphones, oblivious to my parents calling me to dinner. I'd fallen into a half awake/half dreaming state. Dude, I was IN the Daydream Nation.
1991: The Pixies--Surfer Rosa. I was a few years late on this one. I knew Bossa Nova and a couple singles. But a friend dubbed it for me, and during a week long heatwave, I drove around listening to it non stop, day and night.
1992: Pavement--Slanted and Enchanted. I feel like college didn't really start for me until sophomore year. Freshman year I kind of kept to myself and hung on to a lot of hometown friendships and crushes. Sept '92 I was turned onto this and life away from home became an adventure that continues to this day.
well, that's more than enough for now.
They're not my favorite albums, they're just ones that hit me from behind when I least expected it, and sent me on an unexpectedly fruitful path.
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