16 Albums

[Via Facebook, thanks to Smacky.]

16 Albums

Think of 16 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Music that royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, figuratively socked you in the gut.

[These are largely albums I discovered in high school or college. I was a blank slate then, and these spoke to me in ways I’ll never forget. Though a few still make it onto a playlist once in a while, most are just fond memories.]

1. "Little Earthquakes," Tori Amos – College, thanks to Evan. (He might not realize how much of an impact he had.) There’s not a bad song on the album; every one speaks to me at different times and for different reasons. Anyone who knows me probably thinks “Crucify” is my theme song, but I actually really connected to “Winter.” Still do.
2. "Whatever and Ever Amen," Ben Folds Five – Senior year of high school. Ryan sitting at an oak-colored piano and saying, “Come here. I can play ‘Brick.’ The riff goes like this. …” Ben Folds doesn’t just play a piano; he dominates it and submits to it. I wanted to do that, too.
3. "Fashion Nugget," Cake – Senior year of high school. Andy’s car, driving to the print shop with a stack of page proofs, “Race Car Ya-Yas” on the stereo – and loud. I hadn’t heard anything like it before. Went out and bought it that night.
4. "Reload," Metallica – Paul’s black truck, freshman year in college. Singing, half in freedom and half in rebellion. I’m thankful he was a bad influence.
5. "Ani DiFranco," Ani DiFranco – Senior year of college. My roommate brought it from New Mexico and played it in a little stereo on her desk. (Another friend who probably doesn’t realize her influence.) I loved everything about my roommate. I started playing piano again because of her.
6. "Factory Showroom," They Might Be Giants – Right place, right time – around my junior year in college. Even now, every time I hear “New York City,” my mind goes to the only good part of the Summer of Hell.
7. "Jagged Little Pill," Alanis Morissette – I bought this in my junior year of high school and hid it from my parents in my bedroom because the songs have bad words. “Mary Jane” still means the world to me.
8. "Marc Cohn," Marc Cohn – No, not because of “Walking in Memphis," though I do know it. My songs were "Silver Thunderbird" and “Strangers in a Car.”
9. "Rage Against the Machine," Rage Against the Machine – Summer before my freshman year of college. Didn’t agree with everything but liked most of it anyway. Probably my favorite lines came from “Know Your Enemy”: "Yes, I know my enemies: They're the teachers who taught me to fight me … (etc.)."
10. "New Adventures in Hi-Fi," R.E.M. – Two words: “Be Mine.”
11. "The Downward Spiral," Nine Inch Nails – Bought this in college but didn’t really get into NIN until much later. Might have been my first real exposure to concept music … and industrial music, for that matter.
12. "Under the Table and Dreaming," Dave Matthews Band – Sleepover at Betsy’s house, my sophomore or junior year of high school. I’m sitting on the extra bed, listening to “Satellite,” and I don’t feel alone.
13. "Tails," Lisa Loeb – The line “I’ve been sleeping on half of my bed lately, thinking of what you said to me,” really resonated. It was beautiful and poetic … and who hasn’t been there at some point in their life? Bonus: “Sandalwood” is a sweet song, as well.
14. "The Presidents of the United States of America," The Presidents of the United States of America – Here’s another one I picked up from Andy, which is kind of funny because we didn’t hang out that often. A lot of the songs walked a fine line between enjoyable and weird. I dug that.
15. "Plans," Death Cab for Cutie – This one came out in 2005, much later than the other ones on my list, but I found it – specifically “What Sarah Said” – in an ICU waiting room. It was like it was written for me. It stayed in my car CD player for weeks.
16. "River of Dreams," Billy Joel – Another album on which every song is fantastic. And “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” is one of my favorite lullabies. Beautiful.

Sixteen takes a while, but if you're not inclined to go to all that trouble, I'd love to hear at least the what and why of your top album.