15 Albums to Map My Taste in Music

Mar 18, 2009

Music

Green Day – Dookie: As a professional musician, my Dad always needs to be pretty up to date. So back in the day he bought a cassette tape of this album. After giving it a few listens, he gave it to me having no further use for it. This album is essentially what saved me from the horrible pop path I was on at the moment, which I’m sorry to say included a Backstreet Boys album. This had a huge influence on steering me towards rock in general, and the pop rock genre specifically that you’ll see show up again quite a few times. Like all the albums on this list, the number of times I’ve listened to this is uncountable, especially since at the time I first got it, it was the only worthwhile thing I had.
Blink 182 – Dude Ranch: This album is really just a continuation of Dookie in terms of its influence. Blink 182 as well as Green Day are both bands who I’ve followed since this point, and both fit the same general genre that is essentially the rock of my musical taste (for a lot of my life). A ton of good songs on here, though very few of them do I ever still listen to. I also remember having to be careful about Blink’s childish sequeues when playing around family.
Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind: I believe no album has lasted me as long as this one. To this day I still listen to this album in its entirety, and I think it’s fantastic. It also relaxes me and reduces my stress and makes me feel at home like no other album I have. The last 3 songs or so are unparalleled as a finish to an album, and every time I hear them I feel emotional in more ways than one. This album is really part of the reason I’m putting this post together
Everclear – Songs From an American Movie vol. 1: Learning to Smile: This album somewhat pairs up with Third Eye Blind in terms of the time period I listened to them, I may have even bought them together. It’s essentially just a really good pop album that helped get me through a rough time when I needed something positive to listen to (see “Wonderful”). The track “Learning to Smile” still kind of says a lot about my general state of being.
Incubus – Morning View: This is a big one. Incubus became one of two artists who I really admired for their musicianship and songwriting. Brandon’s lyrics are poetic, and Mike’s guitarplaying is baffling. My dad and I were able to share the enjoyment of the band as well. Though I heard the band before, this is the album that really hooked me and I still consider it my favorite (though of course their entire catalog is important to me).
Weezer – Weezer (The Blue Album): Possibly my favorite band of all time. I just really like it. Technically the green album was the first album I got, and Pinkerton is my favorite, but this is an example of pop perfection at its finest, and it’s what cemented my love of Weezer. I’m pretty sure I’ve learned to play more of these songs on guitar than any other album I have.
Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends: I’d say this album was partly responsible for helping to cement a few of my really good high school friendships. It also was one of the primary influences for the garage band I was in for a few months. Loved the overlapping vocals and biting lyrics. Definitely a lot of fun and turned me on to a lot of similar artists.
Brand New – Deja Entendu: This was the next step in the progression from Taking Back Sunday. Had a lot of the things I liked about TBS but did them a little better and more seriously. Great lyrics.
Cake – Prolonging the Magic: A perfect pop album. Started me back down into a more positive direction with the music I listen to. This was my gateway to the entire Cake discography. Now Cake is one of my favorite bands and I can always come back to it. You’ll notice on last.fm Cake is my top artist.
Various Artists – Garden State (Original Soundtrack): “Listen to this, it’ll change your life.” Garden State is a great movie, and a lot of it is because of the music. This helped me get into a lot of relaxed music that makes up a good portion of the music I listen to these days. But this album also helped me to get through a lot of the changes that were going on in my life after having just begun college. And though I got into the Shins just before the music came out, this cemented my love of them as well.
The Beatles – Abbey Road: This is a hard one to define or place because I GREW UP on The Beatles. I can’t tell you a time when I didn’t listen to them. I inherited this love from my parents, and it was never one particular album but rather a mix of all of them at various times. So instead I decided to pick the album that spurred a major Beatles kick much more recently. Abbey Road is essientially my favorite album, and spurred an obsession in which I really delved into their entire discography much more throughly than ever before, and also learned as much about the history of the songs as I could. I really love the medley on this album
Jack Johnson – Brushfire Fairytales: First turned on to this by my cousin Kurt. Just really great relaxing music and a gateway to a few other artists. Great for doing homework to or taking a nap with and just really positive overall.
Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism: I listen to a lot of Death Cab, Postal Service, and similar artists like Rilo Kiley. This is the album that started me down that road.
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake it’s Morning: I love Bright Eyes for Conor Oberst’s beautiful lyrics. They’re like poetry in music form. But I have to admit this was not my first album. First I got “Lifted…” and liked it but had a hard time breaking into it. Once I got this album I “got it” and was able to go back and really appreciated Lifted the way it’s meant to be.
Say Anything – Is a Real Boy…: Say Anything is my most recent obsession. I just love the biting lyrics and catchy choruses. Just a great thing to listen to when you’re a bit pissed off.