Albums that rocked your world.

[Billfred]

Alright, so there's the "Books that inspired you" thread in the general forum. I'm gonna ask the same question about albums, except that I don't know if I'll hold it to the inspiring standard--let's aim for albums that struck a chord with you deep inside you.

Personally, I can think of two...

1) "The Black Album" by Jay-Z: This is his last album, as far as we all know. I guess this one hit me because a lot of the album is spent talking about finishing up a career filled with ups and downs, just when I'm graduating high school. It's one of those albums that I kept playing over and over in my car, much to my brother's chagrin. (His recording career, oddly enough, goes back to 1992, when I was in kindergarden. And yes, that quote down in my signature is taken from the last cut, My 1st Song)

2) "Thriller" by New End Original: A side project of Jonah Matranga (formerly of Far, currently of Onelinedrawing), their lone album seems to contain the range of feelings I've had over my high school career--from taking my own path (Lukewarm) to falling for a girl (#1 Defender), to feigning happiness to the crowd, despite the truth (Leper Song). And besides that, the album rocks.

[Lisa Perez]

One by One by the Foo Fighters is pretty amazing. They know how to hit every single emotion in their songs, on this album especially. "Times like These" and "All My Life" are two of my favorites.


Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World is excellent as well. For the same reason as above. And because they have the ability to make anyone's day. Plus, the ballads aren't too sappy so that's always a plus.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I'd have to say that both Josh Groban cds struck a chord with me. He sings in Italian, which is my second language (english is 3rd, w00t) and it's really inspiring that he's made this career for himself.

The Beastie Boys newest album, the 5 boroughs one, is fabulous. They say a lot about their beliefs and their interests without compromising their unique artistic talent.

[Bill Gold]

There are many albums that have either influenced my life or made it more enjoyable for one reason or another. Music has been, and in all likelihood will continue to be very important to me.

When we were young my parents would put my brother and me to sleep with music. Some of my favorites that I remember were various pieces by Chopin and Beethoven, “On the Threshold of a Dream” by The Moody Blues (that robot voice in “In The Beginning” used to scare the crap out of me. Yes. I was a wuss.), “Stardust” by Willie Nelson, “Blue Skies” performed by Kiri Te Kanawa, a few different Ray Charles albums, and some assorted Steve Miller Band music. When we weren’t headed to bed we listened, primarily, to oldies like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Birds, Simon and Garfunkel, The Supremes, Janis Joplin, Crosby/Stills/Nash(/& Young), and others. When I was growing up in the late 1980’s and early 1990s I was pretty much totally isolated from modern music.

I didn’t start listening to modern music until about 1992 when my friends got me to listen to Salt ‘N Peppa, and then onto more modern rock like The Offspring, Green Day, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and others. I noticed that bands like Pearl Jam were politically active and tried to engage their fans to become involved in issues that should matter to them, but it wasn’t the same type of movement like in the 1960’s and 1970’s (the music I had been used to).

When I started middle school in 1994 most of my elementary school friends went to another school and I felt alone for a long time. It was a good three-quarters of the year before I made any friends, and I became very depressed because I wasn’t fitting in. I retreated into music looking for something to do, or something to be a part of. As luck would have it, I ran across music by Social Distortion and Bad Religion. I can say, without any hesitation, that the music of these two bands (but Social Distortion in particular) saved my life. I was seriously considering committing suicide as an 11 year old, for reasons that (looking back on my life with 20/20 vision) were ridiculous. Social Distortion’s stories of drug addicted friends, being doomed to a life of prison sentences and poor education, gang violence, working dead end jobs, and persecution for many different reasons showed me that my problems were absolutely nothing compared to the plight of so many people in the world. It showed me that someone with this kind of background was determined to get out of it and lead a productive life, and that I shouldn’t just give up and leave this world silently. I was lucky enough to be born into a great family that’s very supportive, and I have absolutely no excuse to squander this life that millions of people would kill to have an opportunity to live. The music of Bad Religion is crafted so beautifully. It gets a wonderful message across, and does so with an amazing sound that continues to wow me.

During those tough times for me I also turned to the music of the band Live. I’m definitely not a religious person, but I feel some strange comfort when listening to their music. It definitely speaks to me for reasons that are still unknown to me.

Since then I’ve listened to and been affected by music created by many bands. It’d take forever to talk about all of them, but other albums and bands that haven’t already been listed that part of me owes its existence to include (but aren’t limited to)…
Alice in Chains
Better Than Ezra
Bob Seger
Bush – 16 Stone
Candlebox (in particular “Far Behind”)
Cheap Trick
Counting Crows, The
Cult, The
Cure, The
Cranberries, The
Face To Face
Faith No More
Fiona Apple
Garbage
Journey
Korn
Lenny Kravitz
Letters to Cleo
Local H
Meat Loaf
Mike Ness - Cheating at Solitaire
Nada Surf
Natalie Imbruglia
Nine Inch Nails
Oleander
Sheryl Crow
Silverchair
Sister Hazel
Smashing Pumpkins, The
Sponge
Stabbing Westward
Stone Temple Pilots
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Tonic
Tool
U2
Who, The (“Tommy” in particular)

Yeah… I’ve probably written more than my allotted $0.02 worth…

[Andy A.]

Would have to say Everclear's So Much For the Afterglow.

When you mix just the right amount of pop production in with rock, it's a wonderful thing.

Dispatch's various live shows and recordings are fantastic. Gut the Van tops that list.

[Scooter]

There are several moving albums that I've heard...

Days of Future Passed by Moody Blues
Surlamer by Moody Blues
Audio by Blue Man Group
Almost anything by Peter Paul and Mary
Songs You Know By Heart by Jimmy Buffett

Each of these has had an influence on my life in it's own way, but each has helped make me who I am.

-Bill

[Alex Pelan]

The Beatles 1 really taught me how good the music was in the 60s and 70s, and it really has got me into a lot of the more classic stuff.

[Mike Ciance]

AFI: All Hollows EP
AFI: Art of Drowning
AFI: Sing The Sorrow
Audioslave: Audioslave
Bamboo Shoots: Research and Development EP
Disturbed: Believe
Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park: Meteora (it's ok, but it rocks because i got it for free when i won this game at Ramp Riot )
Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles
Slipknot: Slipknot
Slipknot: Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses
System of a Down: Steal This Album!
System of a Down: System of a Down
System of a Down: Toxicity
Taproot: Gift
Taproot: Welcome

[evulish]

Oh man.. So Much for the Afterglow ROCKED SO HARD. Years after buying the cd, I can still listen to it. I love that CD. Post-grunge rock rules. It sounds so awesome when turned up loud.

Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever, Amen. One of my favorite albums ever. I can't get sick of it.

Ben Folds - Sunny 16 (EP). I think this his latest EP. Great music. Going to see him, Rufus Wainright, and Guster on July 3rd in Buffalo, NY.

The Postal Service - Give Up. Emo meets Electronica.. so awesome.

Dispatch - Bang Bang. Great album.

[Joshua May]

3 Doors Down - The Better Life
Billy Joel - Piano Man - One of my favorite songs of all time
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper - I like the message of the song
Foo Fighters - One by One
Hoobastank - The Reason
EDIT: Staind - 14 Shades of Grey
Train - Drops of Jupiter
Tsunami Bomb - The Great Escape

[Dorienne]

Albums I've really enjoyed are:
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory ~~I can still listen to this after so long, and I never get tired of it.
Richard Marx - Rush Street ~~This guy has such an amazing voice, and his songs are really unique and different. 80s rock is awesome!
Grease Soundtrack ~~C'mon, who doesn't love Grease!
Richard Marx - Repeat Offender ~~This album is my favorite. The lyrics are just so mind-blowing, it's hard to believe this guy wrote this stuff. He sings the songs with such passion and emotion, it's hard to not picture what the lyrics say. Amazing.

--d0ri

[Greg Ross]

I don't know about "rock my world", but here's a quick list of a few of my early favorites (not necessarily in any particular order, chronological or otherwise.):

The Beatles: Sergeant Pepper, Abbey Road, Yellow Submarine
Artur Rubenstein plays Beethoven Piano Sonatas (especially the Moonlight and Apassionatta sonatas.)
Leonard Pennario playing Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (and others.)
Switched on Bach by Walter (Wendy) Carlos
Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev
Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns, narrated by Hugh Downs
Peter, Please, It’s Pancakes
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly
On Wenlock Edge by Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed by Ian Partridge
Debussy’s Introduction and Allegro performed by the Melos Ensemble

Quite an eclectic list, don’t you think?

The four albums with the most influence on my music tastes

Pearl Jam - Ten (one of the best of all time)
Nirvana - Nevermind (Arguably the best of all time)
Green Day - Dookie (95% of their music after dookie was crap..no pun intended )
Alice In Chains- Greatest Hits...all their albums were good, but the greatest hits album is truely great

[Matt_Kaplan1902]

Some of mine:

New Found Glory (they grew up in my hometown)- NewFoundGlory, Sticks & Stones, Catalyst
Linkin Park- Hydrid Theory
Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon
Led Zeplin and Queen- Greatest Hits
Nirvana - Nevermind
Green Day - Dookie
Offspring- Smash & Conspiracy of One
Midtown- Living Well is the Best Revenge
Yellow Card- Oceanavenue
Basically All Oldies
-I work in an Ice Cream Shop and ALL day they play Majik 102.7 which is the local oldies station.

[Karthik]

Radiohead - The Bends
This album is more than a collection of songs, it's an emotional journey.

U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind

How many bands can say that they're still producing their best music after being in the business for 20 years. I thought it was impossible to top The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby, but they did it.

Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die

This album changed hip hop music forever. It really helped bring the hardcore street rap into the mainstream. It's just too bad that everything had to end in such a tragic way for Biggie.

Ben Harper - Welcome To The Cruel World

If you ever just want to chill out and relax, this is the album to toss on. Ben Harper's music is as comfortable as a soothing embrace...