What Albums Influenced Your Musical Tastes

[LucklessPadresFan]

I read that our tastes in music are pretty much set by the age of 14 or 15, and I am always impressed by the wide range of musical tastes on this board. So, with that said, do any of you remember the specific albums/artists that influenced the music that you hold near and dear to your heart? For me, it was four specific LPs. "Meet the Beatles", "The Beatles Second Album", "The Best of the Animals" and "The Beach Boys Live". I was in kindergarten and my sister was a Beatles fanatic, and when I would come home from school, my mom would let me sneak into her room and I would play those four albums endlessly. From the Beatles and the Beach Boys, I was hooked on harmonies and great guitar hooks. From the Animals I found the love of the rawer blues sound that eventually led me to discovering the Rolling Stones. However, my musical epiphany came when I first heard Creedence Clearwater Revival. San Diego had a station--either KRPI or KGB--and once a week they would highlight the music coming out of the Bay Area in Northern California. They spotlighted CCR's first album and as soon as I heard Fogerty singing "Ninety Nine and a Half", I was hooked. 45 years later, I am still the world's biggest Fogerty fan.

 

[IndyAndy]

Probably the most influential for me was Kansas: Leftoverture. I was eleven at the time ('76). This was the first that I discovered that Rock could be more than just "boy meets girl" or "get down & party" songs. - Not that I don't like those as well.

Next would be Rush: Permanent Waves: That was the album (also the 1st time that I saw them in concert) that made me come to regard them as my favorite band.

 

[Wazmankg]

I read that our tastes in music are pretty much set by the age of 14 or 15

Really ? I didn't even buy my first LP until I was 16... that was in the very early 70s. My folks bought my sister & me the first few Beatles LPs when I was 8 or 9. After that it was singles... whatever was on the radio at the time, until I got a job and could afford to buy my own LPs. My first 2 were Love It To Death by Alice Cooper and Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and The Dominos. I didn't start getting into alternative rock and hard bop jazz, which is what I prefer to this day, until my late teens for the former with The New York Dolls, The Stooges, The Clash, Roxy Music, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and later The Replacements, Pixies, Sonic Youth & some of the grunge bands of the 90s. With jazz it wasn't until my late 20s that I started getting into Monk, Mingus, Davis, Trane... etc. I can't really say there was 1 or 2 albums.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory and Biggie's Ready To Die.

 

[Clayton]

My musical taste wasn't really influenced by any one particular album. It was probably influenced the most by 8-bit video game soundtracks and MTV's 'Alternative Nation'

The Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Under the Bridge' was probably the first song that made me 'get' music as something beyond background filler or jingles.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Pretty much ANYTHING going on in the late 60's, thru the 70's till the mid 80's. After that I really don't give a shit.

 

[Trevler]

The Replacements - Let it Be
Ministry - the Land of r*pe and Honey
Soul Asylum - Hang Time

If I had to pick three albums, these would be it.

 

[packerzrule]

Pretty much ANYTHING going on in the late 60's, thru the 70's till the mid 80's. After that I really don't give a shit.

roger that

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

I still vividly remember the first time I heard Portishead's live album......grew up on MTV and through college branched out a bit but it was still mostly standard music (pre-internet was tougher to find new bands!). I was in a Virgin Megastore in Amsterdam, stoned out of my mind, listening to albums at a listening station. It was by far the most amazing thing I'd heard in my life to that point.

In fact, the exact song that first rattled me:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL8lY5372Ec]Portishead - Roseland Nyc Live - Cowboys - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Peter Gabriel - So - was such a big fan of his that I followed him into his venture into scoring The Last Temptation of Christ and that album, Passion, really changed my outlook on music and what it can do.

Nirvana - Nevermind - I never knew how much I needed (or could respond to) simple chord progression and a howl the way I fell for this band when they broke out. 'Smells like teen spirit' was the obvious hook but, as the years progressed, songs like 'Aneurysm' and 'Radio Friendly Unit Shifter' are the ones I always come back to.

Lots of different music has held sway with me. But the keys ones? It's those two.

 

[Banned 10x]

My first ever album (tape) was The Clash "Combat Rock" which quickly was followed by Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil", I wore that tape out and considered it my first true musical experience. I liked many different types of music growing up and MTV had a huge influence on me. I remember enjoying Duran Duran even though being a heavy metal stoner I couldn't admit that. I was always searching for heavier music and it all ended with "Master Of Puppets". Metallica completely shaped everything I though I enjoyed about music and punched me in the face.

I got a job in music programming about 15 years ago and have come to really enjoy all types of genres of music but I've mostly become a huge Beatles fan over the last 10 years and I have trouble going a week without listneing to Abbey Road.

 

[Berkeley_Blues]

 

[Berkeley_Blues]

Led Zeppelin IV:

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

My dad's old jazz, blues and big band records, and my mom's classical and opera records, pretty much shaped my appreciation and love for all music, before I got into pop, soul and rock&roll.

 

[SLY]

Pink Floyd - Animals (my first "favorite" album)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Faith No More - The Real Thing
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve (got me into real metal)

I'd say those are my top albums from childhood that framed my diverse taste today. Although nowadays I am very much into jazz.

 

[JohnRandle]

 

[geneh_33]

For me, Led Zeppelin I, II, III, IV and Physical Graffiti. The tracks on PG are some of the best rock ever written.

 

[leomaz]

Led Zeppelin......all of them

 

[KansasSooner]

I can't say it was an album because 45's were more the rage when I was growing up. The first LP I had was CCR Cosmo's Factory.

 

[navamind]

Propagandhi - How To Clean Everything
The Vandals - Hitler Bad, Vandals Good
Aesop Rock - Labor Days
Oliver Hart - The Many Faces of Oliver Hart
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Nirvana - Bleach
Radiohead - The Bends
Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante