The Top 10 Most Influential Albums That Changed My Life

There’s been a flurry of threads on Facebook where you list the top 10 albums that have influenced you in some way.

I love lists, especially when they’re so “High Fidelity” so I thought I’d share mine with you.

These are not necessarily my favorite albums but they make the list because if it weren’t for these records my life would’ve turned out much differently.

1. The Doors – Original Soundtrack – My dad has been my biggest musical influence and it all started with this album. Listening to Break on Through in the car with the windows down will always be my favorite childhood memory.
2. Nirvana – From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah – I had a friend in 7th grade who was the son of a TV Evangelist. I’m not sure whether he was allowed to listen to this kind of music but he got me seriously hooked on Nirvana and this was the first album we listened to.
3. The Beatles – Anthology I – Whenever I got high enough grades (which was always of course…) my parents would reward me with a record of my choice. The Beatles were played incessantly from that point forward.
4. Dredg – El Cielo – This is maybe the most beautiful rock record of all time. It would also make my favorites list so I can’t not include it here. Go. Listen. To. It.
5. Muse – Origin of Symmetry – I remember seeing the music video for Plug In Baby and thinking, “huh, I guess people still make great rock music. I guess I’ll keep playing guitar…”
6. Leonard Cohen – The Future – My parents always played Cohen whenever they entertained or had people over for dinner. Once my musical tastes matured a little I realized how good this album was. Now I sometimes play it when I have people over. Funny how tiny things pass on from generation to generation. To be honest I’m Your Man is probably a better album but I remember the cover of this one so vividly.
7. Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind – This album coincided with my first real teenage breakup. Sad and sappy teenage Björgvin found solace in this album, especially the song Motorcycle Drive By.
8. Tool – Lateralus – I spent a good chunk of my life devouring everything that Tool ever released and then trying my hardest to rip off their riffs and song structure. I play folk music now, go figure…
9. Eric Clapton – Slowhand – I grew up listening to my dad’s vinyls and by doing so Eric Clapton became a huge influence on me as a guitar player. This isn’t the best Clapton album by far (Layla is btw…) but Cocaine, Wonderful Tonight and Lay Down Sally might be one of the strongest first three songs of any album.
10. Pan – Virgins – This was the first (and only) record my old band released. Recording and self publishing an album at 19 was quite the influential moment. So many days in the studio until 5 am only to sleep for three hours to be at school at 8 am. Luckily, there was always a couch you could nap on and I developed the skill of being able to fall asleep next to the drummer while he was recording drums.

So those are mine. Of course, only 10 albums is ridiculously low for someone who’s whole life revolves around music but those are the albums all have very specific memories or life moments attached to them.

If you want to share yours with me leave a comment on the post. I’ll look forward to reading them.

That’s all for today, have an awesome rest of the day.

Björgvin

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