10 albums that changed my life, chronologically

Cosmo Lee put up a post on "12 albums that changed my life" over at Invisible Oranges. Evidently it is an idea making the rounds on Farcebook.
His list was fascinating, as were the numerous responses people posted in the comments. I couldn't help myself from taking up the thread here:

Guns N' Roses - Welcome To the Jungle/Metallica - ...And Justice For All
I grew up as a kid in Queens, NY on a steady diet of hip-hop and whatever radio-friendly hair metal was to be had. It was summer camp in 1989. One of my bunk mates brought a boom-box and played these two albums constantly. I knew, of course, the singles from Appetite from radio and TV. I didn't appreciate the filthy, beautiful smut of the album until that sweaty summer. I'd also never heard anything so dark and evil as Justice up until then. The repeated listenings sunk the first claws of metal into me.

Nirvana - Nevermind
It was the first CD I ever bought. I'd only acquired copied cassettes up until then. Nevermind introduced me to the concept of buying my own music and my parents to the fact that I'd be blasting music at ridiculous volumes from there on out.



Metallica - Metallica
It was the first Metal album I bought. It was the gateway drug, but also the first step in my life as a Hetfield apologist. The Black Album led me to pick up a guitar and start taking lessons. My parents paid for about 7 years of jazz guitar lessons, and all I have to show for it is the perfect knowledge of how to play Metallica songs.


Carcass - Heartwork/Entombed - Wolverine Blues
By 1993, I was reading metal magazines and starting to branch out. With promotion from a major record label, advertisements for Heartwork and Wolverine Blues were everywhere. I bought both albums on the same day, without having any idea what they would sound like. I vividly remember a car ride to a family gathering, listening to Heartwork on some old headphones, and being absolutely blown away. It took me a while to get used to the vocals, but these two albums sent me quickly down the dark path to death metal. I bought multiple copies of the same metal magazine (I can't remember which one) so I could plaster a Carcass "The Meat in the Hooks" ad on all my notebooks.

Suffocation - Pierced From Within
This album was the absolute apex of brutality when it came out. Discovering Suffocation did a couple of things for me. In 1995, Pierced From Within signaled a shift in my metal aesthetics towards "brutal death metal." After a couple of years of listening to metal from Brazil, Sweden, Britain, and all corners of the earth, I finally realized that there was a metal scene in New York City. I set off for college in the Bronx, determined to soak up as many shows as possible.

Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
For the next couple of years I plied the depths of the New York death metal scene, and attended more soulless shows than any human being should endure. The music was getting worse and worse. Suffocation had broken up, Cryptopsy had started to suck, and Chuck Shuldiner had thrown in the towel. I myself was tired of the whole thing. I started to reminisce about mythical summers with my cousin Art where we played Middle Earth Role Playing and listened to Iron Maiden. Maiden didn't do much for me at the time, but I began to think about the idea that there could be melody in heavy metal. In a fit one day, I walked into a music store and bought the Maiden album I remembered most. Seventh Son changed everything for me. I sucked up all the Maiden I could get, along with Bruce Dickinson's solo albums, and got deeply into Iced Earth. I ended up meeting my good friend Jeremiah on line outside an Iced Earth show at The Bank. It was also my gateway back into melodic death metal. I soon got into Opeth and In Flames.

Social Distortion - Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll
My wife and I agree on many things, but music was not one of them. She'd been a long time fan of Social Distortion, but neither of us had heard their newest album. On some car ride to a family gathering, my brother Frank busts out SL&R&R, and we listen to it together. It started my passion for all things having to do with Mike Ness, and helped my wife and I find some common ground on music. SL&R&R got me into classic punk, in reverse.

Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
I spent several years in complete denial of Black Metal. My metal friend Jeremiah tried repeatedly to get me into it, but I was immovable. Repeated attempts to get into Emperor were met with failure. We even saw Mayhem at the infamous 2000 Milwaukee Metal Fest, and the performance did nothing to help me along. I had to come to it myself. After some drooling reviews, and listening to some samples, I picked up Sons of Northern Darkness. I loved it. I got into Black Metal, again, in reverse.

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.
Classic Rock was an integral part of my childhood. My dad listened to music all the time. Naturally, I rebelled against all things Rock & Roll on principle. My wife has a passion for the Stones. I started getting into the music, but it wasn't until we bought Exile on Main St. that I was able to get over myself and really enjoy this stuff. Exile allowed me to start enjoying a lot of the music I'd ignored for years, such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, early Genesis, and all of the worlds of my wife's excellent music collection. I started to check out early blues and other roots of rock stuff. None of this tarnished my eternal love for the metal, but it expanded my horizons exponentially.

Comments

  1. Hey, good list.
    Interesting that it's all kind of backwards from Suffocation :)

    You've branched out into lots of metal directions, I wonder if you can palate power metal? Personally, I just don't enjoy Maiden, not sure why - I do like Opeth and In Flames (early IF, anyway).

    Do you still like brutal death, or have you gone cold on it now?

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you came around to Immortal!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Matt, thanks for the kind words.
    I can in fact palate some power metal. I dabbled in it for quite a while. I remember going to see Hammerfall open for Death in 1998, and it was quite an experience. In the end, though, it hasn't suck with me.
    I have in fact gone cold on brutal death. I still keep tabs on the bands I used to enjoy, but I'm not really buying their albums. That might change. I still always enjoy seeing the stuff live though. I'm most likely going to go see Cannibal Corpse again in April, just to see the openers (The Faceless and Obscura). I've had some good times at Cannibal Corpse shows, but their lyrical content really just doesn't do it for me anymore, if you know what I mean.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeremiah - sometimes it just takes a little work. ;) Thanks.
    Seeing Immortal at B.B. Kings was one of my favorite metal moments. I'm praying to the metal gods that their new album is pure awesomeness when and if it comes out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Funny -- Appetite for Destruction and Nevermind were my and my brother's gateway drugs as well. Our eardrums have never forgiven us.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Labels

3 Inches of Blood1 7 Degrees Records1 A Storm of Light1 Abbath2 Absu1 Abyssal Vacuum1 Acephalix2 aftermath music1 Agalloch1 Agrath1 Altar of Plagues4 ambient1 Amon Amarth4 Amorphis1 Anarkhon1 Ancient Wound1 Ancst1 Anhedonist1 Animals as Leaders1 Aosoth2 Apostasy Records1 Arsis1 Assück2 astrogrind1 At The Gates1 Atakke2 Ataraxy1 Augury1 Aural Music1 Australia1 Autopsy2 Avantgarde Music1 Backslider1 Bandcamp4 Bandit1 Baroness5 Barren Earth1 Basilysk1 Batillus2 Be'lakor2 Beansidhe2 Beaten To Death3 Belgium1 Berlin1 Bindrune Recordings3 Black Anvil10 Black Cobra1 Black Metal72 Blender Theater3 Blood Harvest4 Blood Incantation1 Blood Music1 Bloody Panda1 Blue Bedroom Records1 Blue Record1 Blut aus Nord2 Bolt Thrower2 Bosse-de-Nage1 Botanist1 Bowery Ballroom1 Buckshot Facelift1 Burning World1 Burst4 Cake Shop2 Canada1 Candlelight1 Cannibal Corpse2 Captain Cleanoff1 Carcariass1 Carcass4 Castevet8 cats1 Century Media1 Chepang1 Chronicles of Chaos1 Chuck Schuldiner1 Cicada the Burrower1 claustrum1 Cloud Rat2 Cobalt2 Code6661 Coffinworm1 Concussion1 Coney Island High2 Converge1 Convulse1 Convulsing1 Creator-Destructor Records1 Crom Dubh1 Crucifist1 crust4 Cryptic Shift1 Curandera2 Cynd1 Cynic1 d-beat1 Dååth1 Dark Descent Records6 Dark Tranquillity1 Darkane1 Darkthrone2 Deafest5 Death2 Death Angel1 death metal78 Death Toll 80K1 Deathspell Omega1 Debemur Morti2 Decibel2 Decrepit Birth2 Defeated Sanity1 Defeatist8 Demilich1 Denmark2 Dephosphorus2 Desecresy1 Disappearer1 Discordance Axis1 diSEMBOWELMENT1 Disma3 Disrotted1 Dissection2 Don't Give a Fuck1 doom32 Down2 Dream Theater2 drone1 Drown1 Drugs of Faith1 Dry Cough1 Dunkelheit Produktionen1 Duplicate Records1 Dying Fetus1 Dystrophy1 Earache4 Eight Bells1 Eluveitie1 Emperor1 Enslaved3 Entombed2 Epoch2 Europa3 Exhumed2 Explosions In The Sky1 Falls of Rauros1 Fen4 FLAC1 Flaming Tusk4 Flourishing6 flowing downwards1 folk1 folk metal2 France1 From Exile1 Fuck the Facts5 funeral doom6 Funeral Moth2 Fuoco Fatuo1 Gattaca1 Gaza1 Germany1 GetOverHere1 Gigan1 Gilead Media4 God Dethroned2 Gojira5 Google Music1 Google music beta1 Gorephilia1 Gorguts3 Gorod2 Gramercy Theater2 Grand Ballroom1 Grave Miasma1 Graveyard Hill Records1 Grind and Punishment1 grindcore35 Grindcore Karaoke1 Guns N' Roses1 Gustavo Santaolalla1 Gwynbleidd1 Gygax1 Haftvad Records1 Halo of Flies1 Handshake Inc.1 hardcore11 Heaving Earth2 heavy metal2 Heavydeath1 Hells Headbangers2 Hellthrasher Productions2 High Command1 High Water Media1 Highline Ballroom1 Hivelords1 Holy Grail1 Hooded Menace2 Horrendous3 Horror Pain Gore Death Productions2 Howls of Ebb2 Hreilia1 Human Remains1 Humanity Falls2 Hybreed Chaos1 I1 I Abhor1 I Voidhanger Records2 Ill Omen1 Imbroglio2 Immolation8 Immortal4 Impiety1 In Flames2 Incantation4 industrial2 Inexorum1 Infernal Stronghold1 Infestus1 Ingrowing1 Inquisition2 Interviews1 Intronaut2 Inverloch1 Invertia1 Invictus Productions2 Ipsissimus2 Irkallian Oracle1 Iron Bonehead1 Iron Bonehead Productions1 Iron Maiden4 Irving Plaza4 Isis1 Katatonia3 Khthoniik Cerviiks3 King Giant1 Krallice10 Kreator4 Krypts4 Kylesa4 Lamb of God2 Landmine Marathon4 Last Rites1 Laster1 Latitudes1 Lavadome productions2 Lay Down Rotten2 Legion1 Lifeforce Records1 Listenable Records1 Lit Lounge1 Ludicra4 Lychgate2 Madison1 Madison Square Garden1 Magrudergrind2 Man's Gin1 Manipulator1 Marduk1 Mare Cognitum1 Marty Friedman1 Martyrdöd1 Maruta1 Maryland Deathfest2 Mas-Kina Recordings2 Masonic Temple1 Mass Grave1 Massachusetts1 Mastodon6 Megadeth1 melodic death metal5 Melvins2 Metal Bandcamp7 Metallica1 Mikael Åkerfeldt1 Milwaukee Metalfest1 Mind Mold1 Mirovia1 Misery's Omen1 Mithras2 Mitochondrion1 Moksha1 Mollusk1 Mono2 Moonsorrow1 Morbid Angel1 Morbus Chron1 Mortal Incarnation1 Mortician1 Mortiferum1 Motörhead1 Mournful Congregation1 Music Hall of Williamsburgh1 Mutant Supremacy5 Mutiny Within1 My Dying Bride4 Nachtreich2 Naisian1 Napalm Death5 Nasum1 Necrophobic1 Necrosemen1 Necrot2 Necrowretch1 neo-classical1 Nephelium1 Nerve Altar2 Neuraxis3 Neurisis1 New Zealand1 Nile2 Nirvana1 No Fashion Records1 noise3 Nokia Theater1 Nordvis2 Nuclear Blast3 Nuclear War Now!1 Nucleus2 NWOBHM2 obituary1 Obscura4 Obsequiae2 Ogg Vorbis1 Olympia1 Opeth5 Order of Orias1 Osmose Productions1 Owen Hart1 P.L.F.1 Pact Ink Records2 Pagan Records1 Pallbearer1 Pantera1 Paroxsihzem2 Peaceville4 Pelican6 Phantom Glue1 Pharmacist1 Phil Anselmo1 Pinnacle of Bedlam1 pirate metal1 Plebeian Grandstand2 Poland1 Polluted Inheritance1 Portal1 post-metal2 post-rock2 PRC music1 Priapus1 Prisoner of War1 Profound Lore10 prog11 Prosthetic2 Psychic Limb3 Pulverised Records1 punk1 Qrixkuor2 Quorthon1 Radiation Blackbody1 random playlist3 Red Album1 reissue1 Relapse8 Revocation5 Ritual Chamber1 Robert Johnson1 Ruins of Beverast1 Sabre1 Saint Vitus Bar1 Sarcasm1 Sarpanitum1 Satan1 Scion1 Scrotum Jus Records1 Selfmadegod Records1 Sentient Ruin1 Seraphic Entombment1 Sesecresy1 Setentia2 Seventh Rule1 Severnaya1 Shadow Kingdom Records1 Shea Stadium1 Siberian Hell Sounds1 Skeletonwitch6 Slough Feg1 Sludge20 Slugdge1 Social Distortion1 Soilwork3 Solar Asceticists Productions1 Soulseller Records1 Southern Lord3 Spectral Lore3 speed metal1 StarGazer1 Stockholm1 Streetwalker1 Suffering Hour1 Suffocation5 Sulaco1 Summer Slaughter1 surf1 Swallow the Sun2 Swashbuckle3 Sweden1 Swedish Death Metal1 Swimming1 Swords of Chaos1 Sydney1 Symphony X1 Taake1 technical death metal7 Temple of Abandonment1 Temple of Void1 Thantifaxath1 The Absence1 The Acheron3 The Ajna Offensive1 The Binary Code1 The Bowery Electric2 The Chance4 The Charleston2 The Communion1 The Faceless4 The Fucking Champs2 The Knitting Factory3 The Ominous Circle1 The Path Less Traveled Records7 The Rolling Stones1 The Ruins of Beverast1 The Secret2 The Studio at Webster Hall5 Thou1 thrash13 Thrawsunblat1 Throatruiner Records1 Throne Records1 Tiger Flowers3 Toad's Place1 Tombs6 Triptykon1 Union Pool2 Unmen1 Unrest Records1 Unspeakable Axe Records1 Urfaust1 Vancouver1 Velnias1 Vendetta Records1 Vex1 Via Nocturna1 Vic records1 viking2 Vile Creature1 Vit1 Vitriol Records1 Vore1 W.T.C Productions1 Wadge1 Wake2 Warbringer2 Washington1 Weakling3 Weapon1 Weedeater1 What We All Come To Need1 Willowtip4 Wisconsin1 Withered5 WITTR1 Woe3 Wolves In The Throne Room5 Woods of Ypres4 Wormrot9 Writhing Mass1 Xaddax1 Xantam1 Xenoblight1 Xibalba1 Year of the Knife1 year-end list9 year-end-list1 Yellow Eyes1 YHDARL1 Yith1 Zhrine1 Zosimus1
Show more