My 35 Most Influential Albums

List the 10, 20 or 30 albums that had the greatest influence on YOU. Tell me why, if you want. Props to Jay for the meme. http://www.hotfreelayouts.com/music.php 1) Prince - 1999. He's the artist that probably had more influence on me personally AND musically. After I heard Dirty Mind, I was never the same. Moreover, I didn't feel quite so strange anymore. Of all his works, 1999 had the most impact on me personally. 2) Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy. Ever start listening to a band because of a girl or boy you liked? This was one of those records for me. I'd thought Zep was corny, "Stairway to Heaven" was like "Freebird" to me, until I heard "The Rain Song." 3) Bad Brains - I Against I. Again, another band that confirmed I wasn't the only black person in the world who loved punk and rock. See also Fishbone, below. 4) Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions . . . I realized the potential power of rap and encouraged my participation in politics. 5) De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising. Until this record (and P.E.) rap was like a set up/like a game/ a lotta suckas with colorful names/I'm so and so, I'm this I'm that/But ya all just wick wick wack 6) Elvis Costello - The Best of. . .. I think this record helped make me a more thoughtful person. 7) ACO - The Other Side of Absolute Ego. The first Japanese artist whose music I connected with beyond curiosity. Blows the myth of the Japanese as copycats out of the water (even though she loves to cover US pop and R&B songs). This a remix, however I highly recommend both versions of this record. 8) Star Wars Ep. IV soundtrack. Expanded the horizons of a young lad. 9) Fishbone - Fishbone. See Bad Brains above. Was my favorite band for 10 years running. 10) Portishead - Portishead. A lot of people like Dummy better, however this was the first Portishead music I heard. It was like nothing else I'd heard before, and kick started my interest in electronica. 11) Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland. I'm sure I heard Hendrix before my pre-teen years on my brother's record player, yet he didn't impact me until later. Made me want to pick up a guitar. 12) Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life. I really could have picked any record from this cat, however this one probably had more impact on me. I heard his music in the house when I was a tyke. We played "Sir Duke" in a 5th grade band concert. 13) Run DMC - Rock Box. The first real rap LP, kind of a milestone in the genre. 14) Final Fantasy VII Soundtrack. Huh? Video game soundtrack? I listened to this while writing my second screenplay. The composer, Uematsu, is a hidden gem. 15) The Clash - Combat Rock. Some are with you rather than against you. 16) Bob Marley - Kaya. I listened to this a lot during the year my brother's health took a final turn for the worse. Also, have you seen my hair? 17) Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. Another band which I could have really picked any number of records. This might have been the first Beatles record I bought that wasn't a comp. 18) Funkadelic - Uncle Jam's Army. Something about the music got into my pants. 19) Dj Shadow - Entroducing. Helped to reinvigorate my interest in rap during a time when I had given up on the genre as turning into a blackface version of hair metal. 20) Curtis Mayfield - Superfly. Made a very young boy think about the dangers of street life. Music can sometimes still give me chills. 21) Elton John - Greatest Hits. My brother loved this record, so then did I. What happened to this Elton? Sad. 22) Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits. Never not in the mood for some Sly. 23) Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club. After this, I wanted to see what this band Talking Heads was all about. 24) English Beat - Greatest Hits. I never owned the record, they just didn't have a cover for the Beat record I did have. At any rate, I backed my way into reggae from listening to ska and two-tone like this. 25) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. Until this record, my idea of jazz was David Sanborn. 26) Sugarhill Gang - Sugarhill Gang. Really, just for "Rapper's Delight." The first rap record I could get my friends to like, and for a lot of people their first rap song. 27) Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstacy. There was a period, believe it or not, when I was all about this Lilith Fair type of stuff. This record led me to those estrogen powered records of the early 90's. 28) Jackson 5 - Greatest Hits. Another case of them not having proper covers. I had mostly singles of Jackson 5 songs anyway. The first concert I ever attended was a Jackson 5 show, with the Commodores opening. 29) Rage Against the Machine - RATM. Saw them at Lollapalooza and bought the record as soon as I got home. Gave me hope for humanity, or something. 30) Cure - The Head on the Door. Another horizon broadening experience. 31) R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction. One of my long time friends hipped me to this band. My Fishbone loving Chapel Hill friends thought I was insane for listening to this band. 32) Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin'. I probably had not listened to an R&B record for 10 years before this one. Gave me hope for the genre, and would help spark both the Neo-Soul and "downtempo" movement. 33) The Police - Reggatta de Blanc. First song I learned to play on guitar is a Police song. 34) Badfinger - No Dice. No matter where you are/I will always be with you 35) Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders. Part of the Native Tongue movement with the likes of De La Soul, their first record affected me in a similar way to Three Feet High and Rising, however, the crew didn't produce anything with a profound effect on me until Midnight Marauders. I coulda done 40, but I was staying up way too late as it was.