Music that Changed Your Life

[Hand_Solo]

Pretty much anything by Steely Dan.

 

[aleceiffel]

Damn, I'm pretty impressed with the average music tastes of this site. For me, the biggest eye opener was hearing Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" followed closely by the Pixies' "Surfer Rosa". Those two albums were what convinced me to devote my life to music.

 

[whatireallywant]

Some of my favorites highlighted in blue (my musical taste really DOES go all over the place!)

Gymnopedies, Gnossiennes, Cubist Works and Furniture Music by Erik Satie

Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band by Terry Riley

Morrissey in general has changed my life. And he continues to do so. I've never been so moved by a musician, ever. I've been listening to his music for about 20 years now, and have absolutely no intention of stopping. He's sexy, has a beautiful voice, and an incredibly way with words. Every song I hear feels oddly like he's singing to me, or about me... like he's interpreting my soul. (puke, gag, whatever... it's true. :tongue: ) Here's one of my favorites:

YouTube - Morrissey - Dear God Please Help Me (music video)

Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera. Dont really have an album but that song made me think. Why should I listen to what everyone says I should be doing? The only person who knows what will make me truly happy is me. And from that moment on, I chose to listen to my heart and follow MY dreams no one elses.

Punk rock saved my soul. Thank you Bad Religion, Social Distortion, NOFX, Dropkick Murphys, Refused, Catch 22, Gogol Bordello, etc.

Also, special mention to The Weakerthans, Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Matthew Good, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, The Doors, Rage, CCR, The Guess Who and The Tragically Hip.

Sufjan Stevens: "The Avalanche", "Illinois"

Bob Dylan: "The Times, They Are A-Changin'"

Radiohead: "OK Computer"

Pink Floyd: "Dark Side of the Moon"

The Smiths: "The Queen Is Dead"

Of Montreal: "Skeletal Lamping" & "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?"

Metallica: "S & M" (San Francisco Symphony and Metallica)

Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2

The Beatles: "Rubber Soul", "Sgt. Pepper's", "The White Album", "Abbey Road"

Talking Heads: "Remain in Light"

Bruce Springsteen: "Live In Dublin"

I have way too much to list, but at the moment, a couple that jump out, are:
- countless entries by the Smiths were part of the soundtrack of my life
- R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion, has a specific significance to me at the time.

...and with that, 7,000 posts.

And some more of mine:

The Moody Blues (just about everything, especially from 1981 and earlier)

Roxy Music - Avalon

The Shins - Oh Inverted World (introduced me to them, but their 2 albums after that are also just about as good!)

YouTube - The Shins - New Slang

Johnny Clegg and Juluka/Savuka - got me interested in African music

YouTube - Juluka - December African Rain (Music Video)

Habib Koite & Bamada

YouTube - Habib Koite - Wassiye

 

[Enid]

I forgot Veedon Fleece by Van Morrison!

 

[LeeEJ]

Pachelbel - Canon in D.

Argh! Blecch!

Well, that's from my point of view as a tuba player. :wink: Eight notes, repeat until Pachelbel ran out of ideas for the other parts.
YouTube - Pachelbel Rant

Anyway, I was on my way down the dark path of syntho-junk (Mannheim Steamroller or not, it was all just pushing buttons) when I started getting involved with drum corps. This is one of the shows I saw early in my marching career:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f67sHIfu9Hs

After that, I started appreciating the efforts of the performers themselves. People standing around pushing buttons -- or, worse yet, programming in their basement -- became terminally boring to me. I wanted fewer devices between the musician and the sound I heard, and I wanted to see the players actually doing something. I also began to enjoy the accomplishments of groups of musicians over those of soloists.

The all-acoustic group effort of drum corps opened my mind to all sorts of other music, all the way from Bach to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Drum corps changed me, and everything else was just branches in new directions.

 

[pornographicpoet]

Hmm...maybe a few others....

Green day - Dookie - got me into rock music
Cypress Hill - Black Sunday - got me into hip-hop
Ramones - Ramones Mania - got me into old school punk
Pink Floyd - The Wall

 

[Dave NoCal]

Music is very important to me and I enjoy a wide range. However, when I first heard Jackson Browne's first album, self titled "Jackson Browne" not Saturate Before Using (that was just the picture on the cover), I was totally smitten. I loved the melodies, loved the lyrics, loved his looks , and, as they emerged, loved his politics. I have followed his career for thirty-six years. His perceptions and values are very congruent with my own and often it has seems that he expressed my thoughts and feelings before I knew them and far more artistically. Of course, his career has had high and low points but his total body of work is impressive.

Below are a couple of links to his highly acclaimed third album, Late for the Sky. The videos have the lyrics in the sidebar and these songs are good examples of the emotional complexity and writing skill almost always fully on display in his work. I believe his craftsmanship is fully comparable to that of Leonard Cohen.

The songs are "Fountain of Sorrow" and "Late for the Sky." Both deal with the loss of love in a manner that is introspective and beautiful.

Hope you enjoy.

Dave

YouTube - Jackson Browne - Late For The Sky - Live
YouTube - Jackson Browne - Fountain Of Sorrow Live

 

[Penis Aficionado]

I agree Dave -- you don't hear much about (or from) Jackson Browne anymore, but those first albums were something unique (the two you mentioned are his two best, IMO). I listened to them recently and it really amazed me how well they've stood the test of time.

He had an earnestness, and a knack for writing about large social trends (I don't really know what "Before the Deluge" is about, but it certainly sounds important) that made him seem nerdier and more middle class than guys like Cohen or Dylan, and thus a little easier to relate to.

 

[eddyabs]

I was very young...but one of the staple songs of my childhood that I loved to sing with my Mum and Dad.

Ronnie Hilton - Windmill in Old Amsterdam

And this one, we used to LOVE this one, always asking Dad to sing it...funnily enough I sing it to the little ones in my life...kids love this song....but mastering it takes time!!

Susanna's a Funnical Man
(you must listen to this if you have never heard it.....:wink

Anyway, these definitely changed my life!

 

[beretta8]

Terry Jacks - Seasons in the sun

 

[D_Percival Puddleford Pukehorn]

Diamanda Galas.

YouTube - Diamanda Galás & John Paul Jones - Skótoseme (live 1994)

Dedicated to Nick8:

YouTube - Diamanda Galas "Do you take this man"