5 Albums that shaped you

[Jimi75]

To pick out 5 albums in general is very difficult, because I think that I could seperate my guitar life in different stages and for that stages I could pick 5 albums each....anyways here are the albums that come to my mind, becaue I have spent quite an amount of time listening and playing to them and maybe they are the foundation of my playing and opened the doors for so many other artists and styles that I later on studied (choice can change, ask me in two months and the answer is different....*lol*)

No special order:
1. Metallica "And Justice For All"
2. SRV "Texas Flood"
3. Jimi Hendrix "Axis Bold As Love"
4. Joe Satriani "Flying In A Blue Dream"
5. Pearl Jam "Ten"

:

[duhvoodooman***]

Disraeli Gears - Cream
Led Zeppelin I
Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones
Texas Flood - SRV

[Steve206]

I used to listen to the early "underground", [remember the term?] FM radio in San Francisco and the listener sponsored KPFA, across the bay, in Berkely, Ca. They enabled me to listen to brand new ideas from everywhere, without having to pay for their ownership. I was 7 or 8 years old, in Los Angeles, when Jackie Wilson was being played on the radio.

1. The Lovin Spoonful - Do you believe in Magic. Traditional and original music by an american band. Played the first album's music, right out of the grooves and had to replace it. Took it to a party where the standard was to take your fave 45s. I put it on the turntable and after the hit played, and the second song started, the audience got nervous because it did not recognize what was coming next.

2. The Sons of Champlin - Loosen up Naturally. After Al Kooper, started his horn band, "Blood Sweat and Tears", everybody saw the beauty in the experiment. Local horn band that pretty much played what they wanted to, mixing in Vibes and Hammond B-3s along with the saxophones and guitars.

3. The Blues Project - A compendium of the very best on the urban blues scene. A friend sent a friend to get the Blues Project album, fairly hot at the time. The second friend comes back with a best of album, featuring, Dave Ray, John Koerner, Tony Glover, Dave Van Ronk and Eric Von Schmidt. All accoustic, all blues, not a hit tune in sight, anywhere. The first friend listens to it one time and offers it to me. I take it and spin it once and put it away for about 15 years. It is top five, easy.

4. Harvey Mandel - The Mercury Years. Learned a lot of guitar in Chicago at the feet of Buddy Guy and other local greats. Joined Charlie Musselwhite and moved to San Francisco in the late 60s. Played Gibson 335s and developed a sound mixed with pedals and custom amps. Cristo Redentor is the first solo album, instrumental at that. Then came Righteous. He was the first player I knew of, who used the studio to put things together like a mad scientist. Recording parts forward and backwards and blending them together for a final mix.

5. Pretty much anything that Ryland Cooder puts his name on. There have been exceptions and I am still not sure if the fault is mine alone, or does Ry, have to carry some of the weight. Movie soundtracks with one minute snippets of excellent music, mixed in with serious songwriting, can be very interesting.

John Lee Hooker - The Healer.
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodo

Steve

[Geraint Jones]

Hey Steve I was thinking about Astral Weeks an album which i played for the whole summer in '88 myself also Sweetheart of the Rodeo is one of my favourites, defineately top 10 .
Strange nobody has picked Pet Sounds yet or there`s no women artists . I remember Michelle Shocked , Short Sharp Shocked being another constantly being played at the about the same time .

[tunghaichuan***]

I remember Michelle Shocked , Short Sharp Shocked being another constantly being played at the about the same time .

Gillian Welch's "Time (The Revelator)" is an excellent album that shaped my listening habits. Love her music.

tung

[marnold***]

It's hard for me to say "shaped" really, but maybe calling these albums "momentous" might be more accurate.

These two were the first true metal albums I heard and I heard them back-to-back, very loud. I was a metalhead from that point onward.
Dokken "Tooth and Nail"
Metallica "Ride the Lightning"

This one defines what an album should be for me. It's the only one in my collection that I really have to listen to from beginning to end.
Queensryche "Operation: Mindcrime"

This one opened the world of the blues to me.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble "Couldn't Stand the Weather"

It's kind of dopey to have a greatest hits album in here, but this one got me at the right time. I got interested in Queen from hearing "Another One Bites the Dust" on the radio. While on vacation in 8th grade I bought this album and really opened up a new world for me. All the different styles of music with great guitar and bass work to boot (John Deacon is a vastly underrated bass player, IMO). Since then I've gone back and purchased several of their older albums. I must say, though, that most of their work after the greatest hits album really doesn't appeal to me very much (with some exceptions like "I Want It All" and "Hammer to Fall").
Queen "Greatest Hits"

[Geraint Jones]

Gillian Welch's "Time (The Revelator)" is an excellent album that shaped my listening habits. Love her music.

tung

Indeed , Dave Rawlings guitar work is fantastic .

[lurcher]

Oh this is a hard one. My number one is dead easy though.
The Gods, Genesis LP. So full of classic rock before we knew it was classic rock. It taught me barre chords and some great ideas on solos. Thanks Joe, if you're reading this.
2, John Mayall, Blues from Laurel Canyon. Excellent intro to Brit style blues and a great help with the blues scale.
3, Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here. No explanation necessary
4, Uriah Heep, Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble. Does what it says on the cover.
5, Fairport Convention, Full House. For something completely different.

I'm sure my wife will say, 'What about.....?' and I'll chamge the list a bit.

Brian

[thekiwidisciple]

I'm still a youngster, so I don't know they really count just yet, but so far:

1) Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon: Need I really explain this one?

2) The Best of SRV - SRV: I know, I know, it IS kinda sad to put a greatest hits album as an album that shaped me, but the reason I do so, is that SRV is my musical idol. I've always felt a huge connection with him, and his music, even though he died before I was born, he influences my playing more than anyone or anything else. So I guess it's fitting to put the 'culmination' of his work as an album that shaped me.

3) Layla - Derek & The Dominoes: While mainly a fan of Clapton, this album is great. It really speaks to you in a way that no other album can do. This album really brings out the blues side in me...as SRV's work does. Blues is my natural style...it just comes to me and I don't really have to think about it...I just have to channel emotion into it. This album helped a lot with my playing.

4) Pink Floyd - The Wall: This one really is one of the greatest albums. It provides a huge sense of comfort and help when you really need it...it lifts your head back up and lets you see things in a more positive light...(if you really listen to the WHOLE album)

5) Roger Waters - Amused to Death: I don't listen to this one very much, but it's really superb. IMO this is one really shows off Waters' ability to write songs about things that wouldn't normally inspire music...and to absolutely blow away the audience with it!

[Kazz]

ok...I will play

1. Kiss - Hotter than Hell this was the first real rock music I heard....my mother kept firm control of the stereo in the car and house and we had to listen to her music beit country or neil sedaka or Elvis.....2 older boys in the neighborhood who I idolized allowed me into their circle one day and as we played pool they opened my eyes to the music that was out there....this was the first experience for me....after that I could not get enough of Kiss and Rock n Roll as a genre

2. REO SpeedWagon - Hi Infidelity
3. Ozzy Ozbourne - Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman...heard them both for the first time together....just blew me away.
4. Queen - The Game...altho Bicycle Race and Fat Bottomed Girls off of Jazz really opened the door for me to want to listen to The Game
5. Tesla - Mechanical Resonance.....my musical tastes changed forever when I heard the first few bars of Modern Day Cowboy for the first time. Since then....Tesla has been the best blue jeans rock n roll band of all time.....in my less than humble opinion.


Honorable mention to The Black Crowes for Shake your Money Maker....this was the first cd in a long time that I remember you could play it backwards and forwards.....not literally...but you could play it from track 1 to track 12 or whatever it was...there was not a bad song on this cd. Which for the time was extremely rare.

[Lev]

U2 - Achtung Baby
Steve Vai - Passion & Warefare
John Mayer - Continumn
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
The Beatles - 1962-1966 (red album)