A few months back, when lists were running rampant on Facebook, one such list was naming your top 25 albums. Rather then putting just albums that I loved, I listed some albums that meant something to me.
It was a good list and I have decided to fine tune it, clean it up, and repost it here. But rather then the full 25, I will just list 10.
1) The Replacements - Don't Tell a Soul – This was the first Replacements album I ever owned. It's not even their best, but it started my love affair with them. Now I own every single album, and even a bootleg or two. But this one will always be my first. Plus, I lost my virginity listening to it.
2) PJ Harvey - Dry – After my freshman year in college, I spent my summer at home working, saving money, and dating a girl. Her name was Jolene. Hey, it was the South. The night before I had to return to school, she wanted to make sure I wouldn’t forget her. She told me to bring whatever tape I had in the car into her room. While it was playing, she made sure I would NEVER be able to listen to the album and not think of her. It worked.
3) The Smiths - Meat is Murder – Before the list turns into albums I had sexual experiences to, let’s talk about this one. In 9th grade, I sat next to this guy in biology class, some skater kid who I became friends with. I can’t even remember his name anymore. He lent me this tape and it was my first introduction into alternative music. And I never went back.
4) The Jody Grind - One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure - I just fell in love with this band in high school. They didn’t sound like anything else I had ever heard. What was nice about it was it became a sort of secret between my sister and me, because she fell in love with them too. We even went to a couple of shows together. It was probably the closest she and I have ever been.
5) The Jesus Lizard - Goat. My friends Steven and Jeff and I drove around our senior year, listening to this tape over and over, trying to decipher the words to Then Comes Dudley. When I got to interview the lead singer years later, he finally told me what they were. Kind of disappointed when I knew the truth, but I wouldn’t have traded that time for anything.
6) Operation Ivy - Operation Ivy - College. Miles and I singing along to this in the car. Making fun of the lyrics. But bouncing around like a couple of hopped 5 year olds. I still love playing this in bars at happy hour before the bartender shuts down the juke box.
7) U2 - The Joshua Tree – This album just shows me how much I have changed. When I first bought it, I constantly replayed it, falling asleep to it at night. Now, I don’t even own it anymore. Go figure.
8) Elvis Costello - This Years Model – When I was working receiving in a bookstore in Manhattan, just after moving here, I would play this every day. I wasn’t trying to torture them; I just didn’t have a lot of my music up here yet. I remember people just getting sick of it, but for some reason I never did.
9) The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine - I saw a review of this album in some best of the year round-up and figured I would just buy it and try it. Since then, I h
ave purchased every album, listened to them about a billion times, and seen the band 3 times. I think I can actually sing along to more of their songs then any other band I know. I just love that at my age I can still discover a new band and just fall in love all over again.
10) Tom Waits - Frank's Wild Years – Sophomore year, my friend Elizabeth took pity on me for never listening to Tom Waits before, and let me borrow this album. It was my first Wait experience and I will always sing Innocent When You Dream when I get a little drunk at home. Thanks Elizabeth. Seriously. I mean it.
Bonus - The Ramones - The Ramones - cause it's just the best album ever.
