15 ALBUMS - THE LATER YEARS

There is a "note" circulating on Facebook that reads:

"Think of 15 albums, CDs, LPs that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life."

I normally don't participate in such things, but found this particular "note" to be an interesting look back at the music that helped "create" the "person" that I am today.

The final four of the fifteen are from my adult years...

Raising Hell
by Run-D.M.C.
1986

This was the album that officially declared my freedom from the cliques and stereotypes of high school. Now I could be something more than just a "punker." I had been listening to rap music since junior high, but always slightly on the sly in high school. Otherwise, ridicule would be heaped upon me. I had enjoyed previous Run-D.M.C. albums, as well as albums from The Egyptian Lover, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, Newcleus, and many others. But this was something new. If there was a "punk rock" version of hip hop, then this was it. It included bells and horns and tinkling percusssion. It included rock guitar and the members of Aerosmith. It was brash and bold and slightly crazy. It was definitely something new. If Adam Ant's Friend or Foe was a "break" of sorts and The Alarm's Declaration was the subsequent declaration of freedom, then Raising Hell served as both during this phase of my life, as I left high school and childhood behind and looked forward into adulthood.

The Ideal Copy
by Wire
1987

I had heard Wire songs here and there during junior high and high school because their first three albums were seminal punk and post-punk albums, but it they somewhat "before my time." The Ideal Copy changed all of that for me. These songs sounded both fresh and familiar. They were laced with obscure lyrics and grounded in guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. They were also filled with effects and manipulations and experiments. I was hooked. I sought out the first three albums. I anticipated (and continue to anticipate) each new album. I listened to side projects and solo albums. Wire captured my imagination in ways that few bands prior or since have done. I easily rank them as my favorite band. The Ideal Copy was a statement announcing their return after a lengthy hiatus, and the beginning of Wire, Mark II. This was essentially an updated Pink Flag (their debut album). The energy and seething and rawness was there, as well as the intellect. I repeat: I was hooked.

Turn on the Bright Lights
Interpol
2002

I figured that once I hit a certain age it would be difficult to discover new music that felt as intriguing and compelling as the music of my youth and young adulthood. I was wrong. Interpol sounded very much like the music I grew up with, without duplicating it verbatim. There are new ideas here. There are new sounds here. There are lyrics that twist around themselves and whisper their dark secrets. This is post-9/11 New York post-punk music that sings back at the horror that tried to swallow the city and the nation. The music is haunting at times, rocking at others, both on occasion. And "Roland" is pure genius.

Volk
by Laibach
2006

Laibach are provocateurs. They are also willing to take risks. Volk sounds nothing like any of their previous albums, yet it is their most mature work. Gone, for the most part, are the hyperactive techno tracks and the Wagnerian horns and the growling baritone of Milan Frans. Instead these fourteen "rethought" national anthems are filled with areas of relative quiet punctuated by rock guitar or traditional ethnic instrumentation. The tempo has greatly slowed. This is partly due to the collaboration with fellow Slovenian band Silence. It is also partly due to the fact that Laibach are as provocative in these new spaces they have carved out as they were when they were overtly confrontational. I think the subtlety and quiet subversion suits this album well. If there was ever a band that could challenge the powers-that-be in the post-9/11 global free trade free-for-all that is our current geopolitical setting, and do it with the tools of those very nation-states, then Laibach is the band. Challenge your own worldview with an album. You deserve it.

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15 ALBUMS - THE EARLY YEARS

15 ALBUMS - THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS