As my last post indicated, I was slowly but surely transitioning into liking rock music (from shitty euro-pop). These are all albums that helped me make this transition:
7th grade-ish... Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute (1995)
At the time I purchased this album, the only song I knew by the Chili Peppers was "Aeroplane." And I f*ing LOVED that song! In middle school ski club, a couple friends and I would scream this song at the top of our lungs from the chairlift- it was THAT awesome. I can't even explain how clearly I remember doing this haha... Interestingly enough, my college roommate was able to play this song on his bass (it has a sick bassline), and I think that was one of the first facts I learned about him- It made him cool in my book I suppose!
After I got over my obsession with "Aeroplane," I started discovering the other songs on the album like "Warped" (which was on the Twister soundtrack I believe), "Deep Kick," and my personal favorite: "Coffee Shop." If you have never heard "Coffee Shop," you need to get on iTunes and download it immediately- it is pure unfiltered ROCK.
Another very memorable moment I have that is related to this album is that the day after I bought it, I came into school into Mrs. March's english class and I was talking to my friend Jenny, and I said: "Dude, I just got 'One Hot Minute' by the Chili Peppers." WELL, it just so happened that another kid in my class (Chris) heard me, and said very loudly: "WHAT?! STEVE- YOU WANT ONE HOT MINUTE WITH JENNY?!"
These were very mature days.
Still 7th Grade-ish... Nine Inch Nails - Broken
Still in 7th grade, I recall having a birthday party towards the end of the school year. One of my friends asked me what I wanted and I said: "Get me a Nine Inch Nails CD!" I'm pretty sure I was just trying to be cool and sound all hip and rock star at the time, but that's beside the point! Long story short, she ended up getting me "Broken" and this instantly became the hardest record I owned! I owned this album LONG before I ever bought "The Downward Spiral."
My favorite songs on it are "Last, Wish," and "Physical." "Physical" is an Adam Ant cover and is hidden on the album as Track #98. If you've never heard it, you need to download that ASAFP!
Skipping ahead a little bit to 1996/1997 I remember going to Best Buy with one of my parents and begging them to pay for a couple CDs (at this stage in my life, I still had no income of my own... Alas...). On this particular occasion, I got them to buy me:
Radiohead - OK Computer Sublime - Sublime
This day was one of the most important days ever in my life I think. The amount that I love both of these albums to this day is a testament to how awesome they are... We'll start with Sublime.
I first got into Sublime because I was at some friend's house watching MTV (back when they played music) and saw the video for the song "Wrong Way." I fell in love with this song and after hearing it, Sublime could do no wrong. Looking back, I find it interesting that it was this song that hooked me and not "What I Got" or "Santeria" as these songs are the ones that everybody remembers most easily these days. After all, I think every college band that I remember covered ONE of those two!
This album truly crushes the test of time though. There are so many good songs on it! Over the past 10 years, I think I must have changed my favorite song on the album at least 5 times.
At first, it was "Wrong Way." Then, "What I Got." Then, "Santeria." Then, "April 29,1992." THEN, "Jailhouse." THEN, "Burritos." And now, I think it's either "Burritos" or "Seed."
This isn't a real video of "Seed," but whatever... we make do with what we have:
The solos throughout this entire album are so sick. The one in "Seed" is AWESOME. Same with "Burritos." God. I could listen to this album whenever whereever.
On that note, here's a brief funny story: On spring break my senior year in high school a bunch of my friends and I went to Puerto Vallarta. While there, we became friends with a few dudes from Indiana. Anyway, one night they were all drinking out in this open lobby area, and they had a few Discmen and a few CDs laying on the table. All the CDs were "Ghetto D" by Master P. Apparently, they could listen to THAT album whenever whereever. I guess you had to be there.
Back to my train of thought, die-hard Sublime enthusiasts might believe that "40 oz to freedom" was a better album than the self-titled one, and that's a fair arguement to make. But for me, the self-titled one is infinitely better! Typically, the first album I hear from a band usually has some weirdly extreme sentimental value to it. This observation also applies to the first albums I heard from Red Hot Chili Peppers (One Hot Minute), Rage Against the Machine (Evil Empire), and Radiohead (OK Computer). For at least the Chili Peppers and Rage, those albums were not their most critically acclaimed, but I think they are the best material the bands ever put out- SOLELY because it was my introduction to them.
Returning to 7th grade, after I played "Wrong Way" a million times the day I got the Sublime CD, I threw in "OK Computer" by Radiohead. Talk about a switch up in music genres huh?!
I got into Radiohead again because of MTV. I was somewhere at sometime and I saw the video for "Paranoid Android." I found it to be totally awesome.
Watching it for the first time in several years, I have to say that the video is SO WEIRD. Anyway, like the Sublime album, my favorite song on "OK Computer" has changed multiple times. Obviously it started with "Paranoid Android." But I was always a huge fan of "Electioneering" which my alcohol-oriented college band covered sloppily! Today, I have a trio of favorites on the album: "Let Down, Climbing the Walls, and No Surprises"
Critics widely consider this one of the best alternative rock albums ever and I think this is one of the few times I would agree with them. I think this is Radiohead's best album ever, and one of the greatest albums of the past 20 years.
These days, I'd have to say that my current musical taste is a pretty eclectic mix of all of the artists and albums discussed in this post... There are still a few more superalbums that helped shape my interest in music though SO looks like we're going to have a Post #3 coming up in the near future!
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