The 20 Most Influential Albums In the Development of My Current Musical Sensibility

I think I said I was going to work on a Top 50 Records list about a year and a half ago. It was probably longer.

Anyway, I came up with a starting point (a top 20) early last spring, but I lost the list for a time. Fortunately, I had made Michelle a DVD for music fun at work, and I was able to remember everything on the list from there.

A couple quick disclaimers:
The list is in no particular order. As I recall, when I made it, I referred to my Top 10 Fave Artists list, and pressed on from there.
That said, this list is not meant to be indicative of the 20 Greatest Albums Ever Recorded or something like that. It might not even be my 20 favorites at this moment. I guess the most apt description would be The 20 Most Influential Albums in the Development of My Current Musical Sensibility. You *might* also get away with calling this a Desert Island Top 20.
I knowingly and willfully violate The McCulloch Principle more than once. This was primarily a consequence of the project’s original motivation (creating a DVD for Michelle, and so all of these albums had to be available on my server).

So, as my friend and Internet compatriot Mr. Schneider would say, “onward.”

20. “Led Zepplin II” by Led Zepplin
19. “Sinatra Reprise – The Very Good Years” by Frank Sinatra
18. “Nevermind” by Nirvana
17. “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” by Modest Mouse
16. “The Moon & Antarctica” by Modest Mouse
15. “Siamese Dream” by Smashing Pumpkins
14. “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd
13. “Pulse” by Pink Floyd
12. “Echoes” by Storyhill
11. “Kid A” by Radiohead
10. “The Bends” by Radiohead
09. “Rubber Soul” by the Beatles
08. “the white album” by the Beatles
07. “The Joshua Tree” by U2
06. “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” by U2
05. “Recovering the Satellites” by Counting Crows
04. “The Colour & the Shape” by Foo Fighters
03. “The Ultimate Experience” by Jimi Hendrix (& The Experience/Band of Gypsys, et al)
02. “Purple” by Stone Temple Pilots
01. “1984” by Van Halen

I’m going to post this list in the ‘Lists’ forum as well, so feel free to discuss/debate it there with me if you like.

I’m going to try to finish the list (i.e., get to 50), and if you’re lucky, it will take less than 18 months.

2 thoughts on “The 20 Most Influential Albums In the Development of My Current Musical Sensibility”

  1. and here are 30 more, to round out the Top 50:

    21. Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
    22. Beta Band – The Three EPs
    23. Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue
    24. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
    25. Bruce McCulloch – Shame-Based Man
    26. Coldplay – Parachutes
    27. The Dandy Warhols – 13 Tales from Urban Bohemia
    28. Dave Mathews Band – Crash
    29. Depeche Mode – Violator
    30. John Hermanson – self-titled
    31. Johnny Cash – American III: Solitary Man
    32. Johnny Cash – Unchained
    33. Jurassic 5 – Quality Control
    34. Laika – Good-Looking Blues
    35. Led Zepplin IV
    36. Michael Jackson – Thriller
    37. Morphine – Like Swimming
    38. Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on the Run
    39. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
    40. Pink Floyd – The Wall
    41. R.E.M. – Up
    42. Radiohead – OK Computer
    43. Saint Germain – Tourist
    44. Steve Martin – Let’s Get Small
    45. Stevie Wonder – Talking Book
    46. Storyhill – Miles and Means
    47. The Beatles – Abbey Road
    48. The Beatles – Let It Be
    49. U2 – Achtung Baby
    50. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

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