Instead, this post takes a look at five albums that had an immediate impact on my life from the first listen. My first assumption was that this list would be difficult to assemble based on the fact that I wouldn't necessarily remember the "first" time I listened to each and every one of the albums in my collections. Not only was this not true (I could pinpoint most of those "firsts"), but as I poured over my collection the entries in this list made themselves blatantly apparent. And so, I present to you all, my top five immediate impact albums:
5. Something/Anything by Todd Rundgren
It's one thing to create an impeccable album that runs 10-12 tracks. It's totally new ballgame when an near perfect album has 25 tracks. I remember the first time I listened to this album, I sat mesmerized for almost 90 minutes listening to every track.
Though I fixated on a handful of singles (mostly on the first of the four sided album... little vinyl speak for you), I eventually came to love the entire album for all of its eccentricities and quirks. How an album could successfully weave together sing-song tunes like "The Viking Song" and "Wolfman Jack" with pseudo-blues numbers like "Black Maria" and what-the-fuck numbers like "I Went to the Mirror" and "Piss Aaron" is beyond me. But hell, it worked.Though he went on to produce some great albums for XTC and Bad Finder (not to mention some badass guitar playing on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell), Rundgren never managed another accessible masterpiece (Wizard, a True Star is arguably a masterpiece, but it landed closer to Frank Zappa than Carole King). Regardless, this album stands as a monument of song craft and production whose staying power has yet to waiver.
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4. White Blood Cells by The White Stripes
I periodically lament that I was never witness (or at least in tune to) an important musical movement while it was happening. The one possible exception would be the garage revival of the late nineties that managed to sprout up more bands using "The" since... I don't know, forever, maybe.
White Blood Cells is probably the record most responsible for that surge. The first time I heard this album (on Ross' recommendation, actually), I was astounded: I had never heard anything like it in my life. I began listening to it over and over again. I was taken in by the mix of Meg's primal (albeit amateur) drumming and Jack's riffing and wailing. I honestly think I listened to "Fell in Love with Girl" fifty times a day for three months.
I couldn't believe music this good was being made in the "now". The lasting impact of this album has less to do with the Stripes (though I have bought every one of their albums since), but more importantly, it effectively broke my spell of musical education by only purchasing albums that were reputed and at least a quarter of a century old. Suck on that, Rolling Stone.
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3. Black Star by Black Star
One sunny summer day four years ago I found myself driving my brother's car without any of my music. I decided to turn on the radio to see what CD was awaiting me (and praying it wasn't either of Andrew's staples: Dave Matthews or Dispatch). The next fifty minutes altered the course of my entire life. When the record was over, I could only think of 3 things:
1. Have I been deaf for the past 6 years?
2. I am so white.
3. And I hate John Tesh.
Ok, that's not entirely true, but the important part is that day (that album) marks a sharp turn in my music tastes. Until that point in my life, rap was relegated to a world of high school dances (which itself was tied to general awkwardness) and a black culture from which I was mostly removed. Not that this record made me "more black" or even "more attuned to black culture", but rather its mode of storytelling spoke to me.
In a way, Mos Def and Talib Kwelli were weaving stories in a way that I had always loved, be it the vivid detail and emotion of Lyle Lovett or the free associational surrealism of The Fall. This record landed somewhere in between, but featured lyrical stylings the likes of which I'd never heard before (take the two-fer "Definition" and RE: DEFinition", the only glaring omission from Ross' list, as an example).Seriously though, all mental masturbation aside, this record rocked my world and became a "gateway" album that led to an obsession over hip hop and the culture surrounding it.
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2. Grace by Jeff Buckley
This album is the raison d'etre of this list. I only recently came across the album and, after one listen, I was flabbergasted. I mean, first this happened, then this, then this. He even covers Nina Simone... and it sounds amazing.
I was completely floored (keep in mind that Buckley is a white dude). While I was listening to it for the fourteenth straight time, I still couldn't get over how amazing it was... and it was then I thought to myself, "Wow, it's been a while since an album has hit me like this. I should make a list". My first object of fixation was Buckley's voice. It's nothing short of beautiful, and to be honest, I can't think of a white guy who sings with more emotion. I imagine this to be something like what Nick Drake would've sounded like if he had sang with any emotion whatsoever.
Quick aside: what's the obsession with Nick Drake about. Seriously. I mean, for those of you who want to cry your eyes out over his mopey whisper of a voice and subtle acoustic guitar, knock yourselves out. Of course, I suppose without him we never would have had Dream Factory's elegy, "Life in a Northern Town"... so that's good, I guess.
Back to Jeff. I could on with the importance of this album. For instance, (a la Pitchfork)
[I]t's difficult to imagine Radiohead in their current guise without the eerily affecting songcraft of Grace and its argument that modern rock needn't be just another run-through of post-Nirvana dynamics.
Or I could just tell you it's amazing. The ebb and flow of the songs, the electrifying intensity that Buckley's voice holds, and the beautiful song craft involved make this album a completely moving experience.
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1. Purple Rain by Prince
Pop albums are supposed to have an immediate impact. Their mass appeal makes for high sales. Dense, complicated albums may top critics' polls, but they never top the Billboard listing. That's how it works.
However, most of these albums get eliminated from the list of potentials because they lack staying power or because a drunk five year old was in charge of track sequencing.
(Seriously, who was in charge of this on Thriller? It may have been a chimpanzee for all we know.) But Prince (ah Prince)... he's a man with staying power. And the Purple One's sixth album was not only a triumph of pop music, but also one that held a remarkable amount of artistic credibility. The album is a tightly woven set of 9 songs, all of which are immediately catchy, never mind the virtuoso instrumental performances (mostly by Prince himself and most immediately apparent on the leadoff track). By the end of it you're crying, partially because it's over and partially because the lighter you've been waving through the air for the last seven or so minutes has burnt your hand. Either way, you'll never be the same. Prince may have recorded better albums, but I can't think of a single one with better hooks and riffs than this one.
A few fun facts before I leave you: Prince modeled the song "Purple Rain" after Bob Seger's work. He didn't understand why that particular kind of song was so popular, but he figured he could do it better all the same (Prince: 1, Bob: 0). Secondly, Bob Dylan was once quoted as saying that "Purple Rain" was the greatest song of the 80s. Was he doped up beyond belief? Maybe. Was he just showing some love to his Minneapolis brethren? Possibly. Was he right? Probably not, but damn if he ain't close.
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Oh, and in case anyone actually wants to reorder their Thriller tracks on iTunes, might I suggest the following:
1. Thriller
2. Beat It
3. P.Y.T.
4. Baby Be Mine
5. Human Nature
6. Wanna Be Startin' Something
7. Billie Jean
8. The Lady in My Life
Yes, I left off "The Girl Is Mine", but that's because it's a dumb song that isn't half as good as anything else on the album (I don't care where it charted). Plus, what girl could possibly be attracted to Michael Jackson AND Paul McCartney? Or even just Michael, for that matter? See, the song doesn't even have a reason to exist. Done and done. Make it a bonus track or something.
Peace.
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