Off Topic 20 albums that affected your life

[gtrman66]

No particular order:
Black Sabbatharanoid
Ozzy Osbourne:Blizzard of oz & diary of a madman
Van Halen:OU812
Eagles:Hotel california
Kansas:Leftoverture & Point of know return
Van Halen:Van Halen & 1984
Led Zeppelin:IV & Physical Graffitti
Aerosmith:Rocks & Toys in the attic
Crack the Sky:Crack the Sky & White Music
AC/DC:Highway to Hell & Back in Black
Ted Nugent:Cat Scratch Fever & Double live gonzo
Kiss:Alive 2,Destroyer & Love Gun
Queen:News of the world & Play the game
Gary Moore:Wild frontier & Still got the blues
Thin Lizzy:jailbreak & Live and dangerous
UFO:Strangers in the night
Michael Schenker:Michael Schenker Group(1st solo album)
Scorpions:Lovedrive & Blackout
Vinnie Moore:Mind's eye
King's X:Faith,hope,love & Gretchen goes to nebraska
Marillion:Misplaced chidhood & Holidays in eden
Genesis:Abacab
Yes:Fragile & 90125
Rush:2112 & Moving pictures
Dream theater:Images and words & Metropolis pt 2:Scenes from a memory
Deep Purple:Machine head & Perfect strangers
Blue Murder:Blue Murder
Joe Satriani:Surfing with the alien
Steve Vai:Flexable
David Lee Roth:Eat 'em and smile & Skyscraper
Whitesnake:Slide it in & Whitesnake
Jimi Hendrix: axis bold as love
Steve Morse: the introduction
Robin Trower:Bridge of sighs and BLT
Bad Company:Bad co and straight shooter
Def Leppard:High n dry & Pyromania
Iron Maiden:Number of the beast,Piece of mind & Powerslave
Dokken:Back for the attack
Toto:Toto & TotoIV
Johnny Cash:Live from folsom prison
Lynyrd Skynyrd:Street Survivors
ZZ Top:Fandango and Eliminator
Journey:Infinity,evolution,departure and escape.
Boston:Boston & Don't look back
Asia:Asia
Pink floyd:The wall
Motorhead:Ace of spades
Frank Zappa:Joes garage 1,2,&3
I'm sure I could think of tons more but that's all i can think of now....way more than 20 but I couldn't decide on just 20.Each has affected me in some way musically over the years.

Added a couple I forgot about

 

[Lax]

No order either
Dream theater - images and words, scenes from a memory, SDOIT
Liquid tension experiment 1 & 2
Dire straits - old best of
metallica - black album, justice for all
iron maiden - best of
and loads of classic music discs

 

[glover]

1.In Rock-Deep Purple
2.Live In Sao Paolo-Richie Kotzen
3.On Stage-Rainbow
4.The Song Remains The Same-Led Zeppelin
5.Grand National-John Butler Trio
6.Stressfest-Steve Morse Band
7.Bananas-Deep Purple
8.Good Spirits-Xavier Rudd
9.Tamacun-Rodrigo Y Gabriela
10.Strange Beautiful Music-Joe Satriani
11.Brave New World-Iron Maiden
12.Szelek-Dalriada
13.On An Island-David Gilmour
14.Made In Japan-Deep Purple
15.Living In The Past-Jethro Tull
16.Delicate Sounds Of Thunder-Pink Floyd
18.Inside Of Emptiness-John Frusciante
19.Suspended Animation-John Petrucci
20."Black Album"-Metallica

 

[Hendog]

Not in order


1. Kind of Blue- Miles Davis
2. Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon
3. A Live One- Phish
4. AC/DC Live- AC/DC
5. A Decade of Hits- Allman Brothers Band
6. Pet Sounds- Beach Boys
7. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- The Beatles
8. Live Art- Bela Fleck
9. Legend- Bob Marley
10. Fashion Nugget- Cake
11. Live at Luther College- Dave Mattews and Tim Reynolds
12. Best of the Doors- The Doors
13. The Chronic- Dr. Dre
14. AFD- GNR
15. BSSM- RHCP
16. Brushfire Fairytales- Jack Johnson
17. Blue Light Rain- Jazz is Dead
18. Aqualung- Jethro Tull
19. Houses of the Holy- Led Zeppelin
20. No Doy- Moe.
21. Waiting for Columbus- Little Feat
22. Ten- Pearl Jam
23. Grassroots- 311
24. The Best Of War- War
25. Suspended Animation- Petrush

 

[Hendog]

It's mind blowing to see all the votes for "Ten". I didn't expect anyone else to pick that one.

 

[King Loudness]

Listed in no particular order:

Van Halen - Van Halen
Perspective - Jason Becker
Thoughts And Realities - Warren Robert
The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection - Yngwie Malmsteen
A Demon's Dream - Dave Martone

Resolution - Andy Timmons
Plaid - Blues Saraceno
Strange Beautiful Music - Joe Satriani
Rust In Peace - Megadeth
Are You Experienced - Jimi Hendrix

Go Off - Cacophony
Scenes From A Memory Part II - Dream Theater
Paradise Lost - Symphony X
Friday Night In San Francisco - Al DiMeola/John McLaughin/Paco De Luca
Truth - Jeff Beck

A Peace Of The Sky - AVACOST
Guitar Town - Steve Earle
Live At The Regal - BB King
Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden
Angel Of Retribution - Judas Priest

 

[Funky Chicken]

This is the first 20 I could think of.
Carole King-Tapestry
Elton John-Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Allman Brothers-Brothers and Sisters
Lynyrd Skynyrd-One More From the Road
Cheap Trick at Budokan
Rush-Permanent Waves
Steely Dan-Aja
Pink Floyd-The Wall and DSOTM
Dixie Dregs-Dregs of the Earth
U.K-self-titled
The Tubes-Completion Backward Principle
The Producers-self titled and You Make the Heat
Billy Joel-Songs from the Attic
Adrian Legg-Guitars and Other Cathedrals
Pat Metheny-Secret Story
Crowded House-Woodface
Shawn Colvin-Steady On
Del Amitri-Change Everything

 

[Ernieballplayer]

Who's next, my generation, who are you - The who
High tension wires, Split decision - Steve morse
Total abandon, live at olympia, abandon, Purpendicular - Deep purple
Climbing - Mountain
Radio one - Jimi hendrix
Rust in peace - Megadeth
Power, Leftoverture - Kansas
Killers, number of the beast, somewhere in time, dance of death - Iron maiden

 

[73h Nils]

Oh jeez.... *Browses through CDs...

I'm gonna look like the biggest JP fanboy EVAR after this . Won't deny it, at any rate...

Liquid Tension Experiment: First album I ever heard Petrucci play on. It was just... Unreal for me to hear guitar playing like that, being all into Linkin Park and whatnot when I was 14. This album prompted me to pick up a guitar. This specific album started it all!

Dream Theater - Live at Budokan DVD: I'm including this one because it was the first time I saw/heard Dream Theater. I bought it in New Orleans on my grade 9 band trip and brought it home with me. Watched the first 3-4 songs my first night back. I was absolutely floored. This is THE BAND I had been imagining in my mind as the ultimate in music and what I wanted to get into. I still can't wrap my head around JP's playing after recently re-watching the first set on Sunday afternoon.

Dream Theater - Train of Thought and Awake: These two albums are everything I could ever want in an album. They cover so much ground combined in all forms from musicianship to lyrics, to production to guitar tones... I can still remember the first time Awake clicked with me. I was lying in my basement listening to it on my 5.1 system just chilling in the middle of the summer at around 11pm. Hearing the call-backs of Space-Dye Vest throughout the album and then finally getting to the closing track was something completely alien to me. I just lay there afterward trying to understand it all.

Linkin Park - Meteora: Yeah, yeah, I know. I still stand by the production values on this album. It sounds incredible through my headphones and through any CD system. The guitar tones are so HUGE. Although I don't think I've listened to this one for a few years, it deserves a place on this list for what I used to think about it. It's a shame LP strayed from their sound so much since then... Minutes to Midnight... Blegh...

Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element Pt.1: Sometimes I just want to listen to an entire album that is going to take me somewhere. This is that album. The layering on this one puts most DT albums to shame and the completely different lyrical style and musicianship gives them the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with my #1 band of all time. I still get chills at 6:00 of King of Loss and many other parts throughout. This album is just..... too good. Inhuman, even!

Daft Punk - Discovery: Seeing the animated movie really let me appreciate this album. I've since gotten all their studio/live work and it really provides another open door for my musical tastes. They've led me to Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto and many others. I still listen to this album regularly. Face to Face is pure music brilliance, as are many others on this album.

Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori - Halo 2 OST Volume 2: The music from this game is just unbelievable. It has everything I could ever want from symphonic music and covers so many different moods. Beautiful, upbeat etc. You name it, it's there. And it's there in spades.

Nobou Uematsu - Final Fantasy X Soundtrack: Memories from the game, aside, I still find myself humming the main themes from this music every now and again. The Ending Theme is one of the best orchestral pieces I have ever heard. Honorable mention to the Theme from Final Fantasy XI.

Opeth - Ghost Reveries & Blackwater Park: Now, I used to hate any style of guttural screaming or what have you. In fact, I bought 4 Opeth albums in one shot just because they always came up as a band that DT fans liked. Stupid move, AT THE TIME. I went home, popped in Blackwater Park... HATED it. Couldn't get past like... I don't know, 3 minutes? Well, needless to say, I shelved them and just dealt with it. A year or so later, just randomly put in Ghost Reveries... Holy. Balls. WHAT IS THIS?! So much energy in this stuff. Aggressive, soaring, melodic; completely unlike anything I'd ever heard. I was hooked. My friend is a huge fan, too, so that helped. He's seeing the 20th anniversary show in NYC. I'm infinitely jealous as I've never seen them and this will be his 6th time, I believe.

Howard Shore - Lord of the Rings soundtracks: This composer is something else. He brought these movies into a whole new realm with the masterful scoring.

Harry Gregson-Williams - Metal Gear Solid 3 Soundtrack: Yes, another video game soundtrack, but this one is just as good, if not way better than any Hollywood blockbuster you'll see in theatres. Granted, it is also my favourite game of all time, so it's to be expected. The main theme to this series still gives me goosebumps.

Pink Floyd - Pulse & Dark Side of the Moon: Now, this is a band I'll probably never really delve deeper into due to their extensive catalogue, but these two can tie me over just fine. Comfortably Numb's guitar solo live is something that can never be touched. NEVER.

Steve Vai - Real Illusions: Reflections and G3 Live in Tokyo DVD: Now, I'd never seen Vai before or heard any of his music until I picked this DVD up because of Petrucci, obviously. WHAT A FREAK. This man is to this day, the one I'll defend in any "best guitarist" argument. Is he my favourite? Close; JP gets that honour. Is he the best? IMO, yes he is. The man can do things with a guitar I could never dream to do and he always just looks so comfortable doing them. His guitar is an extension of his soul and these two albums provide a good example for it. Passion and Warfare is great, too, but I prefer these.

System of a Down - Steal This Album & Self-titled: While Toxicity is what most people love about this band, I like the bookends more. Whether it be the sheer heaviness and rawness of the debut album or the highly-polished energy-filled songs on STA, System is one band that can't ever be mimicked. They really are unique and I still love them to death. Not a fan of Mezmerize, but Hypnotize was quite excellent.

aaaaaaaaand number 20...

Alexisonfire - Crisis: I don't know what it is about these guys but I just love their sound. Dallas Green's vocals are excellent and the production is killer. Tight, hard-rocking songs abound. Watch Out is also awesome.

Honourable Mentions:
Periphery (Album's not out yet )
Andy James - In the Wake of Chaos (Good God. This is something else)
Joe Bonamassa - The Ballad of John Henry (Never really appreciated the Blues before. This one does the trick)
John Petrucci - Suspended Animation (Yeah, "why isn't on the list?" Probably because I don't really listen to it that often. When I do, though, it's insane.)
Lamb of God - Sacrament (When you need a good neck-breaking band)
Joe Satriani - LIVE! (Joe proves he can still rock the tunes)
Machine Head - The Blackening (This should be on my list. It's breathtaking in every respect)
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavour (Also something else. In.cred.i.ble.)


Damn, that took like... 40 minutes... 5000 cookies to anyone who actually reads it.

 

[buckethead777]

Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare
Steve Vai - Fire Garden
Joe Satriani - Surfing with an Alien
Fredrik Thordendal - Soil Niger Within
Uncle Moe's Space Ranch - Moe's Town
Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory
Slipknot - Slipknot
Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle - California
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Buckethead - Colma
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (best album ever...and i mean ever)
Dave Matthews Band - Live at Red Rocks
Steve Vai - Sex and Religion
Dream Theater - Awake
Extreme - lll Sides To Every Story
Fantomas - Directors Cut
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Strapping Young Lad - City
Sting - Brand New Day

I think we need a "Top 50" thread....I still have soo many albums that i can't go without

 

[e.mate]

I think we need a "Top 50" thread....I still have soo many albums that i can't go without

+1 ....I just noted that I forgot Iron Maiden's "Somewhere In Time", which has been of particular influence when I was a teenager and learning guitar. I'm pretty aware that most die-hard Maiden fans think that the album is rubbish (Adrian Smith was using guitar synths on it ).....but I will always love it

 

[TheRook]

I'm glad to see so many nods to Extreme III Sides. Its no surprise I'm a big Nuno fan (judging by my gear), but what a great album! I saw them live in Tempe, AZ last summer, and they put on an amazing show.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

nice thread

1. Richie kotzen - slow
2. Extreme - waiting for the punchline
3. stevie salas - colorcode
4. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
5. Hall and Oats - rock and soul part 1
6. Dio - the last in line
7. David lee roth - eat em and smile
8. Van halen - 1984
9. Malmsteen - trilogy
10. badlands - badlands
11. Bryan adams - reckles
12. def leppard - hysteria
13. electric boys - funk o metal carpet ride
14. Jelly fish - spilt milk
15 whitesnake 1987
16 steve vai - alien love secrets
17. sach - the extremist
18. santana - ultimate collection
19. mourning widows- furnished souls for rent
20. Glenn huges- soul mover


I could go on, but these are the ones that shaped me.


J

 

[dav]

prog metal&rock

Pink Floyd- delicate sound of thunder
Spock's beard- Snow
Dream theater- Metropolis Part2
Transatlantic- Bridge across forever
marillion-season's end

Blues rock/hard rock

Gary moore-blues alive
Joe bonamassa-live from nowhere in particular
gov't mule- déjà voodoo
Deep purple- Made in japan
jimi hendrix- are you experienced?

Rock/ Hard Rock

Iron maiden-powerslave
audioslave- audioslave
toto-kingdome of desire
steve lukather- candyman
led zeppelin- IV

shredding-guitar players

Joe satriani- the extremist
steve vai- passion and warfare
andy timmons- ear-Xtasy 2
joe satriani- surfing with the alien
vinnie Moore- the maze

 

[Voo]

1.) Living Colour: Vivid (Vernon Reid's guitar playing inspired me to pick up the guitar)
2.) AC/DC: Back in Black
3.) Stevie Ray Vaughan: Texas Flood
4.) Vaughan brothers: Family style
5.) Carlos Santana: Abraxas
6.) Pantera: Cowboys from Hell
7.) Storyville: A Piece of your Soul
8.) In Flames: Whoracle
9.) In Flames: Come Clarity
10.) 24-7 Spyz: Harder than You
11.) 24-7 Spyz: Face the Day
12.) King's X: Earcandy
13.) King's X: Faith Hope and love
14.) Fishbone: The Reality of my Surroundings
15.) Cowboy Mouth: Voodoo Shoppe
16.) Puya: Fundamental
17.) Pulse Ultra: Headspace
18.) Dominic Cifarelli: Chronicles of Israfel
19.) Rush: Chronicles
20.)Living Colour: Stain (this album IMHO was 10 years ahead of its time and to this day still makes me jaw drop)
21.) Dream Theatre: Images and Words
22.) Eric Johnson: Tones & Ah Via Musicom
23.) Marty Friedman: Scenes

 

[savannah_sean]

1. Elton John - goodbye yellow brick road
2. Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon
3. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
4. AC/DC - Back in Black
5. Ozzy - Diary of a Madman
6. Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
7. Judas Priest - British Steel
8. Metallica - Kill em all
9. Slayer - Show no mercy
10. Destruction - Infernal Overkill
11. DRI - Dirty rotten ep
12. Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters
13. Yngwie - Rising Force
14. Al Dimeola - Elegant Gypsy
15 Steve Morse - The Introduction
16.Steve Morse - High Tension Wires
17. Chick Corea Elektric band - Inside out
18. Zappa/Mothers - Apostrophe/Overnite Sensation
19. Wes Montgomery - The artistry of Wes Montgomery
20. Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

oops forgot the most important one: Rush - Moving Pictures

 

[Vito Porkleone]

In no order:

All The World's A Stage - Rush
Moving Pictures - Rush
The Soul Cages - Sting (incredibly vivid lyrics & Dominic Miller is fantastic)
Alive - Kiss
Hysteria - Def Leppard
Houses of The Holy - Led Zeppelin
Luke - Steve Lukather
IV - Toto
Venus Isle - Eric Johnson
The Boyfriend - Danny Wilde
Unplugged - Alice In Chains
Awake - Dream Theater
Still Life Talking - Pat Metheny
Letter From Home - Pat Metheny
Read My Lips - Fee Waybill (Lucious is all over this - awesome tunes)
The Guitar Trio - DiMeola, DeLucia, & McLaughlin (This is the greatest acoustic record ever)
A compilation CD of Billie Holiday (it's been MIA for a while; can't remember the title)
Days Go By (compilation) - Keith Urban
Step Inside This House - Lyle Lovett
Cuts Like A Knife - Bryan Adams

Mrs Vito wants me to include Wilson Phillips (Lucious is on one song so it can't be all bad, can it? On second thought, yes it can...)

 

[e.mate]

In no order:
Mrs Vito wants me to include Wilson Phillips (Lucious is on one song so it can't be all bad, can it? On second thought, yes it can...)

hahahahahahahahaha....brilliant

 

[Colin]

some amazing responses here, I must checkout some of these albums in the meantime here are mine (for this week anyway)

Huey Lewis - Sports
Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom
Van Halen - 1984
David Lee Roth - Eat em and Smile
Brent Mason - Hot Wired
Michael Lee Firkins - Michael Lee Firkins
Doobie Brothers - Rockin Down the Highway
George Benson - Breezin
Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Gary Moore - Wild Frontier
Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow
Motley Crue - Dr Feelgood
Baby Animals - Baby Animals
John Fogerty - Centerfield
Larry Carlton - Larry Carlton
Vinnie Moore - Meltdown
ZZ Top - Afterburner
Steve Vai - Passion and warfare
The Muppets - The Muppet movie

 

[threeminutesboy]

some amazing responses here, I must checkout some of these albums in the meantime here are mine (for this week anyway)

The Muppets - The Muppet movie

are you serious ?