My sister-in-law Yvette posted this challenge on Facebook:

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. They might not be what you listen to now, but these are the albums that shaped your world.

I tried, but there was no way I could limit the list to fifteen.  The best I could do was to try to winnow down the list to 15 groups related to 15 specific periods in my life, but even then I couldn’t keep it to 15.  I’m a little hesitant to post this because I realize my selections are repetitive and somewhat … hmmm, how do I want to say this … well, perhaps boring is the right word, but then consider the source.  Here goes:

1. R.E.M. – Reckoning (1984) and Murmur (1983). I bought these two albums on cassette tape before making a driving trip from Portland, Oregon to the Midwest during 1984. That trip was memorable in many ways, none more so than being introduced, during long stretches of lonely interstates, to what was to become my favorite band. I still can’t hear Seven Chinese Brothers without being taken back to a hot August day driving on I-80 across the Great Salt Flats.

2. Jackson Browne – Saturate Before Using (1972) and For Everyman (1973). Emotional music for an emotional time. “There is a dance we do in silence….”

3. Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970). Gets on the list because it was a Christmas gift in 1970 from my first real girlfriend, Jeannie. Neither our relationship nor, over the long term, her attraction to men, endured, but my attachment to Neil Young did.

4. Stephen Stills – Manassas (1972). Odd choice, I know, but I loved this album when I was a kid. Underappreciated, in my view.

5. Eagles – On the Border (1974). I know, I know, don’t say it. I never listen to the Eagles nowadays, but I loved this album when I was in college, and to this day I think it is by far their best.

6. Bonnie Raitt – Bonnie Raitt (1971), Give it Up (1972), Takin’ My Time (1973), Home Plate (1975), Sweet Forgiveness (1977). Country and soul. Soundtrack to my entire time of misspent youth in Iowa City.

7. Jackson Browne – Running on Empty (1977). Soundtrack for my final two years of misspent youth in Iowa City.

8. Rolling Stones – Some Girls (1978). Sha doo bee, shat-tered shat-tered, sha doo bee. Oh, yeah, and all the other Stones’ albums, too.

9. Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night (1975), Zuma (1975), and American Stars and Bars (1977). Along with Some Girls, soundtrack to my law school days in Ithaca. Not exactly happy and uplifting, but consider the circumstances.

10. R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction (1985). REMers debate the merits of this album (some love it, some hate it) but it hooked me on REM for good. Stuck in my mind forever with two others on my list, Life’s Rich Pageant (1986) and Document (1987).

11. Replacements – All Shook Down (1989) and Don’t Tell a Soul (1990). An odd sidetrip.

12. R.E.M. – Green (1989) and Monster (1994). These albums spanned the gap between my old life and my new life. I know most people say two other REM albums released during the same period (Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992)) are better, but Green and Monster combine volume (lots of volume), playfulness, and creativity in a completely satisfying way. I’ve probably played Green more times than any other CD I’ve ever owned.

13. Jayhawks – Blue Earth (1989), Hollywood Town Hall (1992), and Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995). Quirky but emotional and satisfying.

14. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994) and Brighten the Corners (1997). Another odd sidetrip. Eclectic, simple, odd, creative, artistic, and often moving, especially the latter.

15. Green Day – Dookie (1995). Don’t ask about this one. I’m not a particularly big Green Day fan, but I loved this album when it first came out, for its pure pop simplicity.

16. Indigo Girls – Indigo Girls (1989) and Nomads Indians Saints (1990). Expressive, unique, moving.

17. Uncle Tupelo – No Depression (1990) and Anodyne (1993). Rock and country and folk perfectly combined.

18. Son Volt – Trace (1995), Straightaways (1997), and Okemah and the Melody of Riot (2005). An offshoot of Uncle Tupelo, it’s a mystery to me why this band is not more popular.

19. Jay Farrar — Sebastopol (2001), Terroir Blues (2003), and Stone, Bright Lights & Steel (2004). Excellent solo albums by the creative force behind Son Volt.

20. Gerald de Palmas — La dernière année (1994), Marcher dans le sable (2000), and Un homme sans racines (2004). Creative and listen-able, en francais.

21. Others I really loved at the time, in no particular order: Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night (1965), Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedos (1979), Flying Burrito Brothers, Close up the Honky-Tonks (1974), 10000 Maniacs, Our Time in Eden (1992), Pretenders, Learning to Crawl (1984), Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmos Factory (1970), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Déjà Vu (1970), Stills-Young Band, Long May You Run (1976), Neil Young, Ragged Glory (1990), Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours (1977).

I’m sure I’ve missed some, but these stick in my mind (or maybe more accurately, under my skin).

• The Parasitic Professionals Retraining Act
• This Drives Me Crazy

Categories: Music, R.E.M.