Oops. Well, here is a quick list I came up with of my top 10 influential albums. I swear that I read the word influential and I just started typing. I was supposed to write a favorite albums list. This probably proves that I am self-involved, as many people already know.
Well, I'll admit that I am also lazy so this will stay a top 10 influential albums list. These are not exactly my favorite albums, but they did influence me. Now, let's get ready for me to feel old.
1. Gish by Smashing Pumpkins
When I first started playing guitar, I would read Guitar Player magazine. There was an article I read one day at school about Billy Corgan's guitar rig. It was about how Billy liked to plug a Les Paul guitar into a stack of Marshall amps. He would turn the gain on the Marshall all the way up, turn the volume on his guitar to 1 and let it warm up for, like, five hours before he played. That day I went home and started listening to my older brother's copy of Gish.
2. Nevermind by Nirvana | Ten by Pearl Jam
I simultaneously fell in love with both of these albums. Yeah, you guessed it. I was a grunge kid. I am gonna take so much shit from some of my friends (mainly Greg Edds) for putting Pearl Jam on here. Why does Ed Vedder's voice sound so weird?!?!
But, I loved it. I could still sing you every line of that album doing my best Ed Vedder impression. Pearl Jam's music holds some of the best guitar solos (admit it, Greg). Nirvana Nevermind was a completely different thing. It was pain masked in anger. The guitar solo that wasn't a guitar solo. It was like they were accidentally beautiful.
It was the first music I had heard like that. On a side note: Sometimes I fear that younger kids are just into Nirvana because the guy killed himself. Expressing pain is great of us, wanted in music, but not him to die.
3. Sweden by The Mountain Goats
I remember being so in love with The Mountain Goats when I found this album. I'll give credit to Oliver and Kevin Morgan because they gave me my first listen. Weeks later, I would take my boombox up to Memorial Park to sit in the grass and play this for people. Girls would tell me the music I listen to was "too sad."
4. The Pink Album by Sunny Day Real Estate (SDRE)
One of the most beautiful albums of all time. If you ever question whether music is the universal language, listen to this album. You will not be able to understand any of the lyrics but Jeremy Enigk's vocals will affect you so deeply you will be certain that you know exactly what he's talking about.
This album influenced the way I play with other guitar players. I used to think that there needs to be a rhythm guitar player and a lead guitarist. In SDRE, there is just two guitar players that play more together than one on top of the other. See also: Fugazi.
5. At Action Park by Shellac
Steve Albini has had a huge impact on me. From how I think a record should sound to what I think is "punk rock." I think all of my friends and I first fell in love with this album because of the drums/drum sound. We stayed for the crazy lyrics.
Here's a little bit of "Porno Star": “Porno star arrives / No English, no money / Two things / A cock like a stallion and an iron will.” I think back then I looked at Steve Albini (and probably a lot of my other musical idols) as this hardcore beast. I realize now that he's probably just a nice guy who wants to be loved.
6. Pinkerton by Weezer
I think of Weezer as a rock band that any music teacher can appreciate. None of the changes in their songs surprise the listener. Everything happens right when it should. This album came out when I was in high school. Just at the right moment when a girl and me could call it "our album," that "El Scorcho" was our song.
Once she broke up with me I pulled the move inspired by the '80s movie Say Anything. I stood outside her boyfriend's window in the middle of the night blasting the song "Butterfly" on my boombox held above my head. So I guess this album taught me the power of a good love song.
7. Aquemini by Outkast
Big Boi and Andre (3000)'s friendship is palpable on this album. I feel like I'm friends with them, too, when I listen to it. The production on it is ridiculous, a wide range of beats. I think every person knows that art and music can enhance your life.
I would take that a step further and say that every person could benefit from hip-hop specifically. I love all kinds of rap music, but this album is at the top of my list.
8. Grace by Jeff Buckley
His voice is so beautiful. A lot of people compare his voice to Thom Yorke. I would say it sounds closer to Billie Holiday. There are a million great singers in the world. Most of them are giving you all they got, in terms of power.
I listen to Jeff Buckley, and it sounds like he's not even trying. That he could rip my speakers in two if he did. No one will ever, ever sound like Jeff, but I learned from him to just sing in my real voice and accept it for what it is. Again, just to clarify, I do not think I sound like Jeff Buckley.
9. So Jealous by Tegan & Sara
Of all the albums I've listed here as influential, this one came to me later in my life. These girls write some of the most straightforward pop songs of all time. I've tried to adapt this mode of thinking to a handful of my songs since.
Cut out the intro and the outro and any extended jamming. Guitar solo? Get that out of there, too. Just tell us what you want us to hear and be done with it. That's what Tegan & Sara do.
10. The Dead Air Sound System by Mousetrap
The whole reason Hear Nebraska asked me to do this list was to focus on Nebraska music, if I could. This is the only Nebraska album to make the list. I can say that every time I walked into the Cog Factory or the Capitol Bar, my mind was soaking in information. I looked up to Fischer, Frontier Trust, Opium Taylor and Ritual Device, but Mousetrap really spoke to me.
I remember getting to the Cog Factory early for the record release. The lead singer, Pat, walked in around 8 p.m. with a box of CDs and I walked up and bought one right away. That night Pat broke his high E string, and when a fellow guitar player told Pat all he had was a B string, Pat said the he would just use that. That blew my mind for some reason.
That music is soaked in sex, anger, passion, fear and confidence all at once. It's everything I wanted to be when I was 17. That night I would take the CD home and read the lyrics all laid out as one poem. No song names above them — I love that. I still play the acoustic song No. 6 "Floor Plans: the Happy Home" every once in a while. Song No. 8, "The Last Dance," is one of the heaviest/hardcore songs of all time. I'll never forget the line "My mind is burning, everything's burning, everything's dirty, everything, dirty!" I may have that wrong, but that's how I sing it.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Bad by Michael Jackson
Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes by Cursive
Smashmouth EP? (the Omaha band, not those other yahoos)
Dry by Pj Harvey
Maggot Brain by Parliament Funkadelic
Yank Crime by Drive Like Jehu
Come Pick Me Up by Superchunk
Liar by Jesus Lizard
Everything by Fugazi. Just could not narrow it down to one album.