15 Albums That Shaped My Life Part 1

In the time of chimpanzees, I was a monkey (or, when people were making lists, I was writing blurbs)

Sep 21, 2023

woman laying on bed near gray radio — Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash

Life felt a lot different back in the early (for me) days of Facebook. For starters, weirdly (looking back at it now at least), so many of us used to start our posts with a verb, like Mark Nash ". . . is wondering why everyone starts their posts with an action word." This phase didn't last long, but it feels rather quaint (and a little daft) looking back at these old posts.

Not that Facebook has ever been a great place to be, but back in 2009 when I first joined it was certainly a simpler time. Before the angst, the algorithms, the doomscrolling. It felt new and fresh. Exciting? Maybe not. But definitely interesting and engaging. That period also seemed to be filled with list challenges (My Top 10 Movies, The 15 Books I think Everyone Should Read). And while these often weren't that far removed from the digital chain letter posts I so detest nowadays: ". . . only 15 people have even read this far. And even less will share this post blah blah blah" (this is, BTW, the perfect way to guarantee that I won't share something), they weren't really offensive to me. I just wasn't that interested. Until, that is, "The 15 Albums That Changed My Life" challenge came along.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love music. It's one of my greatest sources of joy and has been since I was a kid. So this challenge had my name all over it!

The brief was fairly simple: "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. These are the albums that, no matter what they were thought of musically, shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it."

For the person that tagged me in this challenge, and for most "normal" people, this was a pretty simple exercise, the output for which was a numbered list of fifteen albums. Period. End of Post. Have a nice day. Chances are that these folks simply sifted through their memory banks for 15 meaningful albums, stuck them on a list, and were done with it. But for me it was a “journey”, one which I recall taking place over several days, possibly as long as a week.

This article reproduces what I wrote back then (not sure exactly when, but likely some point during 2009), covering my intro and the first seven albums. My next article will cover the remaining eight albums. No matter how much it pains me not to review and edit, I'm posting these absolutely verbatim, as they appeared in my original note (Facebook 'Notes'! remember those?). The only liberty I've taken is to add a video for each album.

I'm planning to wrap up with a third article making some observations, discussing whether this list has stood the test of time, whether the albums still resonate with me, and whether anything else has been released in the last 14 years that I would add to the list.

But for now, let's head back to 2009!

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WOW!! This was extremely difficult. At first pass I had over 40 albums on my list. Getting it down to 15 was a challenge. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love music - rarely a day goes by without music in my life. I'm not sure I could get through the workday without my iPod. At the risk of seeming like some sort of music snob, I've decided to blurbalize each of the albums on this list. Coming up with the final list really meant looking at why these albums were important to me - was it memories and emotions, did I just love the music, did it wake me up to some whole genres, do I still listen to them today?

So each album has a little blurb as to why/how it made list.

The albums are listed in the order in which I was introduced to them, not necessarily chronologically.

If I've tagged you in this list it's because (1) I know you love music and am really interested to see what makes your list or (2) I really like your style and could imagine you having some pretty eclectic and surprising albums on your list.

Hopefully some of you will post your lists. Feel free to ignore if you wish…

The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)

This was my first favorite band. Not their best album, but the first one I heard in its entirety and the first one I owned. Very strange story - one of my best friends saw this cassette fall of the back of someone's scooter. He picked it up and brought it to school where he traded it to me for a blacklight bulb.

God only knows where I got that bulb, but hey, it was the late 70's, early 80's - what else can I say? Within a couple months I had Outlandos D'Amour and Regatta de Blanc on vinyl. I was pretty devastated when they disbanded. I told Tina that, no matter what, if the Police got back together we would see them. And they did. And we did. And it did not disappoint - probably the best concert I've ever seen.

Men at Work - Business as Usual (1981)

Absolutely loved this album - had it on cassette in '81 and it was still being played through the late 80's and early 90's until it was replaced by CD and later FLAC. love Colin Hay's voice and it's an album I never tire of. Surely a Desert Island Disc.

The Cure - Japanese Whispers (1983)

My wonderfully strange and foreign cousin Ali (just Al now) visited us in (I'm guessing) the summer of 1983 and introduced me to The Cure in the form of Japanese Whispers. Along with Bauhaus, Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs and a host of other unknown and unheard of music, The Cure opened up whole new worlds of music to me. While there are Cure albums I enjoy more (a number of which I could have put on this list), this one started the love affair. Apart from a brief hiatus in the mid-90s I’ve followed their music consistently for 25 years. Finally got to see them in concert last year at Radio City Music Hall and was not disappointed - they remain phenomenal in concert and continue to put out solid albums.

The Lover Speaks - The Lover Speaks (1986)

My next-door neighbor Simon had this on vinyl - I copied it onto cassette and played it so often I damn near broke the tape. In the early 90s I finally found it on CD, now MP3, and I still revisit it fairly regularly. It was just the right time and right place for this album for me and it has held up well. This is a Desert Island Disc for sure.

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (1988)

I have very vivid memories of what was going on in my life the summer this cassette was making the rounds between my stereo, walkman and boombox. This is still a wonderful album - the lyrics and subject matter of the songs is as compelling and relevant today as it was then. I haven't followed much of her career since this debut, but continue to play this album on a fairly regular basis. Standout tracks for me include "Mountains of Things" and "For My Lover". If for some reason you never gave this album a shot or were put off by the single "Fast Car" (one of the weaker songs in my opinion), I'd say it's definitely worth giving the entire album a listen.

Bob Marley - Chances Are (1981)

Growing up in Bermuda I obviously listened to a fair bit of Bob. This album (released posthumously) was a very different sound than Bob's more mainstream reggae that I was familiar with. It’s a compilation of earlier recordings made in Europe and includes some real classics (in my mind). I'll agree the production might not have been the best and it is somewhat lo-fi, but it introduced me to some of his earlier music. It was also a very large part of the soundtrack to my life in the Summer of '87 and there are many intense memories associated with it.

Lenny Kravitz - Mama Said (1991)

This album is timeless to me. I just gave this another listen and the amount of memories associated with each song is quite astounding. This was a very crazy time of my life - living in a single room apartment with shared bath and kitchen, single for the first time in a couple years. Met a lot of new friends during this year and experimented with far too many substances. At its heart the album's a musical love letter to Lisa Bonet, Lenny's estranged wife at the time. But there are some crunchy pieces in here as well - Fields of Joy with Slash (Lenny's cousin incidentally) on guitar is a standout. Flowers for Zoe (Lenny's daughter) is a beautifully stripped-down track. Other favorites include "All I Ever Wanted" (co-written by Sean Lennon) and "What the Fuck Are We Saying" (one word - vibraphone. I love it!!).

Thanks for joining me on this trip down memory lane, I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll be back soon with Part 2.

Please drop a comment and let me know what you thought of my selections. Let me know a few albums that would be on your list (or go crazy and throw out the full 15!!)

Until next time, happy listening!

Joy in the Journey