Industrial Age.

Jesus Jones Liquidizer (1989)
Jane’s Addiction Nothing’s Shocking (1988)
Walt Mink Miss Happiness (1992)
Flaming Lips In A Priest Driven Ambulance (1990)
Mercury Rev Yerself Is Steam (1991)
Pavement Crooked Rain Crooked Rain (1994)

The above albums are listed in the order I experienced them from a period ranging from Junior in High School to a few years after I initially dropped out of college. (I have since gone back and graduated with my Bachelors so don’t use Tankboy as an excuse to drop out of college. Be cool! Stay in school!)

The reason these albums are important to me is they serve as touch-stones in particularly powerful moments in my musical development. Each album struck a deep chord in me by creating noises I’d heard in my soul, had been yearning to hear reconstructed and touched off great joy through the realization that other people heard the same weird sounds I did.

Jesus Jones were the first to really meld the electronic with the rock and /or roll with results that actually sounded organic in a day before samplers and synths could easily reconstruct organic bliss out of beats.

Jane’s Addictiction did for me what Led Zeppelin did for a generation before me as it melded the primal and mystical and plugging directly into my inner anger and hopefulness.

Walt Mink just kicked my ass. Period. Guitars ruled the world and J. Waronker’s drumming inspired me to learn the skins myself. Plus I won a t-shirt at one of their concerts becasue I knew Rosie Grier sang "It's Alright To Cry." Yay for trivia!

Both The Lips and Mercury Rev provided the soundtracks to my acid-soaked era and reassured me through the proof that there were indeed people out there far more fucked up than I could ever hope to be.

Finally Pavement provided the perfect segue from the hangover induced by the early ‘90s hopefulness brought on by the alterna-rock boom. It was growing obvious that Indie would not, in fact, rule the world but we could take solace that groups like Pavement still existed.

There are loads more albums that have deeply affected me but this small sampling seems to me the most personal and probably some of the deepest hitting. Tons of discs have continued to influence me but as time grows on their influence grows weaker and my tastes grow ever more defined. I’m still surprised by a bit of bliss out of left field but rarely does anything make me feel as giddy as these discs did at the times I encountered them.

These are the albums that made it impossible for me not to fall in love with music.

BONUS ROUND

Chemical Brothers Exit Planet Dust (1995)
Fatboy Slim Better Living Through Chemistry (1996)

I always loved dance music.
These two albums taught dance how to truly rock.
It was about here that I stared spinning lots of electronic music.
I have since rotated back into the rock and soul category but these discs still pop up occasionally.

GREAT FOR FUCKING

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Orange (1994)

Really.
Take my word for it.
Grabbed a loved one, snuggle through the intro and then get down and dirty.
Truuuuust me...