100 influential albums 100-21

Recently, I sat down on a rainy Saturday afternoon looking for something to do outside of work, drinking a cold carlsberg and watching Cast Away. I began to look back at my 25 years of living. I looked at what I was currently listening too, being the resident indie/unknown band/90s styled adult alternative guru of this site, I wanted to revisit my youth and discover where my love for these styles come from. Through the haze of poor memory, of childhood stupidity, and through the four carlsbergs I cracked back during this process, I tried my best to encompass my musical journey and upbringing in 100 discs that, to this point in my life, have impacted not only who I am as a person, but the direction of my musical taste. After pitching the idea to Memphis, he encouraged me to post it on here for all to read and reflect on. I agreed.

So, for the next five days, I will be posting, in chunks of twenty, the 100 most influential albums in my life. Understand, please, this is not my take on the 100 best albums ever, or the 100 most influential albums in the world ever. This is strictly albums that have impacted me. I'm sure there will be surprises for everyone, bands you wouldn't imagine from me, and surely the typical disc you've never even heard of. I will not comment on the discs directly until I hit the final twenty, aside from a small snippet about the entire cluster, but if anyone wants to ask why on a certain disc, please do so in the comments, and i'll tell you my connection with it. So, here we go, time to learn about st. tropez and where my musical influence comes from.

The first 20 are pretty random. Things from rap to 90s pop and alternative. This section really encompasses me to the upmost. It has stuff that my parents introduced me to, to stuff from my childhood, to high school, and even a few modern day releases.

100. Will Smith "Big Willie Style"
99. The Rolling Stones "Forty Licks"
98. Blessid Union of Souls "Walking Off the Buzz"
97. Steel Train "Twilight Tales from the Prairies of the Sun"
96. Gym Class Heroes "The Papercut Chronicles"
95. Prime STH "Underneath The Surface"
94. Silverchair "Neon Ballroom"
93. This Will Destroy You "Young Mountain"
92. The Killers "Hot Fuss"
91. New Found Glory "Self-Titled"
90. Dr. Dre "Chronic 2001"
89. Sublime "Self-Titled"
88. Counting Crows "This Desert Life"
87. Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the infinite Sadness"
86. Lucky Boys Confusion "Throwing The Game"
85. Ryan Adams "Love is Hell"
84. Savage Garden "Self-Titled"
83. Parachute "Losing Sleep"
82. SR-71 "Now You See Inside"
81. Peter Bradley Adams "Leavetaking"
80. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Californication"


The second set of twenty-ish, 79-60, really draws a lot from my high school years with a lot of punk rock and pop punk, along with the lone radio-friendly crap rock of the late 90's-early 00's.


79. Limp Bizkit "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water"
78. The Jealous Sound "Kill Them With Kindness"
77. Sugar Ray "14:59"
76. Lydia "Illuminate"
75. Nine Days "The Madding Crowd"
74. The Midway State "Holes"
73. Mat Kearney "Bullet"
72. Mae "Destination: Beautiful"
71. Sugarcult "Start Static"
70. Mumford & Sons " Sigh No More"
69. July For Kings "Swim"
68. Stone Temple Pilots "Thank You"
67. Better Than Ezra "Closer"
66. The All-American Rejects "Self-Titled"
65. Paper Route "Absence"
64. Tonic "Lemon Parade"
63. Oasis "What's The Story (Morning Glory)"
62. Thursday "Full Collapse"
61. Kimone "The Mill"
60. Radiohead "Kid A"


Halfway there. 59-40 provides the pivotal turning point in my musical exploration. Influence is as vast as you'll see in the list on these twentyish discs, from christian to rock, brit rock to rock, rap to classic rock/oldies, and punk/emo to unknown. This is truly the epitome of the list, and the widest array on the list.


59. Minus The Bear "Highly Refined Pirates"
58. Switchfoot "The Beautiful Letdown"
57. This Is Me Smiling "Self-Titled"
56. We The Kings "Self-Titled"
55. There Will Be Fireworks "Self-Titled"
54. Puff Daddy and the Family "No Way Out"
53. Kings of Leon "Only By The Night"
52. Dashboard Confessional "The Places You've Come to Fear the Most"
51. Vertical Horizon "Everything You Want"
50. Snow Patrol "Final Straw"
49. Matchbox Twenty "Yourself or Someone Like You"
48. Blink-182 "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket"
47. The Juliana Theory "Emotion is Dead"
46. Death Cab for Cutie "Transatlanticism"
45. Jimi Hendrix "Experience Hendrix"
44. Foo Fighters "The Colour and Shape"
43. Linkin Park "Hybrid Theory"
42. The Spill Canvas "Sunsets & Car Crashes"
41. Jackson Browne "Solo Acoustic"
40. Lifehouse "No Name Face"


The final set of songs before we hit the top 20. As we creep closer to the top, it's fairly evident that these discs hold a lot of meaning to me. Just to name a few, Aerosmith's "Young Lust", albeit a greatest hits album, really got me into the back catalog of the band and formed an unhealthy obsession with songs like "Dream On", "Girls of Summer", "Sweet Emotion" and "Jaded". Kanye's '808...' was the CD I spun constantly while living in London, and Springsteen's 'The River' was one of my dads favorite records and one I grew up with. Jars of Clay was the first CD I ever owned that wasn't a jock jams mash up, and P.O.S. caught my attention on 'Audition', but redefined what hip-hop was to me on 'Never Better', as Frank Ocean did with R&B. Name Taken was a CD I bought on a whim, but after months of spinning it, realized it was something special and still something I spin regularly today. As for JEW, I couldn't really decide on what disc impacted me more, because both did at different times in my life. Flickerstick was the best live show I saw growing up in middle school until I saw Elton John, and has since been passed by numerous other shows, but it's still a band (winner of VH1's Bands on the Run) that I hold close to my childhood.
20-1 I will comment on each disc and it's importance to me, and will feature in an entirely separate post. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and to revealing my top 20 most impactful albums on my life to this point tomorrow.


39. Acceptance "Phantoms"
38. Justin Kings and the Apologies "Self-Titled"
37. Aerosmith "Young Lust"
36. Incubus "Morning View"
35. Kanye West "808's and Heartbreaks"
34. Trapt "Self-Titled"
33. Bruce Springsteen "The River"
32. Jars of Clay "Self-Titled"
31. City & Colour "Sometimes"
30. Feeder "Pushing The Senses"
29. P.O.S. "Never Better"
28. Last Days of April "Angel Youth"
27. Frank Ocean "Nostalgia, Ultra"
26. Eve 6 "It's All In Your Head"
25. Name Taken "Hold On"
24. MuteMath "Self-Titled"
23. Jimmy Eat World "Clarity / Futures"
22. Emerson Hart "Cigarettes & Gasoline"
21. Flickerstick "Welcoming Home the Astronauts"