Ive been asked by Shane Bayliss to offer up my list of the 10 Albums That Impacted My Life, sounds a bit EMO to me, but Ill indulge you regardless :) Here we go, in no particular order: 1. Bluetones - Expecting To Fly I spent the best part of my late teens and early twenties bouncing around dance floors at student nights to the likes of Bluetonic and Cut Some Rug. Mark Morriss is probably the reason I stayed so thin and healthy. 2. REM - Green My introduction to decent music came quite late, my older sister had great taste (except for The Smiths, but Ill forgive her that), sadly she was off to university before I was old enough to be influenced. REM gave me my first proper foray into alternative music and Green was, and still is a classic 3. Pearl Jam - Ten Probably the album I played more than most in the nineties. I was very definitely influenced by Eddie Vedder, and I still wear the cardigan I bought on the back of the one he was wearing at the Wembley Arena gig I went to. My long hair, ripped jeans and baggy shirts were definitely a nod to the boys from Seattle. I also have fond memories of loads of us standing on the pool tables at the legendary Half Moon pub in Llanelli to Jeremy (I wonder what Stan is doing now). 4. Longpigs - The Sun Is Often Out I liked this album a lot, but the reason its on this list is because it was the first one I bought in my now home of Doncaster. I got it from Track Records, upstairs in the Frenchgate Centre, back when we still had a few decent shops to choose from. 5. The Wonderstuff - Hup. When I wasnt being all grunge, I was being all Stourbridge Indie, and along with Neds Atomic Dustbin, The Wonderstuff, and this album in particular provided the soundtrack to my nights out, I particularly have fond memories of dancing into the wee small hours to Dont Let Me Down, Gently at Barons nightclub in Swansea. 6. The Levellers - Levelling The Land Like with Hup, this album was all about venting, in dance form. Coco Savannas in Cardiff provided the dance floor, One Way and Fifteen Years provided the fuel, and I provided my friends with a good laugh at my poor dancing skills. 7. Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day I first heard this band on a compilation album called Greetings From Uncle Sam which had their track Taillights Fade on it. A friend lent me some of his vinyls and there was no looking back. Taped copies soundtracked many a road trip that summer. 8. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream No particular reason other than that Today has always been one of my favourite songs, more resonant in my later life due to its subject matter, but just a damn good song that is accompanied by an album full of the Pumpkins at their best. 9. Damien Rice - O My only curve ball. Quite simply on this list because listening to Cannonball and Volcano helped me through a break up. 10. Singles - Original Soundtrack One of my favourite films of the time (probably because Pearl Jam were in it). My favourite PJ track was on it (State Of Love & Trust) as well as other belters from Screaming Trees, Smashing Pumpkins again, and my first introduction to Paul Westerberg. All good stuff. I hope thats not bored you too much, I now nominate Simon Saynor, Mike Savory, Rosie Jones & Jason Cross UW to provide their potted musical history in album form :)
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 19:31:35 +0000