The Top 25 Most Influential Albums of My Life - #15-#11

Alright, after much contemplation and second guessing the next 5 are finally done, but first...the list so far...

#25. "Purple" by Stone Temple Pilots

#24. "Dither" by moe.

#23. "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most" by Dashboard Confessional

#22. "Ten" by Pearl Jam

#21. "Under the Table and Dreaming" by Dave Matthews Band

#20. "Greatest Hits" by Journey

#19. "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns N' Roses

#18. "Nevermind" by Nirvana

#17. "Unplugged" by Alice in Chains

#16. "Clumsy by Our Lady Peace

#15

"Retrospective Vol. 1" by Rush – I would never put this as one of the best albums of all time, because it is a Greatest Hits compilation, but the purpose of this is to list influential albums and this is certainly one of mine. The 3 Canucks (Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart) write so much music that this is only the first of three volumes of Greatest Hits albums. This album highlights their early years from 1974-1980. This band was probably my first taste of progressive rock, and opened my eyes to other prog rock bands like Dream Theater and Coheed & Cambria. Plus, their songs are written with different meanings (some political, others historical, others fantasy based) that come straight from the mind of one of the greatest drummers of all time. This album packs on more of their hits than on the other volumes. "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill" are two of my favorite Rush songs of all time...ESPECIALLY Alex Lifeson’s finger-busting solo in "Freewill".

#14

"Sublime" by Sublime – This is the ultimate summer album! It must be enjoyed sitting outside while drinking a beer or other alcoholic beverage. "Wrong Way", "Santeria" and "What I Got" are all classics, but the rest of the CD is packed with other greats. I love to listen to this album in May and June, right as the summer concert season is starting and barbeques start to roll around. Too bad this band didn’t last longer…they had a lot of potential and staying power in my opinion. The remaining members of the band got together for a concert in Nevada back in February, but no other information is coming out about hiring a new lead singer/guitarist or a new album.

#13

"Collective Soul" by Collective Soul – Ask any of my friends I’ve known since grade school and they will tell you that one of my favorite bands ever is Collective Soul. I don’t know why, but I find them to be a band that was always better than they were given credit for. They were one of those bands that flourished in the rock genre in the mid-to-late 90's when the public eye started moving to Hip-Hop and Rap after the whole Grunge scene started to die off. When guitarist Ross Childress left the band after the "Dosage" album, I shed a tear. They haven’t been the same since. This album means a lot to me because CS was my first ever concert (along with Train), and this album is so catchy from beginning to end. Good sing-a-long road trip album.

#12

"Ride the Lightning" by Metallica – Probably the first heavy metal album I ever heard. The first thing I ever noticed while listening to this band was that there was not one, but two guys playing the main riffs of the song. The dueling guitars of Kirk Hammet and James Hetfield are incredible on this album (see: "For Whom the Bell Tolls"). I love listening to Metallica in surround sound cause you can easily pick out who's playing which riffs. We all know Metallica lost some popularity with the whole Napster thing, but after their performance at Bonnaroo 2008, all is forgiven. They even apologized to the fans, which is pretty amazing for Lars Ulrich's ego, but I guess that's why Hetfield made the announcement. This album brought out my love of heavy metal and "Fade to Black" will always be my favorite Metallica song.

#11

"Live at Luther College" by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds – This album is responsible for me ever picking up an acoustic guitar. Without this album I probably would’ve started with electric. The harmony of Dave and Tim's guitars in songs like "Tripping Billies" and "Typical Situation" are beautiful, and what Dave fan couldn’t love the live acoustic version of "Jimi Thing". This album is a jam from the first note of "One Sweet World" until the crowd applause fades out at the end of "Two Step". I used to listen to this album almost every night before I went to bed for a 6-month stretch in college. I also saw these guys play live/acoustic together in Vegas at the Aladdin because of this album…money well spent. P.S. - The Dave & Tim "Live at Radio City Music Hall" album is nowhere near as good.

That's all for now folks. I've got the Top 10 written down, just gotta put them in some sort of order, but the rest of the list should be out soon. Stay tuned...

TO BE CONTINUED...