The Top 25 Most Influential Albums of My Life - #10-#6

Alright their O-Heads...we're getting down to the wire here...let's take a look at 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
#14. "Sublime" by Sublime
#13. "Collective Soul" by Collective Soul
#12. "Ride the Lightning" by Metallica
#11. "Live at Luther College" by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds



Alright...we're into the top 10. All of the albums from here on out could really be put in any type of order, but I tried to do my best with them. These albums are all awesome and all are the artists masterpieces...


#10








"2001" by Dr. Dre – This was the soundtack to my senior year of high school. Best rap album of all time if you ask me (I'm sure many of you disagree and will put some Tupac or Biggie album in its place...which is understandable). We all know I love rock, but what many people don't understand is that I love old school 90's rap. I couldn't tell you who the artists are or what the names of the songs are, but I like a lot of it. So many great rappers came out of this era, and few of them survived. Dr. Dre is one of the best lyricists and beat writers of my generation and this has so many great "guest stars" on it including Eminem and Snoop Dogg...who are also greats in this genre. This album kicks soooo much ass. Who hasn’t tried to sing Eminem’s part in "Forgot About Dre" without passing out from a lack of oxygen? And who, as a teenager, didn’t blast the song "Pause 4 Porno" at an unreasonable volume in a rich, classy neighborhood? This whole album brings back some awesome memories that I shall not discuss here.



#9









"On and On" by Jack Johnson – Is there a better CD to listen to when it’s 90 degrees outside and you’re driving down the highway with all of the windows rolled down? Not in my books. This album should be in everyone’s summer collection. The surf rocker was never better than on this CD, which was listened to over and over again in the car in the summers of ’05 and ’06. I’d put down a song to try out, but they’re all good…really, they are. Listen to the whole thing from beginning to end. If I had to pick a favorite song on the album though I'd probably go with "Gone" or "Wasting Time". This album is influential to me because Jack Johnson is in a genre all his own...and what musical artist wouldn't want to be considered that?



#8









"Z" by My Morning Jacket – I didn't know where to put this one on here...honestly. One of my new favorite bands is led by the rock immortal himself, Mr. Jim James. I first heard this band years ago, but it wasn't until last year that I really got into them. I saw MMJ twice last year, and I got to see two of their most historic concerts they’ve ever played...first, their historic 4.5 hour long Bonnaroo set which included guest appearances by Kirk Hammet of Metallica and my favorite comedian, Zach Galifinakis...and second, their 4 hour long New Years Eve set at Madison Square Garden. Both concerts were amazing. The Bonnaroo set was completely indescribable and may be my favorite concert ever. Although all of their albums are good in their own way, this album highlights some of their best songs. "Gideon", "Dondante" and "Wordless Chorus" are fan favorites at their concerts. This CD is packed with some of the best electric guitar riffs I've ever heard from guitarists Jim James and Carl Broemmel. If you like guitars and have never heard of this band…check them out…now! They are rock’s new guitar gods!



#7









"The Conch" by moe. – This is the second moe. album on this list, and this one blows "Dither" out of the water. Considering how much praise I gave that album....you should really trust me when I say this is one of the greatest guitar albums I've ever listened to. I found this album to truly be the jam bands masterpiece. Another concept album, this album took four years to create (taking tour breaks in between of course) which includes some of the best dueling guitar battles from axe-men Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey. This album gets me fired up and is great for long road trips or working out. If nothing else, check out the dueling guitar battles on "Lost Along the Way" and "The Pit". This album just flows...you'll hear what I mean.



#6









"Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV Pt. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness" by Coheed and Cambria – This band is not a new found favorite, but this album is. Coheed amazes me, especially the fact that all of their albums are concept albums that are written based on a comic book series ("The Amory Wars") written by lead singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez. However, this album is based on a graphic novel named after the title of the album, which continues the story from previous albums. Sanchez has one of the best voices in rock and his diversity can be shown from angry songs like "Welcome Home" to pseudo-love songs like "Wake Up". The entire album is EPIC…and has a sequel ("No World for Tomorrow"). This album has not been taken off of my IPod since I downloaded it the first week of March. The entire band influences me because they put so much time and effort into their music. The cool thing is that you don't need to understand the books to follow the albums...they are two separate entities that tell different interpretations of the story.




I love concept albums, and this is one of my favorites...but the BEST is yet to come...the top 5 will be posted on Wednesday night/Thursday morning so be sure to check and let me know what you think.






TO BE CONTINUED...