Important albums to your taste in music.

FFS....will try again later. Internet explorer at the office is shit. SHIT.

When I was a kid I was mostly influenced by my older sisters tastes, which was a bit shit but could be worse. Mostly 80s hits. They had a strong Jacko phase which let me an imprint on my pop subconscious. I ignored his work for years but I still love him and get shocked at his grandiosity, so unique and talented.

Then I kinda stopped listening to music for some years too. Half 90s started to listen to top40 music and making mixtapes, jumped on this Blur vs Oasis war with their singles of that era but think I didn't even hear those records fully until a bit later.

My first music purchases were... eclectic. If not directly shite (weird compilations like Caribe mix ). Remember buying Bilingual by Pet Shop Boys on cassette for some reason.

By the late 90s my friends mostly listened to shit Spanish music (punk ska), Eminem or whatever. I got Green Day, RHCP, Nirvana and that kind of compilations. Linkin Park is from this era, right? FFS

It was by the early 2000s that I started getting obssessed with Oasis and started actually being hungry for new music. Which is I guess where the interesting begins...

I got the orange album when I was 13 and was praising Go west and can you forgive her? to anyone who would listen. Pretty sure my dad thought I was gay for a few months.

Wham. The first singles i bought with my own money were Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Freedom and Last Christmas- all in 84 I think. I have very scratchy memories of 7" singles being 40p and that was my pocket money at the time.

From the age of 10 to 13 i listened mainly to pop. The first Pet Shop Boys album on cassette might have been the first album i bought with my own money. I would've been twelve.

It was the following year after meeting my now oldest mate that i really got into music though. Hip Hop, soul, funk, rare groove and a bit of reggae. Eric B & Rakim- Paid in Full, Public Enemy- Yo Bumrush The Show, De La Soul- 3 Feet High & Rising, Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded, James Brown compilations were all really important.

couple of songs thrown in as well as albums...


yazz - the only way is up



this is the first song i remember properly loving as a small child so probably my first real introduction into the world of music.


the jam - greatest hits


my dad was always a big weller fan and had this compilation on cassette tape and used to have it on in the car all the time as a kid. i suppose this was my first real exposure to rock music and these songs had a huge influence on me and my tastes growing up.


oasis - some might say



i remember seeing the first ever performance of this on top of the pops with liam in his big umbro coat and being blown away. i fell in love with the song, the band and they became my gateway into discovering my own "proper music" which led to...

oasis - whats the story morning glory



the first album i brought with my own money. played it to death, never been my favourite oasis album but certainly the most important of theirs in terms of shaping my music taste.

embrace - the good will out



the other 90s band who i properly fell in love with and obsessed over was embrace and in particular this album. fucking hammered this for many years and holds loads of great memories for me.

longview - mercury

a few years later and i discovered going to gigs and had seen longview as a support band on numerous occassions and really liked their poncerock ways which reminded me of embrace. ended up properly obsessing over them and seeing them 20 odd times including cities such as edinburgh, TCOTU, nottingham, norwich, cambridge and bury st edmunds. obviously i look back now and see that they were bang average and the album was dull but these came along at just the right time for me and were a massive part in my musical development.


seafood - when do we start fighting

fairly obscure one this but an important gateway band for me in terms of shifting away from britpop and poncerock. i saw these supporting ash and really fucking liked them, delved into their back catalogue and saw them several more times over the years. it was a slightly heavier sound than i'd been used to and it was from discovering their influences and posting on their message board i discovered some heavier american bands that went on to be some of my favourites of all time. it was thanks to seafood i got into pixies, sonic youth, dinosaur jr etc. also the fact they had played with some norwich bands on tour such as magoo and kaito made me realise i had a decent music scene on my doorstep and start checking out some of those bands local to me. it was around this time i started branching out a bit more in my music tastes and listening to john peel properly too which obviously has a profound effect on my taste.

dj yoda - how to cut and paste a mix tape vol 1

there was a clothes shop back in the late 90s/early 00s in norwich called cult and i always remember thinking the music they played sounded pretty cool but wasnt my normal sort of thing. dj yoda was something they played quite a bit so i bought this album and i suppose it was my first venture into the world of hip hop. i remember thinking the track sesame sex was hilarious and putting it on a mix cd for a couple of birds which just led to them thinking i was a bit weird tbh. off the back of this though it got me into delving into the world of hip hop and funk which led to much much better stuff that this.

four tet - rounds

in the early 00s xfm had a short lived magazine that i used to buy called x-ray magazine. it used to come with a cover mounted cd and one issue had a song called four tet on it called she moves she which knocked me for six. it was unlike anything i'd heard before and was stunning so i went to virgin megastore and bought rounds the album it came from. it's still one of my favourite albums of all time and was my entry into the world of instrumental and electronic music.


that takes you from 1985 to about 2003. i might add more later if i can be arsed.

Excellent thread, I'll post something tonight.

bad - michael jackson



first tape i bought (too poor for a cd walkman )

urban hymns - the verve



oasis/blur thing passed me by in 94/95/96.

this record got me into geetar bands.

blue lines - massive attack



expanded my musical horizons this one.

was a bit close minded beforehand.

Beatles – the White Album/Rolling Stones - Exile: Of course it is a typical choice, but I remember going on family vacations and this would always sneak into my dads playlist. I didn’t understand the musicianship behind a Miles Davis record then and he got that so he played these always to the point if I hear say Tumbling Dice on the radio or elsewhere, I expect Sweet Virginia to come on next. I loved the hell out of these but it’d take time for me to “get it”

Boyz II Men Coolihighharmony – Perhaps the 1st record I really actually bought and it was on cassette. They could harmonize and make panties drop, the latter being something I didn’t even know existed, but whatever. The matching getups, the fella with the cane whod get the sweet speaking verses that’d almost always begin with “girl”. Sure its lying around somewhere at my parents but it was cash when I was 8
Spent the next few years listening to whatever was on and Nirvana/REM cause my brother and cousin were super into them. So there are likely mix tapes at my parents house with Sliver by Nirvana, Ryhthym is a Dancer, Jump by Kris Kross, and Country feedback by REM all on them. Thank fuck the NSA wasn’t a thing then because they’d probably have stuck me into an asylum

This was followed by whatever was on the radio still as I was moreinto sports, pogs, kick the can, and sega.

Then 1995 happened and I’ll never forget being in a record store and having enough money for a one CD. I had two in my hands. One Morning Glory and the other the Presidents of the United States of America. Needless to say I picked the Oasis record played it on a loop and it was the biggest game changer in how I listened to music. Really it sent me down a black hole of music from the 60s that my dad already owned most of (even though I had no problem listening to a La Bouche tune as I gave a fuck about image at 12 and kids in America weren’t into say the Kinks )
There was a lull after this because the internet wasn’t an endless supply of music at the time (if it was I was too busy waiting 30 seconds on dial up to see a nipple)

Then I got really into that 1st Strokes album at same time Ryan Adams released Gold, got into the internet for music.

Wow! You started off liking amazing music before Oasis ruined your life!

Good thread. Disclaimer: may contain compilations.

Buddy Holly - Greatest Hits (or similar); The Hollies - 20 Golden Greats; The Definitive Simon & Garfunkel; Fleetwood Mac - Rumours









My mum and dad had these four on loop in the car when I was growing up. I think they've moved onto CDs in the last 30 years, but they still play the same albums. I must have known all the words by the time I was about 6, and I'd gladly still listen to any of them.

The Beatles - 1967-1970/The Blue Album



The first album I bought with my own money. One of my friends at primary school had it on tape and we used to listen to the run of The Fool on the Hill/Magical Mystery Tour/Lady Madonna/Hey Jude (cringe)/Revolution incessantly. I spent the next couple of years being aloof and not really getting the Britpop thing, although obviously I still enjoyed Roll With It whenever it came on. Then...

Oasis/(What's the Story?) Morning Glory



...I finally got into Oasis properly in 99/2000, after a couple of detours through some pretty questionable stuff which was out at the time. It was around the time that SOTSOG came out and they properly took over my life. I think I must have bought all of the albums, plus the Whatever single, within about a four week period. Then I spent the next 29 months listening to 234932483248234 live versions downloaded from MIRC.

The Charlatans - Tellin' Stories



Not a huge departure from Oasis, but seeing The Charlatans live (supporting Oasis, obviously) was probably when I hit peak madferit. I'd spent a couple of years listening to literally nothing but Oasis and this is when my music taste started to broaden out a bit, even if it was initially just to other 1990s guitar bands. It's also what made me want to start going to lots of smaller gigs rather than big, outdoor, Oasis events.

Bob Dylan - Bringing it All Back Home



The first singer-songwriter album I really loved and one which taught me that acoustic stuff didn't need to be the bland cover versions you'd hear at open mic nights or that people at school were into.


Franz Ferdinand - s/t



Perhaps not my favourite album of that era, but one which came out just as I moved to uni. Clubs at home had only ever played chart/dance music and suddenly I found places which played indie tunes. People who weren't necessarily into bands knew it and DJs would play album tracks as well as the big singles. Unfortunately the descent into landfill indie started not long afterwards, but for me this encapsulates the peak of the indie disco around 2004/5. (Ross Forgan RIP)

The Wynd - Follow the Crows



Wrote it, gigged it, recorded it, eventually released it. A worthwhile experience even though no fucker other than Mahoney ever downloaded it.

no bluetones? bullshit.

If the thread was about gigs rather than albums then sure, but really that was just part of discovering other britpop bands after my Oasis fanboi phase.

I'll be writing my contribution tomorrow at work. Hold onto your hats!

I think we have the same parents!

The Buddy Holly, Hollies and Simon & Garfunkel records were always on in my car too. I love the Hollies because of my parents!

While they don't really inform my music taste (although i suppose i could argue that S&G do a little), they were important to my childhood.

This was a HUGE one for me. As once I got into the Jam it lead me down multiple paths. Punkish stuff (clash/specials/pistols), 60s (small faces, kinks & beatles) as well as northern soul comps. I know people (when I say that I mean CHRISSIE) love to hate on the man, but if I'm honest I can't think of another artist that has had more importance on my musical taste than Paul Weller had in my teenage/early adult years.


I think for most people my sort of age Jazz was seen as a bit of a dirty word. I wasn't sure if I'd ever really be into it but Sketches of Spain was the first time I heard a Jazz record & it had clicked with me. Still took me a few years to really get into the genre but that was more me trying to find my feet & come to terms with the different styles. 


Another big one for me. Basically opened my ears to go back and hear the likes of the velvet underground, stooges, jesus & mary chain & ultimately got me into more modern psych-rock/Shoegaze & all that good stuff.


So I had bought 3 or 4 hip-hop CDs early on, very obvious stuff (public enemy, beastie boys, de la soul & NWA) & I enjoyed them a bit (was obsessed with hello nasty) but it wasn't until in 2003 that it hit me big-time. There was this compilation series called Under The Influence that used to come out on CD. Ian Brown did one & the opening track was Liquid Swords & it knocked my socks off. From that point I started to dig deeper into hip-hop, though still to this day I think Liquid Swords is the most perfect hip-hop record I've ever heard.


Last one for now. I'd imagine everybody is first introduced to reggae by Bob Marley, most probably the Legend comp which I am no exception to. Though the problem is with most people is they never look any further. I bought this on CD as I wanted the song that the prodigy had sampled (Chase the Devil). I did grow up with my dad listening to a lot of reggae, he had a bunch of 7" singles though I knew all the songs rather than any of the artists. Anyway I credit this & Junior Murvin's Police & Thieves for really kickstarting my love of reggae. I always find it a bit depressing how neglected a genre it is outside of Marley. I always get the impression that yanks don't get it at all. For me it's some of the most glorious music ever made & I'm still slowly but surely hearing records & artists that are new to me from the golden age of roots reggae.