Music has been a big part of my life for a long time, and there are particular album that were important for me at particular times during my time at school. Hopefully you find this an interesting look at some of the records that influenced my musical tastes today, and I wonder if you have had albums that were or are particularly important during school. Let me know in the comments!
1) The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
The Black Parade was actually the last MCR album I heard; up until that stage I had eaten up I Brough You My Bullets..., Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and even Danger Days to the point of obsession. The Black Parade was one of the big ones for me in high school, though, because it reignited my passion for playing music, in particular playing the guitar. I also think the grander narrative and theatrics of The Black Parade took me by surprise and is one of the reasons I still feel the same about this album now as I did at age 13/14.
2) Define The Great Line - Underoath
I started to listen to music with screaming in it at about 14, and from memory the main bands I started listening to were Slipknot, The Amity Affliction and Parkway Drive. For a while it almost seemed like a joke, that I just wanted to listen to the music that people wouldn't like or expect, but I kind of got drawn in by the ferocity of some of the bands I was listening to without really thinking about it or realising it. That type of music was still kind of alien to me, but I was starting to become more accustomed to it. An older friend heard that I was listening to heavy music but was a little annoyed that I wasn't listening to "proper" music, and gave me a list of bands to go and listen to, including Underoath. At age 14 I was the grumpy Christian kid at school who hated being the odd one out and resented others for expecting me to act "normal", whatever that was, and Underoath's Define The Great Line was the first time I realised that it was okay to be a Christian and not be absurdly happy all the time. Define The Great Line was absolutely the album I needed to hear at 14 not only in terms of my personal life but opening up my musical tastes and deeper appreciation of heavy music.
3) Dear G-D... - Being As An Ocean
This was pretty big for around the age of 16 for similar reasons to Define The Great Line; it was a new avenue of heavy music - a more melodic, guitar based sound - and I really connected with Joel Quartuccio's lyrics and the delivery he gives them on this album. The combination of pretty, twinkly guitar parts and throat shredding yelling was new to me, and I loved this album for a long time (and still do). The minimalist approach to the songwriting is something I still try to tap into regularly.
4) Symmetry - New Empire
I knew "One Heart/Million Voices" for a while before I listened to this album in full but had never listened to it in full; when I eventually did it ended up being on repeat on my iPod nano around age 15. Just had great chorus after great chorus, juicy guitar tones and an amazing voice.
5) American Idiot - Green Day
This one goes back a while; one of my very first musical memories is listening to this aged 6 or 7 at home or on the way to soccer early on a Saturday morning. I don't know if it was the fact that it was nothing like what my parents listened to or the fact that it had a big angry "warning" sticker on it, but I was drawn to it unlike anything I had listened to before that. For years American Idiot was the album I listened to that felt like "my" album that no one else had heard, without realising obviously that Green Day were one of the biggest rock bands in the world at that stage.
6) Nevermind - Nirvana
Nirvana. Just Nirvana.
7) Two Lefts Don't Make A Right... But Three Do! - Relient K
Relient K were a staple for me all the way through early high school, and I could have picked any of their albums up to Forget & Not Slow Down, but went with Two Lefts just because to me it is the album that captures what they were about in the first half of their career perfectly (arguably mmhmm does the same thing). Pop punk bangers with sharp and witty lyrics, talented musicians, great songwriting and a depth that lacks in a lot of todays pop punk records (see my recent review of New Found Glory's Makes Me Sick).
8) Hungry Ghost - Violent Soho
At about 16 I went through a significant change in my life when I moved school, and for a while I kind of got caught up in trying to fit into this weird new culture I found myself in every day of the week. Before long I had to take a step back and I realised that I had changed so much without realising it, and resented where I was at, wishing I could change back to the way things were. It was during a stage of intense anxiety about image, culture, friends, school, etc that I found Violent Soho's Hungry Ghost, and it really helped me to just not give a shit about all these new things that had been thrown into my life and really didn't matter. I just loved the loose, rough vibe they had going and in some ways it helped me keep perspective in an environment that in retrospect was kind of toxic.
9) The Story So Far - The Story So Far
This is one of the albums I point to when people tell me I just hate on pop punk all the time; this is a great pop punk album. Vocals with actual warmth, grit and impact, and a thick, chunky guitar tone that could be on a sludge album. It was also pretty much the soundtrack to my year 12, and I love to go back to it and remember the memories of that crazy, stressful and hilarious year.
10) The Script - The Script
This album was my jam at about 10 or 11, and it's weird how easily it takes me back to that time. I loved the drumming in particular; I used to sit on the bus drumming along like I had any clue how to play the drums, and used to smuggle my iPod to school just so I could listen to it (my parents made me leave it at home for fear of losing it). The Script was also one of the very first CDs I ever bought; I bought this at the same time as The Cat Empire's So Many Nights and still have both copies proudly in my CD shelf at home!
So what about you; what albums remind you of when you were at school? Let me know, I'd love to hear your stories. As always, thanks for reading.
Have a good one.
1) The Black Parade - My Chemical RomanceThe Black Parade was actually the last MCR album I heard; up until that stage I had eaten up I Brough You My Bullets..., Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and even Danger Days to the point of obsession. The Black Parade was one of the big ones for me in high school, though, because it reignited my passion for playing music, in particular playing the guitar. I also think the grander narrative and theatrics of The Black Parade took me by surprise and is one of the reasons I still feel the same about this album now as I did at age 13/14.
2) Define The Great Line - Underoath
I started to listen to music with screaming in it at about 14, and from memory the main bands I started listening to were Slipknot, The Amity Affliction and Parkway Drive. For a while it almost seemed like a joke, that I just wanted to listen to the music that people wouldn't like or expect, but I kind of got drawn in by the ferocity of some of the bands I was listening to without really thinking about it or realising it. That type of music was still kind of alien to me, but I was starting to become more accustomed to it. An older friend heard that I was listening to heavy music but was a little annoyed that I wasn't listening to "proper" music, and gave me a list of bands to go and listen to, including Underoath. At age 14 I was the grumpy Christian kid at school who hated being the odd one out and resented others for expecting me to act "normal", whatever that was, and Underoath's Define The Great Line was the first time I realised that it was okay to be a Christian and not be absurdly happy all the time. Define The Great Line was absolutely the album I needed to hear at 14 not only in terms of my personal life but opening up my musical tastes and deeper appreciation of heavy music.
3) Dear G-D... - Being As An OceanThis was pretty big for around the age of 16 for similar reasons to Define The Great Line; it was a new avenue of heavy music - a more melodic, guitar based sound - and I really connected with Joel Quartuccio's lyrics and the delivery he gives them on this album. The combination of pretty, twinkly guitar parts and throat shredding yelling was new to me, and I loved this album for a long time (and still do). The minimalist approach to the songwriting is something I still try to tap into regularly.
4) Symmetry - New Empire
I knew "One Heart/Million Voices" for a while before I listened to this album in full but had never listened to it in full; when I eventually did it ended up being on repeat on my iPod nano around age 15. Just had great chorus after great chorus, juicy guitar tones and an amazing voice.
5) American Idiot - Green DayThis one goes back a while; one of my very first musical memories is listening to this aged 6 or 7 at home or on the way to soccer early on a Saturday morning. I don't know if it was the fact that it was nothing like what my parents listened to or the fact that it had a big angry "warning" sticker on it, but I was drawn to it unlike anything I had listened to before that. For years American Idiot was the album I listened to that felt like "my" album that no one else had heard, without realising obviously that Green Day were one of the biggest rock bands in the world at that stage.
6) Nevermind - NirvanaNirvana. Just Nirvana.
7) Two Lefts Don't Make A Right... But Three Do! - Relient K
Relient K were a staple for me all the way through early high school, and I could have picked any of their albums up to Forget & Not Slow Down, but went with Two Lefts just because to me it is the album that captures what they were about in the first half of their career perfectly (arguably mmhmm does the same thing). Pop punk bangers with sharp and witty lyrics, talented musicians, great songwriting and a depth that lacks in a lot of todays pop punk records (see my recent review of New Found Glory's Makes Me Sick).
8) Hungry Ghost - Violent SohoAt about 16 I went through a significant change in my life when I moved school, and for a while I kind of got caught up in trying to fit into this weird new culture I found myself in every day of the week. Before long I had to take a step back and I realised that I had changed so much without realising it, and resented where I was at, wishing I could change back to the way things were. It was during a stage of intense anxiety about image, culture, friends, school, etc that I found Violent Soho's Hungry Ghost, and it really helped me to just not give a shit about all these new things that had been thrown into my life and really didn't matter. I just loved the loose, rough vibe they had going and in some ways it helped me keep perspective in an environment that in retrospect was kind of toxic.
9) The Story So Far - The Story So Far
This is one of the albums I point to when people tell me I just hate on pop punk all the time; this is a great pop punk album. Vocals with actual warmth, grit and impact, and a thick, chunky guitar tone that could be on a sludge album. It was also pretty much the soundtrack to my year 12, and I love to go back to it and remember the memories of that crazy, stressful and hilarious year.
10) The Script - The ScriptThis album was my jam at about 10 or 11, and it's weird how easily it takes me back to that time. I loved the drumming in particular; I used to sit on the bus drumming along like I had any clue how to play the drums, and used to smuggle my iPod to school just so I could listen to it (my parents made me leave it at home for fear of losing it). The Script was also one of the very first CDs I ever bought; I bought this at the same time as The Cat Empire's So Many Nights and still have both copies proudly in my CD shelf at home!
So what about you; what albums remind you of when you were at school? Let me know, I'd love to hear your stories. As always, thanks for reading.
Have a good one.
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