Personal "Seismic Shift" Albums

[DeepCreatures]

Probably a completely strange topic here, but...allow me to explain...

Being in my youth for the heyday of not only hair metal but also the shift that grunge brought about was interesting to say the least. While I used to listen to Nirvana and Pearl Jam's first album quite a bit, I was more on the periphery of the entire grunge scene. I knew the hits, had some albums, etc. though. Never really got past the hits of Alice in Chains until I randomly decided to purchase a few of their albums a couple of days ago and really enjoyed them.

So, the seismic shift that the music scene underwent during this time frame made me step back and think about what albums were personal "seismic shifts" for me. I had a bit of a constraint imposed upon myself, which was that I basically heard the album as a whole for the first time. What I mean is that I hadn't heard numerous songs from an album on the radio or some other place for many years before hearing the album, making me overly familiar with some or most of the content prior to hearing the album. Back in the day I was really prone to listening to the first single from a new album and avoiding it thereafter until I could purchase the entire album and listen to the recording as a whole. So, here goes...in no particular order:

1. Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction (1987) -> never knew that an album that seemed to be so rooted in classic rock could (1) be so pertinent to the times, (2) have such attitude, and (3) in my opinion really open the doors for the attitude that the grunge era would fully usher in. I could not put this album down and still go back to it about once a month.
2. White Zombie La Sexorcistso: Devil Music Vol. 1 (1992) -> When I first heard this I was absolutely floored by the not just the sound, but the "swing" or "groove" of the entire thing...of course, I didn't know anything at all about groove metal whatsoever. I have clear memories of buying this on cassette and it not leaving my tape player for over 6-months! Really liked the use of voice overs and movie/TV clips - very much in the vein of Dark Side of the Moon in that way. Man - that guitar sound!
3. Metallica ...And Justice for All (1988) -> Oddly enough I found this band through their $5.98 E.P. as I only had a little under $8 to spend and it fit the bill while looking sort of cool. So, when "One" hit a year later I couldn't believe what I was hearing...not so great drum sound and no bass notwithstanding. The visceral attack of the entire album just hooked me. With it coming out a year after Appetite from above was a back-to-back bash in the attitude category. Not only so, but the video for "One" is, without a doubt in my mind, the best video for a song every made - I still tear up all these years later.
4. The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) -> Growing up listening to classic rock radio with my dad and being around for the advent of MTV, I had a certain musical style that was ingrained and, due to the change in music that took place in the mid-90's, I thought I would never witness again. And then I catch a few seconds clip of this album on Amazon and purchase the album on a whim. What a masterpiece I found this recording to be! It was like having Led Zeppelin crossed with Santana with a little Floyd thrown in for good measure. This was the only other album to stay in constant rotation for 6-months nonstop.

Honorable mentions, and I say this based upon (1) my tastes and (2) how the albums below still affect me to this day. However, I knew a number of songs from these albums before I ever heard them in their entirety. I mean, due to radio play, I knew every song on Dark Side of the Moon prior to ever hearing the record from start to finish.

1. Either Black Sabbath or Paranoid -> depending on which ever one I heard first most likely. If I can sit down and get still when listening to the song "Black Sabbath" I still get absolutely fired up by the end of the track. I could not imagine putting Black Sabbath on in 1970 and hearing the rain, the bell, and then that first chord hit - massive!! I still put Paranoid as the better album, but both are top notch landmarks.
2. Either Led Zeppelin I or Led Zeppelin II -> depending on which ever one I heard first again. Heavy rock and blues kicked up to 11 - wish I could have heard either of these albums with no knowledge of their content.
3. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon -> I don't believe I need to elaborate on this one...
4. AC/DC Let There be Rock -> An album of unmitigated energy and raw power with some absolutely blistering, outright, and in-your-face rock music. While I knew and liked AC/DC growing up, and had a few of the albums from the Brian Johnson era, this was something completely different. Oh, and for the record, I am one of those strange fellows who would take Flick of the Switch over Back in Black...most days.
5. Iron Maiden Iron Maiden -> I didn't really get into this band until around 2019-2020, believe it or not...meaning I should probably put this on the above, but I believe I may be past that time in my life when music affects me like it once did. At any rate, this album was the closest I have come in 20-years to that old feeling of what the albums listed in the first category above did for me when I was so much younger

Well, there you go. Don't know if this thread will be of any interest to anyone else, but hopefully will hear from some of you.

Best wishes to you all!

Travis

[nadiar]

The 4 that spring to mind,

Gary Numan Replicas. 1st album I bought and still great.

Pink Floyd The Wall, Most played studio album

Hawkwind Space Ritual, Most played live album,

Kraftwerk Computer World,

[YASHA]

https://www.discogs.com/release/2742...d-Space-Ritual

[DeepCreatures]

thank you!!

[MrFender]

I don't listen to much Hawkwind but Master of the Universe is so wickedly awesome. Rif mania!

[MrFender]

I think many of us probably started on whatever current "pop" music was on the radio at the time and then eventually found music that had much more meaning and impact to us Thankfully there were siblings, friends and just happy accidents that bought something new into our lives. Most of these albums are still in regular rotation for me.

- Tom Petty - Long After Dark / Damn the Torpedoes. I borrowed these from my sister. This was my switch from garbage AM radio to actual albums.
- Bodeans - Outside Looking In / The Smithereens - Especially for You. There was a time in the mid 80s before hair metal fully took over that you could find (or rediscover) interesting pop/rock bands and were so different from the usual music that was playing on FM radio. Never got into the British stuff like The Cure or The Smiths, Americana and Garage bands were my college bands.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood. My gateway drug to the blues.
- Dylan's Blood on the Tracks - I don't know if anyone has ever poured their heart and soul into an album as much as this.
- Dark Side, WYWH and Animals culminating with seeing Floyd in April of 1988.

While not really changing my listening per se, albums that were impactful to me are/were: REM - Document, Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, INXS - Listen Like Thieves, The Decemberists - The King is Dead, Queensryche - Operation Mind Crime, The Band - The Last Waltz, U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky, Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience, Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera

[YASHA]

1) Computerwelt Kraftwerk

2) The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

3) Wildhoney Tiamat

4) Theli Therion

5) The Space Ritual Alive Hawkwind

[gotta_be_crazy]

I second MrFender thoughts. In my particular case also, there was always music playing at my home when I was a kid, my parents love music though not the music I like lol. My mom is too mainstream pop and my dad was a fan of classical music. So in that background, I always listened what it came from the radio. Then by 1992 when I started high school, a schoolmate introduced me to alternative music and that was it. My shift was with a local band, which is called Babasonicos (the latin members of the forum asbolutely know them). A marvellous band at that time. So THE album that made my shift was Babasonicos' 2nd album, Trance Zomba. My first years listening to 'proper music' was focused on local bands. Then I discovered Oasis and Blur by 1995 and through them I got to the classic British rock bands and my 2nd shift was with Dark Side of The Moon, Animals, and Beatles' Revolver. And the final stroke was Black Sabbath's 1975 album Sabotage. Sabbath really opened my mind to another level.

[buffalofloyd]

This is a cool thread. I'm 45 now and I'd say my musical tastes really started to switch in 1991/92, when I was in 7th grade. I was a skateboarder and used to really like listening to old school hip hop (still do, some of it) mostly, like Run DMC, Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, The Fat Boys, Kool Moe Dee etc. I would dabble a little bit in some alternative stuff but it wasn't really until Smells Like Teen Spirit dropped that my seismic shift occurred. It's so long ago now that it's hard to remember the order of such things but I distinctly remember being in 8th grade and buying the cassettes of Nevermind, Dirt, Countdown to Extinction, The Black Album, Core. After hearing these albums my musical taste changed forever. Every single one of those albums is a banger front to back and I remember wearing those tapes out, less so of Megadeath but I really loved the title track and that's the only song I can really recall off of that album at present.

Shortly after that, in between 8th grade and high school, when I started playing guitar, smoking a little pot and expanding my mind a little more was when the next wave of music hit me. I got a subscription to Columbia House. You know, you get like 78 cd's for like $0.14 or whatever it was back in the day. I remember picking up some of my favorite albums to this day.

Cypress Hill - Black Sunday
Suicidal Tendencies - The Art of Rebellion
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
The Grateful Dead - In the Dark
The Guess Who - 2 cd Greatest Hits
AC/DC - Back in Black
The Doors - Strange Days & LA Woman (these two albums completely blew my mind, I never heard anything like it, and I fell in love with them)

This is also around the time when I was introduced to Pink Floyd. I have clear as day memories of sleeping over at my best friends house, playing DOOM all night on his PC, and listening to A Saucerful of Secrets for the first time as background music. My buddy had all of the albums because he had an older brother than us, by a couple years. I was immediately transfixed. Let There Be More Light, Corporal Clegg, Remember A Day. I remember not liking the title track for a long time, my buddy had convinced me that song sucked lol. Then we listened to Obscured by Clouds and I was never really the same after that. I knew this was special, and unique, and I had to hear more.

I think this is where my limited ability on guitar and my new found musical interests clashed perfectly. I was perfectly happy playing power chords to Nirvana and some other stuff, but when I tried to dissect and pick apart Floyd songs, Doors songs, and some other bands that really had competent guitar playing, I knew, or rather I felt that something unlocked in my brain, something clicked. Even though I couldn't play these songs well, in my head I knew exactly what they were doing. I found and was able to identify and appreciate real talent. This is not to say a band like Nirvana was not talented, they were, just differently. They were not as technically gifted on their instruments. I'm sure you all know what I mean.

I fear I'm rambling and veering off of the intended spirit of this thread but there are a lot of other albums that really impacted me in those very early high school years, and all of them were classic rock albums pretty much. This is also where I have stayed till this day, for better or worse. I don't say this proudly either, but I just cannot listen to most music after 1990s. I literally feel nothing. At the same time, I am content with the music I do listen to and my focus and enjoyment comes from hearing live stuff from these bands. This is where youtube has completely been a blessing.

Anyway, I am sooo rambling right now. Peace!!!

[Frankymole]

5. Iron Maiden Iron Maiden -> I didn't really get into this band until around 2019-2020, believe it or not...meaning I should probably put this on the above, but I believe I may be past that time in my life when music affects me like it once did. At any rate, this album was the closest I have come in 20-years to that old feeling of what the albums listed in the first category above did for me when I was so much younger

That first Iron Maiden album with Paul Dianno has so many incredible tracks on it. It still sounds unlike almost anything else in the heavy rock world.

[DeepCreatures]

Could not agree more!

[DiegoFermoli]

That first Iron Maiden album with Paul Dianno has so many incredible tracks on it. It still sounds unlike almost anything else in the heavy rock world.

When I first moved to Italy he played a gig in one of the nearby villages. I found it hard to believe at the time - why would the ex-frontman of one of the biggest metal bands be playing a tiny village? But like a trooper, he did show up and did the gig.

Turns out he'd been released from prison just days before for benefit fraud and (very clearly) was looking for a way to make some quick cash.

I have the entire gig recorded on video buried somewhere in my archives - I haven't played it back since that night. I'm not really a fan of Iron Maiden (or metal in general), but he did put on a great show to his credit. There are two videos on Youtube (link) but they're someone else's recording and a bit of a struggle to watch.

Back on topic, this is an easy one - my cousin recorded a tape of The Wall for me at the start of a long hot Italian summer - and for the next 4 weeks I just sat on the beach and listened to it over and over again. That was 100% my seismic shift in terms of music. I must have been around 11 or 12? The crazy thing is - of all the Floyd albums I like - The Wall is the one I've grown least fond of over the years. I like it, but it feels bloated and drags on and on when I hear it now. If Roger had cut it short to just the stand-out songs, it wouldn't have been a double album and lost a fair amount of the context of the entire concept - but I do only like about 1 record's worth of tunes from the album. Still, hands down, that's the album where I pricked up my ears and started to take music more seriously. A true musical revelation.

[DiegoFermoli]

This is a cool thread. I'm 45 now and I'd say my musical tastes really started to switch in 1991/92, when I was in 7th grade. I was a skateboarder and used to really like listening to old school hip hop (still do, some of it) mostly, like Run DMC, Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, The Fat Boys, Kool Moe Dee etc.

You've reminded me of something else - but not quite the seismic shift the thread is all about - although it could have been.

Circa 1986/87 there were a couple of pirate radio stations in London playing this new music called hip-hop and I also conveniently had my first classic 1980s beat box - for a good year or so I religiously taped the shows (Dave Pearce was one DJ I clearly remember from the time on Nite FM - but there were other pirate radio stations as well) Then the book 'Subway Art' suddenly appeared in WH Smiths (a newsagent/book shop) of all places - and that became the graffiti bible for a lot of the youth at the time. How did it end? I was arrested at the tender age of 9 for spraying graffiti on a factory wall (along with my brother and a friend) and, not long after Public Enemy appeared - along with NWA. I liked hip hop when it was innocent and new - Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee and so many 'novelty' acts ("Amityville, it's the house on the hill!") and more raw acts like Doug E Fresh. But then the new school year started and hip hop exploded - and it was "fuck this, fuck that..." and fiercely political/antagonistic/angry... all the magic, the innocence of those initial years in the mid-1980s literally evaporated overnight. And let's be honest, most kids my age were only listening to it because they said the word "fuck" a lot. It was also so obvious that hip hop/rap had gone mainstream by this point - and the money men had arrived.

A brief musical moment that shaped me - but it never became the seismic shift we're talking about - but almost... almost.

[Alan Smithee]

Floyd Zeppelin Sabbath Hendrix Bad Brains

I was introduced to PF with A Nice Pair. Interstellar Overdrive Astronomy Domine STCFTHOTS A Saucerful of Secrets..Sublime. And it got better with every PF album I would buy from there on out
Zeppelin. Not withstanding the plagiarism on the first 2 releases they were classics,Houses of the Holy Physical Graffiti Presence later on.
They also played 3 to 3 and a half hours without set breaks Stellar band
Black Sabbath Master of Reality Vol 4 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath must listen material..

[buffalofloyd]

You've reminded me of something else - but not quite the seismic shift the thread is all about - although it could have been.

Circa 1986/87 there were a couple of pirate radio stations in London playing this new music called hip-hop and I also conveniently had my first classic 1980s beat box - for a good year or so I religiously taped the shows (Dave Pearce was one DJ I clearly remember from the time on Nite FM - but there were other pirate radio stations as well) Then the book 'Subway Art' suddenly appeared in WH Smiths (a newsagent/book shop) of all places - and that became the graffiti bible for a lot of the youth at the time. How did it end? I was arrested at the tender age of 9 for spraying graffiti on a factory wall (along with my brother and a friend) and, not long after Public Enemy appeared - along with NWA. I liked hip hop when it was innocent and new - Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee and so many 'novelty' acts ("Amityville, it's the house on the hill!") and more raw acts like Doug E Fresh. But then the new school year started and hip hop exploded - and it was "fuck this, fuck that..." and fiercely political/antagonistic/angry... all the magic, the innocence of those initial years in the mid-1980s literally evaporated overnight. And let's be honest, most kids my age were only listening to it because they said the word "fuck" a lot. It was also so obvious that hip hop/rap had gone mainstream by this point - and the money men had arrived.

A brief musical moment that shaped me - but it never became the seismic shift we're talking about - but almost... almost.

I agree with this completely, actually. Can't believe I forgot to mention LL Cool J and Doug E Fresh. Radio was a big album when I was a kid. Although I still like some older Cypress Hill and stuff, once they started referring to women as bitches and ho's in rap music, I was pretty much done. Besides, my appreciation for real music had taken over and I just wasn't interested anymore.

I did forget to mention Led Zeppelin and Houses of the Holy. That was the first Zeppelin album I heard in my early teens. I despised The Crunge at that time, took me some years to appreciate that track lol.