15 Albums 15 Days

Some of my Facebook friends have been filling out something called "15 Albums in 15 Minutes".  The idea is to come up with your favorite 15 albums (and the ones that moved you the most) without overthinking it too much. Also, "greatest hits" compilations are not allowed.

I wasn't able to do it in 15 minutes, though (which should be a suprise to no one that knows me).  So I didn't end up doing the Facebook thing. But if there was something called "15 albums in 15 days", this is what I'd say:

1. "Business As Usual" - Men at Work
2. "Rio" - Duran Duran
3. "Songs From the Big Chair" - Tears for Fears
4. "Syncronicity" - The Police
5. "Reckoning" - REM
6. "The Joshua Tree" - U2
7. "Graceland" - Paul Simon
8. "Crowded House" - Crowded House
9. "The Stone Roses" - The Stone Roses
10. "Original Sufferhead" - Fela Kuti
11. "Highway 61 Revisited" - Bob Dylan
12. "Odelay" - Beck
13. "Revolver" - The Beatles
14. "In Sides" - Orbital
15. "Kid A" - Radiohead

I should note that these are presented pretty close to in chronological order.  So "Business as Usual" was the first album that really got me into listening to music.... It's funny that this list stops around 2001, which implies I haven't been moved as much by music in the last 10 years.  This isn't totally true, as I've definitely had a lot of little phases since then.  "Sea Lion" by the Ruby Suns comes to mind as a recent fave.

But the above albums I found when I was in my teens and 20s, which I think is generally the most important time for discovering music.  And definitely most of my current listening (and writing) is influenced by these albums.

Currently I'm "in-between" phases, though I'm actually getting into Oasis quite a bit right now.  But I always look back fondly on these albums, because I listened to them all a *lot*. And I definitely look forward to the next big phase, if and when it comes!