Many people probably don't realize that I'm actually a music enthusiast, a musician, and an overall "music buff". Well, this post will disprove all of it.

There are certain albums that have been completely devastating to me. I'm talking about music that was nearly psychologically shattering. Interestingly, very few of these totally consuming albums is held in the same high esteem by the general music-loving public. I can't explain it, but let me briefly explain a little bit about a few albums that wrecked me over the years. I'm a terrible writer about music, so I'll just give a quick rundown.

Rubber Soul (The Beatles): The first Beatles album that I was completely enthralled by. And it was the US release, so it had songs from the UK "Help!" album like "I've Just Seen A Face". I was 10 years old, in 5th grade, when I borrowed the album from the library. Key Song: "I'm Looking Through You"


Tug Of War (Paul McCartney): I got this when I was 11 and listened to it everyday for weeks. I listened to the album while reading about the Kennedy assassination. Now the two are linked. I still listen to this album at least once a month. Key Song: "Somebody Who Cares"


Manassas (Stephen Stills): A double album that I first thought was a single album. I only had the second disc so I listened to sides 2 and 3 for weeks before I got sides 1 and 4. Talk about a knockout. This album defined my life during November/December 1987, 11th grade. I don't know what else was big then, but it was all about this album for me. Key Song: "It Doesn't Matter"

Wind On The Water (Crosby & Nash): I got this album a little after the Manassas album, and its impact on me was similar. These made a relentless album. It just keeps pushing and pushing all the way until the end. Key Song: "Naked In The Rain"


For The Roses (Joni Mitchell): While I already owned "Blue", and a couple others, "For The Roses" was the Joni album that consumed me the most. I found it to be immensely moving and deep. I listened to this mostly in February 1989. Key Song: "Judgement Of The Moon And Stars (Ludwig's Tune)"


Late For The Sky (Jackson Browne): All confessional/analytic singer/songwriter types should have stopped after this album was made and looked for jobs in banks. They didn't, but they should have. This album says it all. No one has written better lyrics and music about relationships. Its all subpar after this, and this came out in 1974. I got it in 1989. Key Song: "The Late Show"

Motherload (Loggins & Messina): The best album that few realize is a fucking masterpiece. I got it in December 1989 and listened to it in alternation with "Late For The Sky". "Motherload" so succinctly captured my frame of mind back then that its difficult to listen to now, almost 16 years later. Key Song: "Move On"


Doggystyle (Snoop Doggy Dogg): The first rap album to completely knock me out. I listened to this thing multiple times a day for three weeks. I had never heard anything like it. I couldn't get enough. Even though I went on to buy about nearly 200 rap albums, nothing hit me as hard as this one. Key Song: "Tha Shiznit"

Hawaii (The High Llamas): This was the first non-rap album to really hit me after 4 solid years of listening to nothing but rap. At first, I thought it was an entire album of variations of The Beach Boys' "Lets Go Away For Awhile". Eventually, I realized it was much more. At 76 minutes plus a 30 minute bonus cd, this album was like going to another world. Key Song: "Literature Is Fluff"

Painted From Memory (Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach): A very engrossing album, and a total surprise. Elvis Costello was born to sing Bacharach. This has to be one of the most depressing albums ever. God, I wish they'd do another album. Key Song: "In The Darkest Place".


Zoom (ELO): This really came out of nowhere. I bought it on a whim and then I couldn't stop listening to it. Key Song: "Stranger On A Quiet Street".




There are certainly other albums I love as much. These are hardly all of my favorites, but these are the ones that resonated with me to such a degree that I was at least briefly unable to listen to other music. I don't know what causes something like that to happen.