10 albums that changed your life
they did this on a messageboard, and it was hard to narrow them down... but i did and this is what i came up with. for my own enjoyment / nostalgia.(in order from earliest to latest)
strongarm - atonement // advent of a miracle - my parents only let me listen to christian music for the longest time. strongarm, although christian, was definitely one of the first bands i heard (via my oldest brother, jeremy) who were a huge step outside of what i was used to, whom i still love and respect today despite the differing opinions i have on religion now. on the same note, when they turned into further seems forever, it helped me get into poppier stuff.
converge - petitioning the empty sky - another one of the first bands i heard in the underground realm. i remember the first time i heard this CD i told jeremy that it sounded like he was throwing up over and over... now i hear it more as a dog barking. none-the-less, after constantly listening to it in his car, it became one of my favorites and still is. i remember driving to IL for a fest one year, we were at a stop light and we put on "saddest day" and started freaking out, only stopping to notice the car beside us was laughing so hard.
mineral - power of failing - scott andrews let me hear this band, and this album stuck to me. this was definitely one of the first real "emo" albums i had heard. scott also introduced me to bands like karate, texas is the reason, juliana theory, and brandtson... all of which are still favorites.
jimmy eat world - clarity - if you know much about sarah and i, you know that "for me this is heaven" is one of the songs that got us to start dating back in the day. needless to say, that album has always held a nostalgic place for me. actually, up until recently, i wasn't even able to listen to that album because of the memories. it wasn't till i rediscovered it recently, while doing my paper route, that i remembered how incredible it is.
cursive - such blinding lights - chandler martin bought me this CD on one of my birthdays... 16th maybe? i grew a huge appreciation for cursive from this album. now looking back, i realize it's one of the first CDs i really got into that lead me to like more screamy type stuff like i hate myself and what not. it was merely a favorite then, it's in my top 10 now.
cave in - until your heart stops // jupiter - what can i say. until your heart stops is the best metalcore album out there... and jupiter, although at first was rough for me to get into, is an amazing follow-up to this album. these records don't really hold any specific memories, but they will constantly be 2 of my favorite albums.
undying - this day all gods die - all i can think about is tim in my face screaming at the show with midtown (of all bands) at that park. "for love of the world, i stray from the selfish path of salvation." this EP is one of the things that helped drive chris and i to questioning our beliefs and forming our own.
hopesfall - frailty of words // one amazin' kid - everything - one amazin' kid played their first show at my church, maybe a year before hopesfall formed. they were amazing... i wish i took brian's copy of the CD master. i got to know chris since sarah was in OAK, and chris was always just the genuinely nice person in hopesfall. i mean i grew up in "frailty of words" era... so of course this is one of my top 10's.
the assistant - self titled - mike s. let me hear this band ("95,600 hours" to be exact) in his car one day... along with a song from the now. at the time i looked up to mike, and he had a lot of good things to say about me that day. i can remember it all very well. i eventually got hooked on the assistant, and in the long run it helped me be a lot more of an open minded person... especially after i started over in PA. after finally meeting tom in person, this band meant so much more to me. i mean hell, tom was going to bring this ship will sink over to PA for my birthday.
as the sun sets - everything // daughters - everything - when chris and i were in rapture, we got hooked on "each individual voice is dead." i remember looking at the band's site for like 2 years, and it was never updated... finally i figured they had broken up. one day i'm at manifest and i see that they had a new CD (7744)... i picked it up. then the EP (8949) came out shortly after. i remember scott mentioning driving up north for their last show, and i got mad because it was a school night and i had already skipped too many. then shortly after that, daughters put out their 7" and toured through. i was hooked on all the new material by then. i made chris come to see daughters with me, and he had never heard anything past the EIVID album, so he was blown away after they played. we both just sat there in amazement, watching them play. that band was a favorite when i was 16, and still is now... even if they have adapted a new "holier than though" attitude after their name change.
now what's your top 10? you don't need to explain them... i'm just curious what they are.