Lastin' Impact: The Albums

Now I'm inventing my own memes. Here, in no special order, are five music records I feel have influenced my personality:

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
The first time I ever listened to DOM, Drug Oriented Music, was with this ablum on headphones. As a musician, 20 years later, I still get this urge every now and then to write music that changes from something beautiful and slow to something trippy, fast, and crazy, a la "On the Run". Other favorite songs include: "Any Colour You Like" and "The Great Gig in the Sky". Rick Wright's keyboards are highlights for me.

2. The Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children (1969)
There's a song on this album called "Watching and Waiting". The lyrics go, "Watching and waiting for a friend to play with / I hope I won't be alone for very long". I used to listen to it when I was ten and feel lonely. I still love the song and the album. It's not one of their best albums, but it's a personal fave. The song "Floating" was the first song I ever played drums along with. My other song choices: "Out and In" and "Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)".

3. Beck - Mellow Gold (1994)
Ahhh, Mellow Gold. Back in the early nineties when this came out, you could find me drivin' my beat-up Chevy Cavalier Station Wagon with a single-speaker boombox in the passenger seat playing this album. On the other side of the tape was The Breeders' Last Splash. It was the only tape in the boombox for months. I still love this album. Favorite cuts: "Soul Suckin' Jerk", "Truckdrivin' Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)". Toothpaste!

4. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra (1974)
I first heard this record in high school when Splotchy introduced me to the band and I picked it up on vinyl. Speaking of trippy music. Jeez. I still can't believe my ears when I hear it sometimes. Hurray for analog electronic music! The title track has to be one of the most original pieces of music ever written. Choice slices: title track, "Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares".

5. Led Zeppelin - III (1971)
When I was growing up my father was in a local cover band that played almost every weekend. My mom would go to the shows and leave my brother and me alone to fend for ourselves, which we did usually with grace. Our typical Friday night routine during the winter months would be to build a fire in the fireplace, eat Domino's pizza, and listen to Led Zeppelin III on the turntable. Something about the album was just conducive to eating pepperoni to me; perhaps it was that spinning disc in the jacket. Song loves: "Celebration Day", "Out on the Tiles".

I'm going to tag anybody for this one, but I am mildly curious what 5 albums others would would list as having a lastin' impact on them....