25 Most Influential Albums in My Life - What Are Yours?

disclaimer: i’m not going to proofread this, so get over the errors (kyle)

1. august and everything after - counting crows
as close to perfection as one could hope. if i had to listen to one album for the rest of my life, this is it. they continue to put out solid work, but i think their best effort is probably the one that required the least effort.

2. heartbreaker - ryan adams
if i was only allowed to play one album on my guitar for the rest of my life, this would be it. timeless. classic. this was before ryan passed the cigarette threshold and jacked up his voice with ridiculous vibrato. because of this album, gold, and love is hell, i will buy every one of his albums despite how bad it may suck. wonder how mandy moore will affect his music? or how he'll affect hers...

NOTE: from here on there is no order

3. devils and dust - bruce springsteen
i'm not a huge bruce springsteen fan, but this album is rock solid. it's an acoustic masterpiece with phenomenal lyrics.

4. soft spot - clem snide
you can't go wrong with a name like eef barzelay. kyle introduced this album to me back in '03 and it is folk perfection. never gets old.

5. viva la vida - coldplay
maybe a bit premature on this one, but i think it's worthy. people knocked this when it first came out...not sure why. it's standard coldplay and i have to pick a coldplay album, so this is it. i don't think any other band can make simple chord progressions sound so cool. i was a little worried that this album was going to sound forced because i read an article with chris martin that sad he was having writer's block, but it sounds so smooth. can't go wrong with the king of ambient producing (brian eno).

6. O - damien rice
there's opera on this album, and i dig it. raw. emotion. unfortunately, his more recent efforts fall short.

7. crash - dave matthews band
the first time i heard "crash into me" i was like you can't say that on the radio. this is dmb at their peak. jamminess at its height. every song is phenomenal.

8. life in slow motion - david gray
this guy is a hidden gem. i think i read once that white ladder outsold the joshua tree in ireland. and i'm pretty sure he's british. i'm too lazy to corroborate these statements. anyways, folk is his game and he's that good at it. between white ladder and life in slow motion, i like life... a bit more. ain't no love kills me every time. strong. real strong.

9. mockingbird - derek webb
i'm actually not a huge fan of this album musically because i can't get over the double voice, but lyrically...wow! i remember being blown away that someone was finally saying these things.

10. cracked rear view - hootie and the blowfish
these guys got a bad wrap from the musical community. i guess they were too catchy or something. but this album is worthy. simple, yes, but darius rucker knows how to win you over. he's apparently singing country now because i think i saw his name on the marquee for the houston rodeo. if i were going to listen to country, i'd do it for darius.

11. our endless numbered days - iron and wine
despite his binomial name, it's only one dude. his voice is so damn soothing.

12. twentysomething - jamie cullum
the first time i ever saw this dude he was laid out on his piano performing some sort of british wrestling maneuver at an austin city limits performance on pbs. he's that into his music. i even dig his cover of jimi. this jazzy album always makes it on my play list.

13. continuum - john mayer
i could do without john's hollywood conversion as of the past couple of years. he talks like he wants everyone to think he's so profound and cool. but i can't deny his music. i first heard that popular song off of room for squares in los angeles and i remember his voice and style being like nothing i'd ever heard. and then i heard neon, and anyone who plays guitar knows how good he is. he sounds like stevie ray live. this album really grew on me. spends some time with it. he says a lot.

14. fall, winter, spring, summer - jon foreman
i don't need to say anything about these ep's except for this: buy them. now.

15. in harbors gray - kyle lent
i'm a little biased, but this is an example of someone who has an undeniable gift. probably the most talented musician in my ipod. he puts a lot of emotion into this album and he produced it just the right amount. there's no reason this guy isn't really freakin' famous right now other than you need to buy the album and tell everyone you know about it.

16. mute math - mute math
i've never heard a band use percussion like they do. they don't just keep the beat with percussion, they make music with it. no one compares to them right now, but i'm sure many will attempt to copy.

17. let it bleed - the rolling stones
this album is way ahead of it's time. you get a little of everything on it - rock, folk, country, and even choir. i don't own any other stones albums, but i still feel confident in saying this is their best.

18. surfacing - sarah mclachlan
still a favorite to play when we're having people over and can't figure out what to put on. every song is a masterpiece. there's a reason that she puts so much space between her albums...she makes sure they're that good before she records. i used to listen to this album way more than anyone without mental disturbances should listen to it. it was like my catcher in the rye for about a year.

19. takk - sigur ros
so, i watched this sigur ros documentary. beautiful. they use crescendo like no one else. and the bow on the guitar? - sick!

20. exile - steve reynolds
i heard him one day on xm radio, and...acoustic perfection. this dude's flawless on the guitar and his voice sounds a lot like kyle lent's. this album should be standard in everyone's library; unfortunately, he's little known.

21. illinois - sufjan stevens
what was that band that is such a big influence on him?...the danielson family band or something like that. anyways...bizarre! you can actually hear their influences. sufjan is a master at folk. period.

22. poetry & airplanes - teitur
i hesitate to put this one in the list because of how terrible his follow-up albums are, but i digress. if i'm judging this album on its own merit, it deserves a spot in my top 25. and, besides, i used to play 'i was just thinking' to ali while we were dating, so i have nostalgic feelings for it.

23. bringing down the horse - wallflowers
jakob dylan still puts out really good work. his voice is so raw. and good. i think adam duritz actually sings backup on 6th avenue heartache. adam and jakob...strong combo. great collection of songs.

24. achtung baby - u2
i remember my parents taking this album from me when they won some grammy's for it because they cursed like sailors during their acceptance speech. anyways. one, who's gonna ride your wild horses, mysterious ways, tryin' to throw your arms around the world,...all on the same album...you've got to be kidding me. just like everything they touched in the 80's and 90's - gold.

25. wildflowers - tom petty
i don't listen to this album as much as i should, but this is by far his best effort. he is definitely the king of 3 chord songs, but he can pull it off. this dude's got a sick music library, too! he's a true fan of music.