1 post tagged “life changing”

Audio: Show us five CDs or albums that changed your life. 
Submitted by redhotmomma.

There are going to be more than five, but it'll be five distinct things.  You'll see.  I'm very excited about this Vox Hunt.  As I was reading responses, someone mentioned that music cannot change your life.  I disagree greatly.   You'll see why these six or seven albums did change my life, for good and bad. 

1a. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

  The Beatles were the first band that I really got into.  I mean, sure, since I was a kid there was always music playing that will always stick with me.  But the Beatles are the first band that I heard that I got into on my own.  It was all because of the Beatles Anthology series on ABC back in 1995.  Right after seeing it I was hooked.  I started going to the library and taking out the albums.  Sgt. Pepper's was the one I loved the most.  Just starting off with the title track and then "With a Little Help From My Friends" was enough.  But I also fell in love with "When I'm Sixty-Four", "Lovely Rita", and "She's Leaving Home". 

  The thing about this album is that it is always considered one of the most important albums ever.  And it definitely was the start of the Beatles change from pop stars to musical pioneers.  That's not the reason that I liked it though.  I wasn't aware of the album's significance back when I was 13.  I was just enjoying it.   The reason I list this under albums that changed my life is because it was the first time that music stepped out from being background noise to making me feel something.

1b. John Lennon - Imagine

I include this in my number one because it was a continuation of my love affair with the Beatles.  VH1 was showing tons of stuff about them at the time, and I started to really enjoying John Lennon's music.  His solo stuff is still some of my favorite music.  This album was huge for me.  I can honestly say that the song "Imagine" changed my life.  I know it sounds so cliche, but the song just made sense to me.  I know it's an impossible dream, but this plea for peace just felt right to me.  I like to think that it was this album, and the title track in particular, that made me the kind, peaceful person that I am today.  And as such, Imagine changed my life.

2. Matchbox 20 - Yourself or Someone Like You

   Moving on to tenth grade (1997-98), this album changed my life in a negative way.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the album.  But the feelings that I felt when listening to it were different than anything I'd ever felt before.  For the first time in my life, my heart was kinda broken in tenth grade.  And this album became the soundtrack to my life.  Much like Sgt. Pepper's made me feel music for the first time, this was the first time that I used music to feel.  Sometimes listening to depressing music is what you need when you're depressed.  And this album helped greatly.  Songs like "Hang", "Long Day", and "Back 2 Good" were downright heart wrenching for me. 

    Although the album helped me become more depressed, it was important for me.  Up until that point, I'd had a generally good life.  Everyone goes through down times,and it up until this past year, that was the hardest time of my life.  And the music did get me through.  And it'll always hold a special place in my heart.

3. Rent - The Original Broadway Cast Recording

   Moving on to the end of tenth grade, I got this soundtrack.  Now, I've always enjoyed Broadway shows, and I'm not ashamed of that at all.  This album changed my outlook on life at just the right time.  I wanted to get out of my depression, I wanted to feel good again.  This album, although about death, drug addiction, and AIDS, among other things, is one of the most inspirational albums available.

There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss

  This became my mantra in 11th and 12th grades.  It helped me become one of the most optimistic people in high school.  I was positive, happy, and living for today.

No Day But Today

4a. Dave Matthews Band - Under The Table and Dreaming

   You knew that I'd put Dave Matthews Band in here, eh?  I'm not going to pretend that I was a fan since 1994 when the album came out.  It wasn't even the first album I bought (I got Crash in 1998, right after the third album, Before These Crowded Streets, came out).  But although I could put any DMB album in here as a life changer, I chose this one because it is the one that I enjoyed the most during my formative DMB years.  You see, it's not the album so much as the band itself that changed my life.  Well . . . as you'll see, they changed my life a few times.  But for this example, it's the music.  Dave's lyrics are about living for today (much like Rent), and I love that.  There are some dark, down moments, but for the most part, I come away from DMB's music feeling like life is great.  And honestly, they've become such a huge part of my life that there's no denying that they've changed my life.

But a certain album actually did change my life.

5. Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff