Which band or record changed your life?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Well actually, I thought of an answer to this one. In 1995, my brother and I drove down from Baltimore to see Matthew Sweet play at the old 9:30 Club. Opening up were the Bottle Rockets, who looked the part of a Hank Williams Jr. roadie (actually the lead singer had been an Uncle Tupelo roadie). They were the biggest, ugliest, redneck dirtbags I had ever seen...so much so that I thought they were some kind of joke band. But once they started playing, they were amazing as Kurosawa would say. They blew Matthew Sweet away as some other boardies would say.
 
    So I started listening to their music, and their songs helped me embrace my roots in an amusing and non-condecending way, whereas other influences in my life had previously taught me to shun them. They were touring on the album "The Brooklyn Side" at the time:
 
    While the Bottle Rockets' brand of Skynyrd-esque raunch 'n' roll is considerably more good-timey than most of the band's roots-rock brethren, their incisive, provocative songwriting skills set them squarely among the genre's elite. The Brooklyn Side, produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, is fairly bursting with dead-on character studies exploring the realities and quiet desperation of rural Southern life, from the blackly humorous ("Sunday Sports," about a family man who finds that watching TV in his underwear is "the only way to get away from everything else" in his life) to the poignant ("Welfare Music," a depiction of the struggles facing a young single mother). The band also possesses a wickedly comic edge, as evidenced by "Idiot's Revenge" (a diatribe against alt-rock rhetoric), "1000 Dollar Car" (a eulogy for a used automobile), and the flamethrower single "Radar Gun" (the tale of a sadistic, ticket-happy traffic cop).

[mankie]

Life changing! Well, the following did change my life as to how I appreciate music, with maybe a couple of exceptions.
 
 Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel.
 First live concert I ever saw, at the Apollo in Manchester actually. Before that show I had liked music as it came on the radio, but after seeing them I was hooked on music and live concerts for the rest of my life.
 
 David Bowie.
 Was probably the only Bowie fan in  my school because I was a fan very early on before he 'caught on' as they say. I was the typical teenage boy, collecting every single, album, book etc. My dear old dad used to say, "I wish I could get you this interested in nuclear science, you'd be a nobel prize winning genius by age 20"
 
 The Smiths.
 Being born in the same city as Moz and right about the same age, I could really relate to his lyrics, especially, "Suffer little children" I can still remember my mum not letting me out of her sight during that period. Which was a change from being told every morning to bugger off out and play and not come home till it's dark. Later in adult life, when I was in a really bad place his lyrics became somehow comforting to me.
 
 Albums,
 Heroes, Bowie. Blew my cotton socks off!
 Stranglers, Rattus Norvegicus. Punk is legit and for real.
 Fishermans Blues, Waterboys. Started my love affair with the violin/fiddle.
 
 Songs,
 SMITHS/Moz
 Suffer little children
 There is a light
 Cemetry Gates
 Unhappy Birthday
 Why don't you find out for yourself
 Hairdresser on fire
 
 Shane MacGowan
 Fairytale of New York
 Haunted by your ghost
 
 Billy Bragg
 Tank park salute. This album came out the same week my dad died....read the lyrics and you'll understand.
 
 I could go on and on, but nobody probably got this far so I'll quit  

[igor]

album that changed what role music will play in my life,  metallica - kill 'em all. a friend handed me a tape, and from then on i started buying music, instead of listening to whatever my brothers were listening to.

[kosmo vinyl]

i actually like beach boy influenced bands more than the beach boys/brian wilson themselves... i think brian wilson was a genius when it came to arranging and producing,  but the actually lyrics and songs leave me disinterested.  especially the early "fun fun" nonscense.  i'm thankful the beach boys left a mark on the andy partridges of the world, who is much better songwriter imho.

[chaz]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
  i actually like beach boy influenced bands more than the beach boys/brian wilson themselves... i think brian wilson was a genius when it came to arranging and producing,  but the actually lyrics and songs leave me disinterested.  especially the early "fun fun" nonscense.  i'm thankful the beach boys left a mark on the andy partridges of the world, who is much better songwriter imho.

I love some of the mopey stuff from pet sounds and that era.  Have you ever heard the Beach Boys Song 'Til I Die?  Brilliant...

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by SPARX:
   

Originally posted by Dupek Chopra:
     <img src="http://www.kurtgallagher.com/are_we_not_men.jpg" alt=" - " />
   

Damn,how could i forgot them.Saw em at the Merriweather on their Freedom of Choice tour and my mind was melted.What a spectacle that boojie boy was.Any fans of Devo, I HIGHLY suggest purchasing the new
 book out on them Are We Not Men? We Are Devo:
  http://www.devobook.com/
 
 it is a great read. Pretty wild stories of their
 beginnings and such. [/b]

This is one of the first LPs I thought of when I saw this thread.
 
 I just picked this book up a couple days ago.  Looks pretty interesting.  
 
 Also, I highly recommend the Rhino release of Devo Live (www.rhinohandmade.com). It contains the entire concert the original EP was taken from.

[Celeste]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
  i actually like beach boy influenced bands more than the beach boys/brian wilson themselves... i think brian wilson was a genius when it came to arranging and producing,  but the actually lyrics and songs leave me disinterested.  especially the early "fun fun" nonscense.  i'm thankful the beach boys left a mark on the andy partridges of the world, who is much better songwriter imho.

I think you're right, for the most part...

[redsock]

Sadly, I only liked bad music till i picked up At the Drive-In's "Relationships of Command". That changed everything I thought I knew about myself and music upside down. Since then, my entire life has revolved around music. Mostly good music at that. Though I still find some horrible little pop jingles so catchy....like that Hilary Duff single on the radio. It's so bitter-sweet to hear it, cause its cute and horrible all at the same time.

[Fico]

In the early to mid 80s (a very young chap since I'm only 27) it had to be the Cure's Disintegration/Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me...
 
 as I hit about 15yrs of age it had to be the Smiths (I heard the greatest hits before any particular album) and of course a record I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet, THE STONE ROSES..enough said...
 
 at about 18 Nirvana came along and the whole grunge thing swept me for a while...
 
 at 20 I regained my concience and decided rocknroll should be a religion with the mind blowing "Definitely Maybe"...
 
 nothing has been life-changing sense... maybe listening to the Beatles as an adult I would say... god knows I had no idea what Eleanor Rigby or I am the Walrus was about while growing up...
 
 ps: Vansmack, I agreed with your book selection.. but the book is called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", not Willy Wonka and the C...
 
 I heard the remake will feature Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka... and our very own Pollard as Veruca Salt and Markie as Augustus..

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Fico:
 
 ps: Vansmack, I agreed with your book selection.. but the book is called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", not Willy Wonka and the C...
 
 

You're absolutely correct.  I've always confused the movie title and the book title.

[Celeste]

Originally posted by Fico:
  and of course a record I'm surprised nobody has mentioned yet, THE STONE ROSES..enough said...

I remember listening to Fool's Gold on my walkman as the anesthetic was taking hold for my wisdom tooth removal when I was 17 or so, maybe 18...grooooovy...
 
 the dentistry was more "life changing" than the music, though, for me

[markie]

I always used to listen to I am the resurection before university exams to gee me up.....
 
 that and REMs I am superman
 
 always made me feel much better.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by lily1:
  yippee! someone else who thinks that song is the best on the album. or one of the best.
 
 they did perform that live on one of the dates of the tour that just ended a few weeks ago. i requested it thru the website for the dc show but didn't get it. but i did get "i believe" and "fall on me" so all ain't bad.
 
   

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
  not to mention that "country feedback" is a fantastic song.

[/b]

Brilliant Song and you guys aren't alone.  There's a live version on the bonus disc of the new Best Of 1988-2003 Album where Stipe begins "We're going to do a request from the web site because it's my favorite song...."

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by markie:
  I always used to listen to I am the resurection before university exams to gee me up.....
 
 that and REMs I am superman
 
 always made me feel much better.

hehe - for me it was always "Oh Shit" by the Buzzcocks.

[mankie]

Originally posted by markie:
  I always used to listen to I am the resurection before university exams to gee me up.....
 
 that and REMs I am superman
 
 always made me feel much better.

When I was playing rugby, before a game I would always listen to "Old England Is Dying" by The Waterboys.