PRELUDEI think the point of life other than family and faith is to discover music. Everything else sort of revolves around that. Not work! Work is just a means for discovering music. We all have various musical tastes. Certain events, friends, and our faith (or lack of faith) in our lives and the music that are associated with those things shape our musical tastes. If one were to be able to go back in time and pull out the albums that have been responsible for shaping one's musical tastes it would include strong emotions, significant events, the breaking of new musical boundaries, or possibly just comfort music that is symbolic to something important in their life.
I've been singing, tenor, in church almost constantly for 30 years either as a soloist, a quartet, a choir, or a praise/rock band. I took piano lessons regularly as a boy. I played trumpet regularly for 12 years strait from Jr. High all the way through my undergraduate degree. I've also been trying to play the guitar, although not trying extremely hard, for the last 15 years on and off. These things along with friends, radio, and self discovery have shaped my musical tastes.
I noticed as I was going through this list that so much of the strong emotions that are attached to an album for me personally come from the 80's and 90's. I would venture to guess that the music people listen to in their high school and college ages are the ones that invoke the most emotion in a person. I can't believe how little "new" music I've listened to in the 2000's. The music of the last 10 years that are listed here are really recent discoveries (within the last few years). I'm sure this is because of the fact that I was more focused on raising a son and being a husband than searching for music. I also spent a few years in there working on a master's degree at night while working full time. Whatever the reason, the recent discovery of Dream Theater and similar bands has been awaking the musical discoveries that I sort of skipped while life happened.
I'm sure this list will change as I discover new music. I discover new bands almost daily, especially here on these top 50 albums lists, and it's hard to include newer bands in this list since I haven't really had a chance to evaluate the lasting impact of their music on my musical journey. So for now we're going to get a lot of 80's and 90's music. Some pop rock, some metal, some gospel, some progressive rock, a little bluegrass, and some other strange choices. I hope you find it entertaining to look into my musical history and learn about who I am.
So here it goes.
50. Billy Joel - Glass Houses (1980)
Wow! I really have to dig deep into the memory banks to remember the first time I listened to this album. I'm pretty sure "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" was playing on the radio and even my Mom liked that song. I remember one of my classmates in the 6th grade had a portable 8 track player (yes they did make them) and we were able to listen to this album during recess. I can't remember if I bought this tape or if my sister bought it because we used to listen to it all the time driving to school.
This album was chock full of great hits and music. Many of the tracks had a more edgy guitar rock feel that previous ballady singer/songwriter releases. But that was what me and my friends were into in the 6th grade. "You May Be Right" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" are still played on the radio today and where the biggest hits. However, "Don't Ask Me Why" was a pretty big hit at the time. I don't really know why it doesn't get played much on 80's stations these days. One of my personal favorites was "Sometimes a Fantasy" because of it's rockin' sound. I was forming my musical tastes back then and it always seemed to gravitate toward the heavier tracks.
Favorite Songs: You May Be Right, Sometimes A Fantasy, Don't Ask Me Why, It's Still Rock N Roll To Me, Through the Long Night
Topic: Durg's Top 50 Albums Spanning Decades and Genres (Read 26317 times)
