music that makes my world go round

I thought it was time for a music entry. I'm going to throw down, in no particular order, the albums that absolutely rock my soul, start to finish. I don't think that this entry has a larger purpose, other than to define and shape my musical taste, and allow me to indulge in thinking about the best music on the planet:

THE TOP NINE ALBUMS IN MY UNIVERSE:

1. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
the dreamy, angsty, celestial mid-nineties masterpiece that continues to change me. Billy Corgan proves himself here to be one of the greatest lyricists of the modern era. Listen to 'Stumbeline', 'Tonight Tonight' and 'By Starlight' to understand why I am the way I am.

2. Green Day - Dookie
arguably one of the best, if not the best album of the 1990s. I may go so far as to call it flawless. Every California-punk song that this band spun out became a teenage anthem for surviving in the 90s - this was my grade 7 guide to life. My favorite track? 'Welcome to Paradise'.

3. Oasis - What's the Story (Morning Glory)
Maybe I shouldn't get started on Oasis. This band did for the 90s what the Beatles did for the 50s and 60s - rocked their hearts out with british-infused, soul-baring lyrics and soaring melodies. My favorite album of all time, followed closely by 'Definitely Maybe'. Listen to 'She's Electric'.

4. U2 - Achtung Baby
Although it's not altogether the most powerful set of songs that U2 has put together in their career, the fact that on this album is the world's first exposure to the song 'One', which is so beautiful that it's almost unfair to call it music ... that puts Achtung Baby in a category of it's own.

5. Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs
Ben Folds Five visited Vancouver BC on October 11th, 1994 - and I wasn't there. But that's the closest that I've ever been to this band (now this solo act), who I've been legitimately obsessed with since the beginning of my musical life. Choosing one album was hard, but it's the mature vocals and crazy talent on the piano that really makes Rockin' the Suburbs stand out. Spend some time with 'Fred Jones Part 2' for some of the most heartfelt music I've heard in a while.

6. Live - Throwing Copper
This take no prisoners album won me over in grade 9, when my boyfriend and I declared it to be 'our' cd - simply because we played it over and over again while we were together. Apart from a weak opener, every song on this bass-driven, drum heavy cd rocks my world, and I still have a hard time keeping my composure when I hear the opening notes of 'All Over You'.

7. Killjoys - Gimme Five
This self proclaimed 'post-grunge proto-punk' band came out with Gimme Five in 1996. I was an impressionable 13-year-old who found a home in songs like 'Soaked' and 'Rave and Drool' - Adam and I quickly dubbed Soaked to be 'our song'. It's happy, punchy, don't-take-me-too-seriously attitude struck a chord with my inner idealist, and has always been one of my 'sing out loud' albums, start to finish.

8. Pearl Jam - Ten
There are a lot of Pearl Jam cds that I could put on this list, but Ten was a masterpiece that, much like the more frequently referenced 'Nevermind', completely altered the state of all music that followed. The phenomenal debut album is epic, start to finish, and made the grunge trend accessible to the average Canadian 10 year old (myself) and friends, who would bike to the Circle K for slurpees, and then sit in one of our backyards, crooning to 'Alive'.

9. The Beatles - Abbey Road I don't think that there's anyone out there that can deny the genius of this group. Whether or not Beatle-mania was warranted, the music on this album in particular is completely before it's time - songs like 'Come Together' would still be considered groundbreaking and innovative today.

Other albums that rock my world:
Superknown - Soundgarden
Southern Harmony and Musical Companion - Black Crowes
Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
Blind Melon - Blind Melon
Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morrissette
Bloodsexsugarmagic - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt
Nevermind - Nirvana
Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
Parklife - Blur
Wildflowers - Tom Petty
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
Sixteen Stone - Bush
Urban Hymns - the Verve
Exile on Main Street - the Rolling Stones