As I quickly approach my 27th birthday (an age, coincidentally, that many musicians met their own mortality), I have been thinking about the role that music has played in my life. I have not played an instrument for nearly sixteen years and have never been in a band, but I would still consider myself an audiophile. The 26000 songs on my hard drive would agree with me as well.
In life, whether we are going through good times or a particularly rough patch, it is extremely comforting to know that someone else out there gets it. Music has the ability to convey that message. Some of my favorite albums are the ones that I heard during a rough patch in my life. In many ways, music helped me through those hard times. (You’ll definitely see that when I get to #1 on my list.)
Music is special to me because it is so closely tied to my memories. I can hear the opening to Relient K’s “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been”, and I am instantly swept away to my bedroom on Christmas 2004 when I heard the song for the first time. When I hear Boys Like Girls’ “On Top of the World”, I think of Dan and I in our rental car in Florida, driving with the windows down and truly feeling alive. I can still feel the same pain when I hear Bright Eyes’ “Landlocked Blues” that I felt in summer 2010 when the song represented my “Summer of Sorrow”. It is so nice to have that channel to my past so that only a few notes can instantly transport me to another time and place.
Because of all those things, I thought it would be as good a time as any to compile my list of the 27 albums that most shaped these first 27 years of my life. Starting Friday January 31, I will be posting one album from the list every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until we reach #1 just before my birthday.
Let me make one thing abundantly clear: I am not saying that these are the 27 greatest albums of all time. I am not so arrogant to believe that my personal opinion is the definitive voice on music. I like what I like. Hopefully you will be able to unearth some gems from my list. If not, that is alright. These songs and albums are important to me regardless of anyone’s opinions of them.
As you will eventually see, each post will follow the same format. You will see the album title, the release date, and the general time period during which I heard the album for the first time. I’ll explain why I loved it then and why it still matters to me now. I’ll give you some lyrics that have stayed with me, and I’ll tell you my personal favorite tracks on the album. I am very excited to share this particular passion with everyone.
There are so many albums that I absolutely love (or loved at a particular point in my life), but for the purposes of this list I stopped at 27 albums. Here are a few albums that just missed the cut. Check in Friday for #27!
27 Albums That Have Shaped the First 27 Years of My Life: Honorable Mentions
Go: Audio – Made Up Stories
Mayday Parade – Anywhere But Here
Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Boys Like Girls – Boys Like Girls
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