27 Albums That Shaped the First 27 Years of My Life, #12: The Graduate - Anhedonia

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.

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.

#12: The Graduate – Anhedonia
Release Date: April 10, 2007
When I first heard the album: July 2010

Why I loved it then: I was knee-deep into the “Summer of Sorrow”, and I was looking for new music to listen to. 2010’s new releases had not done the trick for me to that point, so I decided to once again peruse Wikipedia’s “List of Pop Punk Bands” page for new bands to check out. For some reason, The Graduate was put in that list (while I absolutely adore them, I would not necessarily classify them as part of the genre). I decided to give Anhedonia (the song) a listen because I had no idea what the word meant but it sounded pretty cool. When I heard the song, I was blown away. Not only were these guys great musically, but lyrically, they got it. I quickly decided to download the rest of the album and fell in love. The rest, as they say, was history.

Why I still love it now: I was extremely tempted to simply write “Because it’s amazing” in this section and move on. That is true, but it doesn’t do it justice. Anhedonia came to define a period of my life because, quite honestly, things were so bad I began to lose the ability to find pleasure in traditionally pleasurable things. Because of this album, I began to feel pleasure again, and because of this album, I discovered what would eventually become my favorite band of all time. This is not the last time The Graduate appears on this list, and while I did not like this album quite as much as its successor, that is by no means a knock against Anhedonia. It’s like comparing A work to A+ work. Either way, it’s elite-level quality.

Lingering Lyric: “Is there any truth to the recipe/ I’ve been mixing thrills in the right key/ But I don’t feel right in my skin/ So I don’t feel anything at all”
Top Tracks: Sit & Sink, I Survived, Anhedonia, The City That Reads, Surround Yourself, Doppelganger

Previous Entries
27. Avalon - In a Different Light
26. The Dangerous Summer - Golden Record
25. Just Surrender - If These Streets Could Talk
24. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
23. Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do
22. Better Luck Next Time - Third Time's a Charm
21. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
20. ZOEgirl - Life
19. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
18. Anberlin - Blueprints for the Black Market
17. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
16. Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness
15. We the Kings - We the Kings
14. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
13. New Found Glory - Nothing Gold Can Stay