I guess for a list like this, I've gotta start at the beginning, and what better way to do that than starting with my very first CD. It was Christmas morning some time in the early 90s, and after opening all my other presents and failing to find the CD player I had been hoping for, my mom asked me to get something for her from my room. I can't remember what she asked me to bring her, but I do remember the ginormous box wrapped and sitting in the middle of my room. It was a Sony 5-Disc stereo that I still have today. And what's a brand new stereo without any music to play in it? I then unwrapped my final gift, Aerosmith's Big Ones. I played that disc out for years. My parents probably got so sick of hearing "Crazy" and "Amazing" over and over. Until I got to my hardcore stage. Then I'm sure they missed those songs.
2. Face to Face - Don't Turn Away
This album did more to influence the next 13 years of my life than anything else. I was in Brad Davis's basement in the summer of '95 and he tried to play off this album being his band. I was blown away when I found out that there was this whole underground scene of music that I was completely ignorant of. Brad is now in The AKAs (Are Everywhere) doing the whole Warped Tour thing and I'm training people on how to use Verizon Wireless's data services. I guess our paths turned out slightly different.
3. Strife - One Truth
Ah, my hardcore days. This really should be a three way tie along with Earth Crisis's Firestorm and Snapcase's Lookinglasself albums as I originally thought that only Victory Records released hardcore albums. Then I discovered:
4. One King Down - Bloodlust Revenge
What? There are other hardcore labels? No way! I'm going to be really poor now!
(Side note: God bless my parents for dealing with this stage of my life. They must have HATED these albums.)
5. Chamberlain - The Moon My Saddle
If you know anything about me musically, then you already know about my unwavering obsession with all things David Moore. Of all the albums on this list, I still listen to this album on a consistent basis. If this was a Best Albums of All Time list, this would be at the very top.
6. Texas is the Reason - Do You Know Who You Are?
Much like Chamberlain, I have devoured anything Texas is the Reason related in the last decade. From Solea to New Rising Sons, House + Parish to New End Original, if a former member of TITR is in the band, you'll find it in my collection.
7. Saves the Day - Can't Slow Down
I know, I know, Saves the Day like totally ripped off Lifetime and I'm losing all the respect you had for me by listing this album. See the thing is, and it's embarrassing to admit it here, but I discovered Saves the Day before I discovered Lifetime. It was my sophomore year at IUP and I met this dude named Kiersten who was all about New York hardcore. We'd hang out in his dorm and listen to Madball, Blood for Blood and the rest of the DMS crew until one day he played Saves the Day and from those first chords of Deciding I was hooked. To this day, this is still the album I go to for that first day of summer, when you're driving around with the windows down. This is that album.
8. The Juliana Theory - Understand This is a Dream
So it's still my sophomore year of college, and I'm rooming with another straight edge hardcore kid named Mike, and suddenly our musical tastes start drifting apart. He's still completely into metal and hardcore and I'm starting to seque into the more melodic (aka wussy) emo genre of music. Now don't get me wrong, I was still all for the late night mosh sessions where we'd turn the lights down, blare the music and practice our circle pit moves (totally not a joke, I thought I broke my hand one night when I went windmilling right into our bunk beds. Not cool, but totally awesome at the same time...). I can't tell you why, but suddenly he was also into the Juliana Theory and I got to play my wussy emo music a little more often. I'm pretty sure he even started cuffing his dark jeans and wore his glasses a lot more often. Those were fun times. But just when you'd think we'd lost our hardcore edge...
9. Ignite - Call On My Brothers
Ah, southern California's hardcore poster children. For a long time I kept a list of the top bands I wanted to see live and Ignite held the top position on this list for at least three years. That's when Mike and I saw the fliers. Ignite were performing during IUP's annual finals week concert. This is still the most unusual concert I've ever been too, and probably one of the best. It's easy to get the attention of one of your favorite bands when only two people in the crowd know any of the words. Long story short, Goldfinger headlined the concert and the fire alarms went off in the middle of the concert moving everyone to the parking lot. I had lost my copy of this album and had planned to buy a new copy but all the merch was inside, so I just walked up to Zoli in the parking lot and he gave me his personal copy. I won't be losing this one.
10. Last Days of April - Angel Youth
I was really into this album during the summer after my junior year of college. I was interning for a computer software company and had to share an office with someone a few pegs higher than me on the corporate ladder. I listened to this CD with the volume as low as humanly possible and basically looped the album over and over (cause that's what I do) and I thought I was all nice and stealthy about it until he finally turned around and said "you really like that album don't you?" Whoops. I'm still a rabid fan and buy all their albums direct from Sweden.
11. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
A double disc, and my vote for the album of 2007. It's obviously the most recent album on this list, and possibly the most popular (except for Aerosmith of course) but it is a phenomenal genre melding piece of work. Max Bemis will write a song specifically for you for a price (which I can't recall at the moment) and it could actually be worth it. The dude can sing about anything and make you think it's the best song you've heard in years. Hopefully he's got plenty of songs left.
12. David Crowder*Band - A Collision
I was actually given a mixed tape (really a CD, but mixed tape sounds so much more indie and cool) by a friend to discover the greatness that is the DC*B. This mixed batch of songs opened my eyes to the idea that religious songs could still be well-written and worthy of a listen. A lot of things have changed in my life in the last year, and this album has influenced quite a few of those changes. You can scroll through some older blog entries to find out more. My wife gets sick of me listening to DC*B ALL THE TIME but it could be worse. Much, much worse.
Honorable Mentions:
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About
New Found Glory - Nothing Gold Can Stay
Mae - The Everglow
The Gloria Record - A Lull in Traffic
Silent Majority - Life of a Spectator
Jimmy Bufett - Songs You Know By Heart
Bane - Holding This Moment
The Hope Conspiracy - Self-Titled
Underoath - They're Only Chasing Safety
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