5 Albums That Changed How I Thought About Music

I was thinking about what albums fundamentally changed how I thought about music the first time I heard them. There are more than five in my life but these five I can remember vividly.

1. Paul’s Boutique - Beastie Boys
   I remember listening to it and being so confused. Licensed to Ill was so accessible and this was dense and confusing, but I loved it.
2. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back- Public Enemy
   Being a white Jewish kid in Toronto, this was music I wasn’t supposed to like. I remember the siren wails on Armageddon and getting chills. I had never heard anything like this before.
3. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
   My room mate got this album in college through one of those “music clubs” where they would send you an album a month. He put it on and we both stopped what we were doing and just listened in silence. We listened to the whole album. When it ended we sat in silence for about 5 minutes. He silently got up and hit play again and we listened a second time, in silence.
4. It’s Too Late To Stop Now - Van Morrison
   I knew Van Morrison through the radio hits, but when I picked up this album (a bit hard to find nowadays) I understood Van the Man was not just belting out Brown Eyed Girl.This, to me, is one of the great live albums. I fell in love with live albums and live music because of this album. You need to listen to this album just for “Cypress Avenue”.
5. Quadrophenia - The Who
   I have no idea how this album ended up in my record collection as a kid but it was awesome. One of The Who’s rock opera’s I loved the gate fold album, the story and the music.
   I learned to love a full album with Quadrophenia. I never really listen to tracks from this album (occasionally 5:15 and Sea & Sand) but I feel this album needs to be experienced as a complete work.