Influential Albums For A Young Standalone

I have recently been turning my attention to the roots of what truly is the genetic makeup of my weird musical taste. I decided to itemize it for my own purpose, and for those who may be interested in what I felt like was quintessential.


I guess I should mention that my list does not contain a lot of 70's-80's rock, of which is the norm. I grew up listening to 100% country music radio. My dad listened to a lot of George Straight, Keith Whitley, and Merle Haggard. My mom listened to Shania Twain, Martina McBride, and Dixie Chicks. I went out and bought Green Day's Warning when I was in 3rd grade, and my parents bought me Weird Al's Running With Scissors for Christmas one year; essentially starting what was my musical independence. I went through a heavy rap phase in 7th grade where I was fluent in Nelly's Country Grammar, Ludacris' Disturbin Tha Peace, and 50 Cent's The Massacre. It wasn't until 8th grade (2005) that I really started growing into my own. I was washing dishes at a local restaurant for $5.25 an hour under the table. I would cash my check every 2 weeks and go and buy CD's. I feel like it's important to mention that this was a time where I couldn't just look up music on Spotify or Youtube if I wanted to know about a band or how they sounded. You had to buy it or borrow a cd from a friend. The rise of MP3 players and iPods weren't until a couple of years later. And I was too poor to afford it.


Although I do feel like some albums were a little more shaping in my later years of high school, these are the few that stick out as the ones that started it all; mostly ranging from 2004-05 in their release. We'll start backwards from 10.

10.

Metallica - Self Titled

I was hesitant about adding this one to the list because of how I feel about Metallica now (RIP Napster) but I felt like that would be disingenuous. My cousin burned me a bunch of Nirvana, and Metallica CD's when I was quite young. This ended up being my favorite of the bunch (Although I did also really like Nevermind by Nirvana.) I listened to this album constantly. I am even wearing a Metallica shirt in my 10th grade school photo. Metal.

9.

Between The Buried And Me - Alaska

I purchased a different Victory Records CD and it included a DVD with various music videos on it. I watched that DVD so often that I had the videos memorized in what order they would appear. The song Alaska off this album was number 3. I went and found this CD and listened to it a lot. Part of it was because I enjoyed the music. The other part was that it was heavy as hell, and I liked feeling bad ass.

8.

System Of A Down - Mezmerize

To be totally honest, I have no idea how I became a S.O.A.D. fan. I saw their music video for B.Y.O.B. one morning on VH1 and decided to go buy that CD. (I actually made my sister take me to FYE and buy the unedited version, thanks Amanda. Now I know a whole bunch of damn swear words because of it.) I became a huge fan thereafter, and bought all the subsequent releases. I used to wear my System Of A Down shirt to wrestling meets to let everyone know I wasn't dicking around.

7.

Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

Another one of those albums I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I still know almost every word off. This is also one of those bands I am not sure how I became a fan of. I saw someone wearing an Avenged shirt at school one day and he looked super bad ass. So I decided to go and purchase City Of Evil. It was all downhill from there.

6.

Senses Fail - Let It Enfold You

My brother actually bought this cd. I don't really remember when the time frame was. But, we used to live in a loft together when we were young and we would listen to this CD on a little boom box over and over again. I still quite enjoy it.

5.

Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely

I remember my sister taking me to school one morning as a freshman and she was listening to Niki FM off Hawthorne's previous release "The Silence In Black And White" and thought it was really cool. I went to the store and couldn't find that CD, so I bought this one. I did not end up regretting it. This album was perfect for an overweight freshman at the time.

4.

Silverstien - Discovering The Waterfront

Again. This one totally stumps me as to how I stumbled onto this album. I know that they had a music video for Smashed Into Pieces from their prior release on the DVD I previously mentioned, but I can't be sure that that was the reason. I still love this album. I recently attended the 10 year tour where they played the album in full. It made Jake of yesteryear quite happy.

3.

Chiodos - All's Well That Ends Well

I remember stumbling on some kind of Equal Vision Records sampler that featured Baby You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek. I went up to FYE later that week and purchased this album. I listened to it on my commute just the other day, it's still as good now as it is then. This was one of the first progressive bands I got very invested in.

2.

Underoath - They're Only Chasing Safety

I would say my most fond memory of this album is going and playing football at my friend Nick's house. He would put it on the outside speakers and we would just play football for hours. This was the very first album I put on my iPod when I had saved up and bought it years later. This album has stood the test of time. I can't wait for their reunion tour where they will be playing this front to back along with Define The Great Line.

1.

Coheed And Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

Anyone who knew me back then could have easily seen this coming from a long way off. I used to wear my Coheed shirt 2 times per week because I loved it so much. I usually get guff from fellow Coheed fans because most of them worship (oft times literally) their prior release, In Keeping Secrets. I do like that release, however this release had perfect timing for me. Trying to fit in in high school, not really having a place, being so tired of hearing the same rap music in the locker room, this album was a beacon of light. It has always felt like home to me. I still appreciate it in that light.

I Hate Sports Fans. (I Hate Myself)

I've spent the last 2 weeks pouring over countless Super Bowl reports, while tediously trying to distract myself with MLB trade rumors, and other winter off-season nonsense that MLB writers publish based on boredom/desperation.

"Top Five Double Play 2B/SS Combos Projected For 2016."

Me: "Huh. This is probably worth reading and may contain very vital information for the forthcoming season."

I guess part of me is trying to avoid, inevitably, getting too emotionally invested in this Super Bowl. The other part of me understands that it's not terribly often that the team you've been pouring over since 1999 makes it to the biggest stage in football 2 out of 3 years. (Unless, of course you're a fan of the Patriots and, vicariously, their methods of cheating or cutting corners.) So it's hard to not get invested.

I guess I have such a love hate relationship with watching professional sports. While it's worth the risk/reward supporting one franchise for your life, it never really pays off like it should. You can have a lifelong devotion to a team and never have the satisfaction of rubbing it in your enemies face, or even have the team acknowledge you. For instance, there are Cubs fans who have lived their whole lives and then died before seeing them win a World Series. Seriously, it's been 100 years. However, there is something so admirable about picking one team (per sport) and being a fan regardless of good years or bad. On the contrary, I have never had patience for the dip shits that say "I am a fan of players." That may very well be true, but it doesn't make you any less of an asshole for buying/wearing a Richard Sherman/Marshawn Lynch jersey in 2013. It makes you look like you're a fan of winning teams.

I have just found an odd stigma in professional sports, and sports in general. People (Myself ABSOLUTELY included) feel an odd sense of entitlement when it comes to professional sports; a game in which we do not play. We don't participate, the coaches don't call us for advice/reports in between quarters or after the 7th inning stretch, we don't attend the press conference afterwards to give our analysis of the game, and we sure as hell did not hit a home run or score any touchdowns. We simply picked a team, bought a hat/shirt, and now they are winning instead of losing. So now we get to thumb our noses at the Los Angeles Dodgers or Oakland Raiders fans, and in some cases verbally/physically assault them. We also get to express a seared in hatred for opposing players we dislike like Chase Utley, Charles Woodson, Yasiel Puig and Johnathan Papelbon. We may even say that they are awful players, bad people, need Jesus, are responsible for your divorce, gave your child a poor body image, and should be locked up for the rest of their life and maybe even chemically burned to death.

I think it's strange how easy it is to develop a hatred for someone you have never met in real life. You don't know where they live, what their favorite snow cone might be, or even what car they drive. But, you know that you hate them based on the way that they present themselves in a child's game they get paid millions of dollars to play. I'm not scolding, because I do it too. They're getting paid lots of money to play a game, which means we, the fans, have a right to scrutinize, scold, and (hopefully) bring to punishment, no? I even do it with actors/actresses; ask my wife how much I hate Anne Hathaway and how earnestly I believe that she ruined the Dark Knight Rises (Maybe I will publish a book on the subject.) I just find it interesting that it is so easy to hate someone based on what team is signing their checks. More importantly, how easy it is to hate someone because they are so incredibly talented and playing for a team that isn't the one you signed with (Figure of speech.) Looking at you Tom Brady and Clayton Kershaw; you assholes.

More importantly, I think it's strange that people justify shitty actions like stabbing, violently approaching and even verbally abusing another human being based on what jersey they are wearing; fan or player. I sometimes read about people beating the hell out of one another because they were wearing the opposing teams merchandise. Why? Did that team say your mother was fat? Did the organization write you a letter stating that they slept with your wife while you were away on business? And now you have a personal vendetta to destroy them, one fan at a time? Look, I am as competitive as anyone, and I am also a very sore loser, but never would I ever physically fight someone because they are a Dodgers/Seahawks/whatever fan.

If you are planning on starting a fight over sports, I'll say this: Fight the fair weather fans. Those kids that are wearing Golden State Warriors hats this year that were wearing Miami Heat hats 2 years ago, those are the kids that need a punch in the ear. Not the 30 year old wearing a Diamondbacks hat (He's had it hard enough.)

My very good friend Nick Peterson put it in perfect light: "Being a fan of a sports team is never a good enough reason to be friends with someone. It's also never a good reason to fight someone. It really doesn't matter THAT much."

Couldn't have said it better.

I do have 2 final complaints about professional sports. I have found that my biggest flaw as a fan is that the taste of victory does not even come close to the sorrow of defeat. It doesn't matter what sport. I have to admit that winning the AFC Championship this year was really awesome as a Denver fan, however, it was not nearly as wonderful as knowing the Patriots lost. I don't really know why that is, but I relish far more in the loss of my enemies, than the victory of my friends. And seeing people I dislike succeed is always so difficult to watch. I'm sure there is some psychological diagnosis for me. But, being a sociopath pays off occasionally.

All in all, I think my biggest problem with professional sports is the sense of helplessness you feel when your team is getting a good old fashioned ass kicking. I lived through the days of Jake Plummer, Jay Cutler and Tim Tebow at the helm of the Broncos offense. I know what it's like for a team to have you bent over a barrel. The strangest contrast I found in that, was that I never felt that way while competing myself. I could be going into a state wrestling tournament for 3rd place, heading into over time and still feel a shroud of hope that if I put forth the effort I can still win. You can never really trust professional athletes to have the same resolve. Sometimes I think that when the game has gone tits up, they're content to let it float. I saw the 2014 Super Bowl; well, the first 3 quarters, I left after that.

May the Lord bless your teams and future endeavors. Unless you're a Yankees, Dodgers, Packers, Patriots, Seahawks, Bulls, Lakers, Kings, Cougars, or Panthers fan. Then I hope your family gets the bird flu.

Go Broncos. Hail Peyton.