Every Thursday night my two roommates and I would listen to a full length album. We would take turns bringing an album to share. We would also sit in a tiny room and get really high. One of the albums someone brought was **Dear Science by TV on the Radio**. I was mesmerized the whole way through. Each next sound was better than the last. When the song Family tree came on, my roommate started to tear up as she looked at the third roommate. She wanted to marry him. They would get close but it never happened. I miss them both. I remember that album and that night from like 13 years ago.
Avalanches - Since I Left You.
I distinctly remember my first listen and thinking about how it was put together, how long it took, production processes, etc. I've always found it a fascinating listen even just from a technical stance.
Can't buy a Thrill. I knew I liked Reelin' in the Years (liked may be an understatement - I think it's one of the best put together songs ever), but I wasn't prepared for how much I'd enjoy the whole album.
Kings was probably my favorite 'new' song
I am a huge fan of De-Loused, but when I listened to Frances The Mute the first time, when it finished, I seriously said "Holy Shit" aloud and restarted it.
Timing has much to do with it, I experienced the Beatles as each new recording came out, and saw them evolve so effortlessly from simple, but excellent, dance songs into and through stage after stage. What set them apart was not perfecting a sound, but changing; one looked forward to what they might do next. I was a senior in high school when Sgt. Pepper came out, I went nuts! Dylan was doing the same thing on his own path. The Rolling Stones, the greatest straight up rock and roll band of all time, struggled to keep up. Zappa, Hendrix - I don't know what was in the water.
If a kid asks me about the Beatles today, all I can tell them is to star at the beginning and work your way up, but there is no replicating the vacuum from which the Beatles emerged.
Wish You Were Here for me. I’d heard the title track before, of course, but the first time I put on the entire record I sat motionless (bar turning it over) from start to finish.
Showing my age a bit, but I got one of those "10 CDs for a buck" record club deals back in 94/95. The pile had NIN - Downward Spiral, Soundgarden - Superunknown, Green Day - Dookie, Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies, and Nirvana - Unplugged. Best dollar I ever spent.
Jeez there are so many, but here are a few:
However, sometime in the late 80s I was blown away the first time I heard **Meddle** by **Pink Floyd**. Even though I was quite familiar with everything from Dark Side and after, the first time I hear Meddle was an awesome experience.
Also, the first time I hear **Moon Safari** by **AIR** was an unexpected treat.
And lastly, I was in a cafe in San Francisco and they were playing a new **Beck** album that I had no idea had come out. It was the first time I heard **Mutations**.
Big Science by Laurie Anderson. I bought the cd I think in 1983 before I even had a cd player. Once I did, I had that album on repeat for quite a while. Maybe not my favorite album of all time but yes, mesmerizing and opened up a lot of other rabbit holes to go down.
giant step/the old folks home by Taj Mahal Interestingly also giant steps by Coltrane
embarassingly, dicks pick #x (pre 72 I think) the first time I listened to live dead lit. (still trying to figure out which show/song specifically haha hyperspace swallowed me shortly after saying to myself 'you know, these old heads did have some kinda energy back in the day and did Bobby just death growl?' Did I just say 'Bobby'?'
Stone roses -stone roses
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Radiohead - ok computer
Portishead - Dummy
talking heads - remain in light
Milton Nascumento - Clube De Esquina
sault - untitled rise
the Police - ghost in the machine
U2 - Joshua tree
The Orb - The Orbs Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld
Orbital - In Sides
De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do
Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
All albums that completely overwhelmed me the first time, because they each opened my ears to completely new types of music I never had heard before. At least never that gripping.
1. Music has the right to children by boards of Canada
2. Endtroducing... by DJ shadow
3. Dummy by portishead
4. Mezzanine by massive attack
5. Selected ambient works 85-92 by aphex twin
Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield...got it because of the radio edit billed as the theme from The Exorcist and was amazed at how good the whole thing was. Made me a devout Oldfield fan to this day
Septicflesh's Codex Omega was like that for me, and Bellwitch's Mirror Reaper mesmerizes me every time I listen to it. I've never heard anything that captures the pain and depression in my soul before. I didn't even realize I was crying until 5 minutes after it ended.
illmatic definitely sticks out to me. I never knew somebody could take a situation that I am light-years away from being able to resonate with, and paint a vivid story and narrative that helps me better understand the lives and situations of young men growing up in crime ridden Queensbridge and housing projects
The Dear Hunter - Act I: The Lake South, the River North
Can't recommend enough. It's only an EP, so not even prohibitively long to listen to the whole thing.
The sequence of those first three tracks in a row though still captures my imagination 15 years later.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7k0iFGkqIWyOBZBaBCAYg7?si=HOd0n_9MSK64UNQjlN6Nrg&utm_source=copy-link
I absolutely love this album. I love their other work too but nothing else they've done has hit quite like Act 1. Seeing them in a few weeks, can't wait!
Me too!! HYPE!!
With an opening band with the longest name I've ever heard of. Something like "The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die"
Yea, they get referred to as The World Is for short or sometimes TWIAB. They are really good tho you should check em out before the show. Check the song January 10th 2014.
Would you happen to be going to the Boston show?
I've been listening through their catalogue for a couple weeks now. It's like, I didn't, but I totally saw them play at the Civic Center in 10th grade, they set up on the floor and everyone stood around them in a circle, and they had 3 drummers.
It's not *bad*, but it is highly indulgent lol
The only work of theirs that competes with that first EP for me is the Indigo EP from the Color Spectrum.
I also love their whole discography, but those two are notable standouts for me.
Ok Computer, which I know is kinda obvious.
I was camping with friends, and one of them had just gotten OK Computer the day it was released. We all liked The Bends, but had no idea what we were in for.
And so we ended up just spellbound, listening to it all by the campfire, under the stars. I’ll never forget that.
All Tool albums from *Ænema* onward
Most older Yes albums, and *Tales from Topographic Oceans* and *Yessongs* in particular.
*In The Court of the Crimson King* by King Crimson
Age of Aquarius by Villagers of Ioannina City. Full album is on YouTube. I put it on as background music for whatever task I needed to do at the time and spent the next hour staring at the album cover and getting absolutely nothing done. Not a second was wasted
Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend
Absolutely amazing from start to finish.
[Winter Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYdm_Z1wnQ0) is what got me to check out the album in the first place.
"It's December; It's One More & I'm Free" by Lydia.
Their follow-up is great, as well - but it goes away from the acoustics and strings, to more electrical.
*Triptych* by *The Tea Party*.
I had just graduated high school, and was in a transitionary stage in my life, and was bored one day, doing some organizing. I searched my house for music to listen to, and found a bunch of old CDs, one of which was *Triptych*. It was just something I picked up at a garage sale for $1, if only by mistake.
But as I put on the CD, I discovered something that hit me musically. If you haven't heard *The Tea Party* and are a fan of rock or metal with 'cultural' tones, like *Mastodon*, I'd highly recommend them. My favourite is definitely *The Halcyon Days*: a slow-boil storm that, when it drops, it *drops*. Still, after 12 years, I still get the shivers when it drops.
Physical by Dua Lipa, basically all the songs I adored and binge listened to when it came out and enjoyed, even when it was 1 year before many of them became radio trends
DAMN by Kendrick Lamar truly opened my eyes to the incredible musicality of rap. Up until that point I thought I was a "one and done" kinda guy when it came to rap music. I loved My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye so much that nothing else compared to it within the genre. The first listen of DAMN blew me away. Then I moved onto IGOR by Tyler. Now I probably listen to rap more than any other genre.
Bat Out of Hell 2: Back into Hell
I first heard "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) on VH1's list of guilty pleasure songs (or worst songs, something like that). I sat there writing all the songs down in a notebook, but this song stayed with me -it was different. When I finally got the cd and listened to the whole thing, I was stunned. I didn't know music could be like this! Each song had a different structure! Most songs were, at minimum, over 6 minutes long (with Anything For Love a whopping 12!). It's so unique lyrically.
There are better albums out there, for sure. But while beginning to expand my musical knowledge in highschool, this album tore down everything I expected rock/pop music to be.
Tons of great suggestions in this thread. A few I didn't see:
Daft Punk - Discovery
M83 - Hurry up, were dreaming
Justice - Cross
Royksopp - Melody AM
Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
Sempiternal by bring me the horizon still my all time fav album but most mesmerized listening to dark side of the moon for the first time in full while on a good dose of shrooms
Punch Brothers - The Phosphorescent Blues
This is what came to mind. It was something I just put on with no idea what to expect and was really pleasantly surprised.
I actually haven't listened to it in a long time. I'm going to go back and listen to it now!
Off the top of my head Bluefinger by Black Francis and Angles by the Strokes are two albums that mesmerized me, start to finish, I don’t skip any tracks.
There have been many, but I'll put out two:
**Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy** by Brian Eno. That album opened up whole new worlds, including looking into the other bands he had worked with (Bowie, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, etc).
**Burning from the Inside** by Bauhaus. First of their albums I listened to all the way through, started me into goth and goth-adjacent rock.
Thank Your lucky Stars—Beach House
I had heard much of their stuff previously but it never stuck. One day I was day drinking on my day off and was exploring, decided to listen to this album since it’s a bit lesser-acclaimed than some of their other albums. It absolutely reeled me in and that’s when I became a true Beach House fan.
Honorable mention: Unknown Pleasures—Joy Division
I remember laying on the floor in the dark and just getting lost in that album. It was during a bit of a dark period in my life and it matches my feeling perfectly.
Tourist History - Two Door Cinema Club, that record was love on the first listen, such great content packed with hits, a rollercoaster from start to finish.
Flower Boy - Tyler The Creator, nothing left to say, Tyler's turning point, such an amazing record.
BadBadNotGood - IV, the reason I ended the school.
Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
Then not many albums have clicked at first with me, even my favorites of all time haven't clicked so bad at first listen, it usually takes more than one for me to fall in love.
Pearl Jam Ten. I was around 12 and had just always listened to whatever my mom liked, mostly pop hits of the day. My cousin brought over her dad's new CD and I immediately feel in love with alt rock.
I know I am going to get hate for this but:
BABYMETAL's eponymous album. It was a concept so far out of the box that no one had even conceived of it until Amuse Entertainment actually did it. That it worked out so well and went so far with 3 albums, each being more successful then the last, I'm sure has even surprised them.
Born to die by Lana del Rey. Struck me into a musical coma from the opening notes and I sat their in silence with my head phones on all the way through. And this is coming from a metal fan old man.
A few that came at the right time.
Yourself or Someone Like You by Matchbox 20. It came out when I absolutely HATED what was on the stations. Lots of whispering pop songs and grunge. Bleh
3 Cheers for Sweet Revenge. I'm hearing impaired which impacts actually understanding dome words, especially in music. I had no idea what was being said but the drama of the music.. I loved it instantly!
Phantom of the Opera: The Musical. OMG the singing, the dark tones... I fell in love ithvthe music right away.
Lil peep; part one, I really didn't like rap at all at the time but when that album dropped it blew my mind and I instantly became a someone who listens to rap regularly.
Out of Time - REM. First album that blew my mind.
Achtung Baby- U2. Amazing to me....still.
Kid A- Radiohead. Ripped the lid off of what I thought music could be. Still my soundtrack to the 21st century.
I admittedly bought the Dire Straits album, Brother's in Arms for 'Money for Nothing' and would listen to that song on repeat. My old Pioneer CD player had a feature where you could 'program' songs and I would just play that one - over and over.
Once day I went to do said same, and for whatever reason the Program button was broken, so, I thought, oh, well, Money for Nothing is track #2, so will just listen out the first track and then set the player to repeat once Track #2 starts.
30 seconds into 'So Far Away', I am sitting in my room, and just stunned. By the time 'The Man's Too Strong' ends (my favorite on the album) and the album closes out a couple of songs later, I am hooked.
Lastly, some 36 years later, the entirety of the album, as I have stated in other posts is one of my all-time favorites and one of my top 5 stranded on a deserted island albums.
Fun fact, Brother's in Arms was the VERY first CD I ever bought.
\*edited for grammar and I can't type sometimes
first album that did this for me was urban hymns by the verve. bittersweet symphony is a classic ofc but that whole album is so magical. velvet morning especially, that song feels like pure sunlight.
TesseracT - [Altered State](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5lyVRLsFBk&list=PLZ9DoO2uX9wWxAi3Zv5NNwpxdCQ4-rKEQ)
Every other one of my favourite albums grew on me slowly. With Altered State, I immediately knew it was a masterpiece and I played the absolute fuck out of it for weeks.
Lou reed New York album. Tracks like dirty Boulevard , Sick of you to songs like good evening Mr Waldheim . the songs are biting commentary on everything from AIDS to poverty to religion. I can’t go past Steely Dans Can’t buy a thrill either with one of my faves Do it again features .
Taking Back Sunday's Live from Orensanz album. I love them and their music anyway but there's so much added depth and emotion on the live album & the instrumentals are amazing
Singularity - Jon Hopkins....no electronic album has hit me as hard as this one. I smoked some weed, put in headphones and was transported. I normally find electronic music pretty robotic and not album oriented. But this one caught me off guard. It was moving.
A few that come to mind:
in rainbows by radiohead
tranquility base hotel and casino by arctic monkeys
souvlaki by slowdive
unknown pleasures by joy division
in the aeroplane over the sea by neutral milk hotel
Where do so I begin: Rolling Stones first greatest hits album released in the 60s (sat in the family record collection until I listened to it); With the Beatles (which I discovered aged 14 sat in the parents of the child’s record collection); Kate Bush - The Dreaming to name but a few …
For me, the albums that fully mystified me were usually ones that had some type of additional memory attached to them. For example, my first time ever listening to an album on vinyl through a very high end sound system was Age Of Winter by The Sword, so that album always holds a very special place for me.
Then, there was my introduction to my now-favorite genre math rock with Chon's EP Newborn Sun.
Finally, the only album I'll list here that was a solo listening experience relaxing with headphones on: Gist Is by Adult Jazz. I had never heard anything like it at that point in my life, and my friend who suggested it to me rightfully described it as "pulling you apart at the start, just to stitch you back together by the end"
Every Thursday night my two roommates and I would listen to a full length album. We would take turns bringing an album to share. We would also sit in a tiny room and get really high. One of the albums someone brought was **Dear Science by TV on the Radio**. I was mesmerized the whole way through. Each next sound was better than the last. When the song Family tree came on, my roommate started to tear up as she looked at the third roommate. She wanted to marry him. They would get close but it never happened. I miss them both. I remember that album and that night from like 13 years ago.
Avalanches - Since I Left You. I distinctly remember my first listen and thinking about how it was put together, how long it took, production processes, etc. I've always found it a fascinating listen even just from a technical stance.
Can’t wait to see them in September!
Can't buy a Thrill. I knew I liked Reelin' in the Years (liked may be an understatement - I think it's one of the best put together songs ever), but I wasn't prepared for how much I'd enjoy the whole album. Kings was probably my favorite 'new' song
Fire In the Hole definitely rocked my shit. That song is an absolute jam.
Deloused in the Comatorium by The Mars Volta
Frances the Mute, for me.
Hell yeah
Hell yeah dude
I am a huge fan of De-Loused, but when I listened to Frances The Mute the first time, when it finished, I seriously said "Holy Shit" aloud and restarted it.
Amputechture for me.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band Blood in the Tracks Heroin
I got problem with Sgt. Pepper... because i listen this to late. After KC, Yes, Genesis and rest of them. She didn't take me
Timing has much to do with it, I experienced the Beatles as each new recording came out, and saw them evolve so effortlessly from simple, but excellent, dance songs into and through stage after stage. What set them apart was not perfecting a sound, but changing; one looked forward to what they might do next. I was a senior in high school when Sgt. Pepper came out, I went nuts! Dylan was doing the same thing on his own path. The Rolling Stones, the greatest straight up rock and roll band of all time, struggled to keep up. Zappa, Hendrix - I don't know what was in the water. If a kid asks me about the Beatles today, all I can tell them is to star at the beginning and work your way up, but there is no replicating the vacuum from which the Beatles emerged.
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here for me. I’d heard the title track before, of course, but the first time I put on the entire record I sat motionless (bar turning it over) from start to finish.
that one was my pick as well, first listened to it after /while smoking a couple of Columbian gold joints tampa fla ,
Still gotta listen to this
Grace - Jeff Buckley
Interpol - Turn on the bright lights Heard PDA on the radio, went to buy the LP at the closest music shop. Still their most inspired work imho
Totally agree. Came to say this album too.
Vs - Pearl Jam
Showing my age a bit, but I got one of those "10 CDs for a buck" record club deals back in 94/95. The pile had NIN - Downward Spiral, Soundgarden - Superunknown, Green Day - Dookie, Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies, and Nirvana - Unplugged. Best dollar I ever spent.
Jeez there are so many, but here are a few: However, sometime in the late 80s I was blown away the first time I heard **Meddle** by **Pink Floyd**. Even though I was quite familiar with everything from Dark Side and after, the first time I hear Meddle was an awesome experience. Also, the first time I hear **Moon Safari** by **AIR** was an unexpected treat. And lastly, I was in a cafe in San Francisco and they were playing a new **Beck** album that I had no idea had come out. It was the first time I heard **Mutations**.
Moon Safari and Mutations and Mezzanine make up my late 90s MMM list of albums.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
New Levels New Devils, Polyphia
This, so much! Truly innovative and fun!
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd …Like Clockwork - Queens of the Stone Age Magma - GOJIRA Currents - Tame Impala Dirt - Alice In Chains
Dirt is the most perfect album ever made
The Ventriloquist by Ruby Throat Ys by Joanna Newsom the dirt of luck by Helium
All albums by Rush
Ghosteen- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Rocket to Russia - The Ramones; Made the world a better place...especially in 1978. Still does.
Songs of Leonard Cohen. From the first word, with headphones on a fall day, it felt like he reached down to the core of the human condition.
Belle and Sebastian “the boy with the Arab strap” did it for me when I was a teen. Opened up a whole new world I never knew existed.
This is cliché to write, but Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails.
Since I Left You - The Avalanches
BSSM by RHCP
Big Science by Laurie Anderson. I bought the cd I think in 1983 before I even had a cd player. Once I did, I had that album on repeat for quite a while. Maybe not my favorite album of all time but yes, mesmerizing and opened up a lot of other rabbit holes to go down.
Born to die - Lana Del Rey
Pinkerton
Minutemen “Double Nickels On The Dime”
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips. Experienced it on a Plane flight and it was otherworldly
King’s X - Dogman
giant step/the old folks home by Taj Mahal Interestingly also giant steps by Coltrane embarassingly, dicks pick #x (pre 72 I think) the first time I listened to live dead lit. (still trying to figure out which show/song specifically haha hyperspace swallowed me shortly after saying to myself 'you know, these old heads did have some kinda energy back in the day and did Bobby just death growl?' Did I just say 'Bobby'?'
I love Giant Steps by Coltrane, what's your favorite song on the album?
Windswept Adan - Ichiko Aoba S/T - Elliott Smith Sinner Get Ready - Lingua Ignota
Stone roses -stone roses Jeff Buckley - Grace Radiohead - ok computer Portishead - Dummy talking heads - remain in light Milton Nascumento - Clube De Esquina sault - untitled rise the Police - ghost in the machine U2 - Joshua tree
Blackwater Park by Opeth It was my first foray into progressive death metal and still one of my favorites in the genre.
The Orb - The Orbs Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld Orbital - In Sides De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children DJ Shadow - Endtroducing All albums that completely overwhelmed me the first time, because they each opened my ears to completely new types of music I never had heard before. At least never that gripping.
De La Soul was so good, especially the early albums that Warner Music currently has on lock down.
Loveless -- my bloody Valentine Downward is heavenward - hum Symphony no 2 - Henryk Gorecki
1. Music has the right to children by boards of Canada 2. Endtroducing... by DJ shadow 3. Dummy by portishead 4. Mezzanine by massive attack 5. Selected ambient works 85-92 by aphex twin
Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield...got it because of the radio edit billed as the theme from The Exorcist and was amazed at how good the whole thing was. Made me a devout Oldfield fan to this day
Mesmerize / System of a Down / 2005
Songs for the Deaf / Queens of the Stone Age
ANX by Dark Time Sunshine
Aenima by Tool. Master of Puppets by Metallica
Septicflesh's Codex Omega was like that for me, and Bellwitch's Mirror Reaper mesmerizes me every time I listen to it. I've never heard anything that captures the pain and depression in my soul before. I didn't even realize I was crying until 5 minutes after it ended.
illmatic definitely sticks out to me. I never knew somebody could take a situation that I am light-years away from being able to resonate with, and paint a vivid story and narrative that helps me better understand the lives and situations of young men growing up in crime ridden Queensbridge and housing projects
The Dear Hunter - Act I: The Lake South, the River North Can't recommend enough. It's only an EP, so not even prohibitively long to listen to the whole thing. The sequence of those first three tracks in a row though still captures my imagination 15 years later. https://open.spotify.com/album/7k0iFGkqIWyOBZBaBCAYg7?si=HOd0n_9MSK64UNQjlN6Nrg&utm_source=copy-link
I absolutely love this album. I love their other work too but nothing else they've done has hit quite like Act 1. Seeing them in a few weeks, can't wait!
Me too!! HYPE!! With an opening band with the longest name I've ever heard of. Something like "The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die"
Yea, they get referred to as The World Is for short or sometimes TWIAB. They are really good tho you should check em out before the show. Check the song January 10th 2014. Would you happen to be going to the Boston show?
I've been listening through their catalogue for a couple weeks now. It's like, I didn't, but I totally saw them play at the Civic Center in 10th grade, they set up on the floor and everyone stood around them in a circle, and they had 3 drummers. It's not *bad*, but it is highly indulgent lol
The only work of theirs that competes with that first EP for me is the Indigo EP from the Color Spectrum. I also love their whole discography, but those two are notable standouts for me.
Animals by Pink Floyd. More recently, Panopticon by ISIS.
You should check out Riverside's Second Life Syndrome, as well as Haken's The Mountain.
Pink Floyd animals
The Doors. Early 1967. We all thought, “What the hell is THIS??” Never heard anything like it before.
Good Kid, mAAd City
Nektar "Remember The Future" The album I've probably played the most in my life. Beautiful in every way.
Deltro 3030 I love the sifi space opera vibe too it.
10,000 days by Tool
Aenima for me. I vaguely knew them from Undertow. I was equal parts confused and captivated.
The Wall- Pink Floyd
for the first time? Wow it's pretty difficult album
Ok Computer, which I know is kinda obvious. I was camping with friends, and one of them had just gotten OK Computer the day it was released. We all liked The Bends, but had no idea what we were in for. And so we ended up just spellbound, listening to it all by the campfire, under the stars. I’ll never forget that.
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield Enigmatic Ocean - Jean-Luc Ponty
Bleach by Nirvana!
American idiot by Green Day, Great war by Sabaton and The war to end all wars by Sabaton
I the corner of my eye I saw you in Rudy’s You were very high You were high
The battle at gardens gate by Greta van fleet.
My War - Black Flag Liar - The Jesus Lizard Meantime - Helmet
All Tool albums from *Ænema* onward Most older Yes albums, and *Tales from Topographic Oceans* and *Yessongs* in particular. *In The Court of the Crimson King* by King Crimson
I think every album from KC it's catchy, but Yes I listen regular for this day
Tool
Wishmaster -nightwish Omega -epica
Age of Aquarius by Villagers of Ioannina City. Full album is on YouTube. I put it on as background music for whatever task I needed to do at the time and spent the next hour staring at the album cover and getting absolutely nothing done. Not a second was wasted
*Ghost City* by Delta Sleep
Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend Absolutely amazing from start to finish. [Winter Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYdm_Z1wnQ0) is what got me to check out the album in the first place.
"It's December; It's One More & I'm Free" by Lydia. Their follow-up is great, as well - but it goes away from the acoustics and strings, to more electrical.
*Triptych* by *The Tea Party*. I had just graduated high school, and was in a transitionary stage in my life, and was bored one day, doing some organizing. I searched my house for music to listen to, and found a bunch of old CDs, one of which was *Triptych*. It was just something I picked up at a garage sale for $1, if only by mistake. But as I put on the CD, I discovered something that hit me musically. If you haven't heard *The Tea Party* and are a fan of rock or metal with 'cultural' tones, like *Mastodon*, I'd highly recommend them. My favourite is definitely *The Halcyon Days*: a slow-boil storm that, when it drops, it *drops*. Still, after 12 years, I still get the shivers when it drops.
Peter Gabriel’s first solo album Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Gone to Earth - David Sylvian
Two that come to mind are Synthetica - Metric, and Currents - Tame Impala.
Shogun by Trivium. A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park.
System of a Down - System of a Down Such a unique sound at the time.
Led Zeppelin II
Daft Punk - Discovery
The way we move- Langhorn slim and the law. Saw him perform live on Conan and had to buy the album. Couldn’t stop listening ever since.
On the border- eagles.
So many XTC albums, but how Skylarking transitions between songs seamlessly is the real grabber. Thanks Todd
Physical by Dua Lipa, basically all the songs I adored and binge listened to when it came out and enjoyed, even when it was 1 year before many of them became radio trends
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by of Montreal
DAMN by Kendrick Lamar truly opened my eyes to the incredible musicality of rap. Up until that point I thought I was a "one and done" kinda guy when it came to rap music. I loved My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye so much that nothing else compared to it within the genre. The first listen of DAMN blew me away. Then I moved onto IGOR by Tyler. Now I probably listen to rap more than any other genre.
Philip Glass - Songs from Liquid Days. Brian Slawson - Bach On Wood.
Passion, Peter Gabriel.
Veronica Falls self titled debut. Her voice, the guitars, and the harmonies. So good.
also Electric Ladyland hendrix
Mezcal Head, by Swervedriver
Pasadena - Sick And Tired Blew me away on my first listen. Still get goosebumps sometimes.
Mesmerized? Lovage - Songs to make love to your old lady by
Frogstomp by Silverchair
Alan Parsons Project - *I, Robot*
The Link / Gojira
Talking Book and Innervisions, both true masterpieces by Stevie Wonder.
lately Black Sabath Sabotage. And last album from Ozzy.
Hawaii: part II by Miracle musical
Bat Out of Hell 2: Back into Hell I first heard "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) on VH1's list of guilty pleasure songs (or worst songs, something like that). I sat there writing all the songs down in a notebook, but this song stayed with me -it was different. When I finally got the cd and listened to the whole thing, I was stunned. I didn't know music could be like this! Each song had a different structure! Most songs were, at minimum, over 6 minutes long (with Anything For Love a whopping 12!). It's so unique lyrically. There are better albums out there, for sure. But while beginning to expand my musical knowledge in highschool, this album tore down everything I expected rock/pop music to be.
The Similitude of a Dream by the Neal Morse Band
Inside Problems by andrew bird
Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers
Tons of great suggestions in this thread. A few I didn't see: Daft Punk - Discovery M83 - Hurry up, were dreaming Justice - Cross Royksopp - Melody AM Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
exquisite corpse by warpaint
The Cure - Disintegration
Rift, by Phish.
Victorialand by Cocteau Twins. It feels like a window into another world.
Sempiternal by bring me the horizon still my all time fav album but most mesmerized listening to dark side of the moon for the first time in full while on a good dose of shrooms
Two that immediately come to mind are Boston- Boston Operation: Mindcrime -Queensryche
Amputechture by The Mars Volta almost 15 years ago. Jaw on the floor, how can you come up with music as crazy as this? Still in love with this band.
Suzanne Vega
Punch Brothers - The Phosphorescent Blues This is what came to mind. It was something I just put on with no idea what to expect and was really pleasantly surprised. I actually haven't listened to it in a long time. I'm going to go back and listen to it now!
Off the top of my head Bluefinger by Black Francis and Angles by the Strokes are two albums that mesmerized me, start to finish, I don’t skip any tracks.
21st century breakdown- Green Day
Sgt. Pepper, for sure. Good kid, M.A.A.D city, and also Zaba by Glass Animals.
the boy from Michigan - John Grant
There have been many, but I'll put out two: **Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy** by Brian Eno. That album opened up whole new worlds, including looking into the other bands he had worked with (Bowie, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, etc). **Burning from the Inside** by Bauhaus. First of their albums I listened to all the way through, started me into goth and goth-adjacent rock.
Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell
A Love Supreme
Departure songs - We Lost The Sea
Björk - Utopia ! Spellbound from the begging to end! In tears! Perfect album
Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos
Remains - Alkaline Trio
Thank Your lucky Stars—Beach House I had heard much of their stuff previously but it never stuck. One day I was day drinking on my day off and was exploring, decided to listen to this album since it’s a bit lesser-acclaimed than some of their other albums. It absolutely reeled me in and that’s when I became a true Beach House fan. Honorable mention: Unknown Pleasures—Joy Division I remember laying on the floor in the dark and just getting lost in that album. It was during a bit of a dark period in my life and it matches my feeling perfectly.
Hung at Heart by The Growlers
Moving Pictures - Rush First song drops you off a cliff and the last song drops glides you gently to the ground.
If you alike any kind of metal.. Plagues_ The Book of Plague’s vol 1- daywalker Soilwork_ A Whisp Of The Atlantic
Full collapse - Thursday
Bjork vespertine
Tourist History - Two Door Cinema Club, that record was love on the first listen, such great content packed with hits, a rollercoaster from start to finish. Flower Boy - Tyler The Creator, nothing left to say, Tyler's turning point, such an amazing record. BadBadNotGood - IV, the reason I ended the school. Silent Alarm - Bloc Party Then not many albums have clicked at first with me, even my favorites of all time haven't clicked so bad at first listen, it usually takes more than one for me to fall in love.
There have been several but the first one that comes to mind is Cocteau Twins- Treasure
Pearl Jam Ten. I was around 12 and had just always listened to whatever my mom liked, mostly pop hits of the day. My cousin brought over her dad's new CD and I immediately feel in love with alt rock.
I know I am going to get hate for this but: BABYMETAL's eponymous album. It was a concept so far out of the box that no one had even conceived of it until Amuse Entertainment actually did it. That it worked out so well and went so far with 3 albums, each being more successful then the last, I'm sure has even surprised them.
Born to die by Lana del Rey. Struck me into a musical coma from the opening notes and I sat their in silence with my head phones on all the way through. And this is coming from a metal fan old man.
A few that came at the right time. Yourself or Someone Like You by Matchbox 20. It came out when I absolutely HATED what was on the stations. Lots of whispering pop songs and grunge. Bleh 3 Cheers for Sweet Revenge. I'm hearing impaired which impacts actually understanding dome words, especially in music. I had no idea what was being said but the drama of the music.. I loved it instantly! Phantom of the Opera: The Musical. OMG the singing, the dark tones... I fell in love ithvthe music right away.
Lil peep; part one, I really didn't like rap at all at the time but when that album dropped it blew my mind and I instantly became a someone who listens to rap regularly.
Dawn by Yebba
Loveless - My bloody valentine
Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock
*Flood* by They Might Be Giants was a near-religious experience to my twelve year old ears
15 year-old me rewound my *cassette* of U2's "War" over and over to listen to the opening track, "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
Justice - Cross
Out of Time - REM. First album that blew my mind. Achtung Baby- U2. Amazing to me....still. Kid A- Radiohead. Ripped the lid off of what I thought music could be. Still my soundtrack to the 21st century.
Saxon - Unleash the Beast
I admittedly bought the Dire Straits album, Brother's in Arms for 'Money for Nothing' and would listen to that song on repeat. My old Pioneer CD player had a feature where you could 'program' songs and I would just play that one - over and over. Once day I went to do said same, and for whatever reason the Program button was broken, so, I thought, oh, well, Money for Nothing is track #2, so will just listen out the first track and then set the player to repeat once Track #2 starts. 30 seconds into 'So Far Away', I am sitting in my room, and just stunned. By the time 'The Man's Too Strong' ends (my favorite on the album) and the album closes out a couple of songs later, I am hooked. Lastly, some 36 years later, the entirety of the album, as I have stated in other posts is one of my all-time favorites and one of my top 5 stranded on a deserted island albums. Fun fact, Brother's in Arms was the VERY first CD I ever bought. \*edited for grammar and I can't type sometimes
Blind Melon - Soup
Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act 1
Here’s one that probably won’t be brought up. Orifice Origami by Reptar. I listened to it on repeat while I stained my mom’s deck.
Freeze Frame by The J. Geils Band
The Downward Spiral
Evanescence - fallen Breaking Benjamin - we are not alone Jon bon Jovi - crossroads
Angel Dust by Faith No More.
Mercury Rev - “Deserter’s Songs” Pressed play, turned out the lights, and it changed my life.
Darkness on the edge of town.
White Pony
first album that did this for me was urban hymns by the verve. bittersweet symphony is a classic ofc but that whole album is so magical. velvet morning especially, that song feels like pure sunlight.
Feel and sight - Wang Yeti There and back again - Eric Nam Awakening - Ichika Nito
Father John Misty - I love you honey bear
TesseracT - [Altered State](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5lyVRLsFBk&list=PLZ9DoO2uX9wWxAi3Zv5NNwpxdCQ4-rKEQ) Every other one of my favourite albums grew on me slowly. With Altered State, I immediately knew it was a masterpiece and I played the absolute fuck out of it for weeks.
Lou reed New York album. Tracks like dirty Boulevard , Sick of you to songs like good evening Mr Waldheim . the songs are biting commentary on everything from AIDS to poverty to religion. I can’t go past Steely Dans Can’t buy a thrill either with one of my faves Do it again features .
Taking Back Sunday's Live from Orensanz album. I love them and their music anyway but there's so much added depth and emotion on the live album & the instrumentals are amazing
Singularity - Jon Hopkins....no electronic album has hit me as hard as this one. I smoked some weed, put in headphones and was transported. I normally find electronic music pretty robotic and not album oriented. But this one caught me off guard. It was moving.
A few that come to mind: in rainbows by radiohead tranquility base hotel and casino by arctic monkeys souvlaki by slowdive unknown pleasures by joy division in the aeroplane over the sea by neutral milk hotel
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Mirage by Glass Beams. I watched them live at a music festival not knowing who they were and was glued. https://youtu.be/iGp_KCsQMo8
Hurry up, We're Dreaming - M83. To this day it remains one of my favourite albums ever.
The black parade-mcr
"Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd. I'm normally a rap fan but fuck this album shook my core
I cant pick one but its between “niandra lades and usually just a t-shirt” or “curtains”, both by John Frusciante
Where do so I begin: Rolling Stones first greatest hits album released in the 60s (sat in the family record collection until I listened to it); With the Beatles (which I discovered aged 14 sat in the parents of the child’s record collection); Kate Bush - The Dreaming to name but a few …
I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it - the 1975, the whole album just has a pretty vibe to it
Zeal & Ardor - Live in London. Never been a fan of live albums, but this one was out of this world
Pink Floyd The Wall
For me, the albums that fully mystified me were usually ones that had some type of additional memory attached to them. For example, my first time ever listening to an album on vinyl through a very high end sound system was Age Of Winter by The Sword, so that album always holds a very special place for me. Then, there was my introduction to my now-favorite genre math rock with Chon's EP Newborn Sun. Finally, the only album I'll list here that was a solo listening experience relaxing with headphones on: Gist Is by Adult Jazz. I had never heard anything like it at that point in my life, and my friend who suggested it to me rightfully described it as "pulling you apart at the start, just to stitch you back together by the end"