I’m listening to Audioslave’s self titled. It’s still perfect. What’s yours?
Weird Al Yankovic in 3D.
Polka Party! by “Weird Al” Yankovic
Green Day. Dookie.
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Funny story time - it seemed like everyone had or wanted to have that album when it came out. We did not have it though because it was hard to find in my village. A boy I knew had the album and agreed to make a recording for me on cassette. I was super pumped and got the tape from him on Friday at school before a slumber party with my besties. Saturday morning we’re all sitting around the table with my friend’s huge family and they pulled out a cassette player and set it in the center of the table. The first three tracks played while we’re monching pancakes and I was so chuffed to have brought this sought after album. Then “Thriller” came on - the song - which is nearly six minutes long. Everyone knows the song and it’s ramping up but then suddenly the music cuts out with a click. It was the boy who recorded it speaking in to a mic saying, “Elaine, I recorded this for you because I love you.” Mind you, I’m ten so the entire room - adults and kids are dying of laughter while I was desperately trying to crawl across the table to shut it off. Someone grabbed the tape player from my reach and I died instantly. This is my clone typing this in 2024.
Oh my god.
When I was ten Master of Puppets and Slippery When Wet were both released and awesome.
That said, and as a fan of the wierd and heavy, Graceland by Paul Simon was also released and is one of the best albums of all time.
The Offspring - Smash
Ooh that’s a good from when I was 10, too. I didn’t become fully obsessed with them until Americana, though. I don’t think any other cd has ever gotten as much play as that one.
Americana was a great one, too. That was more like high school days for me, though. I was getting more into Tool around the time that came out.
Comes down to one of two, and to varying degrees they both hold up.
- Dare to be Stupid by Weird Al. Not a single miss, Al possibly at the height of his powers, and that’s saying a lot.
- The Top Gun soundtrack. Whammy bar intensifies: wah wah wah, wanna wanna wah wah, wanna WAH wanna WAH, wanna WAH wah.
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
That was a time where a young kid listened to anything his older siblings were jamming to. So Oasis was one of my favorite bands at that age.
That’s one of the albums my older sister brought home too!
Brandy’s first album. Or TLC’s. Both of those tapes got played to deaaath. But my real favorite was probably whatever mixtape my sister and I had most recently made from the radio because that shit was custom. No skips.
Yessss. One thing I really miss is making custom mixes. (Though it was cds for me). A playlist isn’t quite the same.
Ten?
Gonna be a tossup, because I was listening to two in heavy rotation on casette. The first was a couple of years old at that point, Alabama’s Mountain Music. Still a great album.
The other was essentially brand new, Joan Jett’s Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth, again on cassette.
My parents had the Alabama on vinyl, which got worn the hell out by the time I got the tape. The Joan Jett wasn’t something they had gotten for themselves until after I bought it with birthday money at the same time as the Alabama tape. Then they got it on vinyl.
I still listen to both albums in their entirety here and there, and have multiple songs from each in multiple playlists.
I think, at the time, I probably favored GROAMY (what a horrible initialism lol) a bit most of the time, but it would have been a narrow margin. As full albums I favor Mountain Music now, it’s just more consistently good songs across the album. Not that Jett’s album has any stinkers, it doesn’t; it’s just that Alabama really nailed every track.
And yes, I’m fucking old lol
Styx - Paradise Theatre
(And no wonder I’ve always spelled it like a Brit! Learn something new everyday.)
The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
It was my Dad’s CD and he made me a cassette tape for my walkman. It’s still one of my all time favorites.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5NKTuBLCYhN0OwqFiGdXd1?si=rq5Oqcb0S6-wxhpJGQ5Uww
I hadn’t really developed any musical taste at that point. The first favorite would’ve been Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York.
The first album I had was Complete Madness by Madness. It’s still a banger but the vinyl is at my parents because I never owned a record player of my own.
Thanks to growing up around trash (the people, not necessarily the music), I hated music for a long time. So when I was 10, nothing. But when I was 13 or so ('95 or '96) I was walking down the street and found a CD in the road. Green Day’s dookie. That was that. Still listen to that album at least every few months.
You still have the one you found on the street? Thats like the universe was throwing music at you. Very cool.
