A recent discussion I had with some friends via Web 2.o involved Top {insert number} Album Lists of {Insert decade / genre / century}. As interesting and addictive as I find these types of articles, I also find them to be utterly useless. Why? Because no matter how many people you get in a room, their consensus will never survive the scrutiny of the rest of the world. Certainly, many people may agree with the general placements of certain albums, but you will inevitably hear someone say, "There's no way X album should be lower than Y album." The list also bears the indignation of inevitably becoming obsolete, given time, perspective, and new music trends. Read a list of the greatest album of the 1990's compiled in 2000, and I can guarantee it will be different from one compiled in 2009. In short, these lists are fun but of no lasting value.

However, what can be of lasting value is a personal Top 5 or 10 list. Since it matters to you, and the only criteria is what you set it out to be, then a Top 5 list would have greater meaning. So, I'd like to open up discussion: what are your top 5 albums that have influenced you? I'll start it off:

1. The Cure, Faith



Faith is one of the most hauntingly beautiful albums the Cure ever produced. Unlike the dense, emotional black hole of its follow-up Pornography, Faith is all about the emotional gray areas in life and relationships. Sometimes I'll lay in bed at night and listen to this album, sinking into the stark bass opening and float through a pensive sea of memory. Faith is an album that is emotionally evocative, and Robert Smith's lyrics had a huge impact on my writing in my later teens and early twenties. The fact that Faith makes me feel the same way it did nearly 20 years ago when I first purchased it is a testament to the deep resonance I feel with the album.

2. Poe, Haunted



Whereas Faith was an album for my teenage years and influenced the formative phase of my life, Haunted is the equivalent for my late twenties / early thirties. Poe's brilliantly constructed album is influenced by her brother Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves. The album, written and developed after Poe's father had passed away, echoes the journey of a woman at a crossroads in her life and coming to grips with loss, love, and ghosts of the past. A powerful, mature work, Haunted makes me ache for more from Poe, who has not released anything since Haunted in 2000.

3. Black Eyed Peas, Monkey Business



Go figure, I'm not a huge fan of hip-hop. Growing up, the hype was on acts such as N.W.A, Ice Cube, and other "hardcore" groups. I was never big into these artists; I tended to stick more closely to Wu-Tang Clan and its solo spin-offs. It wasn't until Black Eyed Peas that I really saw that hip-hop could be fun (as opposed to, say, DMX or 50 Cent). It lead me to seek out older acts such as De La Soul and Digable Planets, and be open to some newer acts (such as Kanye West).

4. The Strokes, Is This It?



The latter half of the 90's were not a stellar one for music, at least for me and my tastes. Boy bands, Britney, and P. Diddy were all the rage. The amazing Philly station, 103.9 DRE, went off of the air. Tepid alternative music crowded the rock stations. I became a father, and short of listening to what was on the radio, I just didn't have the same passion for it. I stopped buying CDs, and basically allowed my passion for music to cool.

It was not until the "Garage rock" explosion in the early part of this decade that I found myself listening to music again, and wanting to go out and buy CDs (and later, digital music). First and foremost of this wave was the Strokes, whose album Is This It?, aside from being an amazing debut, is just a flat-out great rock album. But it lead me to explore a new genre and opened the door to other bands such as the Raveonettes, the Hives, and the White Stripes, all of whom I love to this day. When I think back to what reignited my passion for music, this is the album.

5. Lords of Acid, Lust



Ah, what's a 15-year old in the early 90's doing listening to an album called Lust? Falling in love with Techno, that's what. Lust was a mind-blowing album, in an age where Grunge music ruled and where the Generation X wasteland of youth were marching to the tune of fuzzy guitars. Sure, I loved Grunge music, but Techno was an alternative to the alternative; with its minimalist lyrics, pulsating beats, and female vocalist who was not like any of the girls I knew in high school, Lust was like the anti-album for an age. It's lead to a life-long love of the genre (even if I don't listen to this band all that often anymore), and my very first concert was seeing Lords of Acid at the Trocadero in Philadelphia.

So there you have it, my top 5. What's your top 5? What's the story behind the albums? Share with us.


Julio Angel Ortiz has been a writer for Inside the Circle for almost a year now. While not tapping away on his keys for the Editor, he works full time in the field of Information Technology and spends time with his family, as well as writing and working on his photography. He maintains a blog at http://www.voxbomb.net.