Adolescent Jams
Well, in less than a week I'll be 20. Recently, I've been looking through the
albums that I listened to growing up and what they meant to me; pretty
much what got me through high school and my first year of college. |
| 1 |  | Jack Johnson
In Between Dreams
My parents fucking loved Jack Johnson. Wherever we went, this CD was turning in
our 2002 Volvo. Makin' banana pancakes, man. |
| 2 |  | Peter Gabriel
Shaking the Tree
Another one my parents wouldn't stop listening to. Solsbury Hill and Games Without
Frontiers were awesome when I was younger. They still are, really. |
| 3 |  | Green Day
American Idiot
My very first album. I got it for my birthday in sixth grade (I think). It was new and
"cool" to like Green Day way back then because they swore in their songs. None of
that Radio Disney shit. |
| 4 |  | Gorillaz
Demon Days
The first CD I ever bought with my own money. Feel Good, Inc. was the coolest
song back in 2005, and tiny iSkane just had to get his hands on the full album. |
| 5 |  | My Chemical Romance
The Black Parade
It's really interesting (and kind of cringey) looking back at all of the music I listened
to. Eventually, most of my middle school tastes dropped once I got into high school
and found Sputnik and Absolute Punk, but for some reason, these guys stayed. I
even saw them in concert my junior year. |
| 6 |  | Pink Floyd
The Wall
My first legitimate introduction into real music. My mom found the CD cheap at a
garage sale and we bumped that shit in the car everywhere we went for about a
month. Yeah, I had heard Dark Side of the Moon before, but I never really paid that
much attention to any of it. This was the first album I ever remember digging into,
finding out the concept. My favorite at the time. I still haven't seen the movie
though... |
| 7 |  | Porcupine Tree
Stupid Dream
My uncle got me this album for my birthday. I knew absolutely nothing about them,
but he was a big prog rock fan and, when he heard that I was getting into Floyd,
figured I would like them. I did. A lot. So much, actually, that my uncle and I drove
16 hours from Denver to Chicago to see them in concert the next summer. This
actually turned out to be the concert they recorded Octane Twisted at, which was
fucking awesome. |
| 8 |  | Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
I lurked on Sputnik for a long time (still do, really). But the first thing that actually
got me to start listening to good music was the "Best of the Decade" list. I wrote
down every single album on that list and swore to myself that I would listen to
them. MPP was the first album I found at the library (back when I was too poor to
buy albums and too scared to scour the internet for them.) I popped it in on the
short drive back home and ended up driving around until it was over. This will
always remind me of the summer between my sophomore year and junior year in
high school. It's just so fun! |
| 9 |  | Circle Takes the Square
As the Roots Undo
Another one I found on that decade list. My first introduction to a heavier type of
music. |
| 10 |  | Deftones
White Pony
And again, the decade list. This album really stuck with me and still remains one of
my absolute favorites. |
| 11 |  | Kashiwa Daisuke
Program Music I
Okay, so this one was on the list, but I didn't end up listening to it until way later,
which was my fucking mistake. I was turned off at first by the ridiculous length of
the two songs. There's something nostalgic about each song. Stella remains one of
my favorites to this day, I even named my first car after that song. |
| 12 |  | Japandroids
Celebration Rock
Okay, so this one gets a little more specific. My senior year, I was seeing this girl
and everything was going great. I took her out to see a play one night (the
Producers, I think) and when it got out, it was pouring rain like you would almost
never see in Colorado. After I dropped her off at her house, I took the long way
home. Why? Because there was a giant hill just before the turn to my house that I
could coast down, as fast as I could. The mixture of speeding down the hill, with
the rain around me, and Continuous Thunder reaching its highest point, I realized,
for the first time, how great everything was. |
| 13 |  | Yellowcard
Ocean Avenue
And the first break up. This was with the same girl as above. The first ones are
always the hardest, and this album was what really got me through. It was actually
playing in the car while we broke up. Jammed it for weeks after that. |
| 14 |  | Tigers on Trains
Grandfather
I'm not really sure why this one sticks out to me so much. I can't tie it to any
memories or points in my life with any meaning. I still get goosebumps listening to A
Year in the Garden Shed, though. |
| 15 |  | Kendrick Lamar
good kid, m.A.A.d city
When this first dropped, it was all I listened to for a while. If I ever end up walking
the same route around campus that I did second semester freshman year, I will
always get m.A.A.d city in my head, no question. |
| 16 |  | Frightened Rabbit
The Midnight Organ Fight
So, I wasn't (still am not) good at talking to girls. My roommate freshman year
however, was. This longboarding, long hair having, Firework listening bro was
awesome, but he always had his lady friend over. So, I was kicked out a lot. During
the winter months, if none of my other friends were around, I would pop my
headphones in, put on my winter coat, and wander around campus listening to this. |
| 17 |  | Streetlight Manifesto
The Hands That Thieve
I actually ended up switching rooms to live with a different guy just down my hall.
Best decision I never made. I grew to be really close with these guys down the hall
when springtime came. Around my 19th birthday, this album dropped, and I
remember when they started streaming it on Youtube was the first time we could
open our windows in the dorms. |
| 18 |  | The Wonder Years
The Greatest Generation
Toward the end of the semester, this album dropped and I got the super-deluxe
pre-order box. This will always be my "leaving the dorms" album. A really great way
to start off the summer. |
| 19 |  | You Blew It!
Grow Up, Dude
When I came back home for the summer, I got a shitty job at Target. I unloaded
the trucks and stocked the shelves with all of the shit we got. I bet you're
wondering why you never see any of this happen. That's because it happens at 4 in
the morning. So having to wake up at 3 am almost every day over the summer
sucked, but this album was always playing on my drive over. |
| 20 |  | The Front Bottoms
The Front Bottoms
The second break up. I started dating this other girl halfway through freshman
year. Then we broke up when summer came. Then we got back together. Pro Life
Tip: never do that. It blows. There will always be two break ups and and if you
broke up one time, you will break up a second time. Anyway, this album got me
through that second break up with that second girl. Also, never mix break-up
emotions with work at 4 am, they don't do the brain well. |
| 21 | | I didn't have
21 albums
whoops. |
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