"List 12 albums that have stayed with you over the years in some way. Don't take too long on this list - just a few minutes. These don't have to be great records, or critical darlings, just ones that mean something to you personally."
Now, something you should know about me is that I don't have a favourite of anything. Food, movie, TV show, nothing. I refer to my 'favourites' as a collective group, and those groups have sub-categories and filing systems and it's all just very confusing. I'm so indecisive. Everything depends on my mood, and everything has its pros and cons - a balance I'm always very aware of. I'm not saying these are the 'best albums ever', or even that they're my favourites ever, just that I'm really sentimental and these albums all have stuck with me for a long time.
Because they were albums that have 'stuck with you over the years', this narrowed the field significantly - nothing I stopped listening to before high school (sorry Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack and Hilary Duff) and nothing released in the past 2 years (lately I've been really into Bastille, fun. and Imagine Dragons, and newer stuff from Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy). I also have only gotten back into buying full albums in the last few years, so this weeded out the artists and albums I only knew 4 or 5 songs from.
After some waffling, I gathered my list, and then decided to challenge myself farther - by picking my favourite song from each. This is where I hit the problems - do I pick the songs that make me happy? Make me want to dance? The 'popular' ones, the singles, which I would have heard first and most frequently? Or the ones that give me 'the feels' and have incredible lyrics? Figuring my Facebook friends would not be interested in my inner turmoil, I come here:
(I've listed the albums in the chronological order of when they came into my life)
Click each bolded song title to go to Youtube!
I tried to stay away from the singles, because people are more likely to know them, but sometimes they're singles because they're the best ones...
1 - Billy Joel - Greatest Hits vols. 1&2 (1973-1985)
This is the soundtrack to my childhood. Long drives in the car meant this album. I know it's cheating because it's TECHNICALLY 2 albums, but it's a packaged set of 2 (can't have one without the other) so I think of it as one long album. To me, the world of music begins and ends with Billy Joel. He has music for every mood, every feeling, every era. I get to see him in concert in a few weeks and I have never been so excited in my whole life! Every song on this album deserves to be here, and when you have as many incredible songs as he does, it's really hard to pick.
The songs: My first thought was Just the Way You Are, which is in my opinion one of the prettiest love songs ever written. I'm dancing to that song at my wedding. Period. I decided that when I was seven, and I'm sticking to it. Nothing any future fiance can say will change that. If he doesn't like Billy Joel, I don't like him.
I was also drawn to Allentown, because my mom can play it on the piano, and it's one of her favourites, so it reminds me of her. Even though my dad says it's one of his more depressing songs, I've always thought it was really pretty. Uptown Girl is an adorable song that everyone knows, for good reason, and The Entertainer is really upbeat - for some reason I used to pretend I could do highland dancing to that one. No idea why.
Only the Good Die Young is also really fun-sounding, and I partly love it because it contains one of my personal mottoes: "We might be laughing a bit too loud, but that never hurt no one"
2 - The Nylons - Four on the Floor (1991)
The Nylons are a seriously underrated Canadian a capella group that my mom is really fond of. So this was also on a lot in our house/car when I was a kid (I think we actually have the tape of this album somewhere). They mainly cover songs, but make them 500x more awesome in the process - for years I thought their version of Drift Away was actually the original. Oops. Four on the Floor was sort of their performance album, and as a result, some of the more processed versions I've been able to find are actually not as impressive as the live version on the album.
The Songs: The first favourite that popped into my head was Wildfire, because it's really upbeat and fun, and when I was 5, that was basically all I looked for in a song. It also showcases the diversity of all their voices really well, which is cool.
Heavenly Bodies and Kiss Him Goodbye (yes, the 'Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey' one) deserve honourable mentions for the same reasons. I also loved Amazon because the lyrics are really meaningful and about preserving the environment - something I was big on as a kid.
3 - Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream (2007)
The first band I developed a taste for without any parental influence whatsoever! It's technically a 'greatest hits' album (plus 6 new songs they wasted a whole disc just to separate), making it newer than some of the following albums, but shhh... I don't know if it's Rob Thomas' voice, or his amazing songwriting ability, but they're my 'first favourite' band. I still love them (their latest album, North, is phenomenal but didn't qualify for this list) and would love to see them live someday.
This album, as a whole, has something that appeals to pretty much anyone, in any mood. It's my comfort music, and it always will be.
(Side note: 3 AM is totally the first song I'm learning when I get around to learning to play my guitar. The intro is just perfection).
The Songs: If I'm not mistaken, Unwell is the first song that drew me to them (I know it was my 'fave song ever', on heavy repeat when I was in around Grade 4), but I would have already heard If You're Gone and probably '3 AM' by then, so I don't know what gave me my first taste of the awesomeness that is MB20.
I hadn't heard Disease until I actually bought the album, but I like how intense it is. It's also co-written by Mick Jagger, so it's got that going for it, which is nice. How Far We've Come is one those 'new'-er 6, but it's one of my favourite-ever 'happy songs' because it's so up-tempo (and the video is spectacular).
Bright Lights also deserves to be mentioned because of the melodic piano, how emotional it is, and this lyric: "Some things in this world, man, they don't make sense / and some things you don't need until they leave you". Pure poetry right there.
4 - The All-American Rejects - Move Along (2005)
Another of my 'first favourite' bands. I got into them when I was in about grade six, when this album came out, and even though they've kind of faded from popularity, I still think they're great. This was also the first non-Hilary-Duff album I bought for myself, so it holds a special place in my heart.
This album is basically straightforward rock, with a little emotion thrown in, and was the perfect sound for where my tastes were at the time. It also didn't hurt that I thought singer Tyson Ritter and guitarist Nick Wheeler were insanely cute.
The Songs: Top of the World is probably my number one, but it's a really close call. Dirty Little Secret and Move Along are obvious choices, if for the drums alone. I love a good strong drumbeat, and Chris Gaylor always provides. On the rare occasion one of them comes on the radio when I'm driving, I get a huge smile on my face and crank it up. In fact, those two songs, plus Top of the World were the reasons I bought the album (before It Ends Tonight was released - I know, so hipster).
The other favourites I have, ones that no one knows, were Change Your Mind, because it's so fast-paced and has some killer harmonies, and Dance Inside, which is a little toned-down in the first half, but then picks up - and I partly credit it with teaching me to appreciate the electric guitar. Dance Inside is one of the first songs where I really picked up on the guitar having its own melody (I hadn't listened to any Bon Jovi yet, ok??) and I LOVED it.
5 - Daughtry - DAUGHTRY (2006)
For some reason, I only got back into liking Daughtry within the last year or so (boy, was I missing out!), which is why there are no other albums of theirs on this list. This one came out when I was in grade Eight and I liked it but then stopped buying albums for a couple years. If pressed, I would have to say this is probably my fourth-favourite of their four albums, but only because the others are EVEN BETTER. It's a great album, but every new one just is an improvement and so the rest get bumped down slightly. This album also furthered my appreciation of rock music. The Songs: This was tough, partly because some of the slower songs have gotten 'old' after hearing them so many times. The album is also very diverse, in terms of the tone of each song, and therefore my favourite changes depending on how I feel that day. 'It's Not Over', 'Home' and 'Over You' were the first three singles from the album, and again they were the reasons I bought it. But they're the obvious choices. I love all of them, but everyone knows them.
However, there's no denying that What I Want is really intense - mainly because it features SLASH. You can't go wrong with Slash.
Breakdown really speaks to me, the lyrics in particular because they're really beautiful and about staying strong when things get tough. I also love how it builds from a ballad to sheer rock power, as though he's feeling sad and then just says 'enough' and flips the metaphorical table of anger - but calms down at the end, literally telling himself to "Keep it together, now".
6 - Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree (2005)
Yes, I love Fall Out Boy. Big shocker. However, I need to note that this was the last album I placed on this list, because I didn't actually know the whole thing until recently, but I needed a twelfth. I ONLY included it because the few songs I did know were SUCH an obsession in my pre-teen years, I love all their later stuff, and this is how began my obsession with Pete Wentz. I was introduced to them in the days when MuchMusic actually played music videos, and I was awestruck. Even though I didn't know all their songs, I knew most of the titles, because wordplay makes me laugh.
The Songs: This was one of the few albums on this list where I picked number one with a bullet. Dance, Dance gets me every time. I don't understand half of the lyrics, but who cares. It's upbeat and has awesome drums, and guitars, and shows Patrick's voice at his best. The video is still one of my all-time favourites years later, partly because it reinforced the idea that nerds can be hot - and yes, I always do the heart in the air when he says 'love'. Sugar, we're Going Down holds a special place in my heart, too, because it introduced me to FOB, and the lyrics are so clever.
7 - Relient K - MMHMM (2004)
Unfortunately, the only Relient K album which contains songs anyone has actually heard of. They're one of my favourite bands (I've seen them live!) and just rock better than most. This album was so perfect for the time it was released, but their sound changes (always in a good way) with each consecutive one - so maybe that's why they fell off the face of popular culture.
The Songs: I like all the songs on this album for the same reasons - the guitar, the energy, and Matthew Thiessen's voice. But the one I like slightly above the rest is The One I'm Waiting For, likely because it sums up my exact attitude toward single life.
Deserving of mention are High of '75 for its sweetness, More Than Useless for its optimism, and Be My Escape for being the perfect blend of melody and rock.
Maintain Consciousness gave me the comforting message that it's OK to have ADHD, that I'm one of a big group of people, and we can totally laugh about it - a message 12-year-old Emily really needed.
And finally, Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet (one of the darker and more angsty songs on the album) gave me the valuable life lesson contained in this lyric: "No I don't hate you, don't wanna fight you, know I'll always love you, but right now I just don't like you".
8 - All-American Rejects - When the World Comes Down (2009)
This is likely my favourite AAR album. However, I feel like I can't really say that, because it's so different from Move Along, that it's one of those apples-vs-oranges situations. It came out when I was in Grade 10, and I was so excited to hear more from them, and then pleasantly surprised.
One of my favourite things about this album is that they introduced classical strings to several of the songs - a sound I completely adore, and wish more people would use. I feel like they 'grew up' on this album, and I like it.
The Songs: The bonus track that doesn't really have a name (although I call it Sunshine) is my favourite because it's a perfect example of the strings I mentioned earlier, as well as the fact that it has a beautiful, medium-slow melody and lyrics that are comforting and hopeful.
I feel the need to mention Mona Lisa because it's one of their few songs that is mainly acoustic, and that, paired with the sweetly sentimental lyrics, results in a song that I really can only describe as lovely. And I mean REALLY lovely. I wish I had someone that "can sit beside me when the world comes down".
Breakin' and Fallin' Apart also have the awesome string sound to them (the latter combines it with clapping, piano, and a drumbeat, where the former goes for acoustic, then electric guitar) and both are very fast-paced and just neat-sounding. As the titles indicate, they're more about heartbreak, but I just love belting them out when I'm in the car
Looking for more intense songs? Well there's also Another Heart Calls, which is basically a really angsty (but talented) couple sing-yelling at each other, followed by some epic chanting. And then there's Real World, which makes me think of Halloween. Complete with haunted-house-creaky-door-sound and creepy muttered verses.
9 - Maroon 5 - Hands All Over (2010)
I love Maroon 5, but most importantly, I love EVERY SONG ON THIS ALBUM. That's rare. Some are fast, some are slow, some are flirtatious, and some are sad. But all are incredible.
The Songs: How is the one unknown song that I would always love to sing in front of an audience, if I ever worked up the courage. The piano combined with the obvious pain in his voice - it's just so beautiful. Probably the most meaningful song (in my opinion) on the album.
I've actually never gotten sick of Moves Like Jagger. It's fun, it's easy to dance to, it's great to sing along to, and it's totally overplayed but I love it anyways.
Runaway is great, and I can't really describe why. It's kind of an upbeat tune, but the lyrics are sad, so maybe that - the contrast - is what I like so much. Stutter is also an interesting combination, it begins kind of gritty, and then the chorus is just happy and cute.
Side note: 'I Can't Lie' isn't in my top songs but I want to point out that in my mind it kind of sounds like Billy Joel's 'River of Dreams'. Especially the chorus. Weird.
10 - Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago (2007)
More Relient K! I think this album is my favourite of theirs. I love every song on this one, too. But it has a broader, slightly more mature sound than MMHMM. Like I said, there are no bad songs, anyone who likes rock music should listen to the whole thing. But I don't want to take too long, so I'm just going to list the most noteworthy ones.
The Songs: As I explained in this blog post, Up and Up has a very personal meaning to me. It gives me hope and makes everything seem like it's going to be OK. For that reason, I say it's my favourite. But there's also:
Must Have Done Something Right, which was one of the first Relient K songs I ever heard. It opens with "We should get jerseys, cos we make a good team. But yours would look better than mine, cos you're out of my league", and just gets cuter from there.
Similarly adorable is The Best Thing, one of my favourite love songs, which contains the lyric "When I looked into your eyes, and you dared to stare right back, you should have said 'nice to meet you, I'm your other half'". It's about a guy in love who just wants to share that feeling with the world. (Side note: That lucky girl was staring into some incredibly gorgeous eyes. Go watch the 'Must Have Done Something Right' video to see what I mean.)
Devastation and Reform and I Need You are really intense and make me want to drive really really fast, and that is the reason I do not listen to this CD in the car!
Crayons Can Melt On Us For all I Care needs to be mentioned because it's hilarious. Listen to it. You'll see why the lyrics aren't included on the liner notes.
11 - Rob Thomas - Cradlesong (2009)
He's technically also on here twice, because he's the lead singer and songwriter of Matchbox Twenty, but this is his solo album. It's kind of a similar sound to MB20, but also different because while their songs all very clearly belong together, his cover a more broad range of sounds, which is what makes this album so good. This is another one that I can't find a weak link to.
The Songs: Wonderful popped into my head as a favourite right away, because it's so powerful and there are brass instruments involved. The lyrics are that classic struggle of changing yourself to suit other people. I mean "No, I can't be myself, and I can't be nobody else- but if I could, would you love me then?" It lives up to its name, I promise.
There are some good rock songs on here - Still Ain't Over You is probably the best representation. Hard, driving guitar, verses that kind of 'sneak up' on an intense chorus - it's got everything I like.
If you're in the mood for a good cry, I recommend either Snowblind or Someday. Or either of the other two I just thought of. Just go listen to the whole thing.
12 - OneRepublic - Waking Up (2011)
I picked up this album on impulse, and boy am I glad I did. Other than the beautiful albeit so-common-it's-ridiculous 'Apologize', and the fact that Ryan Tedder is adorable and wears a fedora and looks adorable doing it, I hadn't really paid much attention to OneRepublic. Until one day I walked into HMV, and they had a 2-for-15$ sale going on so I grabbed this one too because I really liked 'Good Life'. I ended up liking this one better than the CD I went in there to buy*.
The Songs: As mentioned before, Good Life is an amazingly happy song and always puts a smile on my face and makes me want to twirl around in the middle of an open field.
However, I think my favourite here would have to go to All This Time, because it's so slow and beautiful, in both lyrics and melody. If seven-year-old me hadn't already chosen 'Just the Way You Are' as my wedding song, seventeen-year-old me would have picked this one in a heartbeat.
Honorable mentions (that didn't make the cut either because I don't know/like enough of the songs, or just weren't quite old enough). I'm too lazy to link to all these ones, just search Youtube.
Phil Collins - ... Hits - 'Easy Lover' ft. Philip Bailey or 'Against All Odds' - One's happy, the other sad, go figure.
Simple Plan - Still Not Getting Any... - 'Shut Up!' So angsty, so classic SP
Panic! At the Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - 'I Write Sins not Tragedies' because duh. HOWEVER I think 'But it's Better if You Do' is just as good and has a better video. 'Camisado' is good too.
Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High - 'Thnks Fr th Mmrs'. Always.
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto - 'Charlie Brown' Another one of my favourite happy songs!!
*Foster the People - Torches - 'Don't Stop/Colour on the Walls' or 'Helena Beat' (This is the other album I bought along with Waking Up - I only like it SLIGHTLY less, and every song is great, but the reason I like it is more entertainment than actual sentimentality, which is why I didn't include it. It's still an awesome, fun album).
