First Love
2:38 PMFirst albums are like noses. Everybody has one. They're essential to bodily functioning.
I've always been intrigued by the albums that get young people interested in music. The early stages of my musical development are extremely important to me. Looking back, they played a huge part in setting the tone for my future.
I asked my friends to tell me about the albums that paved the way for them: the first albums they ever remember owning.
LAUREN, 20, MILWAUKEE WI
The first CD that I remember asking someone else to buy for me was the soundtrack for the first High School Musical movie. This was back in 2006. I was nine years old. I begged my grandma to take me to Best Buy before the movie premiered so I could listen the CD ahead of time. I distinctly remember hearing to "Stick To The Status Quo" (A SAW?????) for the first time. Little did nine year old me how much cultural impact the High School Musical soundtrack would have on people of my age group.
The first CD I remember buying for myself was The Beatles' "1", a collection of their songs that reached number one in the UK and US. This around the time I was in sixth grade. My reason for wanting to purchase this CD is very similar to the approach that I still take to finding new music today. Eleven year old me had of course heard many good things about The Beatles, and knew they were legendary. I wanted the first CD I ever buy to be the greatest band of all time... obviously.
Today, my favorite band is The Replacements. They have been my favorite band since I was 18, and I'm going on 21 now. Some additional favorite bands include Big Star, Neil Young and the Beach Boys among many others. Even though The Beatles are not included in this list, they are still my second most listened to band (after The Replacements) according to my last.fm page. For the record, I also still consider The Beatles to be the greatest band of all time.
It is very easy to put Big Star, Neil Young, and The Beach Boys in the same bracket as The Beatles. Coincidentally, my favorite album ever is The Replacements' "Let It Be". The title is actually a jab at The Beatles. Singer/light of my life Paul Westerberg has said that the title was "our way of saying that nothing is sacred, that The Beatles were just a fine rock and roll band." It did take a lot of listening to, uh, bad music to discover the, uh, "acclaimed" music that I listen to today. I can definitely attribute The Beatles' majestic and intricate body of work to this journey of discovery.
SAM, 19, SANTA CRUZ CA
The first CDs I
distinctly remember buying for myself are American Idiot by Green Day and B’Day
by Beyoncé. I bought American Idiot first, when I was around 10 and trying to
fit in with this group of tomboys at my school. I ended up genuinely
liking it and I think it sort of fueled the political side of me that I wasn’t
quite consciously aware of at age 10.
I bought B’Day a few years later, and it was definitely more formative to my music taste today. I don’t listen to Green
Day much now, but I still know every word of the songs on American Idiot. I
remember being completely enthralled with the 10 minute, 5-part songs “Jesus of
Suburbia” and “Homecoming” when I first heard the album. I didn’t know
music could be made like that. I still listen to B’Day all the time, even 10
years later. The song “Kitty Kat” from that album might even be my favorite
Beyoncé song.
I can’t choose a singular favorite artist or band. I
think I listen to Beyoncé, Radiohead, and Kanye West the most. According to
Spotify, my most-listened song this year was "Father Stretch My Hands" by Kanye
West. I also saw all three of these artists this year. Maybe I’m just going
through a phase with all of them. All of these artists have been in my life
for a long time and have impacted me a lot.
I think B’Day definitely set the trajectory for most of my
music taste today, but not so much with American Idiot. I clearly am still very
obsessed with Beyoncé, but who isn’t? Kanye and Beyoncé are related musically, and Radiohead is the odd one out. Although, I do think Kanye and Radiohead share
some similarities in the way they both use unconventional beats and vocal effects. I
think American Idiot influenced the angsty pop-punk I listened to in middle
school like Blink-182, but I tend to gravitate more towards pop and R&B
today. I can easily say that both B’Day and American Idiot shaped me into who I
am today: a politically-charged diva.
VANESSA, 21, GREEN BAY WI
The first album I ever recall purchasing with my own money
was So Wrong, It’s Right by All Time Low. It was 2007/2008, so I was about 12 or
13 years old and in the seventh grade. I thought I was cool going into Hot
Topic at Southridge Mall and buying my very own CD. It ended up being my
favorite album for probably 4 or 5 years, honestly. It really was the
soundtrack of a very transitional period of my life. I still find myself
listening to it sometimes, mostly for nostalgia.
I think The Maine would be my current favorite band. When I
first started listening to them years ago, they weren’t very good and played
some strange hybrid genre that didn’t quite make sense. I loved it at the time.
Now they’ve grown so much and have become more of an indie/rock type of band. I
think they’re my favorite because somehow my music interests always match
whatever new music they put out. I’ll start to get interested in a certain type
of music and suddenly they’ll release an album that matches that perfectly.
It’s honestly incredible. They’ve become an amazing band and are extremely
talented.
Growing up, I was surrounded by so many genres of music. You could turn on practically any station on the radio and my mom will probably know the lyrics to every song. I definitely attribute my varied music taste to my mother. While the music I listen to has grown and evolved greatly, the music I used to listen to has provided almost a baseline of what I like and dislike in a song or artist. Sometimes I find myself gravitating toward certain songs or artists because they share qualities of things I’ve liked in the past. However, I also like to branch out and explore new things. I’m always searching for music that is completely out of the realm of what I’m used to because I get often grow bored of listening to the same thing all the time.
MACKENNA, 20, MILWAUKEE WI
I remember buying Metamorphosis by Hillary Duff when it came
out in 2003. I was definitely a Disney Channel kid and a huge Hilary Duff
fangirl. Later on, I bought more of her CDs and saw her live. It was a magical
experience. Another album that defined by childhood was Shania Twain's Up!, a two disc album. It had the album performed in a country style on one disc and a pop style on
the other. I'm glad that I grew up with some cool female role models.
I struggle to name a favorite band after my high school favorite went on an indefinite hiatus and broke my heart! The band I have listened
to the most in recent years is Parquet Courts. I
I would consider middle school my biggest stage of musical development. In 6th grade I stopped listened to what was popular on
the radio and got really into My Chemical Romance's
whole discography. I also loved blink-182 at the time and I
inherited my dad's The Offspring CDs. I was listening to a lot of entry level emo
and punk music. Today, I still like listening to stuff within those genres but
I lean more towards garage rock or surf punk music. When I was growing up, I
listened to many different genres. When I found My Chemical Romance, I felt a
strong connection and it helped me to identify with one music genre the most.
LULU, 20, MILWAUKEE WI
I don’t remember my exact first album, but one of my firsts
was Usher’s 2004 hit album Confessions. I was 8 years old and madly in love
with him.
My favorite band right now is Big Star. Big Star is 1970s band from Nashville who never really achieved any commercial success. Music
critics loved them and that’s pretty much it. Throughout the years, they’ve
gained a pretty big cult following, which is pretty cool. I also really love
ABBA and Neil Young. I could listen to these three every single day and not get
tired. (I listened to Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush three times in full just
today... not sorry.)
It wasn’t until middle school and high School that I started seeking
out my own music. My favorite band in high school was the Arctic Monkeys. I
don’t listen to them much anymore, but they've influenced a lot of what I listen to today. Each of their albums have completely different sounds and influencing
artists. My favorite album of theirs is Suck It and See, which they say was
heavily influenced by Neil Young. I have definitely stayed in the realm of rock
music, but its become a little more...refined.
KAREN, 20, MILWAUKEE WI
If I'm being honest, the first CD I remember asking for and
listening to non-stop was the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack. I remember thinking
the movie characters were beautiful. Apparently that was 2002, so I must've been
6 or 7. The soundtrack was basically just Elvis Presley. Surprisingly, I didn't grow to become an Elvis fan but I'm sure the music has a lot of
sentimental value.
One Christmas my cousin gifted me Gwen Stefani's Love.
Angel. Music. Baby. It was fundamental at the time. I was obsessed with
Harajuku Girls and the music videos for What You Waiting For?, Rich Girl, and
Hollaback Girl. I'm pretty sure I would just act out each song in my bedroom.
It's kind of torturous to pick my favorite bands anymore. I'd add
everyone I enjoy to this list if I could.
Warpaint, Daniel Rossen, Grizzly Bear, Kanye West, and Beach House are some core ones. I suppose Vampire Weekend gets
an honorable mention. Whitney and Car Seat Headrest are relatively new to
me, but I've already built up so much sentimental value for them that
they make the list.
To this day, I've considered my formative music years to be
high school. After I discovered *independent* music in 7th
grade, I rejected all *mainstream* music the following year. I quickly learned
that I still loved things on the radio and that it wasn't always a horrible
place to be. I can definitely understand how the likes of Gwen or Elvis still
influence some of my tastes today. A large portion of the music I enjoy simply has
catchy beats, whether it's Charli XCX or Warpaint. On the other hand, artists like
Whitney or Daniel Rossen (of Grizzly Bear) feature twangy
guitar sounds that I loved about Elvis.
[Note: LILO AND HER RECORD PLAYER IS ALL OF US]
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