I thought back to my earlier days of listening to the 12", 33 1/3 rpm vinyl albums (oh, those were the days!). Don and I had quite the collection and I have very fond memories of the days when you had to take out the disc from it's sleeve, dust it off, set it on the turntable, and carefully place the needle to the vinyl. [mentioned for history sake] Boy, has music changed over the years.
I also found myself reflecting on the music itself. And then I thought about the name of this category in which I was supposed to pick only five albums; albums that shaped me. I don't think any albums really shaped who I am, or even who I was in those earlier years. I think I listened to the music I did (and still do) because of who I already was.
That brought my thought process to 'can music shape a person?' I thought back into my childhood to an even earlier time. I can remember some of the music my parents listened to, mostly when we took car trips. I remember listening to specific music at my grandparent's house. I remember the old hymns I grew up with. I even remember children's songs that I listened to when I was quite young.
I'm not sure I can say that music shaped me, but it most likely had an influence on my music preference in later years. If nothing else, it gave me an appreciation for music - for melody, for lyrics, for song.
So, when I picked out the 5 albums that shaped me, I really picked albums that meant a lot to me during that time. I ended up making two top 5 lists because I couldn't just pick 5. I could have picked even more than 10, but I stopped myself. Here are the 10 I picked.
Aqualung/Jethro Tull, Led Zepplin 4, The Wall/Pink Floyd, Tea for the Tillerman/Cat Stevens, Barbra Streisand (I listened to anything by her)
Breakfast in America/SuperTramp, Hotel California/Eagles, Thriller/Michael Jackson, The Best of Bread/Bread, Bridge Over Troubled Waters/Simon and GarfunkelWhat would be your top 5 albums - not that shaped you, but held a special place in your collection, and in your heart?
9 comments:
I think the music we listen to has almost as much impact on us as what we see (watch) and what we read. I make a real effort to be sure, in all these areas, to only fill myself with things that are good and pure.
Susan
P.S. Particularly music will ring in our mind even without a conscience effort. Think of some jingle or commercial you've heard on TV and ALL OF A SUDDEN, without any conscience, it is ringing in your mind.
Susan
Fun question. I'm terrible remembering names of songs, much less albums. But I can see the album covers so vividly in my mind:
Bread
Dan Fogelberg
Barry Manilow:)
Carpenters
James Taylor
Hmmm ... I'm going to have to think about this one.
btw ... I grew up mostly in the cassette tape generation (remember those Sony Walkmans?). Don't worry, I did have a few vinyl albums. :-D
Bob Dylan, Lenard Cohen, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Denver, Neil Diamond, Charlie Pride. Oops, that is six. I am not sure that they shaped me. That is who I enjoyed listening to when I was a teen. Charlie Pride came into the mix because John was a pure country boy and I had to learn to like country.
Its so hard to just pick five!!
oh yes, music shapes you.
if you really wanna hear the music that's shaped me...listen to what plays on my blog.
as for entire albums, there aren't many...cuz I didn't listen to many albums...
Abbey Road. Rubber Soul. Slippery when Wet.
Then there's Motzart, Bach, Beethoven, Clementi,
Then there's operas
Then there's a wide variety of musicals
Then there's..................................
Hmmm... I'm not sure of the albums, but there would probably be some Beatles in there, Billy Joel and... um... gosh. I really can't think. I grew up listening to a little bit of everything. And now? I still listen to a little bit of everything :)
I loved going through my parent's record cabinet and looking at all the album covers.
Some of the tapes I listened to as a kid were Bryan Adams and Prince. Now, I listen to a lot of worship music and catch some country now and then.
I do think music shapes us - the words we hear and the images we see have an effect on our minds and hearts. Listening to mostly praise music (and kids bible songs) I know it has a big impact on me, because when a trial comes up, those songs are what pop into my head and bring me peace and comfort. I think it just draws me closer to God. My $.02 :-D
Post a Comment