Being There one of GQ 50th's "22 albums that changed men's lives"

[cryptique]

That list would be a lot cooler if it had a least one female artist on it. Exile in Guyville, anyone?

Evidently, men's lives are not changed by women's music.

[bobbob1313]

I can probably say that if any albums have changed my life, I can't think of any that were made by women. I suppose I am a sexist.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

If you dont recognize Unforgettable Fire and Murmur for what they were at the time then you dont know shit about 1987not that they were recorded then but that was the year i graduated and those albums meant more than you could ever know. actually it was white casette tapes in boom boxes. not albums.

 

 

I remember dubbing off Murmur onto a cassette for a couple of friends of mine and a professor when I was in Grad school.

 

THAT one did change my life.

 

It might be interesting to put together a list of records that changed our lives...

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I'll give you Masters of War - that one stands out among his entire catalogue, along with maybe Idiot Wind, as furious, but the others I wouldn't call angry.

 

Sounds pretty pissed off to me...

 

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

If'n you don't know by now

An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

It'll never do some how

When your rooster crows at the break of dawn

Look out your window and I'll be gone

You're the reason I'm trav'lin' on

Don't think twice, it's all right

 

It ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe

That light I never knowed

An' it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe

I'm on the dark side of the road

Still I wish there was somethin' you would do or say

To try and make me change my mind and stay

We never did too much talkin' anyway

So don't think twice, it's all right

 

It ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal

Like you never did before

It ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal

I can't hear you any more

I'm a-thinkin' and a-wond'rin' all the way down the road

I once loved a woman, a child I'm told

I give her my heart but she wanted my soul

But don't think twice, it's all right

 

I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road, babe

Where I'm bound, I can't tell

But goodbye's too good a word, gal

So I'll just say fare thee well

I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind

You could have done better but I don't mind

You just kinda wasted my precious time

But don't think twice, it's all right

[cooperissup3r]

Sounds pretty pissed off to me...

 

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

If'n you don't know by now

An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe

It'll never do some how

When your rooster crows at the break of dawn

Look out your window and I'll be gone

You're the reason I'm trav'lin' on

Don't think twice, it's all right

 

It ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe

That light I never knowed

An' it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe

I'm on the dark side of the road

Still I wish there was somethin' you would do or say

To try and make me change my mind and stay

We never did too much talkin' anyway

So don't think twice, it's all right

 

It ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal

Like you never did before

It ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal

I can't hear you any more

I'm a-thinkin' and a-wond'rin' all the way down the road

I once loved a woman, a child I'm told

I give her my heart but she wanted my soul

But don't think twice, it's all right

 

I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road, babe

Where I'm bound, I can't tell

But goodbye's too good a word, gal

So I'll just say fare thee well

I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind

You could have done better but I don't mind

You just kinda wasted my precious time

But don't think twice, it's all right

 

i'd say bitter more than actively pissed...

 

anyway..Visions of Johanna is the best song ever written, so I'd still go with Blonde on Blonde.

[TCP]

Five albums that changed my life:

Revolver

Blonde on Blonde

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

The Creek Drank the Cradle

And lastly, Show Me Your Tears, was the first country-rock album I got into, which opened a lot of doors for me.

 

 

What would yours be?

[uncle wilco]

I don't get it, but thats a solid list of albums. Regardless of what they did or didn't do to people's lives, can't really go wrong with any of them (Except Trapped In The Closet...)

 

i've seen lists far worse than this. not bad.

 

and nothing could stick out more than...trapped in the closet...what the hell?

[Gobias Industries]

The Creek Drank the Cradle

 

Greatest. Pick. Ever.

 

mine (no order):

 

YHF

the Creek Drank the Cradle

A Hard Day's Night

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Pet Sounds

On The Beach

Live at Leeds

Love and Theft (mostly because of Po' Boy, probably my favorite Dylan track ever)

Nebraska

London Calling

Late Registration

Shostakovich's 8th Quartet

 

I resisted the urge to put half the Beatles catalog on that list, but if it went longer then you would see pretty much the rest of them on there...

[yermom]

Come on people, "Trapped in the Closet" is comedy genius. Of course R. Kelly doesn't know that it's comedy, but if you listen/watch it in the right frame of mind, it's about as entertaining as anything.

I stumbled upon it on IFC a while back. I was shocked at how sucked in I became. I'd say I laughed at least three times per minute while watching. It's hilarious. R. Kelly is cuh-razy.

[explodo]

Being There, Tonight's the Night, & Pet Sounds certainly all did it for me.

[Guest Alan]

Five albums that "changed my life"....

 

Phish - A Live One

John Coltrane - Blue Train

Beatles - Abbey Road

Talking Heads - Remain In Light

Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeroplane Over the Sea

[Sir Stewart]

Maybe it's the ramblin' feel of the recording, but I always hear a smirk, a slight smile, a care-free attitude on "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."

[dannygutters]

i'd say bitter more than actively pissed...

 

anyway..Visions of Johanna is the best song ever written, so I'd still go with Blonde on Blonde.

 

I'd say Self Portrait is his angriest album. In terms of I'll do-what-I-want-ness.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Five albums that "changed my life"....

 

Phish - A Live One

John Coltrane - Blue Train

Beatles - Abbey Road

Talking Heads - Remain In Light

Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeroplane Over the Sea

 

 

Heh...

 

 

All Things Must Pass

Born to Run

Murmur

AM

Blonde on Blonde

[a_quiet_domino]

Heh...

All Things Must Pass

Born to Run

Murmur

AM

Blonde on Blonde

 

 

Tonight's the Night

Blood on the Tracks

BT

Boys and Girls in America

Wrecking Ball

[Calexico]

Don't tell my husband,Laura

 

 

I think (s)he may have other things on his/her mind.

 

Anyway, the list is ok for what it is worth but R. Kelly?

[Calexico]

That list would be a lot cooler if it had a least one female artist on it. Exile in Guyville, anyone?

 

 

I bought this on the recommendations of so many music magazines and other media sources. What a heap of shite. Absolutely fucking unbearable.

[Analogman]

I bought this on the recommendations of so many music magazines and other media sources. What a heap of shite. Absolutely fucking unbearable.

 

I've never heard - nor would I want to. I think there is something wrong with her neck - as she always seems to have her head tilted in a come hither position.

[LouieB]

The whole thing looks like they cut up a best of list from Rolling Stone and picked out 22 just to be different.

 

LouieB

[Jesusetc84]

I couldn't find this posted anywhere ("GQ" is too short to search), but I found it pretty surprising and awesome.This month's GQ is a thick 50th-anniversary commemorative thing. The 22 albums weren't in any order, but here's the entire list:Neil Young - Tonight's the Night (1975)Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)The Clash - The Clash (1977)Ramones - Ramones (1976)Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain (1994)The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet (1968)N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (1988)Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)The Stooges - Fun House (1970)The Beatles - Revolver (1966)The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)Wilco - Being There (1996)AC/DC - Back in Black (1980)Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)Beastie Boys - License to Ill (1986)Love - Forever Changes (1967)R. Kelly - Trapped in the Closet (2005-present)The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?U2 - The Unforgettable Fire (1984)R.E.M. - Murmur (1983)Anyway, pretty esteemed company, and funny coming from GQ.

Great records...every single one is on my iPod. Not every single one changed my life. But about half of them did.If you subbed Being There for Summer Teeth... I'd be more in agreeance.R.Kelly? wtf5 that changed my life:Nirvana- NevermindThe Beatles- The White AlbumWilco- Yankee Hotel FoxtrotThe Clash- London CallingBob Dylan- Blonde on Blonde

[PopTodd]

It's a list.

[Sir Stewart]

It's a list.

This reminded me of "It's a shirt." from Almost Famous.

[MadMonkey]

Albums that took me away from "Pop" music and "saved" my life. Big thanks to Mom.

 

Dead Europe "72

Beatles White Album

Flying Burrito Bros. Guilded Palace of Sin

Stones Let it Bleed

Anodyne ( my first into to Jeff and Jay)

Black Crowes Amorica

Dylan Blood on the Tracks

Miles Davis On the Corner

 

There is so much more.

 

Oh, I forget

 

Zappa Joe's Garage (I had a sick babysitter in 3rd grade, she turned me on to this)

Hendrix Electric Ladyland

The Band The Last Waltz

R.E.M Life's Rich Pageant

Beastie Boys Paul Boutique

Run DMC King of Rock

 

All these saved me from the absolute crap on the radio during my formative years in the 80's

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Albums that took me away from "Pop" music and "saved" my life.

 

 

That's a good criteria. I'm trying to think of some unlikely ones in my own collection.

Of course so much of it dependent on your age and even where you live...As for me....

 

The Traveling Wilbury's Vol. 1 - Already liked basically everyone in the band but this fun, superficial li'l album took me so much deeper into Petty, Dylan, the Beatles and Roy Orbison. Soon I was listening to Full Moon Fever, Mystery Girl and a host of great albums.

 

U2 - Achtung Baby - I was a casual U2 fan. Then I heard The Fly and hated it. Then I heard the album and got the whole thing. My top three 90s albums are probably this, Wildflowers (Tom Petty) and Automatic for the People. Each is underrated in its own way but they're all transcendent for me.

 

Rheostatics - Whale Music and The Lowest of the Low - Shakespare My Butt: Two great Toronto albums that took me into what would have been called "alternative" music in those days

 

Being There - Really, I guess I heard Mermaid Avenue first and then went to Being There and Summerteeth at the same time so it's kind of a tri-fecta. Of course these lead to Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, The Replacements and a zillion other things.

 

The Last Waltz - Not the album as much as the film which I didn't see until it came out on DVD. The performances are so fierce - The Night they Drove Ol Dixie Down and Caravan in particular - that they gave me a deeper appreciation of the artists involved (especially the ingenious but usually dead-on-stage Van Morrison) and of rock and roll itself.

 

Another Toronto album, Blue Rodeo's Five Days in July. I don't know if people here listen to Blue Rodeo at all but they were really doing alt-country before it would have been called that. (And Jeff and Jay did a vocal cameo on the solo album of one of the band members, Jim Cuddy. And Bob Egan is now in the band...you guys must know Blue Rodeo).

Anyway, that's just an amazing album that's really of its time and place.

 

Also, about two years ago the band put out a retrospective DVD which contains an amazing monologue by author Paul Quarrington about the band, about what makes rock and country etc great and really, IMHO, gets to the core of what makes music so darned awesome.

 

There is a line that moves outwards from The Band to connect Blue Rodeo and Wilco and a bunch of great stuff, none of which is "worthy" of radio/video play in this era.

 

It's hard to think of a single Dylan or Beatles album that had particular impact...I guess Blonde on Blonde and Revolver are the obvious respective choices. Can't think of a single Neil Young album either since so much of his stuff is just out there, on the radio, in the culture. No Stones album on the list, sorry to say (same reason, basically).

 

 

That's enough rambling for me.