These albums have all had an impact in not only how I play and write music, but also in what and how I think. They are the most important cultural experiences of my life, and here's why:
Tool – Ænima (1996)
This album defined and in many ways facilitated my musical ‘coming-of-age.' It is Tool at their most intense - full of the driving bass lines, heavy guitars, and thrashing drums that define so much of mid-90s, post-hardcore metal. This album, though, is strikingly unique because amidst all the heaviness lay intricate moments of sheer melodic bliss. The influence of bands like Rush and King Crimson are undeniable here, and they add a layer of complexity not often found in music of the genre and era. H., the album’s third track, is the perfect example: it starts with a pounding three note bass line and slowly progresses to moments of utter rhythmic beauty. Maynard draws a deep breathe before he sings softly over clean guitar scales and the ticking of drum rims, and suddenly bursts into a high-pitched scream, careening the song back into it’s heavy beginnings. This album taught me to listen less for the next heavy riff and more for MUSICANSHIP, and in that respect, is probably the most important album I’ve ever listened to.
Rage against the Machine – Evil Empire (1996)
In terms of influencing my own style of playing guitar, this album is the absolute paradigm. I stole this album from an unbeknownst acquaintance a few years after its release, simply because I had heard of Rage against the Machine and wanted to check it out – talk about P2P sharing. Actually, he lent it to me…permanently. Anyway, the album immediately changed the way I play and write music. Tom Morello taught me how to effectively infuse hip-hop and funk with rock, and to this day those ‘lessons’ are reflected in the way I play and structure the music I write. I listened to this album for 4 or 5 months straight, and soaked up every minute of Morello’s inventiveness, Tim2k’s amazing bass licks, and De La Rocha’s incredible flexibility. In hindsight and context of Rage’s other releases, this album is a bit tedious and drawn-out in places, but that doesn’t change the immense influence it had on me as musician.
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
My second ‘musical coming-of-age,’ specifically because it’s one of the most atmospheric albums ever recorded, and also an absolute masterpiece. It’s a slick, multi-layered, and beautifully structured mixture of rock and electronica that reveals an entirely new dimension of Radiohead's capabilities and talent: starting with the piano driven Everything in Its Right Place, to the dreamlike Motion Picture Soundtrack, the band cycles through various styles and combinations, and does that quite successfully, if not perfectly. This album is especially significant for me because it’s about subtleties; the excruciating amount of detail I heard on each and every track on this album completely blew my mind. There isn’t any particular moment of distinctiveness; everything meshes delicately into one experience. This album is smart and well crafted, and it forever changed the spectrum of music I listened to. Everything loud suddenly turned to everything subtle, heavy riffs turned to delicate melodies, and my definition of music became something simpler to listen to, and infinitely more difficult to write.
The Mars Volta – De-loused in the Comatorium (2003)
This is arguably the most successful musical experiment ever. Get this: This band manages to mix jazz, funk, punk, prog metal, electronica, and a whole bunch of white noise into one cohesive experience. Pretty impressive, if you ask me. Ironically, I remember thinking of this album as a surpeme cacophonous mess when I first picked it up. Even after years of listening to odd rhythms and dissonant progressions in other bands, the music on De-loused just didn't sit well with me at first. It was a radical departure from the metal I had come to know inside and out - a gateway into a musical universe in which I knew next to nothing. There is a spirit of careless experimentation and improvisation that leaps from the music and grates on the ears. But, like the best music out there, after several listens, I was hooked.
After Tom Morello (mentioned above), the influence of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on my own play style is undeniable. The frantic pace of his playing, the sloppy yet undeniably cool tone, had me hooked and doing something which, frankly, I had never done before - looking back. I researched his influences and listened to them like mad. Everyone from Mahavishnu Orchestra, to early Santana, to more modern bands like Can. This band, and especially this album, gave me an appreciation for roots and, consequently, for the music of the 60's & 70's which is now a much valued part of my library.
Candiria – 300 Percent Density (2001)
This music is challenging, engrossing, and enthralling - probably to more of an extent than anything else I've heard. Much like The Mars Volta, Candiria switches in-and-out of generes freely, except not with Volta's careless spirit. This is as precise as it comes. A serene jazz melody will suddenly erupt into a math-metal frenzy of complicated time signatures and staccato guitar riffs, then into a precariously timed hip-hop segment and back into a frenzy. While this may sound like a recipe for disaster, this band has the incredible talent of being able to do all this, and still manage to keep the music at a cohesive fever pitch, and with a reasonable amount of listenability.
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