• 09 Nov, 2025 *

I was recently tagged in an interesting discussion on Mastodon discussing how you approach music collection. Do you focus solely on stuff you like or whether you make room to collect ‘essential’ albums that are deemed worthy.

Personally the second approach has never really came into things for me. I tend to only seek out albums and artists that I like and want to listen to. There may be small exceptions for albums I find for a really good price at a record fair if it’s something I’ve always been meaning to try. For the most part though it’s down to wanting to add things to my collection that I know Ste hits with me.

This was an interesting discussion though and it led to another topic, one that was covered on my friend Jake’s blog here. So I decided to have a go at this myself and lost some albums that made me. Some of these albums I wouldn’t listen to today. Some of them I still love. All of them however have influenced me in some way. I am using the term ‘album’ loosely here too. Compilations and live albums are counted as long as they were officially released. I’ve tried to list them in order of when I would have become aware of them to the best of my recollection.

James: The Best Of (1998)

This compilation was one I heard before I really knew anything about music. I didn’t know what indie was. I didn’t know what alt rock was. All I knew was this sounded cool and my parents played it a lot. When I think about the first music that I can remember, this would probably be right up there for me. I haven’t heard any of this in years so I think I’ll have to go back and see what I think now.

Manic Street Preachers: Everything Must Go (1996).

This is another one from my parent’s collection. I can’t remember exactly what it was that drew me to it but it was a little bit different, a little more interesting to me than a lot of what I had heard before. I recently got reacquainted with the band and rekindled my fandom for them, though it’s mostly the older stuff I reach for. This was one of the first times I showed a real interest in music.

Alice Cooper: Live at Cabo Wabo (1996)

This live album was one of the first CDs I got when I first started taking an interest in music outside of my parents collection. I can’t remember exactly why I got this. I was a kid and Alice was cool looking I guess. Pre streaming a live album was always a good way of hearing a mix of stuff an artist did and I for one reason or another, I took this one home. I did recently revisit this and really enjoyed it. One I think I might keep in rotation. I’d like to note that this was a 2005 repackaging of Fistful of Alice with a different track listing.

Motörhead: No Remorse (1984)

Like the Alice record above. This one I got when I first started taking a good look at rock and metal and decided I’d like a piece of that. I played this relentlessly on my crap little CD player and never got tired of it at all. No real discussion needed on the merits of a Motörhead compilation. This however played a big part in me getting into more extreme metal. Playing this so much, my Dad just had to take 14 year old me to see them. I was then exposed to In Flames who supported. Seeing In Flames made me want to go heavier and more extreme and so down a rabbit hole I went.

Sepultura: Arise (1991).

The rabbit hole mentioned above, led me here. I tried to find In Flames songs on Limewire and somehow ended up with this bad who, at the time, were the heaviest thing I had ever heard and I wanted more and more. This album was confirmation that I was on the right path and would find my beloved extreme metal down the line. A necessary stop on the journey.

Smashing Pumpkins: Gish (1991).

I can’t really remember how I came across the Smashing Pumpkins or this album specifically but it did have a big influence on me. I’d always wanted to play an instrument and took guitar lessons as a kid but this album made me want to get an electric bass. I love everything about the bass on this album from the parts played to the tone. Chefs kiss. They became my favourite band for a while and it’s in large part to the influence this album had on me.

Mastodon: Leviathan (2004).

Now a full fledged metal fan, having survived my brush with nu metal and emo, this album really cemented me as a heavy metal lifer. The groove, the heft. The songwriting. The big ass whale. Are you not entertained? Maybe we will see this band again later but when I heard this I was hooked. It’s an album this has a bit of everything for me.

Machine Head: The Blackening (2007).

By this point I was a huge metal fan, I was going to all the gigs I could, I was buying all the magazines I could get my hands on and they all seemed to be talking about this new Machine Head album. I saved up my money, I went to my local Music Zone and grabbed myself a copy. I remember this being one of the first times I felt a bit blown away by an album. The songs were long but didn’t bore me. There was heavy thrash riffs but there was more intricate songwriting. This is one that definitely left a lasting impression and deserves its spot here.

Death: Scream Bloody Gore (1987).

I can’t remember exactly when or how the journey to extreme music led me to Death but I guess that it was inevitable. This is when it all clicked. I like death metal. This had everything I liked distilled down to its essence and I couldn’t get enough. I had an appetite before but now it was insatiable.

Gorguts: Considered Dead (1991).

After Death I found this. It seemed more slimy. More raw and felt like it was emanating directly from the crypts. Whilst this one doesn’t have a specific individual reason for being here, it’s a continuation of a discovery that has influenced my musical taste a lot. Also I just love it so there.

Emperor: In the Nightside Eclipse (1994).

After getting into metal, then trash metal and then death metal there was a genre that I had never really explored and remained a mystery to me. I searched online for black metal classics and dutifully listened to what I was told. Some of them were okay, some did nothing for me but this album gripped me in its icy claws and made it official that I liked black metal too now.

Mastodon: Once More Round the Sun (2014).

The more eagle eyed readers will notice this is the second appearance by Mastodon in this list. Unlike the first album which I still adore, this one whilst still great, doesn’t get as many plays these days. However, it is an important album for me. When I went to university I stopped keeping up with new music. I went to a new city with my pre loaded iPod classic and mostly lived off what I already had. After finishing uni and then walking around in the musical wilderness for a while, I saw Mastodon had a new album out. I bought it and heavy metal welcomed me back with open arms.

Jens Lekman: Night Falls Over Kortedala (2007).

I am not entirely sure where this album came from. I think I was in an adventurous mood when somebody mentioned it online and I went to check it out. Swedish Indie Pop is not my usual genre but I was absolutely hooked by this. It made me really appreciate the storytelling behind the songs and made me consider that in a new way.

Tómarúm: Ash in Realms of Stone Icons (2022).

This is the most recent album on the list by some distance. The reason it’s here is because it was the first time since I’ve started receiving advanced copies of albums to review, that I heard an album from a new band I’d never heard of and instantly new it was going to be my album of the year. It is rooted in black metal but there is so much more to it. It conveys so much emotion in the story it tells. It reaffirmed my love for music and writing about it.

Well there you go. These are not my favourite albums but ones that have some impact on me in one way or another. These are not the only albums that have influenced me, I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow furious about some of the omissions I’ve made but oh well. Maybe that will leave room for a part 2. These are just pieces in a much larger puzzle and so I want to name some honourable mentions that could have made the list. South of Heaven by Slayer, Countdown to Extinction by Megadeth and Bleach by Nirvana. These also played a part in my story.

Hails!