This was always going to be hard. Only 5?! I can think of 10 easy… the Chilli Peppers, Metallica, Kiss, Michael Jackson, The Prodigy, The Beastie Boys, Portishead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against The Machine… such amazing memory containers, but here we go:
My 5 (in order of my life):
I got given this album on cassette tape by a relative in Indonesia (was a copy tape!), the inside cover art by Robert Williams depicting robot rape was over the top and one listen to “It’s so easy” where he sings “Why don’t you just… …. FUCK OFF!” and I was hooked. PS: I never ever did get over Sweet Child’O’Mine and the CD’s still on high rotation in the car, always.
The 1st CD I bought, the 1st song I ever learnt on the guitar (Epic) and the band I’ve seen live the most times.
This is a big one. He was left handed, he understood how I felt (teenage angst?). His music justified my anger. He made me write music and armed me to get out there playing gigs.
This was my departure from rock’n’roll as I knew it. I first heard the Prodigy when I was at a girlfriend’s house, her flatmate was blasting “Voodoo people” and I’d not ever heard antyhing like it in my life. I didn’t think anything could get heavier than death or thrash metal but I was wrong. It was this Chemical Brothers album though that won me over, it is rock’n’roll and it re-defined rock for me. I went from being a drinker, to a smoker, popper and a snorter.
He sings like an Angel. I hadn’t cried to music before but this album was there when I broke up from a 7year relationship. Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley… I can’t believe you guys died before me. I’m not worthy.