#10. Spider - Spider

An album you've never heard of by a band you've never heard of. The only things they are known for these days is having future David Letterman (and current Joe Bonamassa) drummer Anton Fig, and future *very* successful songwriter Holly Knight as members. But I liked them a lot. I liked them so much that I wrote them a fan letter. And they replied with an autographed photo! Years later I would exchange emails with Fig, Knight, and the lead singer, Amanda. Spider was my pet band.

#9. The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin

This is one of those stories where a kid is secretly listening to a transistor radio under the covers of his bed late at night when he's supposed to be sleeping. He's listening to a far-away radio station and hears this song. It's rock but...not, and it blows his mind because his musical universe just expanded a lot. If you put a gun to my head and demanded that I pick a favorite song, it would be this one.

#8. Metallica - Metallica

Heavy metal peaked as a thing around the Summer 1991 release of this album. It was so good to be a headbanger, though it would all fall apart just a few years later.🤘

#7. Ennio Morricone - Bluebeard Soundtrack

If you have heard of Ennio Morricone at all, it is because of his music for "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". That was me in 1982 when I caught this old movie on TV. It had an odd but interesting soundtrack. I saw the composer's name during the credits and made a mental note to pick up that album. Turns out that soundtracks of weird European B-movies by Italian composers weren't easy to find in those pre-Internet college days. I did eventually find it...a year or two later...in L.A. That was the gateway album which led to more Morricone albums. Much more. A few hundred, actually.

#6. King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King

Regarding the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", John Lennon was quoted as saying that the film should be shown in a temple 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is how I feel about this album.

Or, as a reviewer on Amazon wrote back in 1998: "This is, as a matter of fact, not opinion, the single greatest musical achievement ever produced for the priviledged men and women of this planet whom can hear audible noise. BUY IT, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR PITIFUL LIFE AS YOU DARE NOT IMAGINE."

#5. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - Wayne's World Soundtrack

Wait, what? Frankly, I don't even own this album. What gives?

When you're living in history, you usually don't realize it until it's far away in your rear-view mirror. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a case in point. I grew up with it so it was always around and one just took it for granted. As it and Queen faded from view, Wayne, Garth and their buddies' headbanging scene somehow gave it the proper perspective and made me realize that, yeah, it really is a fantastic song and that it might be the best single ever.

#4. Edwin Starr - War

Besides being one of the best vocal performances ever recorded and containing one of my favorite lines ("Induction, then destruction. Who wants to die?"), when the US launched its bullshit invasion of Iraq in 2003, I listened *only* to this song for a solid week.

#3. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!

My first rock album, received as a Christmas present. There is no better live album.

#2. Van Halen - Van Halen

Not many times where things really change. This is one I got to experience. There was rock guitar before the first Van Halen album. Then there was rock guitar afterwards.

#1. Kiss - Calling Dr. Love

This post and the nine that follow came out of one of those Facebook challenges during the COVID-19 downtime. The original challenge was to post the covers of 10 albums that were "influential" to you. I didn't care for that so I made a few adjustments...

Okay, I'll finally bite...but my way (because I'm a terrible person). 10 recordings (albums or singles) that were pretty important to me, posted whenever I need a break from coding, with comments.

This single unlocked something in my brain and I fully embraced heavy metal (yes, we called it that even back in the 70s, kids) the instant I heard it on the radio for the first time. Seriously.