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I once did something similar to this for Hyeyoung when I made her two cd's full of songs that had this same idea in mind. I'm happy to do this with albums, too, though. I'm also hoping that this more stimulates some conversations about music and getting to know people and music more than anything. I warn you, this gets a little long. Cheers, James.

1. Spin Doctors: Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Let's begin with the beginning. This is the first cd I ever bought way back in junior high. It set the tone for how I experienced albums from then on.

2. Singles: Soundtrack to the movie - I unabashedly jumped on the Seattle music scene bandwagon in my West Texas teenage years. Something about the angst and the yearning to reach beyond... beyond high school pettiness, beyond my father, beyond unrequited love, beyond... Midland? This'll be the album for all those women I hopelessly pined after as well as those I realized only too late could have offered me a wonderful time in relationship.

3. Pearl Jam: Ten - on the same note... only this album didn't have as much to do with my lovelorn quirkiness.

4. Fugazi: 13 Songs - These guys set down political thought, questioned societal assumptions, and championed the straight edge scene, all with the kick-ass simplicity of punk and raw emotion. Suggestion is my constant reminder of the struggle against what society defines as manhood. Kudos, Brandon.

<gonna jump my life's chronological introduction from here on out... beginning with the end>

5. Gogol Bordello: Gypsy Punks - Ever since watching these guys last Fall, they've reminded me to not take myself too seriously. This entire album is filled with an unquenchable thirst for life, love and colorful experiences. It's also wicked fun to listen to and got me dancing in the car again. Oh, and another important reminder... PARTY, PARTY, AFTER-PARTY!

6. Joy Division: BBC Recordings - It was these recordings, especially from the two tracks from the Something Else airings at the end, that re-introduced me to the Mancunians who redefined dancing to rock/punk/goth/whatever. I think it was Joy Division who brought me to a place where I feel most comfortable dancing at Goth clubs than any other place. They are also a good reminder that darkness is not meant to be avoided or even shunned. Rather we fully confront it and wade through the midst of it. I'll add, it's usually in the darkest of the dark corners that we actually find God. If I may commit an atrocity and mix in a quote from Madonna to sum it up: "I know a place where you can get away. It's called the dance floor, and here's what it's for, so..." "dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio!"

<got carried away with that one, sorry>

7. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks - I was introduced to this one by my roomate at Glasgow University, Andrew Hegarty (from Dungannon, Northern Ireland). He described this album as the essence of a lazy Sunday afternoon in Belfast. I soon spent a lazy Sunday afternoon in Belfast with him that year. And I'll be damned, but he couldn't have been more astute.

8. U2: Achtung Baby - Speaking of Irishmen... this album represents a band taking a little trip inside themselves and doing some serious self-discovery. Up against the wall and not sure where to turn, they opened themselves up to imagination and new horizons. Thus was born the riff to "One" (check out this VH1 Behind the Music if you get a chance). Then "Even Better Than the Real Thing" came out with its video and opened me up to new horizons. Here, I must also mention that Joshua Tree also nurtured some deep emotions of mine throughout my teenage years. Perhaps this should rightfully have its own note, but I've come to the end of my list already.

9. The Pogues: Rum Sodomy & the Lash - To complete this Irish trilogy... some punkers with a taste for Irish folk music get together with some Irish folk musicians with a taste for punk. Thus is born Celtic punk. If I could have "The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn" playing every time I went out on the piss (especially that year in Glasgow) I would have. Also, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda," an epic anti-war protest.

10. Nastyona: 아홉가지 기분 (loosely translated as "Nine Kinds of Feelings") - We're going from Ireland to Korea here. In my search for underground/indie music during my year in Korea, I stumbled upon this band at a concert at 홍대 (Honggik University). The album is quite broad in scope of musical genre and chock full of emotion. The lead singer, Yona, reminds me of the voice of Tori Amos. Of course, she takes it in some exciting directions that Tori hadn't. You can find them on Youtube, in case you're not living in Korea.

11. The Wombats: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation - Ran across this debut album while I was in Korea streaming BBC Radio 1 with Huw Stephens. A fun post-punk-pop album that could get me excited about doing just about anything (without the usual annoyance of most pop (especially West Coast American punk-pop). Became my second soundtrack for Korea behind Nastyona. Nice bunch of lads from Liverpool and beyond.

12. Reverend Horton Heat: The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend - Back to my homeland for a bit. If ever there was a perfect album to listen to while traversing the endlessness of West Texas highways, you can't come closer than the good Reverend. I must, of course note that "Big Sky" was not on this album but is the pinnacle single song for driving through West Texas at night (especially when Brandon had his Miatta's top down).

13. Nirvana: Nevermind - Basically speaks for itself. Opened me up to new emotions and new ways of engaging anger and sadness.

14. Black Sabbath: Children of the Grave - Heavy Metal has always been the best way for me to engage anger and sadness without having them overcome me... similar to the healing qualities of blues music. In addition, the title song from this album, "Children of the Grave" became my rallying cry for working toward peace and reconciliation in the world. I was volunteering with youth in England when Bush Jr. began beating the Iraq war drums. When I was on the edge of embracing despair in my work and in the world, "Children of the Grave" turned me around and renewed my determination to work with youth toward peacemaking.

15. Tool: Lateralus - Also healing qualities of metal, except this band takes another step in order to engage something beyond our immediate tangible experiences. They do it with gusto, with emotion, but also with exquisite subtlety. When I'm on the brink, this album gives me something to hold on to.

16. Stevie Ray Vaughn: The Sky Is Crying - Did I mention the healing powers of the blues? Also, when discussing music to drive along West Texas highways to, this must be a part of it.

17. Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power - Kept me from releasing my anger upon people and things around me while I was dealing with the vulgar display of my father's power in my household throughout my teenage life.

<slight change of gears here>

18. Natalie Merchant: Ophelia - Something about her unique voice and the emotion it carries pulls on my heartstrings like no other vocalist out there. Then, which album do you pick? Tigerlily? Motherland? Maybe I should put all three into this list. Natalie represents the only obsession I can honestly say I had with a female musician.

19. Kate Rusby: Little Lights - This list needs more women, I reckon. Kate, the Yorkshire folk singer introduced to me by Joanna, my Scottish Country Dance dearest friend. This album became a soundtrack to my year in Glasgow, despite the fact Kate's not Scottish.

<gear shift back>

20. Rage Against the Machine: Self titled ablum - Similar effects as with all heavy metal. This band also nurtures my will to question authority, thankfully. Worthy of note is also the Battle of LA album, which I recently used in a lecture as an education assistant in Christian Ethics for my last semester at seminary.

21. Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Yes, the Pumpkins on their Siamese Dream tour were the first live concert I ever saw, and really I'm indelibly torn between these two albums. So I will say they both helped me look up at the stars and recognize that I'm part of something greater, something greater than all the crap we have to deal with here in this life. I suppose Mellon Collie did this on a grander scale and with more precision, and therefore gets the higher billing. I could change my mind tomorrow.

22. Steve Earle: The Mountain - This album really represents the period in college when I decided I wasn't going to totally leave country music in the dark recesses of my mind. Steve gave it a flavor that I could relish, and I still do. No less than Cash, actually. So I suppose he'll get the next note.

23. Johnny Cash: Unchained - The beginning of his American label recordings. Down and dirty and in the thick of it. Carries the folk tale of, espeically southern, American life. In a twist of genius it also carries stories such as that of a cover of "Rusty Cage" originally from Soundgarden. I'll note that I purchased this album a year or two before college. So perhaps I should really give Cash the credit for my eventually reconnecting with country music.

24. Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti - Seriously, which album do you choose from these guys? Not III? Not the album otherwise known as Zoso, or Signs? I mean, come on... Houses of the Holy? Can I say that it's tracks like "Kashmir" and "Trampled Under Foot" that hit it for me? I can for now. When I first installed a wicked sound system in my 'Burban with Patrick and Brendan, on the first night driving I went on, "Kashmir" was my song of choice. Anywhere Robert, Jimmy, John Paul, or John B. wanted to take me, I'd go.

25. The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack - Probably the only album I could sing off the top of my head, including the rousing performances I could give of the instrumental numbers. The soundtrack to an amazing story of self-discovery, searching for that creative spark, struggling with that periodic specter of meaninglessness in life that we all face now and then. Jack Skellington's adventure in imagination, introspection, trying new things, failure, death and rebirth... I will carry through my entire life, and it will probably do a fair share of carrying me. The moment of enlightenment in "Poor Old Jack" is nothing short of a God moment (despite the fact that God is not explicitly referred to). Who cannot deny Burton's ability to entice a new generation into goth-type styles, clothes, music, and so on? If this is ever translated into a stage production, I don't care how long it's been since I've been on stage, I'm auditioning for a part, if not merely to be a nameless extra... I want in.

My goodness, that's the end. My friend James had trouble finding 25 albums, I had trouble choosing once I got to the 25 mark. I had to consolidate albums of the same artist simply for number reasons. Many of them could have stood on their own and probably deserved a separate note with particular associations and connections. And what should be said of the albums that I haven't mentioned? Where is Soul Asylum's Grave Dancers Union? Pink Floyd's The Wall? As well as their Dark Side of the Moon? I cannot deny the impression Paul Simon left on me with Rhythm of the Saints and Graceland. As annoying as many found Adam Duritz, Counting Crows helped heal my blues often. The Polyphonic Spree opened me to new realms of the imagination and creativity. Shan't I mention the Who? Iron Maiden, and the grandest metal concert I ever attended along with my Scottish/English brother, Richard? Why not a list of single songs? It would look a bit different, would it not? How about films? Ok, I must stop this eventually. Can we say this is a conversation I would LOVE to continue with any number of you readers out there. Especially those I haven't seen in years. How I long for a evening spent, perhaps over wine, beer or coffee, in conversation about this with you!