An Album that altered our Musical direction

[tea for two]

A little different to the One Keys track.
Although there maybe overlap.

Which Album altered your Musical direction.
Would be nice to hear your reasons.

:::::::

For me.
I was a top40 teen. That was my musical world.
Beeb radio Sunday afternoon, ToTP Thursday evening.
I was so into it I could reel off most of the top40.

Then a Vinyl landed on my lap.

On it were Instrumental originals :
Blues Rock Gary Moore.
Cinematic Ennio Morricone.
Modern Classical Rondo Veneziano.
Jazz Tom Scott.
Progressive Sky.
Celtic World music Clannad.
Folk Mark Knopfler.
Electronica Jarre.

You can imagine my teen mind, my teen self shook up by this.

To this day those Instrumental styles are my main musical influences.

The Album

[resistorman]

Man, that’s an amazing album! Lucky you. For me, it was riding around downtown Pittsburgh tripping on acid when someone put Switched on Bach in the 8-track tape player. I’d been a folky up til then.

[Drew Stephenson]

I wouldn't say anything has really changed my direction, but 22, A Million by Bon Iver certainly opened up a new world of possibilities with the music I was already writing.

[John Egan]

My musical direction seems to have lurched from misguided through erratic to out of control, but, sadly, I can't find anyone else to blame for it.
Regards, John

[MOF]

Sgt Pepper in 1974.

[Arpangel]

There were two, Switched On Bach, and Evening Star by Fripp and Eno.
The first introduced me to the synthesiser, and the second made me realise that I could do that too.

[BJG145]

The soundtrack to my childhood was my brother playing piano. He put me onto classical stuff like Liszt and Ravel, as well as jazz via Brubeck, though he's entirely classical now (with a heck of a CD collection of classical piano music).

My introduction to the sound of synthesisers, when I was about 12 or something, was the B-side of a single of the Dr Who theme, "The Astronauts", brilliantly covered by ArkieBoy in OSC4.



Somehow I'd drifted towards rock/pop by the time I was 20, stuff like Bowie, Hendrix and the Black Crowes. I listened to albums like Hunky Dory and Axis: Bold As Love loads of times. Hendrix is the reason that if I could only play one instrument, it would be guitar, and I still spend more time trying to play it than anything else, even though I've never got very good at it.

I took a turn in my late twenties when I was introduced to Original Masters by Jethro Tull, which led to all kinds of folk and prog.

[N i g e l]

Kraftwerk, Autobahn

"emotionless robotic computer music" as they used to say in the days when drummers had difficulty playing to a click track


not so much altered my direction as gave me direction.

I first heard the title track on BBC2 TV accompanying "The World About Us" a geography program. That episode concerned a truck driver driving his load from UK to Greece across many borders.

[Arpangel]

This is impossible, there are many mile stones, two I’d add to the list for me are Passion Play by Jethro Tull, and You by Gong, Telstar by the Tornados, and of course, anything by the Shadows.

[Martin Walker]

Sgt Pepper in 1974.

That would have to be my choice as well - it's still revolutionary all these years later, incorporating many engineering firsts via George Martin, as well as all the inspirational music from the Fab Four.

[forumuser918214]

Another Side of Bob Dylan -

Wait, now, you don't have to be a good singer or player to be a musician after all, you just need to be able to write brilliant lyrics. I can do that (ouch).

[Arpangel]

Sgt Pepper in 1974.

That would have to be my choice as well - it's still revolutionary all these years later, incorporating many engineering firsts via George Martin, as well as all the inspirational music from the Fab Four.

I used to come home from school every lunchtime, gobble down my dinner, go into the "front room" lay on the floor and glue my ear to our radiogram, and listen to Sgt Pepper every single day, it was totally beyond, and it took me into a whole new sound world.

[MOF]

That would have to be my choice as well - it's still revolutionary all these years later, incorporating many engineering firsts via George Martin, as well as all the inspirational music from the Fab Four.

I already had the ‘Oldies but goldies’ Beatles compilation and a K-Tel greatest hits LP plus some classical LPs, but it was on a scouts camp I heard two cassettes of Pepper and Tubular Bells, the only two that a lad in our tent had, the first time I’d seen a cassette recorder too.
I bought Pepper as soon as I could and only in recent years bought TB on CD and it’s not something I’ll play regularly.
I have grown to love ‘Within you without you’. I’ve bought the CD version and now the Giles Martin stereo remix, which I love, given the amount of time I listen on headphones.

[Dynamic Mike]

I hated the Beatles. Growing up on Merseyside it was rammed down your throat on every local station and in every shop. I preferred Bolan, the Faces, Bowie and then I heard Dark Side of the Moon and everything clicked.

But the last revelation would have to have been Rain Dogs. Nothing since has moved me quite like that.

[Drew Stephenson]

Another +1 in the not-a-beatles-fan camp here.
I've already mentioned Bon Iver above, but in terms of other albums that opened my eyes to possibilities, prompted by a couple of comments above, then Tom Waits' Swordfish Trombones and Radiohead's The Bends are definitely in there.
But again it's more of an expansion than an alteration...

[IAA]

Has to be six wives by Wakeman. I was taking classical piano at the time and a friend put this on the turntable. I was absolutely blown away, not necessarily by the compositions - although I liked them and increasingly so- but the sounds from organ, mellotron and minimoog synthesiser were used in ways that rearranged my musical furniture! After listening to this my piano teacher realised that we needed to “adapt” our lessons to incorporate improvisation and synth riffs. I subsequently got a Hammond L122, Leslie and a roland SH09 picking up a mellotron later. Wow.

[BigRedX]

Not and album, but a single.

"Nag Nag Nag" by Cabaret Voltaire. This was everything that the reviews of the first Suicide album had promised but listening to the actual recordings failed to deliver. High energy electronic noise music for a new decade.

[Arpangel]

Has to be six wives by Wakeman. I was taking classical piano at the time and a friend put this on the turntable. I was absolutely blown away, not necessarily by the compositions - although I liked them and increasingly so- but the sounds from organ, mellotron and minimoog synthesiser were used in ways that rearranged my musical furniture! After listening to this my piano teacher realised that we needed to “adapt” our lessons to incorporate improvisation and synth riffs. I subsequently got a Hammond L122, Leslie and a roland SH09 picking up a mellotron later. Wow.

Me too, it was the sheer newness and mystery of the sounds he used, it had the same effect on me as Switched On Bach.
I remember the picture of Rick and his instruments, at the time, it was pure magic, his playing style was very good at making the instruments stand out.
I had a go at learning Anne Boleyn, my favourite track from that album, managed to work out the first bit, but gave up after that.
I had an upright piano at the time, and then got a VCS3, it wasn’t good at Moog style synthesis, but I got it for a good price, and it lured me away into more experimental territory.

[IAA]

I remember the picture of Rick and his instruments, at the time, it was pure magic

indeed! I got my original album framed with the shot of his studio setup on my studio wall now to offer inspiration. The breadth of sounds he coaxed out of those old keyboards is indeed inspiring given what we have at our disposal now!

[MOF]

Has to be six wives by Wakeman

I haven’t listened to it and I’m unlikely to, but I can recommend his books, very funny!!!

[Dynamic Mike]

Tom Waits' Swordfish Trombones

This has been constantly cycling through my head since 4.44 on Monday & I'm holding you responsible.

[Arpangel]

Tom Waits' Swordfish Trombones

This has been constantly cycling through my head since 4.44 on Monday & I'm holding you responsible.

OK pop pickers, no excuse needed to play this again, I saw him at the Forum in Kentish Town in the 80’s, he did the confetti bit, but he only threw it once, just the once, he knows when to stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWwh3zguADk

[Drew Stephenson]

Tom Waits' Swordfish Trombones

This has been constantly cycling through my head since 4.44 on Monday & I'm holding you responsible.

I've been held responsible for far worse things!

[tea for two]

I can say my contribution to Earth : I saved animals and people from hearing me singing by making instrumentals

Prior to Impressions album I used to sing at the top of my voice, that can kindly be described as earnest, only a Mother could love.

[tea for two]

An album that made me realise musical  possibilities,
brought together 250 musicians from various parts of the world :

Laurie Anderson, A Velha Guarda Da Portela, Bagamoyo Players,  The Chieftains,  Johnny Clegg & Savuka, Peter Gabriel,  David Gilmour, Egberto Gismonti,  Eddie Grant, The Gipsy Kings, Chrissie Hynde,  Salif Keita, Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, Maria McKee, Native Land & Themba, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Remmy Ongala & The Orchestre Super Matimala, Geoffrey Oryema, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Mari Boine Persen, Courtney Pine, Hossam Ramzy, Lou Reed, Robbie Robertson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Clara Sandroni, Steve Stevens, Joe Strummer, Suzanne Vega.

Released 1990. Produced by Rupert Hine.


A 4min51sec clip
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KXUp_VFUg ... CF&index=7

If I could bring from the past renowned composers Baroque, Classical, Jazz, Art Rock, I would show them these One World One Voice music videos.
They would be enthralled, inspired.

(I think we are fortunate musically to easily access music from so many parts of the world that previous generations couldn't).