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1. Rhinestone Cowboy – Glen Campbell, Photographs & Memories - Jim Croce, Sugar Sugar: Greatest Hits – the Archies. These 3 albums were my first memories of hearing music and my introduction to music.
2. Destroyer – Kiss; There is, was, and never will be a greater way to be introduced to hard rock than to hear the opening lines of “Detroit Rock City” and go all the way to the end with “Do You Love Me” as I am hanging out with my older cousin and his friends at my first real party. I was like 8 or 9 at the time. Man what a great babysitter Danny was!!
3. Double Fantasy – John Lennon; Not counting the songs sung by Yoko Ono this album is one of the very few I would call perfection. The songs Lennon sung were/are absolutely incredible. It lead me to discover the Beatles this album changed my life in more ways than one and still inspires me every time I hear it.
4. In Through The Out Door – Led Zeppelin; O.K. I may have been somewhat of a late bloomer as far as music is concerned but when you grow up in rural Arkansas and only have one rock station that you can pick up on only the most perfect conditions doesn’t really help a lot so you make with what you have. The first time I heard this album at my friend’s house I was absolutely floored.
5. Back In Black – AC/DC; Much like Kiss and Led Zeppelin at the time I had never heard anything like this before, it just floored me the first time I heard it playing.
6. Beauty & the Beat – the Go-Go’s; One reason and one reason only I was 11 yrs old and I thought Jane Wieldin was the sexiest woman alive.
7. No Protection – Starship; As sad as it may seem I actually have a good reason for this one being on my list. My girlfriend at the time loved the song “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and I ended up losing my virginity to the album and that song. Awww memories
8. Look What The Cat Dragged In – Poison; Walked into a Camelot Record store heard this playing asked them who it was and bought it right on the spot. I had never seen anything like the band before in my life I didn’t have a clue if they were girls or guys or what but loved the music I heard. My introduction to glam and the Sunset Strip music scene.
9. Sonic Temple – the Cult; Another example of album perfection everything about this album kicks ass and just oozes coolness
10. Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell – Social Distortion; As hard rock was getting pushed out the door in the early 90’s Social D was one of the first bands I found that wasn’t from Seattle or wearing flannel that still played balls out rock n’ roll.
11. Operation Mindcrime – Queensryche; I was already a Queensryche fan when this was released but I had never heard a concept album as great as this one. I still hope someone will come along with the balls to make this into a movie it could be absolutely awesome.
12. Appetite for Destruction – Guns N’ Roses; I do not have enough fingers or toes to count the ways this album changed not only hard rock but music as a whole. Sex, Drugs, Rock N’ Roll, and Rebellion all tied up into one of the greatest albums ever.
13. A Bit of What You Fancy – the Quireboys – This album made me go back and rediscover the Rolling Stones, the Faces, & old Rod Stewart and actually listen to what they had to say and finally appreciate their music the way it deserves to be appreciated.
14. No Fuel Left For The Pilgrims – D.A.D.; To this day one of my favorite bands and one of the most underappreciated bands of all time.
15. Three Dollar Bill Ya’ll – Limp Bizkit; This album and band made me give up MTV forever and because everyone was calling this crap metal it made me ashamed to be a metal head. Because of this album I hated almost any band that was called “Rap Metal” or “Nu Metal”. On the other hand it made me go out and look for new hard rock and metal bands instead of depending on the chain stores to get my music.
