<img border="1" "img src="http://www.levy-eskot.com/images/kklevy-pixies.jpg" p="p" align="left"><b>9. Pixies - Doolittle</b>
before purchashing this album, i had heard many people calling it a very influential piece of work. when i bought it, i listened to it many times, but i never really understood how it was inspirational or why everyone seemed to think it was great. it sounded just like everything else on the alt-rock scene.
but then it hit me. the reason why it sounds like everything else, is because everything else copied from it. you'd be hard pressed to find any alt-rock band that hasn't borrowed something from <i>Doolittle</i>.
just how inspirational are the Pixies? well bands like Radiohead and U2 owe everything to them. just read/watch some interviews, and they'll tell you so. it also contributed to the kickstarting of the whole grunge scene of the 1990's. you may think that I'd be crazy for thinking anything but Nirvana's <i>Nevermind</i> is what started that huge cultural revolution; but Kurt Cobain himself said that listening to <i>Doolittle</i> is what inspired him to write <i>Nevermind</i>. the signature Cobain-Grunge style can be seen in songs like Gouge Away. and the rest is pop culture history.
if the sound of everything you hear on the radio seems old and worn out, you can blame the Pixies for that. you might as well not thank them for the way rock music is today...no one else has. it astonishes me how a band can have so much impact on today's society, yet go unnoticed and un-credited for it. i'll put it this way: the Pixies influence is so large, they've changed your life when you began reading this.

<img border="1" "img src="http://www.dustedmagazine.com/covers/review_id-421.jpg" p="p" align="left"><b>8. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted</b>
this is the Sgt. Pepper of the indie rock scene (or Revolver, or White Album, or whatever Beatles album rocked you the most). on a personal note, I credit this album alone for my introduction and love affair with indie music. I suspect I'm not alone.
of the 14 songs on here, at least 10 of them are now underground rock standards. but, it's important to recognize <i>Slanted and Enchanted</i> as being more than just influential. it is sloppy and catchy and wholly enjoyable. it's simply stunning that, under all those layers of distorted guitars, melodies manage to bubble up to the surface.
one of Stephen Malkmus' main strengths as a vocalist is his ability to deliver non-sensical lyrics - lyrics that make you both want to scratch your head and sing along. it might be twelve years old, but each track still reaffirms everything that is wrong with commercial radio and its cohorts.

<img border="1" "img src="http://img58.photobucket.com/albums/v177/youyesyou/bluealbum.gif" p="p" align="left"><b>7. Weezer - Weezer (The Blue Album)</b>
if you don't have <i>The Blue Album</i> in you're collection, chances are, you're not considered cool in front of your trendy, elitists friends. that's all i have to say about that.
actually, i think we all know enough about why <i>The Blue Album</i> is so great. i don't really want try and shove something down your throat that you've choked on a million times. but the this record sits so high on my list is more of a personal reason than anything. <i>The Blue Album</i> was probably the first experience i ever had in good music. and it still stands as one of the very best.
until this piece of gold came into my life, my knowledge of what music really was was limited to what i saw on MTV and the incredibly gawdy covers of CD's from boy bands that have long since shrivled up and died (praise the lawd!). this record basically became the soundtrack of my life through middle school and my early high school days. i'm pretty sure it was the only thing sitting in my CD changer for quite a few years. which is quite a feat considering it was up against some stiff competition from my <i>vast</i> collection of music: the Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, and some soundtrack to some movie that i bought at some garage sale.

<b>note:</b>if you get the "joke" (i use that term <i>very</i> lightly) in the subject line, reward yourself by not calling me an idiot.