Some Of The Albums That Touched My Soul

I'm confident the real kickstart to my musical journey can be traced back to "Pure 80's", a CD I listened to at my father's house, long ago, on my Sony CD player. I became familiar with classic rock through my mother and father and their radios, but my interest wasn't truly satisfied until I heard a synthesizer used extensively. Those sounds touch me deeply. They are the gift that holds the key to enlightenment and the antidote to companionable pains and sorrows.

Here are a few albums that really resonated with me over my life, a memorable track from each (not necessarily the only one) marked by a unique aspect that fueled my thoughts and imagination, and a note or two about how their influence has imprinted on my memory.

Architecture & Morality, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (1981)

Memorable Track: "She's Leaving"

The "bmmm" sound drop between refrains of "She's Leaving" was absolutely powerful in its spiritual consequences for me, in that it encapsulated the pure loss and regret of her exit. The vocal fluctuations throughout the album, at times, were so inspiring to me; Heaven really can be found in the transition from one vocal note to another, I believe. \m/, <3 B']

Go West, Go West (1985)

Memorable Track: "Call Me"

When I first heard this track in Vice City, I confused it with "Go West" by The Village People. I thought the singer was black (not for the first time; in opposite examples, I thought the singers for Living Colour and Hootie & The Blowfish were white before I began to broaden my sights XD). My first impressions, thus, were unique and wonderful. The song touched my heart in many ways. \m/, <3 B']

Master of Puppets, Metallica (1986)

Memorable Track: "Battery"

Though "The Thing That Should Not Be" is my favorite ("Hunter of the shadows is RI-*-SING!"), I first heard this album on YouTube about 15 years ago, at home late at night, laying on the couch in the dark, looking out at a star-clogged sky. My first impression of the guitar/drum section around the last 1/3rd of "Battery" was of the image of a burning Sun somewhere in space. It is perhaps similar or akin to my visualization of the intro to "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult. \m/, <3 B']

Neruda, Red Rider (1983)

Memorable Track: "Winner Take All"

What a great album. It is one of those albums whose strung-through contextual spine (maybe "tone" would be a simpler word, lmao) really lights me up on the inside. I'm not entirely sure what the track is about, lyrically, outside of associated research (I'm not a history or political buff), but the split second of instrumentation before the chorus, "Win or lose, you've got the Berlin blues..." is an example of one of the reasons why I respect and love musical art so damn much. The synthesis and far reaching effect of two or more musical instruments in the course of even just a few moments is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever experienced and cherished in my life. My life loses a tad of its flavor without them. \m/, <3 B']

New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), Simple Minds (1982)

Memorable Track: "Colours Fly (And Catherine Wheel)"

This track really hit me when I first heard it. It is one of those tracks that I want played at my funeral one day. Simple Minds are LIGHTYEARS more than I thought of them, reading about the background of the music video for "Don't You (Forget About Me)". The arrangement of the chorus, "Catch a boy, fell falling, fall in love...", with the rise in intensity of the instrumentals, was glorious. Overplaying has softened its effect, but regardless, it seems it will always hold a very special place in my heart. \m/, <3 B']

Substance (Disc 1), New Order (1987)

Memorable Track: "The Perfect Kiss"

Though I generally dislike compilation albums for their lack of the source albums' integrities as masterpiece works, this album, along with "Great Southern Land" by Icehouse, stands as one of my guaranteed go-to's (or, again, has held on quite strong through time and circumstance). The segment with frogs calls to mind my love of sharing connections between things (like the surprise of others hearing the "Jurassic Park" audiobook and thinking, "wait, what was that....that wasn't in the movie" and being inspired and full of wonder at the notion(s)), but the other kicker for me was the synthesizer (or keyboard?) instrumentation that followed. It's slight fluctuations between following segments strengthened the ride even more. \m/, <3 B']

HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Great Escape (1985) + Danger In The Air (1983), Ian Cussick

Ian's vocals and the instrumentational feels of these albums shed some real diamonds in front of my eyes. There are several segments and aspects of the albums that really inspired me and caught my attention, one of which I will have to find again in future replays. I tried going through the albums by track ending to find the point I was going to expand on here, but I couldn't find it. I will be sure to update this later on for you, I promise. \m/, <3 B'}