8. Circa Survive's Blue Sky Noise
There is literally nothing wrong about this album. Every single song is incredible and Circa Survive in general is just an amazing band. I have been following them for nearly five years and the second I heard this album, I was hooked. They are a band that knows how to write a fucking good song - with lyrics that literally get etched into your soul as soon as you hear them. I am a slow jams kind of girl, but I love how Blue Sky Noise has a mixture of the two. Anthony Green puts so much emotion into his voice that every song, every single word has an impact on me. "I Felt Free" is the track that holds the most meaning to be because it is all about letting go of the person you love, but not forgetting everything you went through with them. Its a track about moving on to better things and letting the people in your life go for good. Especially over the past few years, I have learned to let people and friendships go because no matter how hard I tried for them to work, it was like talking to a brick wall and that they were hurting me, not benefiting me.
7. Good Charlotte's The Young and the Hopeless
This collection of songs holds more memories for me than any other album. Good Charlotte was one of the first bands I ever saw in concert, is the band I jam to in the car with my sister the most and has one of the first musicians I ever fell in love with in the fourth grade (Joel Madden, my baby). But most of all, this was the first CD I ever remember buying. I bought this in downtown Seattle's FYE after seeing "The Anthem" music video at my aunt's house (my sister got the classic Simple Plan's No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls). My mom won tickets to their show when I was in fourth grade and came to my school to surprise me - that memory reminds me of how much my mother dedicated to taking me and my sister to countless shows growing up (Backstreet Boys, Simple Plan, Avril Lavigne, Dixie Chicks, etc) therefore this album will always hold a special place in my heart. "Say Anything" is the track that does it for me - back in the day when my parents decided to separate, I listened to this track a lot because it follows (kind of) some of the stuff my parents and my family went through at the time. GC for life, man.
6. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's The Heist
Now before anyone goes around saying "oh my god, this album is so overplayed" - listen for a second. This album is literally groundbreaking in my eyes. This is the first record I have heard in a LONG LONG time that holds so much truth and has so many songs that the masses can relate to. I have been a fan of these dudes for years (PNW represent) and the second this album dropped, it blew me away. Nothing is held back, no topic is off limits for Mack and Ryan. Macklemore goes so deep with his past, his stand point on issues and his perspective on things - its incredible. And Ryan's beats are genius - I will never understand how someone manages to put all of those sounds together to create these songs. "Starting Over" is definitely a song that hits me hard. Dealing with Macklemore's substance abuse, this track is a glimmer of hope for me. I have never dealt with substance abuse of any kind, but when things aren't going my way or I feel stuck (like most people do at some point), this track is a reminder that shit is going to work out in the end if you work for it. It is possible to move forward and start over.
5. This Providence's Who Are You Now?
TProv were undoubtably one of the most underrated bands I have ever listened too. Another group of guys (besides David) from the Seattle area, they are probably some of the nicest musicians I have ever had the chance of knowing. Back in 2009, when my obsession with the Jonas Brothers was ending, my sister's ex-boyfriend was tired of hearing the same Disney shit all of the time so he shoved this album in my hand and said "listen to some good stuff now". I was hooked the second I heard them and made my sister and him drag me to their show in Seattle the following month. This Providence was the band that got me into the slew of artists I listen to now and were one of the first bands that got me into photography concerts. This album was constantly on repeat wherever I went and I made all of my friends listen to them nonstop. The lyrics of their songs surpasses half of the other bands in their genre, yet they never made it as big as I would have liked to see before they dismembered earlier this year. Each track on this album reminds of so many different things - my sister, summer nights, the beginning of my venture into the concert world, my best friend - it goes on and on. "Chasing The Wind" is the song on this album that will always be a part of me. This is the song that I listened to the most on this album - the lyrics are incredible and the whole composition of the song is just beautiful. I would listen to this song while I was working on art or editing photos because at that point, my entire life was about my art and getting my name out there. There are lyrics in the chorus that go "nothing matters, I'm just chasing the wind" - Now, the song's original intent and story deals with wanting someone so bad that you are nothing without them. I just gave it a little different interpretation.
4. Paramore's Brand New Eyes
This band's music has been with me through it all. As a fan since around 2006, their songs have always been material I turn to. Most people seem to hate this album for some reason, but Brand New Eyes's group of songs are ones that I can relate to the most. Paramore is one of two bands (other one is Death Cab) that I started listening to on my own and continued to follow for almost half of my life. I remember seeing them in concert for the first time in 2011 when they were touring with this album and was completely blown away. I was in the crowd with my shitty point and shoot camera, trying desperately to get some good shots to remember the night. That was the night I realized how much concert photography meant to me and gave me enough motivation to begin doing what I do now. Looking back, the photos I took from that show were complete shit, but at the time - they were amazing to me. Because I had taken them and they were my memories of that night, not anyone else's. (See one of the terrible photos here). "Brick By Boring Brick" still remains to be one of my favorite songs of all time simply for the lyrics "keep your feet on the ground when you're head's in the clouds". Now, I am a very driven and imaginative person which can often leave me getting wrapped up in my ideas and thoughts. This song is a reminder to get out of my head every once and while and be in reality. Work really hard and don't let shit just pass you by. Its okay to have dreams and ambitions, but don't let the constant want of them leave you wishing time was going by faster so you can achieve them.
3. The Beatles's Abbey Road
Picking just one Beatles as my favorite is the fucking worst, but I love them all for different reasons. Abbey Road happens to have the largest collection of songs that mean the most to me. I have a theory that your music taste is based off of what your parents listened to. My dad is the biggest Beatles fan you will probably ever meet. He drilled into my brain at a very young age just how great The Beatles were because they were all he listened to. They were all I knew growing up. I remember driving around town in his beat up Red Izuzu Trooper listening to all sorts of songs by him. So naturally, I grew to love them. I feel like The Beatles are a band that everyone loves and if you have never heard a song by them, I don't think you are human. They are a fundamental of music - so many artists and bands model some aspect of their music around The Beatles. I mean, how can they not? My dad might have just brainwashed me, but I don't think there will ever be a band as talented as them. "Because" is one of my favorite Beatles songs because it just captures the essence of what they were - the song is almost a dream. It also gets me to think and imagine the world and all of the things it gives me the opportunity to do.
2. Brighten's Be Human
This album will always be with me. No, literally, it will - I have it tattooed on my arm. Freshman year was the first time I heard this EP and it has been with me ever since. There are only six tracks, but it was the only thing I listened to when my family drove 22 hours to visit family in Montana that summer. When I heard "Be Human" for the first time, I felt like my life took a step forward. I have always had a problem of expressing my feelings to people, sometimes even myself, and I always trying to suppress my feelings. The song is primarily about loving someone, but having that person not express how they are truly feeling - that's how I was, and still kind of am, about everything. The song is reminder to me that it's okay to express how I am feeling to whoever because they will always be there for me. In a lot of aspects of my life, I feel like I inconvenience so many people, but this song helps me see that I am not doing so. I could probably continue to talk about how much that song mean to me, but it will get even more cheesy so I am going to stop. I LOVE every single song on this EP, each other holding a different memory for me.
1. Death Cab For Cutie's Transatlanticism
Just thinking about this album brings me to tears. This is the album I turn to when I am having a bad day, a bad week, a bad month. It was what I listened to during times of trouble in my family, in my life, in anything and everything. You know when you love an album so much that you can't even begin to explain it? That is this for me. The eleven songs on this album hold so many different memories and emotions in them, I think they will forever be saturated with a part of my soul. I talked about this album briefly in my Bumbershoot post because Death Cab played it from front to end and I cried the entire time on my friend's shoulder (and trust me, I don't cry that often). As soon as the first tune to "The New Year" filled my ears, it was like an entire weight was lifted off of my shoulder and nothing else mattered. When I listen to this album, nothing else matters. "Passenger Seat" still remains as one of my favorite songs. I am listening to it now (and crying) for reasons I can't even explain. I turn to this album when I am stuck a lot and there is a lyric in it that allows me to breathe - "With my feet on the dash, the world doesn't matter. When you feel embarrassed them I'll be your pride, when you need directions then I'll be the guide". In the 3:42 time frame this song fills, literally nothing in the world matters to me. I can clear my head and forget about everything that is bothering me. Its fucking crazy what a song can do for you, ya know?
It's crazy what music can do for you.
Listen to the playlist --------------> here.
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