The albums that have stayed with me

This was originally supposed to be a Top Ten piece. However, the more I tried to think, the more difficult it became to squeeze my choices into just ten albums. These albums are not necessarily ones I still listen to. However, there will always be a place in my heart for them. There are many positive and negative memories that come with these records but I would not change that. They helped shape me and made me the person I am today. Whether they are good choices or not, I hope some of these personal choices will make readers feel slightly nostalgic about their own lives.

There were so many albums I wish I could have added to the list including, You Me At Six, Funeral For a Friend and Pendulum. However I just assumed if I wrote too much, who would actually be bothered to carry on reading?

In no particular order, here are my choices.

1.) Good Charlotte – The Young and the Hopeless (2002)

I still remember the first time I ever heard this album. I was on holiday in Wales and made some friends that I used to see every year at the camp site. My friend had brought his cousin down and it was him who had the CD on in the caravan. I mentioned how much I liked it to my dad and the next day he took me to Cob Records and bought it for me. Although I don’t listen to it half as much as I should, it remains one of my favourite albums.  I still love the irony of songs Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Riot Girl, when singer Joel Madden ended up marrying socialite Nicole Richie.

This album then made me go and buy their debut self-titled album and every album after that up until Cardiology (2010), which I can't say I have even listened to. The last time I saw them live was 2011, then later that year they announced a hiatus. The Madden brothers have since released single - We Are Done, which I can't say I enjoyed. Stick to the old stuff guys.

2.) Less Than Jake – Anthem (2003)

The first time that I heard this record, I was in year 7 and at my mates New Years Eve party. I had always been into ska but had not really heard much ska punk except the occasional Reel Big Fish and Sublime songs. My friend and her brother introduced me to this album and I went out and bought it with my pocket money a few days later. It’s not like I had a laptop to listen to it or to download it. YouTube was not even invented then. 

To this day, LTJ are one of my favourite bands to see live as they are really entertaining and get members of the crowd up on stage. Once, when I was about 14, my dad even came to a gig, Vocalist, Chris DeMakes got my dad up on stage for a ‘fat guy press-up competition’. I have no words about how I felt at the time, I was that embarrassed but looking back it was hilarious. They may be getting old but they will be forever young at heart. 

3.) Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (2000) 

Aside from Lostprophets, Start Something (which I will not discuss any further for obvious reasons), the first album my dad ever bought me was Hybrid Theory. My parents had recently purchased Sky TV and I was flicking through the music channels when the video for One Step Closer appeared on the screen. Up until the release of Minutes to Midnight (2007) I bought their albums. Although I have listened to the most recent ones, I just don't get the same vibes when I listen to them.  Anyway, Hybrid Theory in my opinion will forever stand out as being one of the best nu metal albums created.  

Confession: I still need to see this band live but I feel they would have been better to see in their heyday.  

4.) Busted –Self-Titled (2002)

Who doesn’t remember how awesome this album was when it was released?  I still recall that fateful day in January 2005 when the band announced they were splitting up so that Charlie could focus on his new band, Fightstar (who I also like anyway so it worked out well). Although they failed to break America, Busted broke plenty of hearts with their announcement after only releasing three albums.

Looking back at when I went to see Busted at an arena tour in 2004, I realised how awful they were at performing live.  However it was definitely more of a show than anything.  Although these guys were technically a boy band, I still like to remind myself that at least they played their own instruments and didn’t just dance around on stage like most 90s groups. 

Confession: I never did get the chance to see McBusted but if I did not have my final year of university to focus on, I would have loved to have gone. 

5.) Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork Tree (2005) 

 Face it; the mid-2000s were the years of the genre ‘emo’.Technically it was pop punk but with just a hint of eyeliner, lyrics about suicide and ridiculously long song titles. What’s not to feel nostalgic about?

Don’t get me wrong, I still love all their albums, especially 2003’s, Take This to Your Grave but FUTCT just put me right in the middle of High School and my teenage years. It was the album that I listened to when I was feeling down but also the album I listened to on late drives home with my dad after ice hockey practice on a weekly basis. I still don’t think they released enough singles from this record. In my opinion, every song could pass as one. There are SO many things I could say about this album but I would blabber on for hours. 

 It was later that year that I was to purchase Paramore’s, All We Know Is Falling and Panic at The Disco’s, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. In my opinion, 2005 was the year of pop punk. 

6.) Avril Lavigne – Let Go (2002)

Love her or hate her, you cannot deny that Avril Lavigne was massive back in the early 2000s. Her music seems to have gone downhill since marrying Nickelback vocalist, Chad Kroeger and releasing the not so great single Let Me Go: Feat her husband.  Actually, I think I stopped listening to Lavigne while I was still at high school.

Avril Lavigne was my role model when I was about ten years old. I was always a bit of a tomboy and her image was everything I, and many other girls began to follow. Tammy Girl sold all the baggy skater jeans and ties, Claire’s sold all the accessories but most of all she was the one artist me and my mates would agree on listening to when at each other’s houses.

I do not really listen to Avril Lavigne any more but this is one album that has stood out because oddly enough it helped get me into heavier music. I loved the choice of angry lyrics over a catchy pop hook. I think I just liked her teenage, no shit attitude and the fact she played a guitar. Guys fancied her, young girls wanted to be her. 

7.) Bullet For My Valentine- The Poison (2005)

I do not listen to BFMV much any more. I personally feel their albums have gradually become worse over the years, so much to the point that I find them quite boring. The last time I saw them live they went off stage for what felt like almost ten minutes during the encore. I am not sure what bands even bother going off stage any more when they can play an extra song instead.

The Poison as a debut album  is full of metal riffs, melodies and of course, solos.The first time I ever saw them perform was at Kerrang's very first UK tour in 2005, then known as the XXV Tour. The Poison is very much a metal album with an abundance of emo lyrics, attitude and solos that make you want to rock out on the air guitar.

8.) A Day to Remember - Homesick (2009)

I can't even remember when I first listened to this album but I fell in love instantly. I already had their previous two records but they did not listen to them very often. Whether it is a heavier track such as I'm Made of Wax... or acoustic favourite, Have Faith in Me, Homesick provides listeners with a wide variety of sound and songs you can't help but sing your heart out to. If this album has never made you want to headbang and sing at the top of your lungs then sorry, you are doing it wrong.

There is something about ADTR I just can't put my finger on. When I first listened to them they struck me as your typical, generic pop punk band. However, they remain a band who brought something different to the table when they combined it with heavy, post-hardcore breakdowns. The catchiness of the chorus and rawness of the lyrics just balance each other brilliantly. They are easily one of the best and heavier pop punk bands around.

9.) Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal (2013)

I was not sure what to think when I first heard this record. It was so different compared to anything I had heard by BMTH before. I’ll admit I prefer Suicide Season and There Is A Hell …to Count Your Blessings but I instantly liked the fact Oli Sykes had learnt to sing for the tracks found on Sempiternal. 

I felt so bad listening to the illegal stream but I could not help myself. Sykes himself just seemed so overwhelmed by the positive feedback that he did not seem too bothered by it. A few months after the album release, I broke up with my ex at the time. Listening to Sempiternal just made more sense to me afterwards than it ever had beforehand. 

I am not going to pretend I understand about drug abuse because I don’t. However, listening to Sempiternal yet again after Sykes came out about his Ketamine addiction, the lyrics just made so much more sense. It is clearly the bands most personal album and in my opinion the best one they have released. 

To me, this record was a complete game change for the band in terms of metal music. Their songs became more popular across national radios like Radio One and they brought in new keyboardist, Jordan Fish. I do miss ex-guitarist, Jona Weinhofen - who left the band in early 2013 much to the surprise of fans. BMTH seem to be managing just fine without him. 

10/11.) Paramore - All We Know Is Falling (2005)/ Self- Titled (2013)

The first time I heard this band I was just 13 years old. I instantly loved the fact there was a pop punk band I could listen to with a female singer, who was not even that much older than myself. As soon as I heard the single Pressure, I knew I would have to go and listen to the whole thing.

Although I love Riot and Brand New Eyes, the first thing I noticed about AWKIF was how much potential they had as a band. The songs on this record will get in your head for days on end, which is what makes it such a good album. Three remaining original members and four albums later, Paramore have proved that they are not going to dissolve into nothing and that they will continue to make music people can relate to.





















Paramore's Self-Titled album stands out as just so different to their other releases. With it being the first record the band had released since the Farro brothers left in 2010, I did not really know what to expect. It turned out to be one of my favourite records I had heard in ages. Except for a few singles, fans had waited four years for a new album, they were not let down.

For me, the things that I loved most about it were the lyrics about love, forgiveness and sarcasm all intertwined with monster choruses and catchy beats. The three acoustic interludes that are performed with just vocals and a ukulele split the tracks up well. After-all, it is a 17 track record. Listening to this record gave me a positive outlook on life. 

In all honesty, this and Sempiternal were the albums I listened to the most post-breakup. As a whole record, Paramore taught me that it was okay to be angry, feel lonely and be completely bitter. It also taught me that I had the ability to pick myself back up again, that friends and family are always there for me and most importantly, that I deserved better. 

12.)  Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2006)

I was a few years late listening to Brand New. Sure, I had heard Sic Transit Gloria and a few other tracks from Deja Entendu but I never really bothered to go out to buy an album or go on YouTube. If there was a band none of my friends really listened to or my dad introduced me to it was this one.

Jesse Lacey's vocals completely stand out on this record, so much to the point it actually sends shivers down my spine. Comparing this to Deja Entendu and Your Favourite Weapon, the lyrics on TDAGARIM just seem that little more personal. Every track has it's own story, the right balance and a sense of mystery.

This album seems to go with whatever mood I am in, I could literally listen to it on a daily basis and never get bored of how hauntingly beautiful it is. Since listening to this I then had to go and get all their other records because they quickly became one of my favourite bands and still are today.