4 Albums to Know Me
Part of the User Manual Series where I give some brief overviews of the media, experiences, thoughts that help make me...me. Released hourly on my 32nd birthday.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
HMV in the Square was a great place to flick through CDs. The first two I ever bought were Stadium Arcadium and Bullet in a Bible. Both of these still stick in my memory and, alongside Tony Hawks Pro Skater and Kerrang, helped define my musical taste all through my teens.
I'm a fan of the album itself but I think it's that it acted as a gateway to getting into Fall Out Boy, MCR, Avril Lavigne and so much more.
Song of Choice: Snow (Hey Oh)
Mr Hudson & The Library - A tale of Two Cities
I really have absolutely no idea how I came across this album. I guess Mr Hudson did some work with bigger artists at the time, and I was curious about his discography? I picked this up on eBay randomly and I just found it to be such a fascinating collection of music.
It's the kind of album I wouldn't recommend to many people. It's a weird mix of reggae, rock and spoken word? I think the thing that I appreciate about this is that I discovered it and enjoyed it all on its own. I didn't have other people telling me it's good or bad. I had dived right in and found some music that clicked with me.
Song of Choice: Picture of You
Troy Baker - Sitting in the Fire
Obviously, I knew Troy from his work in anime and video games. I had even met him a couple of times before I got into his music. At one of the conventions, he was selling his CD and I decided to pick it up. It wasn't particularly expensive and he seemed really passionate about it. I just thought it was a neat thing to own.
It ended up being one of my favourite albums of all time. Seeing Troy play live at MCM Birmingham was an absolute treat!
Song of Choice: My Religion
Miracle of Sound - Level 1
So many great things to say about Miracle of Sound. Gavin being Irish is very cool of course!
Especially when I was deep into the world of gaming and had a bit less time for music, it was so fun to have these songs to jam out to when I was walking around.
Obviously, I was obsessed with Mass Effect so his Commander Shepard song is still stuck in my head. Beyond that though, I think there are some great pieces of music here. Normandy and Little Sister probably being the highlight of Level 1.
It's been great to follow Gavins journey over the years. His struggles with tinnitus and progression back to playing live. There's more than 10 albums of music now released and he just seems like an incredibly honest and hard-working artist. He's a great template for anyone in a creative field.
Song of Choice: Normandy
