c9 | 15 Albums

Alrighty, Scott*, I'm convinced. But just for you. And including a mini-story for each one.

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag fifteen people in the note--or any number of friends whose musical taste you'd like to know more about.) Quickly, and in no particular order...

I totally didn't follow these rules. I took about 2 hours, and checked my iPod for ideas. Suck it, random internet meme!

Mr Big, Lean Into It - my first CD ever. I still have some items from the liner noted memorized.
Marc Cohn, Marc Cohn - my first, and probably still the best, Marc Cohn.
Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy - could listen to this on repeat for a year. May have, actually.
U2, Achtung Baby - Fantastic beyond description obviously, but I received a Christmas present wrapped in newsprint in 1991 that featured a review of this album. The headline will stay with me forever: "U2 reaches pinnacle with likely final release."
Bryan Adams, Waking Up The Neighbours - saw him in concert on this tour and bought a tshirt with the word "FUCK" on it. My mother didn't kill me.
Odds, Good Weird Feeling - Before, during, and after my coming out, "Wendy (Under the Stars)" and "Heterosexual Man" was popular, and incredibly amusing among my friends. Those songs were from previous albums, but this one was released during this time period and always struck me as good but not quite right, because I'd assigned so much value to those previous songs.
Underworld, Born Slippy - the single (which was about 45 minutes in length! holy cow!) for the song made famous (at least for me) by its inclusion in Trainspotting. Introduced me to the wonders of techno/ambient/trance/house/dance/whatever. Non-standard, non-traditional, non-lyric-focused music.
The Tragically Hip, Fully Completely - released during high school, fantastic in almost every way. Went to see them in concert, was surrounded by pot smokers, and afterwards was probably a little high and lying on the floor, and I played it up when people asked if I was high: "No, I'm lowwwww!"
Sting, The Soul Cages - owned on cassette, and still more powerful than anything else Sting has done since.
Robert Miles, Children - didn't know what this was, and when I first saw it in Joel's** collection I said something like "What the hell is this?" He then deservedly mocked me when I ran out and bought it after the first single hit my radar.
London Symphonic Orchestra, Us & Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd - my first introduction to Pink Floyd in university thanks to Ben***. Wonderful take on classic songs, and now I have an appreciation for the originals too.
Peter Gabriel, Secret World Live - a two-disc set featuring an eleven-minute version of "In Your Eyes". An electric experience.
Meryn Cadell, Angel Food for Thought - Nothing more perfect than "The Sweater", and inspiring to see Meryn Cadell, now a man, transition and proudly live his life.
New Kids on the Block, Hangin' Tough - started my obsession with boybands and harmonies. 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, Take That, 5ive, ... they're all based on that. Saw NKOTB in concert at age 13 or so. Me and 11,000 screaming girls. Loved it.
Blue Rodeo, Five Days in July - Thanks to Sarah****, I'll always remember this as the perfect summer at the cottage in Ontario album. It really is. I could dangle my feet in the water for days to this soundtrack.

* Toronto friend who ensures our cats survive when we decide we have to leave the real world and fly away.

** ex-boyfriend who survived Nortel longer than basically all of Nortel.

*** best friend in university. Married and kids - never expected that when I met him - and living the "don't have to worry about profits public-sector" life. Almost got to be his best man - funny story.

**** some 16-year old who somehow got into university at that age! Now she's all grown up and living this crazy life that intersects with Slashdot and the NY Times 100000 times more often than mine does.

+ This is all footnoted so I can crosspost it elsewhere. :-)