Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind

When I was 17 I got into a massive screaming match with one of my best friends in the world. Being that the cause of the argument was my fault, I needed to do something epic to make it up to her. At the time she lived and died by Liam Gallagher from Oasis so I surprised her with tickets to a show two hours away and off we went. On the way she said, "You have to hear this song." it was "Motorcycle Drive-by" off of the self-titled Third Eye Blind record. I was blown away. After that the record became a constant force for the remainder of my high school days and is still in regular rotation today. I didn't follow the band after that record, but the self-titled album to me is such a perfectly written pop/rock record. There are so many massive anthems and it was my first exposure to Eric Valentine (producer) making drums sound like God. I still haven't figured out all of the crazy guitar tunings they used. It is a record where I still seem to hear something new with every listen. So as horrible as that fight was all those years ago, I think Oasis got me off the hook, and I discovered one of my all time favorite records. I've heard that everything happens for a reason.

Foo Fighters - There Is Nothing Left To Lose

The Foo's are in contention for the number one spot on my favorite bands list. When I was 19 I left home in Florida and moved to Santa Cruz, California to join a band. After 8 or 9 months of Ramen Noodles, a job waging cars at a rental place, and touring for the first time, I had to throw in the towel and head home because I just couldn't make enough money to survive out there. Right about that time the Foo Fighters released their third record. This is an interesting one because I have an internal debate about whether this record or "The Colour and The Shape" is my favorite. But this feature is about influence, not favorites. That chapter of my life was so uncertain and this record was my rock, musically and figuratively I guess. It was so different from the first two records. I feel like this is where Dave Grohl really started to come into his own as a lyricist and the songs as a whole were much more reflective and introspective. So as I was going through that period of reassessing my dreams and wondering what the future would hold, "There Is Nothing Left To Lose" was very much a soundtrack for me. I still go right back there in my head when "Aurora" comes on.

Weezer - Pinkerton

The best way to get a 17-year old kid to fall head over heels in love with an album is to record huge distorted guitars, beat the shit out of the drums, and make the first song about sex and falling in love. Oh, Weezer, I thank you every day for the masterpiece that is "Pinkerton". I can still hear myself and three of my closest friends singing every word of this record with the windows down on the day we skipped school as Juniors to drive down to Disney World where the Seniors were having their Senior trip. That was true rebellion for me at the time. (I know, super hard core.) I was already a huge fan of Weezer after "The Blue Album", but the first time I heard "Goddamn you half Japanese girls" on the radio, I knew it was love. I wore this record out. There was something about how rough around the edges it was sonically that just made it rock so hard, yet the songwriting was still pop genius. And to close it out with "Butterfly" was exactly the right move. That was the song that I think inspired me to include songs that are acoustically based on my own records. To this day if I need to make myself feel better with some good old fashioned head banging sing-a-longs, this is my go to album.