Albums That Changed My Life: William Levy (The Story So Far)
This week's "Albums That Changed My Life" contributor is none other than William Levy of The Story So Far.The band are currently gearing up for their first trip to the UK with Man Overboard and have recently announced they will be touring this Spring on the 2012 Glamour Kills Tour alongside The Wonder Years, Polar Bear Club, Transit, A Loss For Words and Into It. Over It.
New Found Glory - S/TIn 2000, I was 9 or 10 years old, I was in 4th grade. I had NFG’s self-titled album on repeat; on the way to school in my Walkman and after school at day care, during homework time. I’d put in my headphones and jam out in my head day dreaming about playing shows like these guys. I’d then get home and grab my guitar and jam those songs, I probably knew how to play one song off of it, and pretend I was on stage in front of thousands of people. My older brother got an Xbox that year, so we uploaded that record to it and would play that record over every game we had. This record was one that really kept me happy as a young kid. I had this huge anger problem and this record calmed me down a lot. I loved the speed, I loved the edge it had and when the last song ended, I was ready to go see them live and be that crowd at the end of the song, but I was a loser at my school and nobody else listened to NFG, so that never happened.
Set Your Goals - DemoMy camp counselor gave this record to me on the bus coming home from Six Flags when I was in 6th grade. I had an iPod at the time, so I had to wait to get home to listen to it. Talk about the longest bus ride home ever, especially with the traffic. My young mind was blown away. I played a lot of baseball at that age, and that was the only CD I used for my “warm-ups.” Given that this record is only 5 tracks: I listened to it a lot. The energy on this record was what really drew me in to listening to it so much. It was so heavy, so fast and the two vocals was something that was new for me. This band and album was a gateway into most of the music I listen to now.
Thursday - Full CollapseThis was given to me shortly after it was released; I was about 10 or 11 years old. My good friend gave it to me over AIM, my name was woolybooly91 at the time, besides that it was a long time ago and it really changed how I listened to music. I was still taking guitar lessons at the time and I wanted to learn how to play all those songs, at the time it was too advanced for me. So I really listened to the guitar work on this album and spent weeks and months figuring out how to play each song. Eventually it got too complicated and I gave up. Years later I came back to it and learned most of the songs and chords, and it’s beautiful. I hated this record the first time I listened to it. I thought his voice was stupid and the guy screaming in the background didn’t make any sense to me. This record really taught me how to listen to music. It takes a few listens sometimes, to understand an album. To this day it is one of my favorite records I just recently saw them perform "Full Collapse" in full in SF. Also, AFI’s "Sing The Sorrow" had this same affect on me.
Third Eye Blind - S/TI consider this my family record. My whole family loves this record. From my cousins, to some of my uncles, my dad, both of my brothers and my mom might, not too sure about her. I think the only reason my dad bought this record was for "Semi-
Charmed Life" but the long car drives to Lake Tahoe added up and we listened to this record every time. I remember sitting in the back of the mini-van with this on and everybody air drumming to the whole record. On Narcolepsy, we all tried to figure out why they added that extra jam at the end; to this day it’s one of my favorite songs. I listen to this album all the time, and I’m still finding new things about it that I didn’t hear 10 years ago or 5 years ago. It’s changed how I play guitar, I try and mimic this style in some way, the rhythm on this record is so strong, and it’s great. I love all of these records and the way they make me feel, I could listen to them all day, everyday for the rest of my life.
