As I am in the middle of preparing for my last batch of final exams ever, I have little time for music at the moment. When I do find a spare moment, I tend to listen to the music equivalent of comfort food. Now is not the time that I will be discovering much in the way of new music. Even so, I feel the urge to write a little, and an even stronger urge to avoid studying. As such, here is a list of my 10 most influential albums:1. Metallica - Master of Puppets: The first album I ever had. Got it sometime in middle school, for christmas. Obviously, I've outgrown the music. Still, it was the first time music became my own, so I give it it's due. In a fit of nostalgia, I bought it again while I was in college...I couldn't stand it on any level. Ha.2. Uncle Tupelo - No Depression: During my freshman year of high school, my older brother returned from a trip to Georgia with a copy of this album, and played it constantly. I'll admit, I was still a little concerned with what other people thought about music. I found myself humming the songs, but a little embarassed that they sounded like country music, at times. Eventually, I over came this, and this record was a conduit into the whole alt. country/americana/whatever scene. Not to mention that it left me with an obsession for all things Jay Farrar.3. Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club: As I mentioned exactly one post ago, my favorite live album of all-time. Cooke's voice is ridiculous here, and the energy from the crowd is amazing. This eased my way into 1950-60s soul music, which is a genre that has steadily grown in my collection.4. Whiskeytown - Faithless Street: Bought this on my 21st birthday, on a complete whim. I was spending the day with my girlfriend at the time. We were at a music store in the mall...her present was for me to buy any CD I wanted. Which was a big deal, considering our financial state at the time. The name of the band struck a cord with me...I had read something positive about them in some magazine somewhere. Anyway, we listened to the disc as we drove around that birthday. She pretended to like it, which was endearing and irritating at the same time. "Desperate Ain't Lonely" was the song of the night, I think she actually liked that one. I fell in love with the whole thing. Anyway, it connects to that memory, but also was my first taste of Ryan Adams, and something of a re-introduction into the alt. country scene. Not that I had abandoned it...but I had kind of settled for what I already knew (mostly Uncle Tupelo). As much as I like most of Ryan Adams' canon, his voice never sounded better than on his first two Whiskeytown albums.5. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks: Not my first Dylan album, but the first time I realized he was much more than a protest singer. I pretty much introduced myself to Dylan. The first thing I bought was a 3-pack of some of his earlier albums...and most of it was protest music. This was in high school, so this appealed to me. My brother gave me BoT for my birthday, and I remember being mildy disappointed. Makes me laugh to think of it now. It's beyond hackneyed to praise the songwriting on this disc, but it struck me from the get go. Probably the first album I ever had that doesn't have a weak track on it. I know some people dislike "Lily, Rosemary, et al", but I like it. Very cinematic. 6. John Coltrane - My Favorite Things: Got me into jazz. Ended up being something I didn't delve too deeply into, but I do have my selected favorites. This album was key because, with the title track, I was able to recognize the song, which gave me a started off point, and let me hear that jazz was more than just a mess of sounds. 7. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker: As you may have noticed, most of my selections for this list are based on the fact that they led me to explore some new musical genre. Well, this was the first album I ever sent my wife. She loved it, as do I. This probably doesn't make it "influential," but it is my goddamn list. I will cop to it being weaker than a lot of people make out. "Shakedown on 9th Street" sucks, and "To Be Young" is lame Dylan knock off. I actually found it to be a little disappointing at first, given the strength of the material from his first solo tour (much of which has never made it to disc). Regardless, it is STILL a good album. 8. Elvis Costello - This Year's ModelPurchased as part of the "3 1/2 Years" box set, and this was the album I really was able to sink my teeth in. Elvis Costello is my top artist of all time, and this was my starting point. It's not really keeping with a lot of the other stuff I like. A lot of his early work sounds very 80s, and is very keyboard heavy, two things I tend to shy away from. Will always remind me of my third year of college.9. Tom Waits - Bone Machine: Similar to This Year's Model, as it was my starting point for Tom Waits. Not really one of my favorite Waits' albums anymore, but it was where it all started.10. Robert Johnson - The Complete Collection: I had this album for several years. I tried again and again to like it, but couldn't. Well, I won't say I disliked it. It was more like, this is fine, but it's not something I am going to listen to just to listen to. Then, one day, I popped it in, and...I got it. Not just Robert Johnson, but the blues in general. I can't really explain it. It was almost akin to a religious experience. Not that I have ever have a religious experience, or am religious in any way whatsoever. Still, this started it all for me in regard to the blues.