For me, albums have always been more than just a collection of songs with a few good singles tacked on. At any given period of time in high school, I was listening to various different songs and albums. However I can invariably pinpoint a specific album that resonated with me at that time and was listened to especially frequently. Thinking back on the albums that I loved throughout high school, I realized that the music that I listened to wasn’t just a reflection of my thoughts and feelings at that time, but also ended up influencing me in both subtle and significant ways. Thus, this isn’t a “best albums” or “top albums” list, but only the albums that I found myself especially engrossed in throughout high school in chronological order.

Freshman Year

I literally walked into CHS on my first day of school with an iPod in my pocket playing Arcade Fire’s debut album “Funeral”. The reason that I remember this is that I listened to the album just about every morning on my way to school. Just as I was truly entering my teenage years, I once again returned to this album that I had become enamored with in middle school. The lyrics about finding one’s place in a nondescript “neighborhood” appealed to me as I entered the behemoth of high school. By the winter, I began listening to Tegan and Sara’s “The Con.” Instead of focusing on expansive social issues like “Funeral,” its singular focus on individual struggles appealed to me. Just about every song was under three minutes and it was a lot more pop-oriented and simplistic than “Funeral,” as well. When combined with a lot of Rihanna songs, it was the perfect contrast to the gloominess of “Funeral.” In the spring, I discovered Patti Smith and started listening to her 1975 album “Horses”. I remember an article referencing her as the “godmother of punk.” I didn’t even know that such a title existed, so I was intrigued. After the first listen, I didn’t really get it. However, by the third or fourth listen, I was completely absorbed in the literally poetic lyrics (Smith was a well-respected poet in the New York poetry scene, as well as the burgeoning punk scene) and the powerful subject matter. From there, I delved even further into the past. It was my last summer at sleep-away camp, where folk and acoustic guitar music are essentially required territory. That was the summer that I discovered Bob Dylan. I alternated between listening to various greatest hits compilations and his 1964 album, “The Times They Are a-Changin’”. Not coincidentally, this was around the time that I really started becoming interested in politics and following the 2008 election, so I’m sure that my growing political consciousness had something to do with my interest in Dylan’s inherently political music.

Sophomore Year

Around the time that I returned to school, my friend burned me a copy of Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 concept album “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.” Although most of the lyrics don’t actually make that much literal sense, the overarching influence rooted from the Diary of Anne Frank is made pretty clear in the lyrics. At that point in my life, “Aeroplane” was also probably the most objectively “weird” album that I had ever listened to. On the first listen, Jeff Mangum’s voice can seem a bit affectless and nasally to some, but the songwriting and lo-fi simplicity drew me in nonetheless. From that point on, I was a lot more open to listening to conventionally bizarre songs. For the rest of the school year, I alternated between two very different albums: Rilo Kiley’s “The Execution of All Things” and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album “Fever to Tell.” Rilo Kiley’s Americana-infused angsty rock album was the perfect complement to my sophomore year. Meanwhile, the ferociousness of Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O had a contradictory effect, inspiring me to take more risks and even occasionally serving as my pump-up music before tennis matches and tests. Over the summer, I became interested in Sleater-Kinney’s 1996 album, “Dig Me Out” and the entire early-‘90s riot grrrl punk music scene that accompanied it. It was definitely the loudest, most powerful album that I’d ever listened to and the raw passion of the music amazed me.

Junior Year

Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster opened my fall with a bang. It was one of the few mainstream pop albums that had actually interested me for years. Like the rest of the world, I was in love with “Bad Romance” and Lady Gaga’s unique public image and message. Rarely was there a day where I drove my car without playing a song from that album. That winter, I began listening to the debut album of a band called Girls, aptly named “Album.” Girls, a San Francisco band which is actually comprised of only male members, wrote probably the cheeriest break-up album ever. The jangly, ‘60s-inspired rhythms of the songs were the perfect antidote to dreary winter weather. Meanwhile, I had already begun reading the novels and poetry of the Beat Generation, also mainly based in San Francisco. Around the time I began studying for my first year of AP testing, Joni Mitchell’s classic album “Blue” became my most reliable study companion. At the time, the onset of the college application process and the pressures of standardized testing were incredibly overbearing and the quiet power of “Blue” was the perfect accompaniment to any relaxation and meditation. After seeing them do a free, in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl in the spring and in anticipation of seeing them at LouFest in August, I listened to Titus Andronicus’ Civil War concept album, “The Monitor.” As both a fan of punk rock and American history, I cherished this album almost immediately. I’ve never heard another album before or since that switches between Abraham Lincoln quotes and screaming over rapid, complicated guitar solos.

Senior Year

Summer was coming to a close when, due to my love for Arcade Fire’s past work, I bought their new album, “The Suburbs,” in a way that is unusual for me: I went over to a record store to pick up the album on its release date. As soon as I got home, I eagerly placed the record on my turntable and absorbed the lyrics. For years, I’d been growing tired of suburbia, so the album really connected with me. In fact, I identified with the album so much that I officially decided to apply early decision to a school in the city around the time that the album came out. I’d grown far too tired of the sprawl.