This Record Changed My Life VII

Sam Cromack | Ball Park Music
Radiohead – Kid A

It is partly due to the fact that it is an excellent record, but also largely due to the context in which it occurred. Radiohead had finished touring and conquering every corner of the globe with the alternative rock triumph that was OK Computer and the band were poised to drop what must have been one of the most highly anticipated releases of the last twenty years. To deliver a record like Kid A is a true artistic triumph and a massive risk which truly paid off. The band that sported three guitarists sud- denly felt like it had none. The band with the golden voice suddenly sounded like it was fronted by a robot. The first listens just seemed so minimal; I had nothing to latch on to. Now, after years of listening, I hear it loud and clear.

Ben Gillies | Artist
Led Zeppelin – Remasters 

Arguably this isn’t a record as such but to me it definitely feels like one. As a young boy, and into my early teens, there was a constant wave of Led Zep through- out the family home but it didn’t connect instantly. My old man kept planted seeds (songs) and simply waited for one to germinate. I’ll never forget the moment everything clicked, it feels like yesterday. I was around 10 or 11 and I’d already been playing drums for a couple of years and obsessively camped by the home stereo listening to music, and as a result considered myself to be quite the musical connoisseur. On this particular evening Dad decided it was time for more Led Zep… I rolled my eyes and figured I’d give it yet an- other listen, but this time, for reasons unbeknown to me, it was definitely different. The song was Nobody’s Fault But Mine. I was overwhelmed with excitement. It was like flicking a switch. The relentless rolling wall of drums; the crunchy blues guitar lines. I was a kid in a candy store as they say.

Macy Gray | Artist
Stevie Wonder- Talking Book

In reimagining the Talking Book album [Gray recorded a version of the entire album] I rediscovered what a genius Stevie is. When we dissected the album and learnt the songs I realised what an awesome musician he is. This album taught me that you can write a song about anything; Stevie has a really interesting way of putting his perspective into songs, it doesn’t have to be all about love or politics. The album was my own personal gift to Stevie Wonder, for all that I learned from him and for his miraculous songs that change my life every time I hear them. This is not a tribute album or concert, it’s a love letter and a big thank-you card on record and on stage.

Dean McGrath | Hungry Kids Of Hungary
Spoon – Kill The Moonlight

I was 17 when Spoon’s breakthrough album was released. Up ‘til then I’d mostly listened to the ‘90s grunge I’d grown up with and the classics I’d discovered in my parents re- cord collection: music driven mostly by either raw guitar power or swelling arrangements. So when this record first reached my ears, its starkness and simplicity were a revelation to me. I remember hearing Small Stakes on the radio and being amazed at how compelling just a single, stabby synth, glitchy drums and a lone voice could be. It’s taught me so much about the less-is-more approach to songwriting and arranging – and remains a favourite of mine.

Kirsty Brown | CEO, MusicNSW
Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 

My mother had a seriously excellent record collection. Even though there were hundreds of albums on the shelf that were more suited to the tastes of a Bros-obsessed six-year-old girl, one in particular stuck out. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is not only a flawless pop album, in it’s four-gatefold vinyl glory, it was also like a beautiful story-book – full of pencil sketches of Marilyn Monroe, Bennie rocking a Flying V, tattoo-imagery and amazing fonts.

The sleeve was a gateway drug into the music, and once I carefully put the stylus on the vinyl, I never looked back. Pop music wasn’t about guys with highlights wearing wet- suits anymore, it was about wittiness, lyricism and rocking the shit out of a piano. It taught me that the best pop music has soul and substance, and that has informed my world view as a music writer and critic ever since.