15 Albums that better describe me than that viral 25 random facts about me note.

In order of significance in my life.

Green Day – Dookie

The album that started it all. I remember going to tower records with my dad back in 1994, begging him to let me buy this cassette after I saw their music video for Basket Case on MTV. Ever since then, Green Day has been my all time favorite band. All the music I write has influence from Green Day. Billie Joe serves as one of the main reasons why I picked up a guitar and started singing in the first place. I don’t care what anyone says about these guys, they’re still #1 in my book.

Weezer – Blue Album

This was the album I picked up right after I got Dookie. I remember when my next door neighbor, Ryan, and I would listen to this cassette front to back, numerous times in the car. We listened to it so damn much that his mom even knew all the lyrics. After this album released, I picked up their 2nd album, Pinkerton, which made me fall in love with the sound of the Moog. I dreamed of having a moog ever since I heard it and now I have one!

Reel Big Fish – Turn the Radio Off

The first ska album I ever got. I believe I got it on my birthday in the 6th grade. I remember the first time I ever heard horns blended in with punk rock and I absolutely loved it. I’m sure every ska fan has had this album at one time or another. My most “successful” music project to date was with my ska band, 1337, which drew huge influence from these guys.

The Aquabats – The Fury of the Aquabats

Out of all the concerts I’ve been to in my life, I think Aquabats concerts hold some of my most favorite memories. Their brand of ska mixed in with mythical superheros and amazingly fast horn licks makes them easily one of my favorite ska bands of all time. A lot of people think their music is just for kids, but I think I speak on behalf of all big kids everywhere, that their music is for people who just like to have fun. I remember I went to one of their shows with Dave, and when they played “Red Sweater,” I don’t think either of us had skanked so hard in our life. I just wish they still produced music of this caliber.

Dashboard Confessional – So Impossible EP

After listening to a lot of what I liked to call “skate punk” (think: NOFX, pennywise, lagwagon etc.), I found a song that featured a guy, his acoustic guitar and his ridiculously high voice. The song was called “Ender Will Save Us All,” and I couldn’t stop listening to it. I always loved the sound of heavy distortion, blazing fast drum beats and less than average singers, so this was something SUPER different for me. This particular release, the “So Impossible EP” hit me like no other 4-track album had before. Call me cheesy, but I felt that this album spoke directly to me…I was in junior in high school at the time. After hearing Dashboard, I had almost completely stopped listening to the punk I was listening to before and was officially labeled an emo kid. Billie Joe was the first influence I ever had in my music and Chris Carraba is my second.

Yellowcard – One for the Kids

Around the same time I was listening to Dashboard Confessional, I started listening to a band from Florida that had a VIOLIN player. I was like “seriously? a violin player?” What I thought would be an awkward blend of punk rock, emo and classical music was something that was so unique and refreshing that it further pushed me to start composing my own brand of acoustic music. As many of you know, this is the band that is responsible for Matt’s and my meeting and our start as semi-internet video celebrities. If it weren’t for Yellowcard, I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing now.

Alkaline Trio – From Here to Infirmary

I remember back in high school when someone had told me that there was this band that sounded a lot like Green Day. As you should know by now, Green Day has always been my favorite band so I had to give these guys a listen. The first song I ever heard was “Clavicle” and “Radio.” I’ll have to admit that upon first listen, I didn’t like them…only because they sounded NOTHING like Green Day. After I got over the fact that they were completely different bands (except for the fact that Green Day is also a “trio”), I really got into these guys. They were set apart from the Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, Dashboard and The Ataris because their lyrics and style were so much darker and edgier. I also loved the extremely obvious distinction between Matt Skiba and Dan’s voice.

Buddy Rich – Big Swing Face

In High School, I was a total band geek. Not just marching band, but jazz band, orchestra, concert band and pit for all the school musicals. I joined Jazz band during my sophomore year of high school not really having a strong liking towards the genre. My teacher, Mr. Marino, let me borrow one of his favorite albums by the Buddy Rich Big Band and after listening to it all the way through, I decided that jazz band was the best class ever. Although my last time playing in an actual jazz band was back in 2004, I will love the genre and this is the album that started it all.

underOath – They’re Only Chasing Safety

This album basically defines my 4th year of college. I listened to a lot of scream bands before this, but I never gotten so emotionally attached to any of them until I heard this album. I think at the time I was getting tired of the traditional “pop emo” scene so I gave post-hardcore a try and this was the band that started it all. There is something about screaming over melodic hooks that makes this album so addicting. If I were mad, I’d scream along to the scream parts and if I just wanted to sing, I’d sing the melodic parts. This album got me through some of the more…interesting (not to mention, fun) times in my life so I can’t not put it on this list.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra 東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ – 1998-2007

I always knew who these guys were in High School but I only had a few tracks by them, namely “Tetris” and the “Theme from Lupin III.” But back then, it was REALLY hard to get a hold of their stuff because it was only released in Japan. Fast forward to around 2003 when the guitar player of my ska band, Scott, gave me this album and my faith in ska was restored. After our band broke up in 2002, I thought we’d never get back together again but I’m going to say that this album convinced most of us to get back together. We started writing our own songs, taking some influence from more popular ska bands like Reel Big Fish and mu330 but also Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. To this day, these guys are by far my most favorite ska band of all time.

Emery – The Question

This album, along with the “They’re Only Chasing Safety” started my entry into the whole post-hardcore, screamo or whatever you want to call it phase. Whereas underOath was all about scream, sing, scream, sing type of songs. I held Emery on a different level though. They screamed when it was totally necessary as opposed to just screaming for the hell of it. The way they laid screams over choruses or bridges, I thought, was really cool. But screaming aside, their lyrics were AWESOME. Genre wise, these types of bands all kind of sound the same, but I think the way they scream was super unique sounding. You could have every band in the genre scream for me, and I’d know which one was Emery.

Daphne Loves Derby – The Strength of All Convinced

In the midst of all the screaming, I found a band that reminded me of my earlier years of listening to Saves the Day, Dashboard and YC. At the time, I seemed to had stopped listening to acoustic tracks…probably because I hadn’t heard anything new in so long. I was also craving something heavier…so that explains all the underOath and Emery. Anyway, my friend, Han, sent me a track called “Hopeless Love” and I was instantly brought back to my love for acoustic music. I also think it’s really cool that Kenny, the lead singer, is Korean. There aren’t many Asian American front men out there so, go us!

呂建中 TANK – 延長比賽

呂建中TANK 是我第一次最喜歡的台灣歌手. 我第一次去台灣, 我跟dan在我媽媽的飯店看一部MV叫 “給我你的愛” 可是我們不知道他是誰．我只知道我其實聽懂那首歌的話! 我第一次從台灣回來美國的時候, 我的同學告訴我 “hey! 你聽過了TANK嗎?” 雖然我知道他是誰但是我覺得我沒聽過了. 他給我聽以後, 我發現我很喜歡TANK. 我覺得他聲音非常非常非常好聽而且他會自己寫他音樂. 我最喜歡的歌是 “baby (好人有好抱)”. 然後我聽他前的專輯, 我竟然發現”給我你的愛” 是他的歌!! 讓我很開心

慮廣仲 – 100種生活

我第一次聽過慮廣仲唱歌是我上一次去台灣的時候. 新年的時候，james, annie 和我在angela房間哩，一起看電視. 新年的時候, 很多歌手表演. 我第一次看他, 我自己說 “誰是那個奇怪的人..?他穿奇怪的衣服和戴大眼鏡”他開始唱歌的時候，我發現他有很特別的樣子. 他的歌跟大家很不一樣．他跟我印象. 我有一天希望在台灣表演．

High School Musical 1-3

Last and most certainly not least, is the High School Musical series. Call me dumb, stupid, retarded, gay or immature…I don’t care. I guess it’s a guilty pleasure, but not really…because I don’t feel guilty about it nor am I ashamed to say that I love all 3 of these movies. I’ve always been a fan of musicals but I’ve never loved any so much as I do High School Musical. The songs are so much fun to sing and they instantly make a bad day go good. Troy and Gabriella 4ever <33.

So that’s it. You guys have no idea how hard it was to pick just 15 albums. Hopefully you guys had as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

Like

Unlike