My Top Five Albums at 24

Friday, March 18, marks a monumental day in history. No, it is not because it is the birthday of the Pillsbury Doughboy. The reason this day is so special is because it is the day of birth for none other than myself! Yes, Tyler Wheeler is turning the big 24. It is a scary thought to me, but imagine how my parents feel.

The age of 24 is a special age for me. It is the 10^th anniversary of when I began to play guitar, the instrument that has been the biggest factor in shaping my life to what it is today. Without it, I may have never studied music in college, planned on going to school to learn how to build them, nor have taken such an interest in music throughout my adolescent life until now. It has been my work, play, therapy, and form of expression. I can’t imagine my life without it. 

What I want to do for this edition of is talk about some of the albums that made me want to learn this instrument when I was younger. Without these albums shaping my love for music, I may have taken a different course.

Smash – The Offspring

First off, I have to say that if I had to choose an all-time favorite band, the Offspring would be it. Since I was about 9 years old, I have been a diehard Offspring fan. I remember sitting in the basement of my best friend’s house at the time and listening to this album time and time again while we had sleepovers. I didn’t know what punk rock was at time nor enough about it to know if I liked it or not. What I did know is that I loved this album.

Hearing this album for the first time blew me away. I specifically remember this being the heaviest kind of music I had ever heard at that point. It was fast, raw, energetic and gave me a feeling that I cannot describe. I wanted to do what they did. I wanted to be the Offspring (still do). The first song I ever asked my guitar teacher to learn was “Self Esteem” and to this day I will just start playing it whenever I’m playing music with friends.

I am at a loss for words when I begin to talk about this album and what it means to me. It was my gateway drug. It made me want loud, fast music and guitar coming through my speakers at all times. It was punk rock in the mainstream and I loved every bit of it. 

This album was probably the first time I had ever heard vulgar profanity in music, which as a 9-year-old boy, I found so intriguing. I also thought at this point that everyone in a band had to have long hair. Hey, it WAS the 90s.

The Art of Drowning – AFI

Once again, I have to pay homage to the Offspring because if it wasn’t for them, I would of never heard of AFI. The Offspring covered the AFI song “Total Immortal” for the movie Idol Hands. At this point, I was still new to the idea of punk rock, but the more of it I listened to the more I wanted. 

I remember the day I bought this album. I was at the Columbia mall with my mom and had enough money to buy it at a FYE. Once I started listening I could not stop. I still have the same disc today, and it is completely scratched up from playing it over and over and over again.

AFI had a sound that was not like any of the other punk rock bands I was listening to as a 13-year-old. They were dark, dare I say “goth,” but I enjoyed it. I cannot think of a song on this album that I absolutely do not love. I immediately bought all four of their previous albums.

The thing that intrigued me was how the guitar sounded so different from the other bands I was listening to at the time. Later, while I was taking guitar lessons, I learned that it was the way in which the guitar player, Jade Puget, was playing the harmony and his chord choices. For a punk band it was some pretty complicated stuff (not that that is saying much). 

Let's Face it­ – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

How a ska band made it onto the list of albums that made me want to learn the guitar may shock some. The guitar is probably the least important instrument when it comes to ska. I actually started playing the saxophone before the guitar so hearing music that incorporated elements of punk rock was just about the coolest thing to me at the time.

I got this album for Christmas in fifth grade when I got my first CD player. I also got a Mighty Mighty Bosstones shirt that I think I wore every day of school. The shirt actually fell apart because it was so worn. This was also one of the first bands my parents enjoyed as well. They can actually identify who they are if they hear a song of theirs on the radio (it was pretty cool at the age of 10).  

I love this band to this day because they are exemplify what playing music should be all about: having fun. There was a guy in the band whose only responsibility was to dance! How awesome is that?!

You can play any one of their songs at a party and no one will ever complain. I would see their videos on MTV and see them just having such a good time while playing. I wanted to have the fun they did and entertain people as they entertained me. 

Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind

Honestly, who didn’t own this album in 1997? Obviously I did. Third Eye Blind was practically one of the biggest bands around at the time. “Semi-Charmed Life” and “Jumper” are still on heavy rotation on most local rock stations.

When I think about it now, there isn’t really anything special that made them stand out from all the other alternative rock bands of the late 90s. Their best quality was the songwriting. To this day, I think that this album contains some of the best-written songs from the 90s. 

This album always just sounded right to me. Even as a 10-year-old, when my knowledge and bands and music were limited, everything on this album sounded how I thought it should. It all just seemed to make sense to me. When I went on to play and write music, this album was usually playing in the back of my head telling me ‘this is what a good song can sound like.’

OK Computer – Radiohead

I am quite fascinated that as a young child I enjoyed Radiohead. I guess I figured out at an early age that if you didn’t like Radiohead, you were automatically not cool. I WAS cool. 

There was no way that I truly understood what I was hearing on this album. The sounds that guitar player Johnny Greenwood produces with his guitar at times do not resemble a guitar at all. I remember being confused by the sounds I was hearing but enjoying it anyway. Every track on this album is unique. I remember hearing this album and thinking how cool it was that the same band could sound so different from song to song. 

What really sold this album to me was track two, “Paranoid Android.” This was the first song I had ever heard that was not in a typical pop music form. There is no defined verse or chorus. It is just a steady flow of a couple different sections of music that forms a coherent piece and turns the idea of something very “anti-pop” into a pop song. I have vivid memories of being so stoked every time this music video came on the television.  The cartoon visuals were disturbing while the music behind it was (and still is) one of the most enchanting and enjoyable pieces I’d have ever heard. 

These bands and albums mean just as much to me as my favorite toy growing up. I still listen to these albums and always seem to get a sudden rush of nostalgia. Without these people writing these songs and I don’t know what I would have become. So as I grow older, I will keep listening to this music so I can stay young at heart.

About the author: Tyler is a 23-year-old graduate of Towson University with a degree in music and economics.  He has been playing the guitar for 10 years and the saxophone for 13.  He has been performing and recording with several different bands since the age of 16.  He is currently an independent private music instructor for the guitar, saxophone, and music theory in the Reisterstown/Owings Mills area.