Last Night An Album Changed My Life Vol. 1

Sure, I'm stealing the title and sentiment from Mojo Magazine (http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/), but it's the last great music magazine. Sorry Rolling Stone, but you've been pretty shitty for some time now. And Alternative Press just leaves me feeling totally angry and old.

As we all know, music has the incredible power to soothe us or rile us up or spark discussion. Everyone has their top albums of all time, or things they can listen to forever and ever and not grow tired of. However, if you look back over your life, you can almost use albums as benchmarks by which to measure your very existence. Certain albums conjure memories and experiences, but ultimately, some albums forever change our opinions, and in some cases, our lives.

Son of Schmilsson by Harry Nilsson

I grew up with a father who would sing my brother and I to sleep with songs by Harry Nilsson from the soundtrack to

The Point

. The animated film was released shortly after The Beatles'

Yellow Submarine

and told the tale of a young man named Oblio who was banished from his home because he was different. The songs from the soundtrack are certainly interesting if not very odd, so by the time I was in my early teens I was familiar with the eccentricities of Harry Nilsson. By chance, I happened upon an old beat up LP of

Son of Schmilsson

in a thrift store when I was about 14, and knew that I had to at least check it out.

Letters to the Editor

Mail letters to PO Box 4910 Santa Fe, NM 87502 or email them to editor[at]sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

We also welcome you to follow SFR on social media (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and comment there. You can also email specific staff members from our contact page.