5 Albums That Made Me Who I Am

Music is so powerful, and music is a very personal experience. No two people will feel the same about any piece of music or song. They won’t attach the same feelings, the same emotions, the same memories and experiences to a song. No two people have exactly the same music taste, and they probably didn’t come across music in the same way, at exactly the same point in their life, going through exactly the same thing in the same way.

Our musical tastes, experiences, and emotions related to music may not be exactly the same as someone else's', but there are a lot of tastes, experiences and emotions that we can share, or can be similar to, and there’s so much beauty in connecting with another person through music.

Music can shape us into who we are as people, it can form our opinions, the way we see the world and how we go through emotions. Music, in any form, for a lot of people, is an escape. We use music to help us get through hard times, and as well as a playlist for our good times. We use music to say things we want to say (but can’t say ourselves).

I’ve always had music in my life, and music has already meant so much to me. In a roundabout way, my life has centered around music. I’ve been surrounded by music since I was a born. My parents are big music fans, even though they’re not particularly musical themselves, they had a massive adoration of it. My very first memories of music were listening to Hot Fuss by The Killers in the car with my dad at a very young age, and going to an Avril Lavigne at a very young age, and crying and wanting to go home. Avril Lavigne was the soundtrack to my childhood. My mum told me the story of when she turned the music down in the car when I was singing along to Sk8ter Boi by Avril Lavigne and heard me singing for the first time.

I’ve had quite a few different stages of my music taste in my life, I always say that it’s quite varied and I can get on with any kind of music. My dad listens to a lot of 80s synth music, as well as rock and indie/alternative rock. I feel that my music taste is quite similar in many ways. I love synthpop (much more recent though), as well as indie and alternative music, but I also love EDM and house music. Give me a good house night in a club and I’m there.

In my opinion, the best kind of music that can be made is authentic music, with meaning and emotion behind the music, lyrics, and the performance. Almost every single one of my favourite artists write (or co-write, and sometimes produce) the music they release. These include Marina, Florence and the Machine, SG Lewis, Lapsely, Lily Allen and Lorde, to name a few. It’s something that really follows my morals as a person, and it helps me to really connect with the music. It’s something I admire. It doesn’t mean that music that isn’t written (and sometimes produced) by the artist is bad music. I do listen to and enjoy a lot of songs like these, it’s just my personal connection with music. It all comes down to personal taste and opinion.

There are many songs, as well as albums that have gotten me through some really rough times, but I’m going to focus on my 5 albums that made me who I am, please share yours down below, or on your stories.

1. Melodrama - Lorde (2017)

Melodrama is Lorde’s sophomore album, released in 2017. I’ve been a big fan of Lorde ever since her first big single; Royals in 2013. Pure Heroine, it is also a musical masterpiece, and did help to shape me into who I am. It broke a lot of pop-music conventions, and had a massive impact on music, music creation and the music industry.

Lorde is a bit of (self proclaimed) weirdo, like me, in all the best ways. She strives to be herself, and her music is honest and clever. Melodrama is no different, in fact it is much better, you can really see how she matured, both in her personal and artistic life.

What the album is about:

All kinds of music are forms of art, but Melodrama is an absolute masterpiece. The album is situated after a break-up, and is also centered around the highs and lows of a house party.

Lorde and Jack Antonoff wrote the entire album together, except for two songs: Homemade Dynamite and Green Light. It came from a very personal place, they worked so hard on it. Lorde called it her little baby. Their nourishment paid off, you can tell that every single tiny detail was thought about, analysed and perfected. The production on the album is intense and SOMETHING, but not overdone. Each songs’ sonic landscapes are filled to the brim.

The album is filled with metaphors, similes, clever phrases, imagery and sentence structures. Her unique phrasing to explain exactly what you mean, in ways you wouldn’t think of explaining them. She brings up small details of relationships in a detailed way; “our days and nights are perfumed with obsession, half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor”.

Lorde explains exactly what it is like being in young love, and being crushed by it, as well as enjoying being young. ‘Sober’ is an upbeat tune which depicts “being a little bit involved with someone and it’s magic when you are out — you’re just king and queen of the weekend, you own the party” as Lorde tells, and considering “what will we do when we’re sober?”. ‘The Louvre’ also focuses on the rush at the beginning of love.

‘Perfect Places’ and ‘Homemade Dynamite’ ‘Sober Melodrama’ (as well as ‘Sober’) focus on partying, as well as love. ‘Hard Feelings/LOVELESS’ ‘Supercut’ ‘Green Light’ ‘Liability’ all focus on the demise of a relationship and the different emotions associated with it.

The melodies are interesting, memorable, sharp at times, and low and sombre at others. Her voice is extremely emotive and powerful both in the main melody and backing vocals. Her use of voice has matured vastly since ‘Pure Heroine’. This album features high highs, and low-lows, vocally.

The production is vast. The sonic landscapes are filled with intricate, thoughtful and meaningful details in order to further the emotional journey we take with her. This album is hugely personal and raw in every aspect.

Why it means so much to me:

Lorde has a way of releasing her albums exactly when we needed it, without us knowing we needed it so much. Being similar age to Ella, her music and lyrics have always really resonated with me. I love ‘Pure Heroine’. Lorde came to my attention when ‘Royals’ was released, so I was 15 when ‘Royals’/’Pure Heroine’ came out. It does represent me well at that age, going through teenage years, being a little bit weird, not being one of the ‘cool’ ones - or a ‘White Teeth Teen’. However, ‘Melodrama’ is perfect, in my eyes. It is by far my favourite of the two. It is one of my all-time favourite albums. In fact, I’m sitting at my desk, looking at a ‘Melodrama’ poster right now, whilst writing this.

I couldn’t make a post about albums that made me/saved me without mentioning this masterpiece. Melodrama came to me when I needed it the most. It explained exactly what I was going through, and exactly how I felt. It said I wanted to say better than I could say it myself.

In 2017, I was 18 turning 19. I was beginning to go on nights out and enjoying my youth, as well as going through some friendship troubles, a friendship that was a massive part of my life. Each song resonated with me on a deep level. I have listened to this album on a regular basis since it first came out. Over the past three years, I’ve fallen out with people who I thought were my good friends, I’ve hated myself but I’ve also had great nights out, great moments, had crushes, and made new, better friends. Melodrama made me feel better, and gave me confidence. Every single song still resonates with me on a deep level. It comforts me when no one else can, it’s lifted me up, made me feel at home, and it understood me better than most people. It has also inspired me and brings peace to my soul. I think it’s amazing, and a true piece of art.

2. Electra Heart - Marina (and the Diamonds) (2012)

Marina (or Marina and the Diamonds as she is formally known), is probably my all-time favourite artist. She is a master with words, and encopasses sass,

What the album is about:

Most people don’t actually realise how outstanding Electra Heart actually was. Or at least, they didn’t. Marina herself has mentioned that she had clashed with her record label Electra Heart, and to be able to release it the way she wanted to.

Electra was a vision, it was the true meaning of a piece of art. It was a true era. Marina died her hair bleach blonde, and took on the persona of ‘Electra Heart’. Bubblegum Bitch, the opening track features the lyrics “welcome to the life of Electra Heart”. Visually, it is based around four female archetypes: the housewife, beauty queen, homewrecker and idle teen.

She also released “parts” which were videos to tell the story of ‘Electra Heart’ on her YouTube Channel, some were music videos, somewhere smaller pieces of footage, and unreleased pieces of music. There was initially meant to be 14, but it ended up as 11, and ended with Electra Heart essentially dying.

According to Marina: “The main theme of the album is love, but mainly the side of love which is about rejection. And talking about things that you don't like to admit in real life. It's based around relationships…..I’ve written about it in a particular kind of way, splitting the album into two moods, one which is very hesitant about being seen as a victim, you get this impression of someone who’s quite tough. And then the other side of the album is quite raw and explicit in its honesty”.

The lyrics are clever, and often quite philosophical. In “The State of Dreaming” Marina opens with “millions of girls float on their quote”, referring to a quote that went around about Marilyn Monroe, and how even though she died in an undignified way, this one quote and one image of Monroe was enough to carry her legacy on. Radioactive starts with “lying on a fake beach, you’ll never get a tan”, and Sex Yeah features “if history could set you free, from who are supposed to be, if sex in our society didn’t tell a girl who she would be”. Teen Idle is all about a youth that she wished she lived; “I wanna be a bottle blonde, I don’t know why but I feel conned... I wish I’d been a teen, teen idle”. She also features deeper lyrics about relationships and yourself; “who are you to tell me, who to be?” in Hypocrates, “not everyone is out to screw you over, maybe yeah, just maybe they just want to get to know you”.

Her vocals on the album are amazing and very controlled. She has a very unique tone and a unique way of singing. She often goes directly from high highs in her falsetto, to low lows in her chest voice. Her falsetto has strength, and her chest has power. The melodies are pop, but still interesting and intricate, they are complex and hard to find in any other pop star.

Why it means so much to me:

This choice was a hard one. Each Marina album is perfect in their own ways. The Family Jewels has so much sass, as well a bit of weirdness, very much like me. It was quite alternative, and an indie feel to it. Obsessions featured an entire verse about buying the wrong crackers at a supermarket which I thought was hilarious but also so had a lot of meaning to. It was clever, and funny, and sassy, but also featured amazing, strong vocals.

FROOT made me want to be in music much even more. She wrote the entire album alone, and co-produced it, which was something I truly admired. It was something I desperately wanted to do as well. If she could do it really well, so could I.

Love and Fear really did get me through dark times. I’d fallen out with people I thought were my friends for life, and I was struggling with my own identity. It brought me joy when I was at quite a low, it truly did say the words I wanted to say, and it helped to influence my own writing style.

However, Electra Heart is a defining album for me. It built me up, it shaped and matched my views on life. It reminds me of a good and a bad time in my life, a very developmental time in my life. I was a teenager when it was released, and that was exactly what that album was made for, as Marina has said herself. It was sassy, very clever and well thought out, but it was also raw, truthful and philosophical.

“Starring Role” and “Lies” really strikes a chord, and expresses how I felt at that time better than I could myself. “Primadonna” is a sassy anthem that made me feel empowered, with “Power and Control” “Homewrecker” and “Sex Yeah” having a more philosophical spin. To me, Electra Heart represents youth, growing up, fighting with yourself and others, but also being a strong person, knowing who you are, and being able to analyse the world around you. To me, Electra Heart is a part of me.

This album really ignited my passion for music, and made me pursue a career within the music industry. If Marina could do it, so could I. Marina often felt like she had a lot to prove in her career, and had to fight against people and their assumptions. This is how I’ve felt. I’ve had a lot of assumptions made about me, I’ve had people tell me I’m not who I think I am. I’ve put a lot of effort into people who I didn’t feel put the same back. This album was often my way of being sassy, express my emotions and thoughts without directing it onto someone. I felt understood in my teenage years through this album, and that was really important. It also let me be me.

The lyrics and sentiment were so true to teenage me, but relistening to the album in my early twenties has given me a different view. I understand more where Marina was coming from than I ever did before, and I can understand what she’s been through, more than I could before. The album is timeless, and I feel like I’ve aged with it.

Electra Heart lit the fire in my soul (both for music and personally), melodrama ignited it, but they both empowered me.

3. Alright, Still (Deluxe) - Lily Allen (2006)

When Lily Allen’s debut album was released I was 8. The memory of how and when I got into Lily Allen is quite hasy, for both me and my family.

When the fear music video

I’m pretty sure that when I was able to control, and was conscious of my own music taste I got into her. We had the first two albums in my house, and when my dad went to Glastonbury in 2009, (I know, lucky man, simpler times then though), I asked him to see and send me pictures of Lily Allen. I would have been 11 then.

Lily Allen is full of sass and cheek, both in her lyrics, songs and her own personality. She’s very british and captures the british sense of humour really well. She may not have the most powerful voice, but it's quite recognisable, and she uses it in a perfect way.

She talks about things and analyses society in a way

She shares a lot of our opinions as a society, but says it well…???

What it’s about:

This album was made and released when MySpace was a massive thing, which feels like a lot longer than a decade and a half ago. Lily Allen only had £25,000 to write and produce the album, which is nothing in terms of advances.

Lily made a name for herself with this album. It is full of sass. She even used to wear prom dresses and trainers in this era. Unlike the first two albums on this list, this album has less of an overarching theme. Each song is really well written, again in a different kind of way to the above two albums. Every lyric is brutally honest, often with a lot of humour behind it as well. Humour is a strong point of this album, it is full of cheek, sarcasm and sassy lyrics. They are also very conversational, so you can take them at face value rather than having to really analyse the meaning of the lyrics. The lyrics are filled with clever rhymes. The melodies are very catchy, each song has a vibe to them, tells a story and makes you want to sing along.

Lily pushes the boundaries of what pop singers can say, with having an entire song about her brother ‘Alfie’ sits in his bedroom all day smoking. ‘Smile’ talks about being cheated on, ‘LDN’ has a humorous and honest view of what really happens in London, ‘Nan You’re A Window Shopper’ does what it says what it says on the tin, it’s about her nan and how she’s a window shopper, ‘Cheryl Tweedy’ is about how Lily wishes she looked more like Cheryl Tweedy and could eat spaghetti without feeling guilty.

Why it means so much to me:

Lily Allen had to be on this list. There is no doubt about that. But which album I chose was a really hard decision. It was between No Shame and Alright, Still.

No Shame is an amazing album from Lily. It’s raw, it’s honest, it’s different. It helped me get through a really bad time. She wrote the album about the break up of her marriage as well as whilst she was having an idenity crisis, which we know by know is something I’ve been through (not the divorce though - don’t worry). ‘Come On Then’, ‘Apples’ ‘Cake’, ‘What You Waiting For’ ‘Lost My Mind’ ‘Higher’, are my favourites on the album. They were my anthems during that time. The rest is great too. Listen to it if you haven’t already, it’s Lily as we know and love her, but it’s a heartbroken Lily having an identity crisis. If you’re going through a hard time, or need some uplifting it’s perfect.

I chose Alright, Still because of the way it’s written. It’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics are something I adore. It’s not something that’s seen very often in pop music. I have a very similar sense of humour and a really cheeky side that not many people see, but this album reminds me of that, and taught me that it’s okay to be like that.

4. Let Go - Avril Lavigne (2002)

Avril Lavigne’s debut album, ‘Let Go’ was released in 2002, when I was four. Nonetheless, I remember how iconic it was then, and how iconic it was for a long time. In fact, it’s still iconic. We also need to remember that Avril was a teenager when this was written and released. She’s gone on to create another

What it’s about

The big singles that came from this album were ‘Complicated’ ‘I’m With You’ ‘Losing Grip’ and ‘Sk8ter Boi’, and I’m sure you’ve heard at least one of them. The album has a rock/grunge/punk feel to it, focusing largely around guitars. Avril’s vocals are outstanding, they are perfect and powerful, her voice sounds very mature for the age on this album.

The album features the negative points of a relationship and break up, and how it made Avril feel. Lyrically, ‘Losing Grip’ is quite raw as it discusses who a friend or lover ignores her and only uses her to make an impression, ‘I’m With You’ talks about loneliness, with ‘Nobody’s Fool’ talking about not turning into someone other people want her to be.

If you haven’t listened to this album the whole way through, you need to. It’s more intimate and honest than at face value, and raises issues that most of us have faced in our lives.

Why it means so much to me

This was also a really tough decision. It was between Let Go and Under My Skin. Under My Skin is an incredible album. In fact, I think it’s better than Let Go, and even though the Bonez Tour (for her Under My Skin album), was my first ever concert, at the age of six, I had to choose Let Go.

I chose ‘Let Go’ because it really was where my relationship with music really began. I would sing this album all the time, at any given opportunity. Around my house, around my nans garden, in the car, everywhere. I would pretend to be Avril, and be famous, on stage, and I really related to the lyrics, even at a young age (okay maybe not four, but probably from 6 onwards). I was bullied at school, but still wouldn’t change to make people like me, I was also very mature for my age, and quite emotional. Avril was so cool, she didn’t care, she was a bit of a rebel, and so I was I (yes, I was, in my own way). This album had sass in it’s own, rock-y way, as do I (as we all know by now).

This album reminds me of many, many years of my childhood, and did also help to empower me. It was actually was the first time I was conscious of my ambitions to work in music.

5. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Deluxe) - Florence and The Machine (2015)

This final album was such a hard decision, I ummed and ahhed and changed it many times, but I had to include Florence and the Machine on this list. This makes up a trio of witch-y vibe singers along with Marina and Lorde (which is not the only reason I chose her - trust me).

Florence Welch is honestly one of the best vocalists of our generation in my opinion. Her voice is loud, strong, but also soft and floaty. Her writing style is often cryptic, with big meanings behind her songs.

What it’s about

This is such a strong album. Florence made a SOMETHING PART ‘Odyssey’ for the album too which is available on YouTube.

Her vocals are strong and the melodies are very intricate. The instrumentation matches the energy of Florence’s vocals without either part being too overpowering.

In this album Florence discusses her addiction issues, but not in an obvious fashion, as well as the nervous breakdown that she had during her year off during a chaotic time in her life. She tried to put the chaos into this album, and did it well. This album truly has an “organised chaos” feel to it. Welch said that it is one of her most personal albums ever, as it does discuss what she’s been through. It also focuses on relationships, and a negative view of love, and what it does to you. Florence also features philosophical lyrics such as “if each side is a loser, who cares who fired the gun?” in St. Jude, as well as metaphors such as: “I never thought I’d be a killer, cus there’s so much to lose” in ‘Make Up Your Mind’, and the ‘Ship To Wreck’ is a metaphor. This album doesn’t have a large orchestral focus, which was a conscious decision so as to not make “Ceremonials part 2”, but each part of the sonic landscape is filled.

Welch stated that: “I guess although I've always dealt in fantasy and metaphor when I came to writing, that meant the songs this time were dealing much more in reality. Ceremonials was so fixated on death and water, and the idea of escape or transcendence through death, but the new album became about trying to learn how to live, and how to love in the world rather than trying to escape from it. Which is frightening because I'm not hiding behind anything but it felt like something I had to do.”

Why it means so much to me

This was a really hard choice too, I got into Florence around the same time I got into Marina which was the 2009-2010 era, so I’ve been with them since their very first album, but I couldn’t make up my mind between this album and Ceremonials. I chose this one because, honestly, I just adore it the most.

Florence taught me that unconventional singing styles and volume are okay, and that’s how I found my own voice, through singing along with Florence (and Marina). Her writing style also influenced me to think more outside of the box, and not make every lyric so obvious. Florence is very much herself, she is a very soft person, who thinks things through, like myself, but also has this great loud voice. This album helped me in many ways, and I can attach it to different situations, but it helped me to express my feelings and emotions, as well as learning to be myself more. She has unique ways of saying things, and fills her songs with cryptic lyrics, which I love. She influences my writing style, and my singing style, and encourages me to be a better person. This album also made me realise that everyone goes through things, and you can come out the other side.

Overall

Lyrics are a big part for me, often more than the melodies, or the voice, but these are also really important for me, but I focus on lyrics and meaning. I don’t think some people really think about how much made them and what influence music has had on them. So think about it, and tell me, what are the 5 albums that made you?

6 albums/artists that almost made it on this list:

1. Coldplay - Any album (except probably Ghosts, sorry), probably Mylo Xyloto.

2. Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go - many reasons really.

3. Disclosure - really hard choice between Settle and Caracal, probably Settle, but could be either album. Reminds me of many nights out with many drinks.

4. SG Lewis - Anything really. He doesn’t have an entire album out yet but his entire discography is amazing. Read my SG Lewis - Artist Special Article here.

5. The Killers - Hot Fuss. This was one of my first ever musical memories, and is a smashing album.

6. Lana Del Rey - Born to Die Paradise Edition - outstanding album, also really influenced my decision to pursue my career in music.