Editors – An End Has a Start (2007)

Editors didn't really bring anything new to the world when they released their debut album in the mid-00's. The sounds were really similar to Interpol and Editors does seem like the British answer to American Interpol. Still, being a fan of the musical style that is now called post-punk revival, I liked their music and developed an interest into their music. I think Interpol is superior to Editors when it comes to songwriting and even sounds. Editors sounds slightly more commercial and they have also taken some influences from another genre that was popular at the time, post-rock. There are huge guitar walls in these songs. This second album is even a bit more pop-oriented than the darker debut album, but there are some nice hit songs that work well on the dance floor. This type of well-produced and dark indie rock was really popular in the mid-00's and through these bands I discovered the joy of clubbing in the form of indie discos.

Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001)

Quite surprisingly, for a long time I considered Amnesiac to be the best Radiohead album and I kind of still do even if OK Computer has gained more popularity in my ranking. People always seemed really surprised when I said this, because they immediately thought that OK Computer would definitely be better in my view. Some people also pointed out that Kid A already made this kind of sound world known and Amnesiac was basically just a collection of leftover songs from that album. Both of these are valid points, because I normally like the use of so called "real" instruments more than electronic sounds and Kid A is fairly similar. I do think, however, that Amnesiac's range of songs is better than on Kid A and just for some reason the songs on Amnesiac speak to me more. Nowadays I may actually like OK Computer more, but I only got acquainted with Radiohead really late after Kid A so I first got to know the electronic Radiohead before the more guitar driven band and that might have made me like these albums more.

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang (2010)

The first time I heard about The Gaslight Anthem was about 8 years ago. A friend of mine introduced me to the great album The '59 Sound. Pretty soon after that The Gaslight Anthem released their following album, this one. American Slang has a bit more fine tuned sounds than its predecessor. Still, the songs are just as great and the attitude hasn't suffered at all. I still think The '59 Sound is the best album this band has ever made, but this one comes definitely as a close second. This New Jersey band makes amazingly catchy and emotional rock music. I own this album on a vinyl that I bought quite soon after it was released. I remember it being surprisingly cheap considering it was a new vinyl album in Finland. Maybe it was an end sale of one of the record stores. Many of them died around that time, unfortunately.

Don McLean – American Pie (1971)

Some of the younger people might know the song American Pie because of Madonna's cover version, but if you haven't heard the original, you should immediately go and listen to it. This album, however, is not just the title track even if it was by far the most successful song by Don McLean and not many people can name other songs by him. First and foremost, this is a great album that includes some amazing tracks. It's a prime example of the great folk rock scene of the early 70's. I don't think that many people will even recognise Don McLean's name, which is a real shame. I only discovered this great album of his relatively late, maybe about six years ago. That was a time when I was really into new indie folk scene and it was great to familiarise myself with some of the old stuff that had influenced these bands. I bought this a couple of years ago on vinyl.

Groove Holmes – American Pie (1974)

One more album I have gotten from my relatives that don't listen to vinyl albums anymore. I think this one came from my grandmother, or possibly one of my uncles that had left this album at my grandmother's place. This album is named by Don McLean's excellent song American Pie. The album starts with a version of that song. There are some excellent bass lines in that song, but the organs, which Groove Holmes plays himself, are quite cheesy and sometimes the rock organ sounds on this album sound a bit like cruise ship background music. The musicians on this album are all quite professional and it's a pleasure to listen to their playing, but the sounds are just a bit tacky most of the time. I really like funk, but I haven't bought that many albums of it, so it's fun that some funk albums have found their way into my record collection through alternative routes.

Green Day – American Idiot (2004)

I don't know many other bands who would've been internationally successful, then forgotten and then risen to success yet again. Green Day did all of this. Their album Dookie in the mid-90's was a big success, but after that album with each album Green Day became less interesting and the masses didn't notice what they were doing anymore, until they released this massive hit album almost ten years later. This time the band seemed to be a lot more political and it attacked George W Bush's politics. Maybe this was behind the success. Green day was always quite commercial when it comes to anything related to punk music, but on this album they stepped even a bit further, including outright stadium rock songs on the album. This approach seemed to work and Green Day started filling stadiums for their gigs and a whole new generation found the band.

Ugly Kid Joe – America's Least Wanted (1992)

This album is like the early 90's MTV generation in a nutshell. I spent much of my time in the early half of the 90's watching MTV. There was lots of Guns n' Roses, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, Nirvana and Metallica out there. MTV was still mostly about music, but they did have some shows that weren't just about music, such as Beavis & Butt-Head. I remember hearing at leas some of the songs on this album in that show. The Simpsons-style album cover along with the humour and American style rebelling against the authority in lyrics on this album make it a prime example of that era and what the generation X was all about. I was way too young to understand all of that, but I did try to understand the people who were older than me who I thought were really cool. Hard and heavy rock guitars were an essential part of that era.

The Nice – America & Other Classic Tracks (1990)

I only own three store bought cassettes and this is one of them. I don't even have a cassette player anymore, so I'm not really listening to this anymore. When I was growing up, cassettes played a huge role in my life. I used to record a massive amounts of mix tapes to be listened to both at home and especially in the car during journeys. All of these times are behind now that cars have CD-players or mp3-players and you can just create playlists on your computer, i-Pad or on Spotify. I think this cassette ended up to me from my father who had an extensive collection of cassettes. I only took a couple of those cassettes that were in good enough condition and had good enough music on them. The Nice is one of the most intense progressive rock bands out there. It's all about rhythm changes and playing around with crazy organ melodies.

Egotrippi – Alter ego (1998)

Like so many other Finnish bands, also Egotrippi draws influences from a large variety of different genres and bands. Many of the songs on this third album of theirs sound a bit like early two albums by Radiohead. There are also some power pop songs that sound a lot like The Posies. Egotrippi became known to masses in Finland after the very successful single Unihiekkaa from their second album. So, there were quite big expectations for this third album when it came out. It managed to be a success for the fans of the band, but it wasn't until years later that Egotrippi really became one of the biggest bands in Finland. In my opinion, the band is nowadays also a lost cause. They've become very boring with their mainstream commercial success. Alter ego, on the other hand has some great songs and it is an important part of my youth.

Why? – Alopecia (2008)

I love those moments when I randomly bump into interesting albums in a record store and I end up buying it without much knowledge of the album and it turns out to be a brilliant one. This is what happened with Why?'s Alopecia. In 2008, I was in Japan on a holiday with a group of friends from uni and on one day we were going round the record stores in Shibuya. When we stepped into one of the record stores, this album was playing in the background. It had just been released and it immediately drew me in. It was a strange mixture of indie rock and hip hop. I had never heard anything like this before. The album had a nice looking cover as well, so I felt confident to buy it. It turned out to be a brilliant album and I have ended up listening to it a lot. It's nice to have this great story behind the purchase and I will definitely remember forever where I got this album.

Richard Ashcroft – Alone With Everybody (2000)

Of all the Britpop bands that I listened to in the 90's, The Verve was probably my least favourite. I really liked the hit songs on Urban Hymns and the first half of that album is great, but I could never really take a hold of the rest of their music. It sounded all too un-melodic for my taste and I felt like nothing much happened in the songs. When Richard Ashcroft released his first solo album I wasn't expecting much. But when I heard the opening song A Song for the Lovers, I was sold. It's a great melodic song with excellent sounds and great layers of vocals. Back in the day I listened to this album quite a lot even though the opening song was by far my favourite. Now, many years later the album sounds a lot better as a whole. Maybe it just means that I've broaden my horizons a bit and I can also appreciate songs that have more subtle melodies.

The Leisure Society – Alone Aboard the Ark (2013)

I listen to a lot of music at work nowadays. I sit in a open space of desks and listening to music can block other sounds away easily so that I can concentrate to what I'm doing. Sometimes when I'm doing work that doesn't require so much focused concentration, I can actually also pay attention to the music I'm listening to. In this way I have found a number of new bands. I listen to playlists that Spotify suggests to me based on my previous favourites and I listen to many albums that I find from record store lists of albums. The Leisure Society was one of those bands that I bumped into a couple of times from both of these sources. I really liked their laid back folky indie pop and when I saw the CD with nice cardboard covers in a record store, I bought it. I listen to this album quite regularly nowadays.

The National – Alligator (2005)

Back in 2005 when this album came out I had no idea that this band even existed. I only found The National after their following album, Boxer, which was an international success. To many of my friends, however, Alligator remains the most important The National album. I don't really agree, because I think the songs and sounds on Boxer and on High Violet beat this album, but nevertheless, I think Alligator is the first seriously amazing The National album. I bought the album on vinyl after I had gotten acquainted with Boxer that my friend who worked in a record shop recommended to me earlier. Alligator has the same kind of melancholic mood as the later two albums, but it still sounds quite raw. The guitars sound like normal guitars without effects and the bass is in a leading role making the album sound more rhythmic than melodic.

Various Artists – All-Star Festival (1963)

This compilation album was released by the United Nations to support the refugees of the world. It's from the year 1963. I have a feeling that nothing like this happens anymore, which is a shame. Although, I don't really know if anyone would buy a record like this anymore anyway. I got this vinyl album from my father's aunt who doesn't really listen to LPs anymore. It has some excellent old-timey music. Mainly commercial jazz, blues and pop. There isn't really that clear theme in the selection of songs. I guess these are just popular artists from the time. There are some really big names on this album, such as Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf and Ella Fitzgerald. I feel like the range of popular music at the time was much more international. It's not all English language music either, although most of it is.

The Stands – All Years Leaving (2004)

This is a kind of random album for me to own. I remember listening to just a few songs by this band before I had this album. It sounded quite alright, so when I saw this CD sold with a cheap prize in the end sale of a Helsinki based record shop, I decided to buy it. I have to say that I haven't really listened to this album that much, but it has some nice songs on it. The Stands is an English bands but their sounds are straight from the US. There are some strong country and Americana influences on this album. Wikipedia calls this music rock or alternative rock, but I would definitely call it alt-country. Most of the songs have neat interplay between acoustic and electric guitars. The leading vocals are sometimes slightly annoying because of strong nasal, but it's not too much when you've gotten used to it.

Fastball – All the Pain Money Can Buy (1998)

This is one of the most random albums I own. I basically have this album only because I really liked Fastball's hit single The Way from this album. This album played quite a lot on MTV and on the radio back in the late 90's when started listening to more and more Britpop and American alternative rock and this song kind of fit that mood perfectly. When I had actually bought the CD I realised that The Way was really unique song for this band. The rest of the album is quite boring guitar pop music that doesn't really raise that many feelings in me. Now that I listen to this album years later I feel like this band was quite good in what they did, but their problem was lack of originality and ambition. Their music is, by no means, bad, but there's just not that much to grasp either and sometimes that is even worse than raising negative emotions.

Explosions In the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (2007)

In the 00's, a bunch of bands appeared, that started playing instrumental music where electric guitars were used in completely new ways. The guitars were spiced up with a variety of effects and the songs had dramatic changes from minimalist and beautiful chiming to full blast huge guitar walls of overdrive. I feel like there were two bands that started all this and at the same time they were the best bands in this genre. Namely, the Scottish band Mogwai and Explosions In the Sky from Texas. Explosions in the Sky didn't use quite as aggressive sounds and use of volume as Mogwai, but instead, they focussed on drama between quiet and loud. All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone is probably my favourite album by Explosions in the Sky. I didn't own it for a long time, because it seemed to be so expensive everywhere, but finally this May I found this album on vinyl in a record store in Chicago and I bought it.