Eli's Super Indulgent Anniversary List Extravaganza

Next month will mark the one year anniversary of me joining this most revered site.  I've shared plenty of music I genuinely love, and I have found some great things along the way.  However, I would like to share with you, lovely readers, the albums that have changed me the most as a music lover, rather than a music critic.  I'll spread it out a bit to give the due attention to each album, with five separate days of music goodness.

And we're off!

25. Gospel - The Moon is a Dead World

Gospel's stunning album (and only album at that) kind of hit me at the perfect time in my musical exploration.  In between discovering new realms of music, I happened upon this little gem after a bout with progressive rock/metal, yet before my current love of all things emotional and/or hardcore.  The Moon is a Dead World happens to be a brilliant meshing of the two, with more "proggy" leanings.  Although, this has thus far been Gospel's only outing, it's no excuse to not check out this truly incredible piece of music.

24. ISIS - Panopticon

  

It's ISIS, so really, it is a given that this is good.  But how good?  Well, this is really the best of the best; an emaculate post-metal album that stands above just about each of its peers.  Despite having a somewhat homogenous sound, it's difficult to argue that these guys didn't come damn near close to perfecting their sound.

23. Opeth - Blackwater Park

Oh boy, this album.  That's right, the seminal work by one of metal's most consistently excellent and consistently praised bands.  For me, this album is about as close to perfection as I can possibly image.  Yeah there are a bunch of albums I place in front of this, but Blackwater Park is the only one I would not change a single second of--an unbelievable achievement.

22. Muse - Absolution

 

This album right here at one point became close to being worn out completely....which isn't even possible with mp3 files, that's just how much I listened to it.  I learned every lyric and every guitar line and comitted them to memory.  Simply put, it was an obsession, as alternative rock had never really hit me as hard as this.  Visitations aren't so frequent anymore, but is clear that Absolution has never really left me.

21. Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb

Now I know what you're thinking, with a name and picture like that surely I've doled out praise to a mindless, angry, and abrassive album, right?  Well, half right.  Pig Destroyer are a death-metal influenced grindcore band that manages to make some of the most incredibly varied and cerebral music in their genre.  Phantom Limb is a collection of bold, explosive, and opressive songs that display the unbridled genius of a band that has nailed its sound down.  For those curious to explore the heavier side of things, Phantom Limb is an absolutely perfect start.

Part 2 coming....soon.