Everybody seems to be doing 'ten favourite teenage albums' lists at the moment; here's mine, from when I was 16. Few great surprises, perhaps, for anyone who knows me or my work well. Order is alphabetical.
Bauhaus - Burning From The Inside
Cabaret Voltaire - The Covenant, The Sword, & The Arm Of The Lord *
Cocteau Twins - Victorialand **
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures ***
Joy Division - Closer ****
Marc & The Mambas - Torment & Torreros *****
Psychic TV - Dreams Less Sweet ******
Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel - Nail
The Sisters Of Mercy - First And Last And Always
Virgin Prunes - If I Die, I Die *******
* = It was difficult to choose between this and Microphonies; Covenant won out in the end, primarily because of I Want You (though I didn't realise until much later that song is about masturbation)
** = Logos trivia; a sample from Victorialand's opening track appears on our first album Gehenna Now. Am I going to say what the sample is, and which Logos track? No.
*** = I lost my virginity to this album.
**** = It was impossible for me to choose between Unknown Pleasures and Closer so I opted for both. Both were pivotal albums back then, for different reasons; Unknown Pleasures for soundtracking my highs, Closer for my lows.
***** = I had all these albums on vinyl with the exception of this one, which I only had on cassette (though much later I rebought it on CD). Do people even listen to full albums these days? Will 'ten essential albums' lists even exist a decade or two from now?
****** = It's interesting how many Some Bizzare label albums are on this list.
******* = Looking back at this list I feel kinda sorry for my parents, putting up with this lot coming through the wall at formidable volume...
Currently reading: The Cannon: The Beautiful Basics Of Science - Natalie Angier
Currently listening: Nail - Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel