To kick the series off Zane tells us how U2’s Achtung Baby became one of his all-time favorite CDs, and Greenmuse tells us how Operation Ivy saved him from the clutches of the evil Marilyn Manson. 

U2 – Achtung Baby
by Zane Ewton

It was when I turned 11 years old that I really started getting into music.  My grandfather always had music playing in the car when we traveled.  He loved George Jones and Hank Williams.  My uncle was also into music, but he steered more towards Ozzy and Metallica.  Those were my two initial influences to music, country and heavy metal.

My mom had bought me a “Rip” magazine, and I came across one of those ads for the music clubs that offer “10 cds for the price of one” and I was suckered in.  I had picked U2’s Achtung Baby, mostly because I thought the video for “Mysterious Ways” was cool.

I didn’t know very much about U2 and when I listened to the album I wasn’t exactly blown away.  It wasn’t until a few years later that I completely rediscovered this album.  Something clicked and the music just knocked me down.  For the first time I felt like I had some music that was mine.

I was probably 16 years old and Achtung Baby hit me right in the forehead.  Every song felt important, and every song grew in meaning, pushing and pulling at my emotions.  Over the next few years, Achtung Baby just kept getting better.

The songs were tragic, romantic, and emotional.  It is the beginning and end of everything I love about music, but was unlike anything I had ever heard. 

I have since listened to all of the U2 albums and I always find myself going back to this one.  Achtung Baby is the closest that U2 has come to making a perfect album.  “One” is the closest they have come to making a perfect song.

My conversations with people are mostly about music.  The people that I have spoken with almost always have their own point of reference for when music became important to them.  My grandfather tells me about discovering country music and being able to feel the loneliness and longing in the songs.  

Music can be more than just a good beat to dance to.  There is music that can really inspire people and holds deep feelings for them.  Achtung Baby is uplifting, healing and celebratory for me.  It is every emotion at the end of every spectrum rolled into one package.

Where I grew up my home was far from other houses.  There were miles of untouched land.  Mostly just bushes, weeds and broken barb wire.  I would take my headphones and walk through the bushes at night, singing along with Achtung Baby as loud as I could.   It was my therapy, it was escape and all of my dreams could be poured out in the dirt and were free to roam.  

Achtung Baby changed me. 

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Operation Ivy
by Greenmuse

This is the album that made me the man I am today.  If not for Operation Ivy, I would probably be arguing with Hobo about slipknot being the most metal thing to come down the pipes since Black Sabbath. For me this album was that scarce musical experience where time slows down and a chorus of heavenly angels sing halleluiah to let you know you have something really special on your hands. For those yet to experience this thrill, think back to the first girl whose girly chest bits you got to feel. It felt exactly like that(emotional wise, not texture wise).
 
I received my copy from a girl I met on the internet--AOL to be exact. To be even more exact, I met her in a chat room called "I hate it when…" I forget exactly what transpired but she promised to send me some good punk rock to take the place of my (now embarrassing) love of all things Marilyn Manson. Months and months passed before it finally got to me, supposedly the package was misplaced under her x-mas tree, which hindered its departure from New York to Destin, Florida. But finally it arrived and from the very second I heard the first chords of "knowledge", I knew that I would never be the same. Suddenly Mr. Manson was a sham, everything I knew musically was a sham, but THIS… this was what music should be! Fast, simple, and above all passionate. the album is poorly recorded by most standards. The thing sounds like it was recorded in a tin room and Jesse Michaels is nearly hoarse on some of the tracks. Plus the tuning is slightly off at times; so it is perfect. The lyrics are extremely well written and sung with a frantic energy, as if the world is going to come crashing down at any time, yet there is a positive message, an unwavering belief that music can change the world. Even on its own the music is impossible to sit still to, "bankshot" is a great example of this. Not many punk tunes can stand on alone as instrumental. To top the undeniable greatness of these tunes, these guys were mere kids when they made this music. 

To this day, I can never thank Tara enough for sending me that cassette so many years ago.

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