This article is made up of 3 albums from my teenage years that I still love and listen to today. All three of these albums mean so much to me and I hope you’ll give them a shot!
- Coheed and Cambria’s “The Unheavenly Creatures” (2018)
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Coheed and Cambria is a progressive rock band from New York that has been around since the mid-nineties. Having released nine studio albums that, for all but one, are based on a science fiction comic/novel series titled “The Amory Wars,” they are my all-time favourite band. “The Amory Wars,” created by frontman Claudio Sanchez, is a beautifully illustrated and written collection that accompanies Coheed and Cambria’s albums. Each album, minus their 2015 release, “The Color Before The Sun,” covers a different chapter of the series. “The Unheavenly Creatures” is Coheed’s latest release coming out in October of 2018 and takes place after the events of their 2007 album “No World For Tomorrow.” Introducing us to new characters, “The Unheavenly Creatures” tells the story of Nia (Sister Spider) and Nostrand (Creature) as they attempt to escape The Dark Sentencer, a prison planet, to save their yet to be born son, Vaxis. This album, no matter what your mood or preferred genre, will have a song for you, from the heavy-hitting title track “The Dark Sentencer,” to the acoustic ending track “Lucky Stars,” and every song in between. The funky keyboards, kick-ass guitar, melodic vocals, and all-out drums are sure to suck you in just the way they did to me when I first heard them at 14. My favourite songs off the album and the ones that have helped me through thick and thin are “The Dark Sentencer,” “All On Fire,” and “It Walks Among Us”. If you listen to anything from this article I hope it’s this album/band, though the concept may seem far-fetched, I guarantee you will be able to connect with the music. Coheed’s music means a lot to me and has gotten me through pretty much every major life crisis since I was introduced to them. Though not everyone’s cup of tea, this band is truly amazing and doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of recognition they deserve.
- Florence and the Machine’s “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” (2015)
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An absolute goddess, Florence Welch is an English indie rock artist that also captured my attention when I was 14 or 15 with her 2011 album “Ceremonials.” Florence’s angelic mezzo-soprano voice, combined with her beautiful lyricism, and talented band, will leave your knees weak every time. No matter what she is singing about, she does an amazing job of conveying emotion, and you can hear the heartbreak, anger, and hope in her voice on her 2015 album “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.” Her third and most raw album features 13 tracks that all communicate a story of a trial or tribulation that Florence has faced in her life. With themes of heartbreak, learning to become whole again, and leaning into your experiences, Florence uses metaphor in a way no one else can to communicate her stories. Accompanying this album is a short film titled “The Odyssey” compiled of music videos created to follow the story of “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.” It is beautifully directed and features Florence herself as she dances her heart out and tells the watcher so much while saying so little. My top 3 favourite songs off this album are “What Kind Of Man,” “St Jude,” and “Make Up Your Mind.” If you haven’t listened to Florence and the Machine yet, I highly recommend; they will blow you out of the water with their talent.
- Bon Iver’s self-titled “Bon Iver” (2011)
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Bon Iver, also known as Justin Vernon, is an indie-folk artist whose roots date back to 2006, with his first album “For Emma, Forever Ago” being released in 2007 with his most popular song, “Skinny Love” on this album. His self-titled album, however, which was released in 2011, is the first album I ever heard by him. This album brings me so much peace as Vernon’s voice has a soothing quality to it while he sings along with the piano, soft strings, and playful percussion. The album has an interesting backstory surrounding filming the music video for the song “Wolves” off his 2007 album, Vernon was working with a close friend of Heath Ledger, who sadly passed during filming. The title track “Perth” is named after Ledger, as this is where he was from in Australia. Vernon got right to work on the song and what resulted was an idea, an idea for an album about different places and the things they can represent. This is how the album came to be and now the album for me always reminds me of home. My favourites of this album are “Michicant,” “Wash,” and “Minnesota, WI.” I hope you’ll give this album a chance and will feel a deep connection to your own place.
I hope you enjoy these albums as much as I do and if you’d like to check out more of my Spotify you can here