Great topic Allanon!!!!!
This is rather difficult to narrow it down to just 5 albums over ones' entire life. Music had more of an impact on me in my early teens into highschool then it does now, but I can't just focus on just one time period. Here is goes. In no particular order.
Automatic for the People by R.E.M. In my opinion R.E.M.'s best album. This album covered a wide range of emotions for me and fit just about any mood I was in and influenced me for some time.
Original Movie Soundtrack - The Matrix. This has to mark my entry into "electronica." Even though I had singles and remixes prior to this album this one really pushed me into the genre. A genre that has since splintered into many sub-categories which I probably have a sample of everything currently playing on my iPod.
Deep Breakfast - Ray Lynch. Ok, if anyone knows who this is or what kind of music he plays I give you major kudos. This and other artists is what I was listening to at a very young age. My grandmother would play this for me when I needed help getting to sleep. This probably paved the way for me for many of my musical tastes as it does parrallel several other genres of music.
Drink the Sea - The Glitch Mob. This is my current favorite and only on this list because this album is just completely awesome from first track to last. I haven't been this excited about an album or a group since I was, well, a teenager.
Crash by Dave Matthews Band. Ok, honestly I'm not into DMB anymore. Nothing to do with their politics or anything, but this was the goto for me in a very troubling time in my life and I now associate this music with that time in every regard possible. I've completely moved on from that time any everything associated with it. Still, even though I don't count myself as a DMB fan I can't ignore the impact that this album had.
Well, there you have it. Are these my all time best albums? No, but each played a very significant role in my life. So much so that you could actually chroeograph my life simply by what music I was listening to at that time.
"What a long strange trip it has been."
S.