I really had to think about this.  To me, this was a lot more interesting that the average bullshit myspace "the color of your socks determine who your best friend is" nonsense.  What 5 albums really changed my life, this is what I came up with:

1.  Van Halen - 5150
2.  Pearl Jam - Ten
3.  Sugar - Beaster
4.  Fugazi - Red Medicine
5.  Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

Now, some may say those are some PISS POOR choices.  Well, I say fuck you.  There's a reason behind each, and again it's my list.  Your list can have the the Clash, Dave Brubek, Bad Religion, Slayer or whatever the hell you want.  Yours can hit all of the trendy names.  I prefer to keep this shit grounded in reality and think about how this music, this intangible sonic thing had such a profound effect on me that it actually changed my life.

1.  Van Halen - 5150. 

Oh fuck you.  And fuck you too.  No, it's not DLR era VH.  I don't care.  And guess what?  Van Hagar rocks.   Let's face it for all of Roth's ridiculous maCHEESEmo, Sammy's often goofy lyrics and slightly more mature bravado is just as rock n roll.  Maybe it's not as flamboyant, but I think it puts the focus back on the songs.  No matter how you slice it, the songs are great even surpassing some of what they did in the past.  I would have to say that this is one of the best albums where a singer was replaced at the height of a bands popularity and came out with something that did not dissapoint.  Or, maybe I'm just biased.  This is the album that actually made me stop listening to the Monkees, and made me want to learn to play guitar.  That in and of itself is life changing.  I would not be playing guitar today without Van Halen.  Now, if I hadn't then went and started listening to Led Zeppelin and deciding not to practice as much I would have been a much better guitarist.

2. Pearl Jam - Ten

Fuck you again.  I know everyone had to put "Nevermind" on their list.  There's a good reason for that.  Nevermind hasn't aged much while Ten sounds like an album released in 1991.  And Pearl Jam isn't cool, but Nirvana still has cred.  Helps to bite it early and not face the changing tastes of the music industry. It also helps that Nirvana never released a "No Code" either.  I did dig Nirvana.  But while Nevermind may have fired the first shot, Ten won the battle.  And for me, Ten came along and swept away everything I was into before and basically taught me that music is supposed to have some feeling behind it. In other words, the shit on Headbanger's Ball was stupid and here was a reality check.  It may have all been bullshit, but it really seemed like the band was pretty passionate about their songs and it came through in the music.  In definitely took me in a different direction.  And the songs weren't difficult to play which made it feel like you could actually be in a band too.

3.  Sugar - Beaster

This may not be on anyone else's list except Bob Mould's.  I had just started college... I was still into Pearl Jam.  WDRE used to play the Sugar song "Helpless" alot on the radio.  I didn't know the name of the song and I bought Beaster where "Helpless" is nowhere to be found.  It didnd't matter.  This was something different.  I listened to it non-stop, and from there I got into Husker Du and alot of the other SST bands.  It was noisy and almost a bit dangerous.  It also contributed to making me want to get out the band that I was in and start something alot noisier and less "rock". 

4.  Fugazi - Red Medicine

The terrorist that realigned my perception.  I had heard "13 Songs" and "Repeater" (yep... Pearl Jam talked about Fugazi and that got me wanting to check them out).  I didn't get it.  Maybe I wasn't ready to understand it.  Red Medicine came along and bascially blew my head off.  The most melodic and noisy album  I ever heard.  I did quit the band I was in to start a new one after this.  I would also have to say that this is the album that pretty much got me into a million noisy indie bands looking for a fix of something similar.  Nothing can touch it.

5.  Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

I have so many memories that get connected to this disc.  Then again, I played the shit out of it probably like no other album.  While Kent's Isola may have made me think about doing something different than what I was doing with The Cotton Weary at the time, Clarity became our new blueprint.  Slow things down and everything means more.  Sure, that's not how we wound up sounding but it was a great inspiration.  Every song is perfect on this album.  Yeah, even the one Tom sings.  I don't know if anyone else ever gets chills listening to music, but this one does it to me.        

That's it.  For a myspace post, I dug this.  I'm definitely interested to hear the lists and the reasons behind some of my friends choices.  Feel free to expound...