That "10 Albums That Stay With You" meme ...

Someone tagged me in that "10 Albums That Stay With You" meme on Facebook. I don't actually remember who, because it was weeks ago, but in any case, I didn't respond at first because I have a poem that kind of responds to that already, "Portrait of an Adolescence in Record Reviews." But not many people have really seen that one, and anyway, I've been thinking about it.

So here, in no particular order, are 10 albums that have stayed with me ever since I've heard them. Maybe they'll help you understand something about me. Maybe you'll pick one of them up. Maybe you'll be amused for 30 seconds and move on. Nonetheless, here they are:

1.) "Los Angeles," by X: This is probably the perfect distillation of how I felt as a teenager in Southern California. That scream of a place that you love and which makes you crazy, how that rage builds up under your skin. For my money, a nearly perfect album.

2.) "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea," by P.J. Harvey: Another album that's near perfection for me. Also: I was in need of help/Heading to black out/'Til someone told me run on in honey/Before somebody blows your goddam' brains out. Oh goodness gracious, yes.

3.) "... And Out Come the Wolves," by Rancid: Somethin' struck me funny when we ran out of money/Where do you go now when your only 15?/With the music execution and the talk of revolution/it bleeds in me and it goes...

4.) "Little Earthquakes," by Tori Amos: She goes off into space a bit much these days, but this is one of the most brutally emotional albums I've ever listened to.

5.) "Wheels of Fire," by Cream: I think this one will surprise a few people, but it was pretty much the gateway album to classic rock for me in my early teens.

6.) Purple Rain," by Prince and the Revolution: I could joke about it, but this album gets to me in ways that few others do. Once you cut past the melodrama and ... well ... Prince-ness, there's something raw about it, a vulnerable, wounded masculinity.

7.) "Double Fantasy," by John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Pretty sure I stole this from my mom when I was a kid. At first, I loved the Lennon songs and hated the Yoko ones, but over time, I've come to understand that the dissonance and tonal clash is part of the overall work of art. Also, "Watching the Wheels" is the song that haunts me when I find I'm doing things for the wrong reasons. I just had to let it go ...

8.) "Speaking in Tongues," by Talking Heads: Probably a placeholder for the entire Talking Heads collection, but as a studio album, this one is my favorite. No visible means of support/and you have not seen nothing yet ...

9.) "Disintegration," by the Cure: Such a beautiful album, everything is pitch perfect ... melancholy, beautiful, devolving into madness then back into beauty. Gorgeous.

10.) "Ghosts in the Machine," by The Police: "Omegaman," "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," "Invisible Sun" ... This one always takes me back.

And there we are. Please, feel free to do one yourself!