My Favorite Top Ten Albums That Help Me Create

Formulating ideas from my inner castle keep. This is a castle in Werfen, Austria that was used in the old Clint Eastwood film, Where Eagles Dare. There was a Birds of Prey show within the castle’s courtyard. The hills in the background are alive . . . some say . . . with the sound of music.

Creation, creativity, is the drive behind all artistic endeavors. My own passion is writing. Dancers experience the thrill, the lift, and the adrenalin rush bonding their bodies to a strict regimen. Musicians, artists, writers, actors, photographers, and chefs who follow a personal dream feel this creative epiphany if they exercise their artistic muse frequently. My own father, an artist, cannot stop painting. He paints because he is compelled to by an unknown, unquantifiable force. Daily, even in an assisted living home, he puts his muse to work, compiling 80 more smaller-sized paintings in the last couple months. He always has music playing in the background. I would visit his painting studio after high school where the music roared forth on vinyl; he loved listening to Opera, symphonies, classical, the greats of jazz, blues, and guitar work. He had a Red Hot Chili Peppers phase, along with a (now scorned!) disco interlude, like most of the country, that was squashed by the release of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and the emergence of new wave and some punk and heavy metal hair bands in the 80s. But music is always in the background, an invisible wall surrounding the artist at work.

#2

Security: Peter Gabriel (This is when he grew into a true artist with something to say.)

Pretenders: The Pretenders (Still as raw, melodic, and powerful today as it was back then.)

#4

Avalon: Roxy Music (There is a majestic sweep to the sound and vision Roxy Music created. Bryan Ferry’s new solo album, Olympia, sounds like the album Roxy Music should’ve made after Avalon – it’s worth searching out!)

#5

The Dreaming: Kate Bush (One of the most iconic singers of the past 30+ years. Most people love Hounds of Love better, but I listen to her dreaming-state album again and again without it ever growing old.)

#6

The Marshall Mathers LP: Eminem (The 2nd album by the Michigan artist and his intricate wordplay always inspires me.)

#7

The Fragile: Nine Inch Nails (Sometimes being down is turned into fantastic ART!)

#8

99.9 F°: Suzanne Vega (For the song Blood Makes Noise alone.)

#9

Interiors: Rosanne Cash (She writes songs, short fiction, & creates worlds of longing that rank with the very best. We all Dance With The Tiger.)

#10

The Wall: Pink Floyd (A concept album that was a seminal work spanning several generations.)

Listen to music. Live with music.

Enjoy,

Justin

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