My 10 Childhood Albums

21st February 2016 Off By Adam Bloomfield

Music has always been such a big part of my life, so I’ve decided to write about my top ten albums I had as a child/teenager and I still own to this day.

1.Simple Plan – No Pads, No Helmets….Just Balls (2002)

A gift for my 8th birthday from my parents in 2002 and the album that made me fall in love with the pop punk genre as a whole. An album filled with bouncy hyperactive pop punk which had me jumping up and down on my bed until the wee hours of the morning, and my parents telling me to turn it off. I even tried to skateboard to America to see Simple Plan on the Warped Tour but unfortunately I had to go back home for dinner.

2. Avril Lavigne – Let Go (2002)

Back in the days when I had pocket money I bought this album after seeing a commercial on TV for it and I still have this album to this very day. A perfect blend of pop punk, post-grunge and pop rock, I paid tribute to Ms Lavigne when I performed Sk8er Boi as part of my primary school’s talent show. Other songs on this album I loved were Complicated, I’m With You, Losing Grip and Anything But Ordinary.

3. Blink 182 – Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)

Another pocket money buy back in 2001, I had loved Blink 182’s Enema of the State album but I couldn’t afford it at the time so when I started getting pocket money I bought this from HMV. I often listened to the Rock Show when learning how to skate and listened to my other favourites such as First Date, when I was trying to win the heart of a girl in primary school or Stay Together For The Kids when I was feeling low.

4. The Offspring – Conspiracy Of One (2000)

It took me a very long time to understand the song Want You Bad’s message but I got it as I got older. This album belonged to my older brother but I secretly claimed as my own and listened to it on the sly.  Original Prankster inspired my rebellious side as I began to pull pranks and tricks on my friends and family. Man, those were the days where I could get away with causing a little mischief.

5. Bowling For Soup – Drunk Enough To Dance (2002)

The clown princes of pop punk captured my attention with this masterpiece in 2002. I must have spent so much time at HMV as a child I might as well have lived there full time with my pocket money. With songs like Girl All The Bad Guys Want and Punk Rock 101, I was spiking up my hair and skating madly through the streets of home with a song in my heart and an attitude problem.

6. No Doubt – Rock Steady (2001)

A departure from the pop punk leanings I grew up with, I was a massive No Doubt fan from 1998 when I first heard Tragic Kingdom and Rock Steady in 2001 gave me a new world to look into with its reggae and dancehall inspired music. I fell in love with the songs Hey Baby and Running plus there was Underneath It All and Platinum Blonde Life to have me up and dancing.

7. OPM – Menace To Sobriety (2000)

A birthday gift from my brother, much to the ire of my parents who didn’t like me listening to songs that had bad words in it, but, hey, I wasn’t too bothered. I always had the image of palm trees and skate parks when I listened to Heaven Is A Halfpipe (If I Die) and Brighter Side. I particularly related to the song Fish Outta Water as I felt like that around my peers in school.

8. My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (2004)

The album I got as an impulse buy but became one of my favourites and introduced me to the world of Emo. I fell in love with the darkness in this album from songs like Helena and The Ghost of You but I’m Not Okay (I Promise) is what really won MCR over for me. I even started dressing in black and being a little more rebellious after listening to this album. If my parents were religious I have a strong feeling I would have been called a vampire or a demon.

9. New Found Glory – Dressed To Kill (2000)

Another pop punk masterpiece I was given by my cousin who didn’t want it anymore. Well, his loss was my gain as I was introduced to the world of pop punk, so with this album on my portable CD player I went out and bought my first skateboard (after I’d saved up for it first) and skated through the streets with Hit Or Miss, Better Off Dead and Dressed To Kill blasting through my headphones.

10. Sum 41 – All Killer, No Filler (2001)

I bought All Killer, No Filler at the same time I bought Let Go and to this day I still have them both. A perfectly punk blend of pop punk and skate punk, I used to head bang to the song Fat Lip with its rap rock/skate punk sounds then air guitar along to my favourite song off the album In Too Deep. Skating and jumping up and down like a lunatic to this album really helped capture the pop punk spirit for me.

 

So there are my top ten childhood albums. If you remember any of these please write into Northern Lights.