The Bloodshot Staff's Top 10 High School Albums

January 17th, 2017 by bsradmin

Everyone is doing it. And Peer Pressure™works! Our friends and fans have been posting their top 10 high school albums all over the web, listing off the records they spun the most in their teenage years. It got our memories jogging (or "yogging" - it may be a soft "j") and we couldn't help but share our favorite teen obsessions, no matter how embarrassing, dated, or nerdy they are. (Some of us (ROB!) don't have to worry about that. Look how cool his picks are. Though his music taste probably got him beat up in high school. All the nerds come out on top eventually!) And yeah, in case it's not obvious, we have a generationally diverse staff.

Complete with audio! Have fun listening to our collective awkward phases.

Co-Chief Nan Warshaw (a hippy-activist-turning-punk, yet on the Dean's List)

These dozen are my most listened to albums from ages 14-17 (I graduated high school at age 16, so I included the next year here).

Patti Smith Horses

David Bowie Hunky Dory

John Hartford Aereo-Plain

John Prine John Prine

Grateful Dead American Beauty

Shel Silverstein Freakin' At The Freakers Ball

Human Sexual Response Fig. 14

Lene Lovich Stateless

The Mothers (Frank Zappa) Just Another Band From LA

The Who Quadrophenia

Elvis Costello Our Aim Is True

Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Co-Chief Rob Miller (the quiet punk kid)

Look, I’m not trying to play it too cool for school with this list, but I really DID NOT listen to music with anything other than a glancing interest until I picked up a Devo record; before that it was all comedy records and my own dark thoughts. I guess you could put “important” albums like Dark Side of the Moon and whatever fucking Zep record had “Stairway to Heaven” on it, cuz I found it all to be sooooo boring I turned off the radio. In hindsight, they had value.

The Cramps Songs the Lord Taught Us

The Gun Club Fire of Love

Otis Redding/Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at Monterey

Chuck Berry The Great 28

X Wild Gift

Black Flag Damaged

Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

George Carlin Indecent Exposure

Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks

Devo Are We Not Men?

Publicity Pirate Josh Zanger (the marching band geek)

Hum You'd Prefer an Astronaut

Weezer Weezer (Blue)

Snoop Doggy Dogg Doggystyle

The Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold as Love

Braid frankiewelfareboyagefive

Primus Frizzle Fry

Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five

Sunny Day Real Estate Diary

Blue Meanies Full Throttle

Shellac At Action Park

New Media Maven Mike Smith (the in-betweener)

This was nearly impossible for me to whittle down to 10. And jeez, didn't I listen to any female artists? This is a dude-fest. I'm also realizing that most of the traditional punk music I listened to was in middle school. Weird. I didn't consider that any sort of "roots" or twangy music was worthwhile until college.