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My Five Favorite Albums from a Truly Pivotal Period in My Misspent Youth
It was a wild three-year stretch
For the past two days I have been pondering Troy Larson’s recent prompt in The Riff: “What’s Your Ultimate Throwback Album Playlist?” He added a kicker in the subtitle, which is what has made the whole thing so difficult: “Pick five albums from a pivotal time in your youth.”
It vexes me. I’m terribly vexed.
Being just a handful of seasons from hitting 60, there have been more “pivotal” periods in my life than I can count (even if I could remember them all). Kids have been born, a marriage entered and ended, friends and family passed on to the far shore, jobs gained and lost...you get the idea. How to choose from that cornucopia of chaos?
As it turns out, a song chose for me. Random lyrics pop into my head throughout the day (most often “tramps like us”), and as I was busy being vexed, one materialized from the ether of my mind: “I didn’t know I was lost at the time.”
To be honest, that particular line from the Gin Blossoms song “Allison Road” could also apply to multiple points in my life (including right now). But the prompt clearly wants me to choose albums released during that pivotal period, otherwise I’d just list three Springsteen albums (Born to Run, Darkness…
