Name a few albums which helped determine your musical tastes

James Taylor (Apple)
Jimi (Eddie Kramer) - Axis..
5th Dimension (Jimmy Webb) - The Magic Garden
Brian Protheroe - Pinball
Al Jarreau (Jay Graydon) - Jarreau
Wondermints - Mind If We Make Love...
Mahsvishnu - Adventures In Radioland
Kevin Gilbert -The Shaming Of The True
Scofield - AGoGo
Ray Chen live anywhere

Pink Floyd
Weather Report: Mysterious Traveler, Black Market, Heavy Weather
Chick Corea: Romantic Warrior
Brian Eno: Another Green World and his collaborations!!
Peter Gabriel: 1-6 or 7
Led Zeppelin 1-6
Frank Zappa
Talking Heads first 5 albums
Kraftwerk

Off the top of my head, here’s a few:

CCR - Chronicle
Chuck Berry - Greatest Hits
AC/DC - Back in BlackLed Zeppelin I
G N’ R - Appetite for Destruction
Neil Young - Harvest
Nuggets box set
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Steve Young - Seven Bridges Road
The Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show

Music that opened my eyes to different directions (in order):
Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends; The Who: Who’s Next; Yes: Close To The Edge; Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom; Peter Gabriel 3; Debussy’s Tonal Works- my introduction to classical; REM: Chronic Town - single-handedly saved the world from White Snake; Jane’s Addiction: Ritual de lo Habitual; Beethoven’s 9th - one of those epiphanal moments; Radiohead: OK Computer; The Shins: Oh, Inverted World; Ralph Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway; Sufjan Stevens: Illinois; Gorecki’s 3rd

Now this is an interesting question! I’ll probably have a boring answer, but the question is fascinating.

This is slightly odd for me, because my life has two very distinct parts. I’m going to focus on the things that have shaped me in the second part. Nothing in the first part is worth focusing on, and not much in it was worth listening to (and I don't just mean the music).

• Gillian Welch / Revival
• Greg Brown / Slant 6 Mind
• Townes Van Zandt / Rearview Mirror
• Wilco / Summerteeth
• Jim White / No Such Place
• Beatles / Rubber Soul
• Mississippi John Hurt / (can’t remember the album name)
• Alligator Records / (I think it was their 20th Anniversary compilation)
• Miles Davis / Kind of Blue
• Derek & The Dominos / Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
• Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim / Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim
• Neil Young / Harvest Moon
• Rufus Wainwright / Poses
• Spoon / Kill the Moonlight
• Van Morrison / Astral Weeks
• Bob Dylan / Time Out of Mind

There are others, but I imagine this list is already long enough nobody will read it. :)