The Album That Changed Everything (Autumn 2018)

The Album That Changed Everything feature in the Autumn 2018 edition of Songwriting Magazine

A choice selection of our recent interviewees reveal the seminal albums that have inspired them the most over the years

RITA LYNCH

Sinéad O’Connor
The Lion And The Cobra (Ensign/Chrysalis, 1987)
“The way she sang, she went so high with her voice and she just opened her mouth so wide and belted them out. Her voice was very pure and it seemed to be different and modern. Also what she was referring to, it was very poetic but about relationships too. She also turned victimhood into something so much better. Her image was another thing; no hair and a leather jacket, she was every girl’s dream at the time. It doesn’t get enough press, people always talk about the hits she had after that but The Lion And The Cobra was the one.”

THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH’S DAVID ROTHERAY

Roseanne Cash
10 Song Demo (Capitol Records, 1996)
“I would pick a country album by Roseanne Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter. It’s actually a demo tape that she released as an album and I think it’s one of the best production jobs that anyone has ever done. She made the demo tape and sent it to a producer who then wrote her a letter back saying, ‘Forget having a producer, just put the demo out.’ That has always stuck in my mind when I’m thinking about my songs. Punk had a similar effect on me, take things down rather than up. Take things out rather than put them in.”

CHVRCHES’ LAUREN MAYBERRY

Alanis Morissette
Jagged Little Pill (Maverick/Reprise, 1995)
“It has to be Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette. My dad had bought the album and then passed it on to me, and I was totally blown away by the honesty and vulnerability of her lyrics, and how expressive she was with her voice. So many female artists – especially in that period of time – have pressure on them to be pretty and cute and feminine, but to me, she completely redefined what feminine was, in the best way. She used her voice as an instrument and a tool to communicate, and that inspires me still to this day.”

CALEXICO’S JOHN CONVERTINO

Neil Young
Harvest (Reprise, 1972)
“I’ll go back to my childhood when I was in the fourth grade, and my brother had the record of Harvest and would listen to it every day. I don’t think I really understood a lot of the lyrics but I loved that record and the way it told those stories. I think that was one of the first times that I got into a whole record and the other one was The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spider Of Mars. Those two albums got me into wanting to be in a band and be a musician, to be a part of songs that really touch your heart and speak to your soul.”

Read the rest of The Album That Changed Everything feature, along with more artist interviews, news, tips, reviews and gear in Songwriting Magazine Autumn 2018

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