First of all, let me say that limiting myself to 10 records was extremely difficult. And I know the minute I hit "Send," or I'm about to drift off to sleep tonight, I will kick myself over some obvious oversight. Be that as it may, a word about my criteria: I tried to think of records that 1) hit me on a purely emotional level that either predates or transcends any knowledge I may have acquired since becoming a musician - in other words, records I loved as a small child before developing preconceptions and would still love regardless of what I did for living; and 2) that are so extraordinary they STILL blow me away no matter how much technical and artistic understanding I've cultivated through making records for well over half my life. This list is as much about the sound as the song. Writing, production, and performance had to come together in such a magical way as to defy (or set fire to) my imagination. With that, here are ten monumental recordings that, in spite of how many years I've been doing this, make me ask, "How did they DO that?"
