10 albums that influenced me

Some weeks ago, people asked me about my musical influences and I realized, that I never spoke about them openly. As multi-genre composer and songwriter, it’s quite obvious, that my taste of music is quite diverse. Every album I bought has its own story. Some artists influence me directly, some other only in certain stages. I’d like to show you 10 albums that influenced my art and music.

Hint: The links go to my YouTube and SoundCloud profile. I do not earn money or rewards for mentioning other interprets. This post is dealing with my personal experience, and it’s sorted chronologically by the date I’ve bought their recordings.

ATB – Dedicated (2002)

“Dedicated” is a timeless piece of music, which combines pop, dance and trance music and heavily influenced the sound of the 00s. There is nothing left from the typical hooklines, off bases and sounds of the 90s. “Dedicated” was the reason I started music production. This album showed me, that electronic and pop music can sound very well together. I would have never written Daylight Means Endeavour (2007) or Lost Letter (2014) without its impact.

Kai Tracid – Contemplate The Reason You Exist (2003)

I like Kai Tracid’s music because of the mixture of acid techno, trance and sophisticated lyrics. It’s stunning how the lyrics still fit into these days. “Contemplate The Reason You Exist” gave me the idea to play around with a TB303 clone and applying filter and resonance filters on it. You can listen to some similar sounds on Acid Orbit (2006) or Fruchtsäure (2011). Many songs of my first album were inspired by his music.

Depeche Mode – Violator (1990)

I love dark electronic music and this is one of my favourite albums. It’s diversified, groovy, gloomy and timeless. “Enjoy the silence” and “Halo” are my favourite ones. Depeche Mode’s lyrics inspired me for a novel character, and their sounds influenced me for my remix on “On The Run” (2015).

The Calling – Camino Palmero (2001)

“Camino Palmero” has been my first pop rock album, and it made my write my first pop songs. I don’t know how often I listened to “Stigmatized” and “Final Answer” and you still hear the influence in my early pop rock songwriting like “Several Reasons” (2006). This album made me find bands like Hoobastank, Lifehouse, The Script and OneRepublic which still inspire me a lot! Just look at “Someone Else’s Song” (2020).

Evanescence – Fallen (2001)

“Fallen” has probably the highest number of plays during my whole life. I love the melancholy, drama, these riffs and the epic passages. The funny thing about Evanescence is, that literally everybody hears this influence, though my music does not sound exactly like them! Okay, except for “The Secret of the Future” (2005), which I will hopefully rerecord with real instruments someday soon. Since Evanescence, I dig everything between Alternative Rock and Symphonic Metal and listen a lot to bands like Within Temptation, Epica, Nightwish and After Forever. Guess it’s time for a tribute.

Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (2000)

Everybody who grew up in the 2000s knows this album, and it’s one of my favourites. I love the mix of pop, rock, metal with a glimpse of hip-hop. This mix has influenced a whole generation. I guess, Linkin Park are one of the reasons why I had to start writing rock music. And they are one of the reasons, why I don’t care about mixing styles. One song that has definitely some Linkin Park influence is “Open Ended Cue”, but there are more I haven’t finished yet!

Staind – Break The Cycle (2001)

One of the first alternative rock / post grunge albums I listened to was “Break The Cycle” by Staind. I fell in love with its melancholy, the epic hooklines and the basslines. On “Let me go” (2008) you can spot the influence quite clearly, though most listeners relate my rock songwriting to A Perfect Circle, Cold and Queens Of The Stone Age. Thanks for recommending so many cool bands I haven’t known before!

Coldplay – X & Y (2005)

I adore Coldplay’s complex chords and melancholic lyrics from the early days. They are the reason why I still write pop music for piano. Needless (2008) and Going My Way (2021) was heavily influenced by their music. Later, I found some other nice bands such as Keane, Snow Patrol, Belasco or Muse.

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (2005)

I bought “Silent Alarm” two days after I listened to “Banquet”. Bloc Party introduced me to British indie rock music. I like their fresh, driven and dreamy sounds. Their drum lines heavily influenced my music. I understood the impact of a good drum line and implemented it on the song “The walls are tumbling down” (2012). You can listen to some typical Bloc Party elements on my remix on Foals’ “Electric Bloom”. I would have never listened to indie rock bands like Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Chikinki, Foals and Phoenix, if I did not come across Bloc Party first.

Farmer Boys – The Other Side (2004)

By chance, I listened to “Hope Vol 2” by the instrumental cello metal band Apocalyptica. It took a lot of time to find out, that the singer of this song is also the singer of the German metal band Farmer Boys. Their album “The other side” was sold out everywhere, and it took me 10 years (!!!) to find a copy. I did not regret waiting and buying it, because it is still one of my favourite albums ever. The music of the Farmer Boys can be described as a blend of metal, film scores and pop music. I like their balance of complexity, hardness and catchiness. “The Other Side” inspired me for a science fiction / alternative world fiction trilogy. Some of my upcoming songs may have just a glimpse of it.

In this post you came across pop, rock, trance and metal music. Who knows what will inspire me next? Styles of music never mattered to me. Sometimes, small elements, instruments, certain sounds or words can open a new universe. Since my songwriting is become more and more diverse, you may find more of these influences in my newer songs.

Did you expect these albums and artists?

Which albums influenced you the most and why?