10 Albums, 10 Books.

Albums and books that influenced my life.

Books :

1. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The best book of the series written by one of the most intelligent writers ever. Teaches you about life and how narrow minded we humans are and that too with humor everywhere.

2. Artemis Fowl(s) by Eoin Colfer. Looking for confidence? Read this. Amazing storyline.

3. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (Series). You think it's possible to laugh with an overload of irony, deaths, kidnappings and an evil man winning every time. Plus, it teaches you how everything isn't the way it seems.

4. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein. Fiction at it's best. Did you know this dude half our height can fight the greatest evil and resist greed better than people 3 times his height? It's all about mind over matter.

5. Chariots of the Gods by Eric Von Daniken. The first book I read by one of the greatest philosophical minds of the 20th century. Introduced me to the idea of how we don't question the existence of god and how we believe it just because we were told to. And presented his theory of how we were visited by aliens, who he thinks are the missing link between Homo Erectus and the present Homo Sapiens.

6. Gold of the Gods by Eric Von Daniken. His adventures and trips to all the mysterious places finally paid of. Proof to his theories.

7. Watchmen by Alan Moore. We can add graphic novels, right? If we can, this gets second position. The first book about real superheroes. A break from freak accidents and aliens and heroes who are hardly human. And The Comedian and Rorschach teach you more than you can imagine about life.

8. The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way. Fantasy. Who else could have thought of a dysfunctional family of superheroes?

9. UFO & Alien Encounters (Compilation). Intriguing book. If you can read it, you for sure shall not be narrow minded for a long long time.

10. Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams. Just see who wrote it. That's reason enough.


Albums:

1. I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love by My Chemical Romance. Where two lovers both died when their hometown was overrun with vampires. And how the male was forced to kill his girl who he loved and how difficult it was for him to do it. Amazing music, the vocals are quite unconventional though. I doubt you liking them. A must hear for a lead guitarist and drummer.

2. American Idiot by Green Day. A running movie. A story with every song. About this punk, Jimmy, who thinks he's a saint and the Jesus of his little town. And how he's alone, and how he tries getting rid of the escapist way he lives. It ends with Jimmy dying after drug abuse and realizing how everything was unreal, a figment of his imagination, his alter ego (The Jesus of Suburbia), everything. Billy Joe really created a punk rock opera like he said he would.

3. Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is a concept album and continues the story from I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love where two lovers die in a gunfight in a desert. Three Cheers continues the story, detailing the struggle of a man to gain back his life and to join the woman he loves. In exchange for his life and to be reunited with his dead lover (albeit her returning to the world of the living), he must bring the souls of 1,000 evil men to the devil.
Contrary to rumors, Gerard has stated that they were never killed by vampires, but most fans of MCR speculate this because of the song "Vampires Will Never Hurt You". This song makes reference to social vampires who drain your life force, not actual vampires. Gerard claims this song is the one that "locked in that dark element."
The album starts off with Helena's funeral ("Helena"), and the male makes a pact with the devil, stating that if he can gather 1,000 souls of evil men, he will be with Helena again. He goes off to collect the souls ("Give 'Em Hell, Kid"), and makes it to a wedding party, where he takes the soul of the cheating, and possibly homosexual groom ("He's always looking at men"), and materialistic bride ("To The End"), then the souls of rapists and criminals ("You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison"), and a kid who goes on a shooting rampage at a high school ("I'm Not Okay (I Promise)"). He then starts to feel bad as his conscience gets to him coupled with the loss of his lover ("The Ghost Of You"). He starts feeling sick of what he's doing, and has doubts at whether or not he'll see his lover again ("Thank You For The Venom"). Finally, he pulls himself together, and pushes on no matter what ("Don't stop, if I fall, and don't look back"), even if it means not seeing Helena again ("Hang 'Em High"). The story comes to a close when he has gathered all the souls, and is reunited with Helena, but they are both killed since the male was the last evil man left ("I Never Told You What I Do For A Living").

4. From Under The Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy. Like Pete Wentz said, he's the C3PO of the band who comes up with seemingly meaningless lyrics which do make a lot of sense and how Patrick is R2D2 who makes the beautiful noises. Wentz is a lyrical genius and 2nd in my list of bassists after Mike Dirnt. Fall Out Boy combine the brash but melodic approach of the emo/punk scene with intelligent, thought-provoking and insightful lyric invention. With tales of trials and tribulations, friendships and fame, they wear their angst on their sleeves. The tunes are huge, and the riffs are addictive.

5. Lies for The Liars by The Used. "I met the most fake people I had ever come across on the whole planet,” Bert McCracken said. “They’re all just liars, and they’re so used to doing it, half the time I don’t think they even know they’re lying. Being in that environment had a direct effect on the tone of this new record, which is a little more vicious, but in a strange way, also more loving and caring.” The man couldn't have said it better. It covers celebrity indulgence and consumption, love, vulnerability and fakes.

6. The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. The Black Parade is a concept album centering around the character of "The Patient". It centers around his passage out of life and the memories he has of his life. "The Patient" dies and death comes for him in the form of a parade. The album also expresses Gerard Way's belief that death comes for a person in the form of their fondest memory.

7. 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day. 21st Century Breakdown continues the rock opera style of its predecessor American Idiot. The album is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons", "Charlatans and Saints", and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades". Its loose narrative follows a young couple named Christian and Gloria through life in the United States following the presidency of George W. Bush, as they "deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind" and "spin their wheels and fight their way through a new century already going terribly wrong."

8. The Great Burrito Extortion Case by Bowling for Soup. A band that's never going to be Blink 182. Never as big as Green Day. Still, it's a combination of both. Meaningful lyrics put in a way that you can't help but laugh. Songs about how the world is obsessed with whose the best dressed, or how useless gossip is something we've become addicted to. As always, the band takes a not so serious look at emotions, society, and friendships and is delivered in a style that any person who doesn't mind punk would fall in love with.

9. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis. It's an album by Oasis. Everyone knows of it. Everyone's heard Wonderwall. Then there's Kabir who shares the same passion for the band as I do. The whole I don't care, if you don't care feel comes when the band does anything. See some interviews you'd understand. The best thing from Britain since The Beatles.

10. Favorite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys. Balaclava. This House Is A Circus. Fluorescent Adolescent. D is for Dangerous. Listen to these songs. And you'll know why this album is on the list.