M3PHI.EXE

### Infinity On High by Fall Out Boy

I had to go to the city to try and buy this CD when I was 14 (my dad drove me and I bought it with HARD earned tips from my part time bussing job). The "city" was five hours away from where I lived, sigh. The CD and jacket art are still some of my dearest treasures. Especially the photo of Pete Wentz hanging in the closet. Favourite song: Thriller or The Carpal Tunnel of Love (I have lyrics from Thriller tattooed on my arm)

### From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy

I have NEVER physically owned this album, unfortunately. It didn't stop me from borrowing my sister's boyfriend's (burned) copy, and ripping it into the family computer's WMP like my life depended on it. Someday, I will find and purchase the physical CD, if only to quell my inner child. Favourite song: 7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen) or A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"

### Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance

This is one of the albums I regularly "borrowed" from my sister - there's a nearly 5 year age gap between us. I took it into my care permanently when she moved out. One of the albums I clung to after my grandma died. Favourite song: To The End

### I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love by My Chemical Romance

Another one I "borrowed" (read: eventually stole) from my sister. I listened to this album a lot in tenth grade, and watched Life on the Murder Scene almost every weekend. It prompted me to start my own (short-lived) garage band at the tender age of 16. Favourite song: Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

### In Love and Death by The Used

All I can say is "ugh." This was probably the first "emo band" I had ever heard. I've never owned this physical CD, but I made a point of redrawing the cover art on wilted looseleaf paper and taping it to my bedroom wall. There's certainly a lot of songs about heroin, but I was more attracted to the screaming. Favourite song: Listening

### Stranger Than Fiction by Bad Religion

My sister abandoned this CD in favour of pop music (no hate, no shade). I think it's one of the first CDs I played in my first car. I used to work in a restaurant, and I had kind of a skeevy supervisor who I'd chat about music with from time to time; this was one of the albums that constantly came up. Bad Religion makes me believe that someone as "normie" looking as Greg Gaffin or Brett Gurewitz can still be a punk. Last thing, this is one of two albums on this list that is exactly as old as me. Favourite song: Slumber

### In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 by Coheed and Cambria

My best friend in sixth grade introduced me to Coheed and this was the album I latched onto - I still love it, years later. I've unfortunately still never read The Amory Wars, but I want to. Claudio Sanchez is truly on another planet than the rest of us (in a good way). Favourite song: A Favour House Atlantic

### WANT by 3OH!3

Whaddaya want from me? It was 2008. I was 14, and this was all over MuchMusic (Canadian MTV). One of the CDs I wore out while my iPod was on its death bed. Favourite song: Colorado Sunrise

### Dookie by Green Day

A CD I rescued from my sister's hoard. I've liked Green Day since I was young, but I leaned heavily on Dookie through the early days of my transition (age 16-17). It also signalled me to pick up a skateboard for the first time. Favourite song: Pulling Teeth

### Enema of the State by blink-182

Again, I had liked blink-182 since I was a kid, but Enema was the soundtrack to buzzing my hair off when I was 17 and being bullied for being a, and I quote: "huge dyke" in eleventh grade. Actually, the first masc name I tried out was Adam (it is not my legal name now). Favourite song: Mutt

### Punk-O-Rama 10 by (Various Artists)

This album got me to discovering so many East Bay punk bands, namely Bad Religion and Rancid, and it was my first exposure to From First To Last. The EBPB obsession never really ended, it just aged like old, warm beer. Favourite song: Lovers and Liars by Matchbook Romance

### Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies by Pixies

This I got third-hand from my aunt, whom I don't speak to, but has always had excellent taste in music. I watched Fight Club for the first time when I was 16, on a recommendation from my tenth grade Chemistry teacher. What do you know, we just had this CD lying around the house. It eventually migrated into my car, actually. Favourite song: Here Comes Your Man

### Heartbreak in Stereo by Pencey Prep

I listened to this a lot when I was depressed in high school (what changed? I'm in my thirties and still depre-). A lot of time was spent soaking in the bathtub in the dark, as edgy as that sounds, while I thought about coming out to my parents. It prompted me to watch Say Anything for the first time, too. Favourite song: Lloyd Dobbler

### Folie a Deux by Fall Out Boy

Ah yeah, the dreaded pre-hiatus album. It came out right before my 14th birthday, and I couldn't find it in a store in my ARMPIT of a small town, so I was glued to youtube (I wasn't allowed to order things online. Weird, I know). A friend of mine ended up taking pity on me and burning it for me, and drew the cover art herself on the case. I still have it. Favourite song: What A Catch, Donnie

### Ramones Greatest Hits by the Ramones

This album is like gold to me. I was full-tilt into the beginning of my punk and/or gender crisis, skateboarding wherever there was an actual paved road in sight, driving around, giving myself jail tattoos, the whole nine. I would put this right before the egg cracked for real. It was important to me that I didn't have to look like a yuppie even if I transitioned at some point. Favourite song: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend / Pet Sematary

### Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count by From First to Last

This was my first venture into the post-hardcore genre (what your parents call "screamo"). BMTH was another one in the periphery, but From First to Last was the first. Are you old enough to remember when Skrillex was named Sonny Moore and he sang in an emo band? I also developed gender envy, a crush, whatever you'd call it for Matt Good. It was his sleeve tattoos, as was so common for the genre. Favourite song: I Liked You Better Before You Were Naked on the Internet

### The Emptiness by Alesana

I was really into Edgar Allan Poe in high school (as you do when you're a struggling emo kid), and I had already liked Alesana's debut album - it's a classic - so this concept album about Annabel Lee really hit all my marks, to be honest with you. I also had a big thing for Shawn Milke, mostly for his Legend of Zelda tattoos. Favourite song: The Lover

### The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

I remember talking to my cousin on MSN when I was in fifth grade, and she was saying how upset some of the fans were about Gerard dyeing his hair blonde. This was the first exposure I had ever had to My Chemical Romance at all, and I think I was drawn in because I was, unfortunately, what they call a "band geek," and I had seen some of those photos of Gerard in high school. I still love the conception of the album, and the lore regarding the Paramour house. I listened to this a lot while my grandma was dying. Favourite song: Disenchanted

### RIOT! by Paramore

I definitely discovered Paramore through the Twilight craze, and I'm glad I did. Thus began my hair journey - fire engine red, all the way through ninth grade. Hayley Williams made me believe that I could be a woman and still lead a band (it's complicated). Look powerful. I admired her for starting with a band so young, and the energy with which she sang and performed. Favourite song: it's really hard to pick. I think Let The Flames Begin

### brand new eyes by Paramore

I think this album kickstarted my bisexual awakening. Combine that with the disillusionment I was experiencing with religion, and you have a recipe for an angsty, queer teenager. Definitely the soundtrack to my first real "emo mullet" haircut. Favourite song: Careful