Everyone who has even remotely scratched the surface of music possesses a few albums which make people go "I've never heard of that, and it sounds pretty friggin' cool." Usually, you just keep it to yourself—like Gollum from Lord of the Rings—but when you want to truly impress people, you show them the album.

I am no longer gonna do that because music is too cool to not share to everyone; you deserve to build on your musical tastes, and I want to assist you in that endeavor. Here are 3 albums that I'm proud to show people:

1. Lazy—Some Assembly Required (1994)

Source: Allmusic

Lazy is a group following in the footsteps of many indie pop music stars of this era with a little something extra: a fusion of indie, folk punk, and hard rock make this piece a standout from the rest of the indie-pop groups inundating liberal college radio stations at this time.

Tracks like "You and Me," "Delicious," "Crush," and "Pussy Strut" epitomize what Lazy is about: the life of a normal person who feels animosity towards popular culture but isn't angry.

If I had to choose one genre to describe Some Assembly Required it would be punk. The reason I would say punk is because Lazy just doesn't care about much else besides living life the way you want—I mean, this album goes from jangle-pop to hard rock with the hit of a snare.

Additionally, this album is about a person who has "some assembly required." They experiment with life a little, dating a bunch of different people but never really fitting in with one group. After finally getting a significant other and breaking up with them, our main character basically hates their life. Then, at the end of the album, stuff from a long time ago pops up which they have to deal with—like an abusive person in "Mad Anthony."

Lazy gives voice to the Juno counterculture: intelligent, free-flowing, not really that angry—just chill.

Notable Tracks: "You and Me," "Delicious," "Mad Anthony, "Jacked up Nova"

2. Bakteria—Defecate! Suffocate! Mutilate! Masturbate! (2009)

source: Music Vice

Ok, so I am a little hesitant to include this on my Top 5 list because basically, this whole album is crap. Like truly. But the musicality of it... actually isn't that bad.

The way I appreciate music is usually from a critical perspective. I ask two questions:

1. What is the artist trying to say?

2. How does the music compliment the artist's message?

Bakteria's album is truly a masterwork in dissecting the squalid of human nature. It takes a lot of things that people are capable of (and probably have done) and deconstructs these acts. It doesn't take a moralistic stance in its presentation, but it makes you wonder what the hell some people were thinking when terrible things transpire.

Additionally, the guitar and drums are awesome. The use of blues and thrash together helps paint that picture of squalor, the guitar tone sounds like s***, and the drums are pretty good.

But, then again, maybe I'm extrapolating meaning that doesn't exist. As one reviewer commented: "Bakteria are a rare kind of band, a bunch of guys who've been around since '92 who sing songs to piss people off and (I hope) get some cheap laughs at the same time."

Notable track numbers: Track 1, Track 12, and Track 16

3. Destroyer Destroyer—Littered With Arrows (2007)

Source: the gauntlet

The most beautiful music ever composed is said to be a symphony—meaning together and angelic. Littered with Arrows is not like that.

This is a cacophony.

Destroyer Destroyer was a crazy deathgrind band from Oklahoma City. Tragically, this is the only album they released, but they gave us a true work of art.

This album seems to be a concept album—littered with arrows is the concept. Being littered with arrows means getting lost, found, then lost again, then found again, then getting shot in the heart by piercing words and experiences until you get lost again. It's a cycle.

The album opens up with "the Trial" which presumably deals injustice to the main character. Through the album's songs, the main character gets continually caught in a flurry of blows—sometimes slowing down, but never completely stopping—until the final blow is dealt in "Error."

"Error" starts like all of the other songs, but then about halfway through the theme from "The Trial" is revived. The lyrics repeat "This is all we are," until, for the first time in the album, there is quiet. It explodes into "the Trial" and tortured screaming "Lost and Found" echoes until the song fades out into silence.

Then it repeats, and the listener is continually "littered with arrows."

Notable tracks: "We've Been Had," "Daddy Long Legs," "Error"