Albums which have made a big impact on your music taste

Absolute Music 12 (1994)
This was among my very first CD purchases. Maybe not among my "proudest" hour as an avid music collector, but still a damn fine best of collection, which included huge or minor radio and video hits from fall of 1994, and was part of a very popular best of/hit collection in Scandinavia, that I am not sure if is still going on strong, but for a while, it was among the most selling albums of the 90s, often having 3-4 of these releases, usually handed out during spring, summer, fall and winter, and they would sell an ridiculous amount of albums, which of course the critics loathed, but it did not seem to affect the buying audience.

I guess it was our version or take on the american Now That's What I Call Music releases, and it worked like magic. They would even go further, by releasing summer editions, under a different name, like Absolute Summer Dance or Absolute Christmas Hits, and again, people seemed to not get enough of these compilations in the 90s.
Of course, with the rise of Napster and downloading, things surely changed in the later 90s and early 00s, but the glory days of these popular compilation CDs, none were bigger, more popular or hated, than the Eva Records and their Absolute Music albums.

Anyway, looking back, I never remember much of the 11 earlier entries in the Absolute Music series, but the 12th one, that stood out. Not only because it was one of my very first CDs, but I had started going out more, doing a bit of "clubbing" along with my friends to a local "nightclub", well more like a place after school for kids between 8-12 (on thursdays nights) and friday it was for the older kids.
Still, it felt like I got a taste of "puberty", as I remember the impressive dancefloor, the huge DJ set and sound system, and all the cool and upbeat eurodance and hip-hop music getting played, very LOUD.

But my best memories, of course, had to be watching how different the girls in my class looked and dressed, as to opposed to their more "casual" clothes at school.
Yeah, that and they also smelled so damn good.

I was never much of an dancer, too shy and the few times I tried really heard, to take up a few tricks from the local "Travolta's", but what seeemed so easy, ended up in me looking like a complete buffon, and being ridiculed. However, I guess I was not the only one felling into that trap, so that was kind of "helpful".

Anyway, the music, beats and melodies, was truly something, and for a while, I just came by to look at the girls and soak up the atmosphere and music, but later on the place got a huge TV, with Super Nintendo, one of the later SEGA editions and, it was a really cool place to hang around with my friends, and feeling a bit more "adult", for a while.

Anyway, back to Absolute Music 12, and why I just loved the hell out of it. Looking at the artists and names included, it is fun to notice all these huge and popular acts, R.E.M., The Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker and David Stewart, followed by a bunch of very different sounding scandinavian names, which of course were in many cases, not exactly completely unkown in my country, some where at that time, far bigger selling in Norway than the world famous bands, and also nice to see a few smaller but still very popular at that period, eurodance and hip-hop artists being included.

The difference in the much later relases of these Absolute Music series, was that the further it got, the more focus they had only on the big monster hits and acts, and much lesser towards the smaller or not that big selling ones, and in the end, you just ended up with a bunch of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, BoyZone, Westlife, the latest techno or trance hype, and so on, and very little if any, scandinavian names attatched. As I guess they were no longer seen as "commercial" enough. 

The tracklist sure brings up a lot of good memories, often with me just sitting inside, drawing and letting my imagination go wherever it might go, or I would be remembered of all the fun times with my friends, at the "nightclub":

01. Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe
02. Whigfield – Saturday Night
03. R.E.M. – What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
04. Trancylvania – Tender Heart
05. The September When – Cries Like a Baby
06. David Stewart – Heart of Stone
07. Heavy D & The Boyz – This Is Your Night
08. Lisa Ekdahl – Vem Vet
09. Pato Banton – Baby Come Back
10. The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong
11. Joe Cocker – The Simple Things
12. Okiman – Oki-dokey
13. Stiltskin – Footsteps
14. Flava To Da Bone – Even If the Rain
15. Big Mountain – Baby, I Love Your Way
16. Hanne Boel – All It Takes
17. Steinar Albrigtsen – She Belongs to the Rain
18. DumDum Boys – Tyven tyven (Live)

The bolded ones, are a few of those I immediately would pick up, as these classic childhood cuts, which brings be right back into 1994, so much I could almost smell the perfume of the girls, and the candy we used to eat back then, some oversugary stuff, that I tried taking a bite of, a few years back, and it taste godawful, but I guess some things do not hell up so well, as you grow older.

The music however, well, I guess looking back ,there is no question that R.E.M. is the winner of having the best cut, from this release, but the most nostalgic one, has to be Whigfield and their Saturday Night, which was a HUGE hit back then, and I think they were either italian or danish, but never seemed to manage to back up that monster hit, with later efforts. 
The feel-good pop/rock cut of Joe Cocker, is still a favorite of mine, brings up so many nice memories, and then the album kind of finished off, with the rather sad and haunting Tyven tyven, by the DumDumbBoys.

The combination of pop/rock, eurodance, hip-hop, adult pop and ballads turned this compilation into quite a little musical adventure, with very few bad or terrible songs, or so I feel, even now. 
It might not be among the best of the Absolute Music series, but for me, it is always the one I have the strongest and fondest feelings and memories of, and I am glad I have kept it, in my music collection, as why should I throw it away? It still brings the nostalgic sweetness that I often love, and while not something I play too often, when I do, I am reminded of several of my classmates, just throwing their record collection from childhood in the garbage, then later on regretting it, big time. 
Sure, a lot of it is still most likely to find on Youtube, but it is just not the same, as having the CD in your hands, with the booklet and all.

Anyway, here are a few of those I feel still stands out, as the more important or memorable cuts from the album: