Really nice read, and your story with St. Anger was especially engaging. It's interesting how varied someone's important albums can be, and how some of those important albums end up being criticized later on.
As for me, my parents enjoyed metal, so I was always exposed to classic metal and also more recent stuff (At the time) like Soundgarden and Godsmack. I'm not sure if I could say many particular albums made a huge impact on me as much as certain bands had. Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" and Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance" are a couple of albums that really made an impact for me. Most of all, Rush is probably what made the strongest impact on me though, as they really got me into music and made me want to explore more music for myself.
