The topic on My Space today: Your Top Ten Life Altering Albums. The albums that are perfect, that can drive you to tears, that have been with you throughout long nights of heartbreak, through August afternoons in Southern California where there is nothing to do but wipe the sweat from between your shoulder and bra strap. Narrowing it down to ten was actually not that hard for me because I have a ridiculously short attention span and rarely listen to albums from start to finish. I'm more of a 12" single girl. (With remixes, mind you. If I want a radio edit, I'll tape it off the radio.) This is my list, complete with comments. If you want to share yours, post in the Comments section.

1. The Smiths Strangeways Here We Come
Because everyone who claims that The Queen is Dead is the best Smiths album is wrong. Because you can hear the band breaking on the bridge of every song. Because "Death of a Disco Dancer" makes orange and black lights flicker on the back of my lids every time I close my eyes. Because "Unhappy Birthday" is the song we would put on answering machines of people we warred with as teenagers. Because "Paint a Vulgar Picture" shows the man obsessed with rock heroes in the exact same way I would grow obsessed with him. Because "I Won't Share You" will make you think that Morrissey is singing to Marr and this is the end.

2. The Cure Disintegration
Because it is the only album with the power to defeat the evil Barbra Streisand. Because I cannot listen to it in bits, it has to be start to finish. Because every song, no every second of every song, bleeds of 1989 and being a goth twelve-year-old who had never heard the term goth. Because it made me long for a musician boyfriend, or a writer boyfriend, and subsequently ruined my lovelife for the next decade. Because Robert could never top this album.

3. Depeche Mode Black Celebration
Because "Fly on the Windscreen" will always remind me of the ugliness that is summer in the San Fernando Valley. Because it is the album that made me look for something called industrial. Because these are Martin Gore's best lyrics ever. Because the earnestness with which the boys in Docs played "A Question of Lust" as rite of misfit teen courtship makes me chuckle.

4. Legendary Pink Dots Crushed Velvet Apocalypse
Because the title reminds me of the dresses I wore in high school. Because if you ever see the Pink Dots live, "Just a Lifetime" will make you cry. Because "Hellsville" will give you nightmares. Because "Princess Coldheart" is a fairytale waiting to take place on the floor of a goth club, but the band sounds more like Stereolab than Specimen. Because my friends and I listened to this almost daily throughout four years of college. Because if you have never heard of the Pink Dots, this is the album you have to get.

5. Trash Can Sinatras Cake
Because I would have gone crazy if I didn't have this cassette in my Walkman at school every day. Because I still have the cassette. Because it sounds more like the Smiths than anything Morrissey and Marr have done since. Because it reminds me that KROQ used to be a good station. Because every time TCS comes to LA, the shows sell out before I can get tickets.

6. New Order Power, Corruption, Lies
Because I knew all my friends would list Joy Division and I'm a jerk like that. Because Peter Hook is my all time favorite bassist. Because the band could have broke up, but didn't. Because "Blue Monday" was the rollerskating jam at Northridge Skateland that turned into the backdrop for my dance classes that made me want to DJ.

7. Soft Cell Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Because Marc Almond proves that dance music can have smart lyrics. Because it is the one essential album to rock while doing your make up before going to the club. Because, when I was six, my mom told me that "Tainted Love" was a cover and I didn't know what she meant. Because I actually heard the original when I was a teenager and was shocked that both versions were mindblowing, but completely different. Because life is a lot like "Bedsitter."

8. Huggy Bear Taking the Rough with the Smooch
Because Courtney put this on tape for me and I loved it so much that I bought my own copy. Because when you're seventeen and you hate the world, this album embodies every bit of shrieking rage. Because "Her Jazz" is more dance punk than any other band that lists "dance punk" as its sound. Because it made me want to start a zine.

9. Tears for Fears The Hurting
Because "Mad World" is the song I have to listen to every time I feel crazy. Because the way that "Mad World" bleeds into "Pale Shelter" is flawless. Because the keyboards on "Change" drive me wild. Because the voices reek of pain. Because the band plays up to its name.

10. David Bowie Heroes
Because nobody can be like David Bowie. Because synthpop may not have happened without this album. Because side 2 is really strange. Because everybody wants to be a hero just for one day.