4. Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim - Pixies
3. Either/Or - Elliott Smith
2. Shut Up I Am Dreaming - Sunset Rubdown
1. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
No piece of art, or any other influence at all really, has had the same impact on my life, on several levels, that Aeroplane has. There was a point on probably my twentieth or so time listening through the album, about a minute and a half into Two Headed Boy, Pt. 2, where Jeff sings "In my dreams, you're alive and you're crying/As your mouth moves in mine soft and sweet/Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I love you for the rest of your life" and I felt like I had just been pinned against a wall and punched in the stomach. Like the only thing real in this world is Jeff's adoration for the ghost of this little girl, and everything that I had ever felt or experienced was totally cosmetic in comparison. It's still the only album that has ever brought me to tears.
EDIT: I know Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim is like the direct oRABpring of two seperate EP's, but it's not technically a greatest hits album or anything, so it counts.