I agree top five/desert island choices would be tough, so I'll narrow it down to the albums that have hit the hardest since my daughter was born nearly two years ago. Much of that are the lyrics and their delivery. Increasingly I want great words or none. Mostly instrumentals now, though not represented here.
Harry Nilsson & Randy Newman - Nilsson Sings Newman
Nilsson's voice coupled with Newman's writing creates a pessimistic optimism that rings the most true to how I view her future world. "Yet, a masterpiece is what this is, albeit a subtle, graceful masterpiece where the pleasure is in the grace notes, small gestures, and in-jokes."
Frank Sintra - In The Wee Small Hours John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - Self-titled Nat King Cole - Nat King Cole Story
Greats of course. Beauty I hope never goes out of style and a vulnerable masculinity I have to learn from.
Bon Iver - Self-titled
Oddball choice of the list, but probably no other album is linked to the hazy, crazy, saturated days after her birth (even if I am twisting the lyrics completely to fit my experience).
"Someway, baby, it's part of me, apart from me."
"And at once I knew I was not magnificent."
Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle - One From The Heart OST
Horrible movie, wonderful forgotten soundtrack. More guarded, but exposed hearts trying not to fuck up. "The result is one of the most beautifully wrought soundtrack collaborations in history." Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
For a short time a few decades this ago this defined the rock ethic to me. Feels newly brave now. The Band - Self-titled
A manufactured past to create something new which falls back in the past again. Approaches timelessness and I'll take it.