I think most of us use iTunes.

Damn. I can't use iTunes, because it won't load onto Windows ME computers.

Any other options?

Unkonwn Pleasures by Joy Division. Martin Hannett's production was definitely an influence on much of what was to come, IMO. Metal Box by PiL was also quite striking.

Not sure I know much about studio stuff but a lot of women would not be recording artists today without Janis Joplin's "Pearl" or Patti Smith's "Horses" making women's place in rock much more...serious?(it's early...don't have the right words yet. Sorry.) But now when I hear Alanis, Fiona, Melissa E.,who paid tribute with her awesome cover of "Piece of My Heart" that is what I think. Not to slight Grace Slick, bitterness over "We Built This City" notwithstanding. Also, and unrelated to the "girls with guitars", I'd feel remiss if I didn't say "What's Goin' On?"

Metal Machine Music.

heh

Peter Gabriel's 3rd album for the drum sound he got.

According to this LA Times blog Amoeba is starting its own music label (but their first release is a bootleg, Gram Parsons to be exact, not an actual album) and downloading site.

As far as the sonic touchstone thing - that's exactly the kind of question I am no good at answering. I tend to think of albums like OK Computer or Yankee Hotel that were just different than anything I had heard before and seemed to affect the sound and recording style of many other bands after, but I have no idea if that is due to use of the studio or my limited musical universe or what have you.

How about Big Black's "Atomizer" or Slint's "Spiderland"?

Screamadelica, Psychocandy, the first Art Of Noise album (Fairlights!), Selected Ambient Works (both of them, actually), My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, Timeless, Blue Lines, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Raise Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennae To Heaven, Yes to Atomizer, yes to Spiderland, I'd say that isn't Anything was way more influential than Loveless, Daydream Nation, the first Flirts album (Bobby O begat New Order begat...), the first Orbital album, the first LL Cool J album,

The Low End Theory, ATCQ
Parklife, Blur (maybe not revolutionary but it did cement the Britpop sound)
The Bends, Radiohead (not innovative but widely imitated)
Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos (yeah, Joni did it better, but still)
Mellow Gold, Beck (not the first to use found sounds, but again, widely imitated)
No Depression, Uncle Tupelo
The first Stone Roses album
I get the sense that In The Aeroplane Over The Sea may move into the "highly influential" zone over the next few years.

I want to include Surfer Rosa but don't know if it fits.

So a blogger friend of mine pretty much demanded a CD-of-the-month club from the world. I, of course, joined up. I got #1 a week ago, and I'm a little disappointed in the first guy's work -- he's trying to be a little too cutesy with some interstitial tracks. But I have been introduced to Mercury Rev finally.

So here's the problem with this club and iTunes: the damn restriction on burning playlists. I need to make 11 CDs, but iTunes limits the burns to 10 (7 if you bought the song after last fall IIRC). I can pass the songs through JHymn and theoretically fix the problems, but JHymn isn't working with iTunes 6 right now. So, I'm looking at either making a different mix with the same songs for everyone, or... going out to Kazaa or Limewire and using shared songs to get the same functionality. So, Apple and the record companies' stupid restrictions are forcing me into a life of crime.

Good news is that I'm not up until June, so maybe things will change between now and then.