Five Albums That Changed My Life: Jeff Rains of Rains

Hailing from a small town in northern Indiana, Rains might not be on the general public's radar yet, but melodic rock junkies across North America have already gone gaga for the band. After recently wrapping up a tour with Black Stone Cherry and Cavo, Rains wasted no time and headed back out on their very own headlining tour. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Jeff Rains, the group is touring in support of their debut album, 'Stories.' The album is available now at this link.

The album contains the hit single 'Look in My Eyes' (check out the video at the bottom of the post) and will appeal to anyone that loves gigantic hooks along with their hard rock. Noisecreep asked Jeff Rains to take part in our 'Five Albums That Changed My Life' series. Looking at his list, it's no surprise he would one day write the kind of radio-ready songs he's building a career on.

'Live: Right Here Right Now,' Van Halen (1993)

"This is the first rock album I ever purchased. The only reason I bought it was because I had my $10 allowance from that week and I decided to spend it on a cd. This Double album was on sale for $10 so I thought it was a good deal. Turned out to be a brilliant record and a huge turning point in the music I listened to from then on!"

'Unplugged,' Alice in Chains (1996)

"This is the first record I stumbled across after seeing Woodstock '94 and really getting into alternative music. In my opinion, this is one of the best records from the MTV Unplugged series, and it had and still has a HUGE impact on how I write my songs. It made me realize if a song is still a great song completely stripped down on acoustic, it can only get better when it's put into a studio setting."

'Aenima,' Tool (1996)

"My brother (current Rains drummer) turned me on to Tool. This was my first venture into the technical side of music and songwriting. The way Tool is able to combine their brilliant melodies with the technical aspect of the music has always blown me away, and this record is a prime example of that."

'Throwing Copper,' Live (1994)

"I stumbled across this record while I was going through my "alternative phase". 'Throwing Copper' was one of the first records I'd heard that was brilliant from beginning to end. It 100% helped mold the way I write my records. Instead of just having one good single off of a record, I realized I needed to put out a great full record. All killer no filler!"

'The Best of 1980-1990,' (1998)

"I don't even know how or when I came across this record, but as soon as I heard it, it instantly changed my life. This is one of the most brilliant collections of hits on one record I've ever heard. To me this is a collection of songs that set an almost unreachable standard for any band in the current era of music."

Catch Rains on their headlining tour:

24 Harrisburg, SD The Phoenix Lounge

25 Kansas City, MO Aftershock

26 St. Cloud, MN Bubba's

27 Fargo, ND The Nestor Tavern

28 Waterloo, IA Reverb

MARCH

01 Cape Girardeau, MO Pitter's Lounge

02 Battle Creek, MI Planet Rock

03 Rockford, IL Bar 3

04 Madison, WI The Annex

08 Lansing, MI Uli's Haus Of Rock

09 Philipsburg, PA Club Squared

10 Marion, OH Tink's

11 Nashville, TN 12th & Porter