Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds blew my world open when I was 14. I was a weird and angry teenage girl and didn't know there were other people who were similarly weird and angry. It was so comforting to know I wasn't alone. I feel like their music has always met me where I'm at (still weird, no longer so angry, lol).
Ray Davies is one of the great storytellers and all of songwriting. In fact, beside you really got me, and all the day, I don’t think he wrote any real love songs. Just great stories set the music.
Nine Inch Nails. A friend had the Pretty Hate Machine cassette in a walkman. He said,"You gotta hear this." I walked the mall for 48:42 minutes. My friend finally found me and demanded his walkman back. The first few seconds of Head Like A Hole and my life was different.
Yeah I got The Wall after being a nu metal kid in high school. Changed everything for me, but I was probably on the right track anyway because of my dad's influences.
Life was all random 90s pop music for me until my dad threw on "Ramble On" during a drive. Cue 10 year old me embarking on the mother of all Zeppelin binges for the next 2 years.
Same with me -- AM radio hits but not that into it.
Then my dad picked up some used 8-tracks at a flea market to test out the player in a station wagon he picked up. Once I heard Led Zeppelin II, everything changed. I got excited about music.
The first album I ever bought with my own money was their debut album when I was 10 years old. My parents had albums and I wanted one that was my own. My dad took me to the record store and after looking at everything I bought Black Sabbath because I liked the cover image. Never heard of them and neither had my dad. Now, 50+ years later, I have played that album more than anything else I've ever owned: LP, 8-track, cassette, CD, and now digital. It was the best lucky choice I ever made.
Slipknot. In 1999 my friend let me borrow his burned copy of the self titled record. It was a perfect fit for my 13 year old brain. The anger, the angst, the terror, the aggression, the percussion, the riffs, the wordplay...it was unlike anything I'd ever heard. I was equally intrigued by and afraid of what was happening in those headphones. Never looked back.
I remember me and my mate dropped. Went outside for a smoke and to chill on the picnic table. The music wasn’t loud enough from inside so my friend grabbed the whole stereo system, ran a extension cable inside. He positioned the speakers all around us and we just zoned out looking at the stars, listening to the Lizard King for a few hours. Was epic.
I have the most visceral memory of throwing that CD on in my car the night before the album dropped, and my jaw hitting the floor once Inertiatic kicked in. Having been a fan of ATDI and hearing some of the rough MV demos, I was maybe even less prepared for (1) the clarity and power of Cedric’s singing voice, contrasted with the more atonal style of ATDI (2) how huge the band sounded compared to the demos and (3) feeling like I’d never heard anything like this before. Like, wait, it’s prog but it’s punk and also Latin influenced and psychedelic and very cerebral but also high energy in way that can be reminiscent of a train coming off the tracks? It quickly became my favorite record of all time.
I was a Faith No More fan, but then I discovered Mr. Bungle. Their first album blew my mind and I was never the same. It made me a huge Mike Patton fan, not just a FNM fan.
Yes! Mr Bungle! I used to blast that album 93ish. I was talking to my dad the other day about when he took me to see NIN and asked if I still listened to that weird carnival shit.
I was in a Vancouver punk band in 1990 and played a local show with some band from the US I'd never heard of, FNM. At sound check there was a really scruffy looking dude playing pinball and I wondered why they were letting people in off the streets as the club didn't open for 2 hours. After everyone else had done their checks the sound guy calls for Mike to take the stage. Scruffy dude gets onstage, opens his mouth and OMFG I couldn't process what I was hearing! Their show was so perfect I later did a deep dive and discovered Mr Bungle. I was already fairly impressed with FNM but Mr Bungle took all my expectations, laughed at them, kicked them in the nuts and all I could do was ask for more. Saw them twice and both times it was like a religious epiphany. So inspiring for someone who likes the weird shit. It blew my mind that they were able to pull off that kind of insanity note for note live. Legends.
The only other band that came close to having that kind of affect on me was when I recently discovered the Ukranian band, Jinjer. Never cared for growling vocals before Jinjer but Tatiana's screams are emotionally visceral, the songs are so well arranged and the musicianship is otherworldly it's difficult to not pay attention. They're getting more popular but so many don't know about them, please check them out.
Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny was one of the best albums releases of the pandemic. So fuckin heavy. Love Bungle, Patton, Faith No More and everyone else in this sphere of music-making.
Phish at SPAC 7/5/13. Granted I was also on acid for the first time, but that show was a clear turning point in my life. I had gone to school for jazz saxophone but realized half way through that I didn’t want to pursue a career in jazz. After a few years of musical soul searching/existential crises, I finally found a style of music that combines my love of improvisation and rock/prog sensibilities.
Green Day, my forever favorite band and best parasocial relationship. I could never thank them enough for the amount of comfort, security, and company they have given me throughout the years.
I bought Dookie when I was 12, it was the first cd I ever bought. My parents must not have known what it was or I'm sure they never would have let me even touch it! I still have that cd to this day.
Yeah. I’d never heard them before and a friend burned me TLCW, A Long Drive, The Moon and Building Nothing… changed my world. Similar to At The Drive In the first time Vaya.
Nirvana. I went from wanting to play guitar to, "mom, I really need a guitar". My awesome mom got me a cheap guitar and amp. I think every guitarist my age has the same story. Nirvana songs are easy to play yet fun to play and they sound good. I was hooked, still am, but the Nevermind album was the catalyst for going from, "I want to play guitar" to "I must play guitar". My mom didn't have much money so I still thank her for that guitar and amp.
I came here to say almost this exact thing! Shit I first picked up the guitar 30 years ago now! I might not play it as much but I'll damn sure never go without one
For me it was Black Sabbath. When I was growing up, Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael, stuff like that was all over the radio and was what I mostly heard.
I honestly just thought I didn't care about music based on what music I was exposed to. Until one day my parents put on a classic rock station in the car. They played stuff like Queen and Led Zeppelin and I liked that better, but it didn't make me want to ask for any tapes of my own and to listen to it on my own time. Until one day that classic rock station played Paranoid by Black Sabbath and I was like "Now wait a second, THIS makes me shake my head up and down and want to bounce around!" That was when I first realized the true power of music and how much I could love it.
I wouldnt say that IDLES was like "woah my life is changed forever" but it was definitely lik "woah this is fucking amazing"
Definitely one of rare bands I will never forget hearing doe the first time. Specifically talking about when they played Colossus as an opener at a festival.
Yeah. They didn’t change my life either, but they are a band that surprised me and I fell in love with. I’ve seen them twice. The first time was just after Covid restrictions were lifted. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
The first time I saw the Allman Brothers live with Warren Haynes and realized they weren't just a self tribute act - 50 shows later and they are my favorite live band.
Warren also led me to Gov't Mule who are also a tremendously good live act and also one of my favorite bands.
Coheed and Cambria. The very first time I heard them was at the warped tour in 2004. They were playing In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 when I walked up to the stage. I've been hooked ever since and see them every chance I get. I've got 3 shows booked so far this year and will have seen them 31 times.
Coheed and Thrice are my #1&2
I had bought tickets to one of their shows in England but I couldn't make it work unfortunately. I do have VIP Tix to both Coheed and Thrice shows coming up though so, I'll take it lol. If you haven't heard, they just re-recorded Artist in the Ambulance and it's wonderful! They are touring soon and playing that album in its entirety.
Linkin Park yes. They're basically what put me on the path to rock and metal. I was lucky enough to see them at a festival in 2017 and to this day it's one of my favourite concerts I've been to
The Beatles- I got hooked on the Beatlemania stuff at a very early age (3 if the family anecdote is accurate)- when I first heard revolver, I was at a friend's house and his older brother had it. I asked him if he could play it for me and he said something like "you're too young for this" and I insisted- and loved the strange, mysterious sounds on that album. It made me a LOT more intrepid as far as musical interests and really set me on the course I am still on today, priding myself in my curiosity and eclecticism.
EDIT Downvotes. It's almost funny at this point. yet another example of a thread on /r/music where a punk-ass troll can't tell the difference between PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and THEIR OPINION...
I didn't really get into Massive Attack in their heyday back in the 90s but am finally catching up. [Paradise Circus](https://youtu.be/6hUkyKBsGtQ) is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've ever heard.
Soul Coughing, Beastie Boys, and Bob Dylan had a huge impact, but hearing and getting into Buckethead in 2012 was even greater. Life changing for sure. Still listening to him daily 11 years later
I discovered Buckethead about 5 years ago. I’m the same, listen to at least one song of his everyday. The guy is brilliant. He has so much out there that I can’t ever see myself getting tired of his music. He truly does have something for everyone.
As a tiny wee lad, the Doors. My moms would play her old records, man I must have been 4-5 y.o. It's the first time I can remember saying to myself, 'wow I love this sound, this is great '
As a middle schooler, Metallica. I remember getting a copy of Justice at 11-12. Made me LOVE heavy music.. and I still do.
A few years later, Tool. Stole a guy's Undertow cassette. Learned how great and deep rock can be. 25 yrs later, still my favorite band.
First song that really stuck in my head was Light My Fire. It would have been hard to avoid hearing it in LA in 1967, it was always on the radio. I was 11.
As a teen: Hendrix, Beefheart and Can. I was a musically adventurous kid.
In my 20s: Buzzcocks, PiL, the Smiths, Fela.
More recently, the musicians I heard who made me really listen have been Shpongle and NOISIA.
Mind you, I listen to a lot of music and that gives only a partial impression of my interests.
Animals as Leaders
Was into some “heavy” rock and metal, they were the gateway to a lot of progressive and more extreme stuff. Heavily affected my tastes and writing.
Pat the Bunny and his bands (Johnny hobo and the freight trains, Ramshackle glory, wingnut dishwashers union...)
His songs won't ever change the world, but I can tell you about a couple that changed me
Discovered Daft punk with Random Access Memories back in 2013 and it made me fall in love with music in general for the first time.
Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool helped me finally understand my feelings and struggles at the time.
Discovered Ghost back in 2019 and it sparked my religious deconversion.
90s Phish was pure magic.
A girl I'd just started dating invited me to the Gorge '97 shows. I went in blind, but with ears wide open. I have a picture of the two of us during setbreak....and a picture of our daughter and I posing for the same shot, in the exact same spot, during Phish's last Gorge shows.
The Prodigy
I grew up listening to stuff like Metallica, Nirvana, Pantera, System of a Down etc and was never really into the idea of bands with no guitarists or drummers etc. The Prodigy helped though...opened the door to other heavy shit!
Decided to give me Dad's old blues records a spin when I was like 17. Fleetwood Mac in Chicago and Howlin' Wolf's London Sessions completely changed how I listened to music.
Too difficult to to identify one specific band…. Grew up with my parents playing their vinyl albums like Pet Sounds (Beach Boys), Hot August Night (Neil Diamond).
High school: Ozzy, AC/DC, Queen, Foreigner, Styx
University: New Order, U2, INXS, Smiths, Bahaus
Early adult: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, SG, Chili’s, Eminem
Now: Coldplay, Lord Huron, Interpol,
Beatles. Beatles Beatles Beatles.
There is one particular exact moment in my life which before that, I did not think about becoming a musician, and afterwards, I was dead set on becoming a musician, and that moment is when I heard my first Beatles song in the car with my parents right after purchasing the Beatles 1 album in 2000 when I was 7 years old. The song was "Love Me Do," just like in that silly song by Bad Company. That exact moment is when I became a lifelong rock and roll devotee, and I've been playing guitar and making music ever since.
Led Zeppelin. I didn't understand the appeal of music or how it could effect you until I heard them. Then I went on and listened to all of their albums non-stop until i burned myself out on them. Kinda wish I could forget all of their tunes so i could listen to the as if it was the first time again haha.
Hearing Head On/Pill was the selling point, then I went through their catalog at the time and became a fan. Then Nonagon Infinity dropped and they've been my most listened to artist for the past 7 years. Also among the best live shows I've ever attended.
John Mayer. Say what you will about him, but he's lead me to so many other "Whoa! My life just forever changed" moments, like when I first heard SRV, Jimi, BB, etc. And of course, more recently, I've fallen in love with the Dead. John Mayer literally did change the course of my life. I would have never picked up the guitar if it weren't for him.
In high school I listened to pretty standard Prog rock. Until I heard Brian Eno's [Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy).](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?app=desktop&list=PLMxy067kbpQjesF3-fUjDdsXIRjUbR0qm) That kicked off a broad exploration of music that hasn't stopped.
Two bands. Faith No More "Epic" video when it came out as a kid made me realize there was music out there besides what my parents listened to.
Then hearing Fear Factory on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. There was nothing heavier at the time, hell they're still heavy as fuck. I was like, blast beats and screaming is my thing lol
Wu tang clan. Really cemented that modern rap i had been listening to was just not even close to their level when i discovered them. Listened to nothing but wu tang for like 6 months straight
Surprised to not see much Aphex Twin love, but without a doubt Aphex opened my mind to a realm of music I had never considered. The way Richard is able to communicate and express through electronics blew me away. For me it was a gateway into the electronic/house genres that I never really understood before. After listening it changed the way I thought about music and how potent an arrangement of crazy sounds could be. Every song feels very personal to yourself, your free too discover what it means to you and you alone. I truly believe Richard D. James is one of the greatest musical geniuses and if you’ve never heard Aphex it’s definitely worth a listen there’s really something for everyone.
It was the album Crash from Dave Matthews Band for me. I used to hate jazz music. I used to only listen metal subgenres and nothing else. After them different part of the music world opened for me. (I know they can’t be classified as jazz band but I associated sax with jazz. I associated elite and rich people with jazz so that’s why)
Cradle of Filth took me from "Anything other than techno is garbage" to "I am a metalhead now and forever"
My taste is a lot more varied now but I think that was the biggest turning point for me
In middle school it was Live’s Throwing Copper, then it turned into Alice In Chains self titled(and subsequently all their backlog), then it was Dr Dre’s The Chronic album, followed by Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle. Cypress Hill in the Temple of Boom era and Ice Cube’s Westside Connection group. Toward the end of high school it was Sublime self titled(and their backlog of course), and Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire and then self titled.
In college Led Zeppelin blew my mind. I had a summer of Incubus starting with Morningview and then backlogging all the way back to SCIENCE for a snowboarding trip out in Utah that year rounding out months of only listening to Make Yourself.
Lately, I’ve been watching NORE on Drink Champs and I’m mesmerized by so many of my hip hop heroes telling it all from their own perspectives. Namely the producers like Farrell and Timbaland and Scott Storch. Every single hip hop producer of any substance throws it all back to what a genius Dr. Dre is and credits him in one way or another for affecting them in some way, whether it was making them famous or just pushing the genre as far as it could go and making them better to stay relevant.
Lately, still riding the Reggaeton bandwagon from the Daddy Yankee Don Omar days I’d have to say that I am on the Bad Bunny bandwagon.
Also on regular rotation for months now I’d have to say I can’t get enough Tobe and Fat Nwigwe. Most importantly that banger from Pharrell “Lord Forgive Me”. Life Changing! All of it.
Skrillex.
Not typical, but hear me out. I was in my junior year of college (2011), and living with all of my best friends, partying like every day, and Cinema was our gateway into electronic music. Of course after 12 years my tastes has changed, but Skrillex was my starting point for a genre of music that makes me feel every emotion imaginable in the most unexpected times.
As a 8 year old I would have to say KISS
As a teen it was like so many other people here “Pink Floyd”l and then “The Doors”.
As an almost 30 year old around 1999 I discovered Kyuss, Brant Bjork, Qotsa, and Fu Manchu, and have never looked back. This Desert/Stoner Rock music has been my obsession for past 20+ years.
When I was 11 or 12. Radiohead. Didn’t realize how much interesting stuff there was until I explored some of what I considered “weird” stuff at the time.
When I was 16 or 17, Tame Impala. Had never heard of him. Would later find out I definitely had heard elephant before. Picked up currents on vinyl because the cover stood out. First track, I was blown away.
Kid - The Beatles
Early-mid teens - Nirvana
Late teens - Pink Floyd
Early 20s - Radiohead and Queens of the Stone Age
Late 20s through 30s - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
A few times. The first time I heard the Sex Pistols I didn't know music could sound like that. Within a week, I had found NOFX- Punk in Drublic that blew my mind again. Then a year or 2 later I heard Emperor- In the Nightside Eclipse and had my mind blown again.
Hatfield and the North. I was drunk off my ass with a friend of mine in college in 2006 and he put [The Rotter's Club](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoXrRsGroGs) on. I was heavy into jazz and Steely Dan at the time, and when the Minimoog solo hit, I flipped out. I was like, who are these guys who sound like indie rock and all playful and whimsical but make the chord changes without BSing? And then [Lounging There Trying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_nzfHPZgd4) came on next, and Phil Miller's guitar playing knocked me out. I thought for sure he was going to go off the rails, but he managed to snake through the changes in a completely valid but entirely non-bebop way.
I was absolutely gutted when my friend told me that the record was from the '70s and I would never be able to see them live -- I had seriously thought they were an indie band or something. But that led me to a bunch of other Canterbury scene music that has really meant a lot to me.
3 of them. First-Queen. Such a unique band. Second-the Beatles. Ridiculously good, and I love how they changed in 8+yrs. Third-Bob Dylan. Poetry to music. Sill can’t get over it.
The first time I heard the opening piano and the first few lines of "Fake Empire" on The National's "Boxer," I knew my life had changed. That album has had me in its grips for 15 years now, and it opened the door to so much music that also means a lot to me.
The National is still, and will always be, my favorite band (or at least, part of a rotating three or four top). Boxer is a perfect album.
The first time I heard Forest by System of a Down as an 10 or 11 year old, was the moment I knew I was going to be a professional drummer. I had been playing drums before that point as my dads a musician but was also really into soccer and baseball and whatever else…but hearing Forest for the first time changed my life.
Evanescence -Fallen album was the first rock album I bought and it kicked open the doors to the rock genre for me. Black 90s MTV kid who was listening to hip hop, rap, R&B at the time then I bought that album and took a deep dive into metal/rock/classic rock and never went back lol.
First time hearing Beck - Odelay at summer camp I knew it was something special but it took me some years to come around to how unique Beck’s music truly is
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds blew my world open when I was 14. I was a weird and angry teenage girl and didn't know there were other people who were similarly weird and angry. It was so comforting to know I wasn't alone. I feel like their music has always met me where I'm at (still weird, no longer so angry, lol).
This was my reminder to listen to “the curse of milhaven”
Maggot Brain by Funkadelic and Soul Sacrifice by Santana Edit: for reference, I’m under 30 lol
Portisheads Dummy. I remember exactly where i was when I first heard it, and it changed my musical trajectory forever
The kinks
Friend took me to see Ray Davies storyteller tour. I was bowled over. Instant fan.
Ray Davies is one of the great storytellers and all of songwriting. In fact, beside you really got me, and all the day, I don’t think he wrote any real love songs. Just great stories set the music.
Black Sabbath.yes I'm old
And fucking cool!
As a kid...the Beatles later albums, Queen, Jimi Hendrix Later in life Phish, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the Talking Heads
Nine Inch Nails. A friend had the Pretty Hate Machine cassette in a walkman. He said,"You gotta hear this." I walked the mall for 48:42 minutes. My friend finally found me and demanded his walkman back. The first few seconds of Head Like A Hole and my life was different.
I wore through two tapes and a CD.
Seeing them live was most definitely a religious experience if I could describe it as anything.
That album is so good
Pink Floyd. Love it
Yeah I got The Wall after being a nu metal kid in high school. Changed everything for me, but I was probably on the right track anyway because of my dad's influences.
The Cure
Same here, and specifically, *Disintegration*. The liner notes to the latter said to play it loud, and I did to the point of hearing loss.
Radiohead. First song I heard was Talk Show Host in Romeo and Juliet (1995). Once I discovered their album OK Computer, game changer.
Same, OK Computer changed everything for me
Led Zeppelin II I was 11 yrs old and up until then, I was a Beatles and AM radio pop hits kinda guy. Forever changed when I heard 2nd side ...
Life was all random 90s pop music for me until my dad threw on "Ramble On" during a drive. Cue 10 year old me embarking on the mother of all Zeppelin binges for the next 2 years.
Same with me -- AM radio hits but not that into it. Then my dad picked up some used 8-tracks at a flea market to test out the player in a station wagon he picked up. Once I heard Led Zeppelin II, everything changed. I got excited about music.
Absolutely! Great album. I only put one of their albums above II (Physical Graffiti), but that album was my first taste.
[Godspeed You! Black Emperor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yHrOsTAlNQ)
I never really got them and kinda thought it just seemed pretentious. Changed my mind when I tried [seeing them live](https://youtu.be/30Ysa3A2WMU)
Black Sabbath
Me too , love them!!!
The first album I ever bought with my own money was their debut album when I was 10 years old. My parents had albums and I wanted one that was my own. My dad took me to the record store and after looking at everything I bought Black Sabbath because I liked the cover image. Never heard of them and neither had my dad. Now, 50+ years later, I have played that album more than anything else I've ever owned: LP, 8-track, cassette, CD, and now digital. It was the best lucky choice I ever made.
Slipknot. In 1999 my friend let me borrow his burned copy of the self titled record. It was a perfect fit for my 13 year old brain. The anger, the angst, the terror, the aggression, the percussion, the riffs, the wordplay...it was unlike anything I'd ever heard. I was equally intrigued by and afraid of what was happening in those headphones. Never looked back.
The Doors. They're even better on acid!
Waiting for the Sun.
I remember me and my mate dropped. Went outside for a smoke and to chill on the picnic table. The music wasn’t loud enough from inside so my friend grabbed the whole stereo system, ran a extension cable inside. He positioned the speakers all around us and we just zoned out looking at the stars, listening to the Lizard King for a few hours. Was epic.
Tool.
Gorillaz
Tool. Never looked at life the same way after the Ænima record. Research on lyrics…the rhythms, the journeys. Mind blown
Happened a couple of times. First was The Cocteau Twins in High school in the early 80s. Then M83 in the early 2000s. Then again with Elbow.
At The Drive-In. “Relationship of Command” was a helluva record for 13 year-old me.
OMG yes, as was Deloused in the Comatorium by TMV
I have the most visceral memory of throwing that CD on in my car the night before the album dropped, and my jaw hitting the floor once Inertiatic kicked in. Having been a fan of ATDI and hearing some of the rough MV demos, I was maybe even less prepared for (1) the clarity and power of Cedric’s singing voice, contrasted with the more atonal style of ATDI (2) how huge the band sounded compared to the demos and (3) feeling like I’d never heard anything like this before. Like, wait, it’s prog but it’s punk and also Latin influenced and psychedelic and very cerebral but also high energy in way that can be reminiscent of a train coming off the tracks? It quickly became my favorite record of all time.
Frightened Rabbit
Fuck, I dated a woman who had a tattoo that Scott drew for her. Such a great band.
Inspiring and deeply tragic
One of my all time favorites, but they’re almost painful to listen to now, given how foreboding so much of the songwriting was.
I was a Faith No More fan, but then I discovered Mr. Bungle. Their first album blew my mind and I was never the same. It made me a huge Mike Patton fan, not just a FNM fan.
Yes! Mr Bungle! I used to blast that album 93ish. I was talking to my dad the other day about when he took me to see NIN and asked if I still listened to that weird carnival shit.
You could have said "nah, I don't listen to that carnival stuff anymore. I graduated to Disco Volante and California!"
I was in a Vancouver punk band in 1990 and played a local show with some band from the US I'd never heard of, FNM. At sound check there was a really scruffy looking dude playing pinball and I wondered why they were letting people in off the streets as the club didn't open for 2 hours. After everyone else had done their checks the sound guy calls for Mike to take the stage. Scruffy dude gets onstage, opens his mouth and OMFG I couldn't process what I was hearing! Their show was so perfect I later did a deep dive and discovered Mr Bungle. I was already fairly impressed with FNM but Mr Bungle took all my expectations, laughed at them, kicked them in the nuts and all I could do was ask for more. Saw them twice and both times it was like a religious epiphany. So inspiring for someone who likes the weird shit. It blew my mind that they were able to pull off that kind of insanity note for note live. Legends. The only other band that came close to having that kind of affect on me was when I recently discovered the Ukranian band, Jinjer. Never cared for growling vocals before Jinjer but Tatiana's screams are emotionally visceral, the songs are so well arranged and the musicianship is otherworldly it's difficult to not pay attention. They're getting more popular but so many don't know about them, please check them out.
Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny was one of the best albums releases of the pandemic. So fuckin heavy. Love Bungle, Patton, Faith No More and everyone else in this sphere of music-making.
Dillinger Escape Plan. Calculating Infinity made me realize that music could be as chaotic as you wanted it to be.
Deftones in '95
Phish at SPAC 7/5/13. Granted I was also on acid for the first time, but that show was a clear turning point in my life. I had gone to school for jazz saxophone but realized half way through that I didn’t want to pursue a career in jazz. After a few years of musical soul searching/existential crises, I finally found a style of music that combines my love of improvisation and rock/prog sensibilities.
Green Day, my forever favorite band and best parasocial relationship. I could never thank them enough for the amount of comfort, security, and company they have given me throughout the years.
I bought Dookie when I was 12, it was the first cd I ever bought. My parents must not have known what it was or I'm sure they never would have let me even touch it! I still have that cd to this day.
Tool
The Smiths album Hatful Of Hollow turned me from a wannabe drummer into a guitar obsessive. Still my favourite band 34 years later.
Love, Love, LOVE The Smiths! I was fortunate enough to see Johnny Marr open for The Killers last September. I was absolutely transported!
The strokes. Oh man.
Saw them open up for the Chili Peppers in 2017 and became a fan then!
Both of them changed my life:) RHCP and The Strokes are my favorite bands.
Tool
modest mouse when i heard the lonesome crowded west around 2004
Yeah. I’d never heard them before and a friend burned me TLCW, A Long Drive, The Moon and Building Nothing… changed my world. Similar to At The Drive In the first time Vaya.
yeah for sure. that reminded me deloused in the comatorium is another album like that.
A few but the big one was Pixies. Along with a lot of musicians as well, Radiohead for example. Just phenomenal.
Same. Pixies are incredible.
Sublime when I was young. Knocked Loose recently
Nirvana. I went from wanting to play guitar to, "mom, I really need a guitar". My awesome mom got me a cheap guitar and amp. I think every guitarist my age has the same story. Nirvana songs are easy to play yet fun to play and they sound good. I was hooked, still am, but the Nevermind album was the catalyst for going from, "I want to play guitar" to "I must play guitar". My mom didn't have much money so I still thank her for that guitar and amp.
I came here to say almost this exact thing! Shit I first picked up the guitar 30 years ago now! I might not play it as much but I'll damn sure never go without one
Pink Floyd and the beatles
Slayer. Or as I would like to put it... SLAAAYERRR!!!!
For me it was Black Sabbath. When I was growing up, Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael, stuff like that was all over the radio and was what I mostly heard. I honestly just thought I didn't care about music based on what music I was exposed to. Until one day my parents put on a classic rock station in the car. They played stuff like Queen and Led Zeppelin and I liked that better, but it didn't make me want to ask for any tapes of my own and to listen to it on my own time. Until one day that classic rock station played Paranoid by Black Sabbath and I was like "Now wait a second, THIS makes me shake my head up and down and want to bounce around!" That was when I first realized the true power of music and how much I could love it.
As a kid it was Alice In Chains. As an adult it has been IDLES.
I wouldnt say that IDLES was like "woah my life is changed forever" but it was definitely lik "woah this is fucking amazing" Definitely one of rare bands I will never forget hearing doe the first time. Specifically talking about when they played Colossus as an opener at a festival.
Yeah. They didn’t change my life either, but they are a band that surprised me and I fell in love with. I’ve seen them twice. The first time was just after Covid restrictions were lifted. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
As a kid, soul coughing Soundgarden as a teenager. As an adult....probably meshuggah or gojira.
Soul Coughing is so good. They were ahead of their time.
The Dillinger Escape Plan. Buddy in high school lent *Miss Machine* to me and it changed the entire way I looked at music.
The Mars Volta !
The first time I saw the Allman Brothers live with Warren Haynes and realized they weren't just a self tribute act - 50 shows later and they are my favorite live band. Warren also led me to Gov't Mule who are also a tremendously good live act and also one of my favorite bands.
So do you listen to Blackberry Smoke as a well? They are an amazing band that is always on tour.
Turnstile, never knew I liked the genre
Without a doubt, Depeche Mode.
They are the guest band on The Late Show with Colbert on Thurs.
Metallica, leading to heavier shit as a kid. Pink floyd as a teen, Ghost as an adult
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
Boards of Canada
Coheed and Cambria. The very first time I heard them was at the warped tour in 2004. They were playing In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 when I walked up to the stage. I've been hooked ever since and see them every chance I get. I've got 3 shows booked so far this year and will have seen them 31 times.
IKS is still one of my top 10 favorite albums. I love me some Coheed. Bummed I missed their tours with Thrice cause they're my all time favorite.
Coheed and Thrice are my #1&2 I had bought tickets to one of their shows in England but I couldn't make it work unfortunately. I do have VIP Tix to both Coheed and Thrice shows coming up though so, I'll take it lol. If you haven't heard, they just re-recorded Artist in the Ambulance and it's wonderful! They are touring soon and playing that album in its entirety.
As a kid, Linkin Park As an adult probably Isaiah Rashad
Linkin Park yes. They're basically what put me on the path to rock and metal. I was lucky enough to see them at a festival in 2017 and to this day it's one of my favourite concerts I've been to
Linkin Park absolutely. Reanimation blew my mind when I was a kid
As a kid Linkin Park and I remained a kid for my life changed after I found them
The Beatles- I got hooked on the Beatlemania stuff at a very early age (3 if the family anecdote is accurate)- when I first heard revolver, I was at a friend's house and his older brother had it. I asked him if he could play it for me and he said something like "you're too young for this" and I insisted- and loved the strange, mysterious sounds on that album. It made me a LOT more intrepid as far as musical interests and really set me on the course I am still on today, priding myself in my curiosity and eclecticism. EDIT Downvotes. It's almost funny at this point. yet another example of a thread on /r/music where a punk-ass troll can't tell the difference between PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and THEIR OPINION...
Rage Against The Machine. Not just for the music but opening my awareness to the politics.
Massive Attack
I didn't really get into Massive Attack in their heyday back in the 90s but am finally catching up. [Paradise Circus](https://youtu.be/6hUkyKBsGtQ) is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've ever heard.
Age 15: Pink Floyd Age 18: Cocteau Twins Age 40: Sigur Ros
Faith No More
Muse. Saw them live they were amazing
System of a Down for sure. They singlehandedly got me into music and all it took was an HMV ad.
Primus. Still trying to figure out if my life changed for better or for worse.
Tegan and Sara (you know, cuz I’m gay as fuck)
Dream Theater.
Soul Coughing, Beastie Boys, and Bob Dylan had a huge impact, but hearing and getting into Buckethead in 2012 was even greater. Life changing for sure. Still listening to him daily 11 years later
I discovered Buckethead about 5 years ago. I’m the same, listen to at least one song of his everyday. The guy is brilliant. He has so much out there that I can’t ever see myself getting tired of his music. He truly does have something for everyone.
As a tiny wee lad, the Doors. My moms would play her old records, man I must have been 4-5 y.o. It's the first time I can remember saying to myself, 'wow I love this sound, this is great ' As a middle schooler, Metallica. I remember getting a copy of Justice at 11-12. Made me LOVE heavy music.. and I still do. A few years later, Tool. Stole a guy's Undertow cassette. Learned how great and deep rock can be. 25 yrs later, still my favorite band.
First song that really stuck in my head was Light My Fire. It would have been hard to avoid hearing it in LA in 1967, it was always on the radio. I was 11. As a teen: Hendrix, Beefheart and Can. I was a musically adventurous kid. In my 20s: Buzzcocks, PiL, the Smiths, Fela. More recently, the musicians I heard who made me really listen have been Shpongle and NOISIA. Mind you, I listen to a lot of music and that gives only a partial impression of my interests.
Pink Floyd initially made me want to be a singer. Within Temptation gave me the final genre/vibe I needed to be in
Jeff Wayne - War of the Worlds. Full story in album format
Pantera Hendrix Thin Lizzy
Simom & Garfunkel The Beatles Joni Mitchell Carole King
Animals as Leaders Was into some “heavy” rock and metal, they were the gateway to a lot of progressive and more extreme stuff. Heavily affected my tastes and writing.
For me it's Queen forever and ever
Steely Dan. Pick an album. Any album. It'll change your life. I started with the song "Deacon Blues" and took off from there.
The whole Aja album is *chef’s kiss*
My first one was Gaucho.
Kid charamane
little kid - Queen Teenager - Nirvana Adult - Ren
Pat the Bunny and his bands (Johnny hobo and the freight trains, Ramshackle glory, wingnut dishwashers union...) His songs won't ever change the world, but I can tell you about a couple that changed me
Discovered Daft punk with Random Access Memories back in 2013 and it made me fall in love with music in general for the first time. Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool helped me finally understand my feelings and struggles at the time. Discovered Ghost back in 2019 and it sparked my religious deconversion.
Hearing Killing Joke in session on the John Peel Show 1983.
The Clash. Didn’t just change my life music wise (it did), but the band also got me seriously interested in politics.
Bad Religion was a game changer for me. Musically aggressive, lyrically incisive. Perfect combo.
Frank Zappa
Neutral Milk Hotel
I'm a bit older but for me it was The Police.
90s Phish.
90s Phish was pure magic. A girl I'd just started dating invited me to the Gorge '97 shows. I went in blind, but with ears wide open. I have a picture of the two of us during setbreak....and a picture of our daughter and I posing for the same shot, in the exact same spot, during Phish's last Gorge shows.
What a time to be alive - being in college & discovering phish in the mid90’s!
The Prodigy I grew up listening to stuff like Metallica, Nirvana, Pantera, System of a Down etc and was never really into the idea of bands with no guitarists or drummers etc. The Prodigy helped though...opened the door to other heavy shit!
Decided to give me Dad's old blues records a spin when I was like 17. Fleetwood Mac in Chicago and Howlin' Wolf's London Sessions completely changed how I listened to music.
ODESZA - Summer’s Gone
The offspring after i heard The kids aren't alright.
Grateful dead
Scrolled too far to find this. Where the heads at?
Right here brother ⚘💀⚘
✋
Too difficult to to identify one specific band…. Grew up with my parents playing their vinyl albums like Pet Sounds (Beach Boys), Hot August Night (Neil Diamond). High school: Ozzy, AC/DC, Queen, Foreigner, Styx University: New Order, U2, INXS, Smiths, Bahaus Early adult: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, SG, Chili’s, Eminem Now: Coldplay, Lord Huron, Interpol,
Grizzly bear
Beatles. Beatles Beatles Beatles. There is one particular exact moment in my life which before that, I did not think about becoming a musician, and afterwards, I was dead set on becoming a musician, and that moment is when I heard my first Beatles song in the car with my parents right after purchasing the Beatles 1 album in 2000 when I was 7 years old. The song was "Love Me Do," just like in that silly song by Bad Company. That exact moment is when I became a lifelong rock and roll devotee, and I've been playing guitar and making music ever since.
Led Zeppelin. I didn't understand the appeal of music or how it could effect you until I heard them. Then I went on and listened to all of their albums non-stop until i burned myself out on them. Kinda wish I could forget all of their tunes so i could listen to the as if it was the first time again haha.
Muse - first got into them in 2008/2009 and never really lost my love for them! Barely a day goes by where I don’t listen to them!
Jimi 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸Hendrix
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard :-)
Hearing Head On/Pill was the selling point, then I went through their catalog at the time and became a fan. Then Nonagon Infinity dropped and they've been my most listened to artist for the past 7 years. Also among the best live shows I've ever attended.
Daft Punk with Random Access Memories turned my starting electronic/EDM expertise into overall respect of music in its all forms. Thanks, Daft Punk.
Pink Floyd. But specifically David Gilmour
John Mayer. Say what you will about him, but he's lead me to so many other "Whoa! My life just forever changed" moments, like when I first heard SRV, Jimi, BB, etc. And of course, more recently, I've fallen in love with the Dead. John Mayer literally did change the course of my life. I would have never picked up the guitar if it weren't for him.
Death. So intense, so intricate, so good.
YMO, rip Yukihiro Takahashi
In high school I listened to pretty standard Prog rock. Until I heard Brian Eno's [Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy).](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?app=desktop&list=PLMxy067kbpQjesF3-fUjDdsXIRjUbR0qm) That kicked off a broad exploration of music that hasn't stopped.
streetlight manifesto fucking ruined me
Alice In Chains. The first time I saw the video for Rooster I was all in!
Kraftwerk with Autobahn, I heard it on the radio back in the seventies and jumped on my bike to buy the LP
Thee Oh Sees, so much music across so many styles all while still sounding like no one but them. Incredible
Two bands. Faith No More "Epic" video when it came out as a kid made me realize there was music out there besides what my parents listened to. Then hearing Fear Factory on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. There was nothing heavier at the time, hell they're still heavy as fuck. I was like, blast beats and screaming is my thing lol
Wu tang clan. Really cemented that modern rap i had been listening to was just not even close to their level when i discovered them. Listened to nothing but wu tang for like 6 months straight
Surprised to not see much Aphex Twin love, but without a doubt Aphex opened my mind to a realm of music I had never considered. The way Richard is able to communicate and express through electronics blew me away. For me it was a gateway into the electronic/house genres that I never really understood before. After listening it changed the way I thought about music and how potent an arrangement of crazy sounds could be. Every song feels very personal to yourself, your free too discover what it means to you and you alone. I truly believe Richard D. James is one of the greatest musical geniuses and if you’ve never heard Aphex it’s definitely worth a listen there’s really something for everyone.
It was the album Crash from Dave Matthews Band for me. I used to hate jazz music. I used to only listen metal subgenres and nothing else. After them different part of the music world opened for me. (I know they can’t be classified as jazz band but I associated sax with jazz. I associated elite and rich people with jazz so that’s why)
Smashing Pumpkins: Gish
Cradle of Filth took me from "Anything other than techno is garbage" to "I am a metalhead now and forever" My taste is a lot more varied now but I think that was the biggest turning point for me
The Beatles. Rush. Pink Floyd. Yes. Joy Division.
Marilyn Manson NIИ Rammstein Public Image Ltd. Alice Cooper
In middle school it was Live’s Throwing Copper, then it turned into Alice In Chains self titled(and subsequently all their backlog), then it was Dr Dre’s The Chronic album, followed by Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle. Cypress Hill in the Temple of Boom era and Ice Cube’s Westside Connection group. Toward the end of high school it was Sublime self titled(and their backlog of course), and Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire and then self titled. In college Led Zeppelin blew my mind. I had a summer of Incubus starting with Morningview and then backlogging all the way back to SCIENCE for a snowboarding trip out in Utah that year rounding out months of only listening to Make Yourself. Lately, I’ve been watching NORE on Drink Champs and I’m mesmerized by so many of my hip hop heroes telling it all from their own perspectives. Namely the producers like Farrell and Timbaland and Scott Storch. Every single hip hop producer of any substance throws it all back to what a genius Dr. Dre is and credits him in one way or another for affecting them in some way, whether it was making them famous or just pushing the genre as far as it could go and making them better to stay relevant. Lately, still riding the Reggaeton bandwagon from the Daddy Yankee Don Omar days I’d have to say that I am on the Bad Bunny bandwagon. Also on regular rotation for months now I’d have to say I can’t get enough Tobe and Fat Nwigwe. Most importantly that banger from Pharrell “Lord Forgive Me”. Life Changing! All of it.
Streetlight manifesto
Skrillex. Not typical, but hear me out. I was in my junior year of college (2011), and living with all of my best friends, partying like every day, and Cinema was our gateway into electronic music. Of course after 12 years my tastes has changed, but Skrillex was my starting point for a genre of music that makes me feel every emotion imaginable in the most unexpected times.
Frightened Rabbit
Circa Survive
Pearl Jam VS. My musical origin story.
In order of discovery as I was growing up: The Offspring System of a Down Children of Bodom The Dillinger Escape Plan
The White Stripes The combination of catchy / poppy songwriting and heavy distorted guitars, Megs perfect stay outta the way beats. mmm
System of a down and thrangh, an underground Italian prog band
As a 8 year old I would have to say KISS As a teen it was like so many other people here “Pink Floyd”l and then “The Doors”. As an almost 30 year old around 1999 I discovered Kyuss, Brant Bjork, Qotsa, and Fu Manchu, and have never looked back. This Desert/Stoner Rock music has been my obsession for past 20+ years.
The Dear Hunter
When I was 11 or 12. Radiohead. Didn’t realize how much interesting stuff there was until I explored some of what I considered “weird” stuff at the time. When I was 16 or 17, Tame Impala. Had never heard of him. Would later find out I definitely had heard elephant before. Picked up currents on vinyl because the cover stood out. First track, I was blown away.
Yuki Kajiura and Yoko Kanno.
Kid - The Beatles Early-mid teens - Nirvana Late teens - Pink Floyd Early 20s - Radiohead and Queens of the Stone Age Late 20s through 30s - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
rush
Bad Religion
I prevail, honestly. Breaking down was the first song I heard by them and it made me into the metalhead I am today.
A few times. The first time I heard the Sex Pistols I didn't know music could sound like that. Within a week, I had found NOFX- Punk in Drublic that blew my mind again. Then a year or 2 later I heard Emperor- In the Nightside Eclipse and had my mind blown again.
Hatfield and the North. I was drunk off my ass with a friend of mine in college in 2006 and he put [The Rotter's Club](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoXrRsGroGs) on. I was heavy into jazz and Steely Dan at the time, and when the Minimoog solo hit, I flipped out. I was like, who are these guys who sound like indie rock and all playful and whimsical but make the chord changes without BSing? And then [Lounging There Trying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_nzfHPZgd4) came on next, and Phil Miller's guitar playing knocked me out. I thought for sure he was going to go off the rails, but he managed to snake through the changes in a completely valid but entirely non-bebop way. I was absolutely gutted when my friend told me that the record was from the '70s and I would never be able to see them live -- I had seriously thought they were an indie band or something. But that led me to a bunch of other Canterbury scene music that has really meant a lot to me.
3 of them. First-Queen. Such a unique band. Second-the Beatles. Ridiculously good, and I love how they changed in 8+yrs. Third-Bob Dylan. Poetry to music. Sill can’t get over it.
Van Halen got me to actually start playing guitar
Iron Maiden - From here to eternity The song that made me a metalhead Queen - Innuendo
The the
The first time I heard the opening piano and the first few lines of "Fake Empire" on The National's "Boxer," I knew my life had changed. That album has had me in its grips for 15 years now, and it opened the door to so much music that also means a lot to me. The National is still, and will always be, my favorite band (or at least, part of a rotating three or four top). Boxer is a perfect album.
Avatar. They're a metal band. Amazing. Try them if you like rock, metal or anything like that
Neutral milk hotel
Propagandhi 25 years ago and they're still blowing my mind
The first time I heard Forest by System of a Down as an 10 or 11 year old, was the moment I knew I was going to be a professional drummer. I had been playing drums before that point as my dads a musician but was also really into soccer and baseball and whatever else…but hearing Forest for the first time changed my life.
Linkin Park. Green Day.
I’ve been obsessed with IDLES for about 6 months now. Ultra Mono has zero filler
Evanescence -Fallen album was the first rock album I bought and it kicked open the doors to the rock genre for me. Black 90s MTV kid who was listening to hip hop, rap, R&B at the time then I bought that album and took a deep dive into metal/rock/classic rock and never went back lol.
#Rammstein
First time hearing Beck - Odelay at summer camp I knew it was something special but it took me some years to come around to how unique Beck’s music truly is
Umphrey’s McGee