How Your Favorite Bands/Albums Became Your Favorites

[JOSweetHeart]

I couldn't be anymore ashamed to admit that my newest favorite had to go forward in order for me to realize who I was really missing out on all of this time. Ever since his going last October, the beautiful precious Billy Joe Royal is all that I have been listening to.

God bless you and his family always!!!

Holly

P.S. Of course my knowing of him at all had to start somewhere and for me it all started with what I heard of his singing when I was just a little kid. Sadly I guess that the radio powers that be could only be so helpful considering how consistent their interest in him pretty much wasn't...may the beautiful precious haunt every last member.
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Me & my favorite singer James Otto

Check him out here when you can!

[RoundTheBend]

Cool thread:

First, I remember making a decision when I was about 15 that if I really like a band, I'm going to get into their whole discography. I think this is when I very first understood/appreciated the point of a full album. I think there's still lots of people that ignore albums and really it's about the songs. Anyway, I remember the bands I sought after were my favorites at the time: U2, Beatles, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, R.E.M., Radiohead, and then later Beck, Muse, Paul Simon, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Pearl Jam (the last 3 though I found I liked a majority of their discographies, but not all).

Around this time (1999?) I also kind of made up my mind that if an artist couldn't write a whole album worth listening to, they probably weren't worth me spending too much time with. It still kind of is a prejudice that I have... even if they have 5 AMAZING songs, they kind of aren't worth my time if they can't write a GREAT all songs are good record. For me, Queen fits the bill for a band that isn't really worth my time... I'll probably never get deeper than a best of hits album for them.

This has slightly changed since my evaluation of the 1950s and how I thought some of my music heroes like Roy Orbison, Elvis, Chuck Berry, etc. had some albums that were pretty terrible (some of them had one good album or so, but mostly it was all about the hits).

Well here goes (no particular order):

1) Beatles: probably because of my parents. I listened to Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper growing up a lot, but then when I was older and my dad died (he's really the one who listened to it), I started listening to the White Album and best of type stuff. During that phase I wanted to listen to everything Beatles. I even loved the super boy band type stuff. Since then I still really like them, but focus on their debut and then Rubber Soul onward.

2) U2: As a family we listened to Joshua Tree on EVERY road trip. It became a family favorite. I remember Kiss Me, Kill Me, Thrill Me... something something. I really liked that song when I saw it on MTV. Funny enough it was the Pop album that got me really to be a U2 fan (I think it had just come out and a friend listened to it a lot). I then listened to Pop, Zooropa, Achtung Baby and of course Joshua tree a lot. Then All That You Can't Leave Behind came out. Now I think the album is pretty average, but this was the first album I went to a release party for... I remember Bono said something this album is to show the boy bands what a man's band sounds like or something dumb like that... but I loved him saying that at a time when my musical choices were Insane Clown Posse or Backstreet Boys (what was popular in my high school at the time). From there I got into War... and then their entire discography. I feel they have turned into the Rolling Stones... they still make ok music and are a great live act, but musically aren't as interesting as they used to be.

3) Nirvana/Foo Fighters: I first really got into Nirvana of course when the rest of America did. They were huge on MTV back when MTV was an ok place to find music. My sister bought Nevermind and I listened to it a bit on tape. I remember watching them on MTV with come as you are and heart shaped box being on there a lot. That then faded, but then around the time I was trying to find real music (and not insane clown posse as mentioned before), I bought Nevermind on CD and for my teenage self that was enough. A few years later I got In Utero and Bleach.

When Nirvana broke up and that break when I stopped really listening to them, I started listening to the Foo Fighters. The self titled album and the colour and the shape were staples in my teenage years and I still treasure them today. My wife likes the Foo Fighters, so they are still a big part of my life (she's not as musically adventurous, so we basically can only agree on Foo Fighters, Muse, and Green Day in the realm of rock).

4) Rolling Stones: Honestly this site... I listened to Hot Rocks a lot growing up, but ANY Stones record I picked up I really only liked the hits on it... I guess I was just expecting something else. Anyway, people suggested to keep trying and what their favorites were, so I did, and now I genuinely love Exile on Main St. and Some Girls.

5) Led Zeppelin: Also this site. I learned how to play dazed and confused on bass when I was a kid (mostly because it is a simple yet rad bassline), but I didn't even know it was a Led Zeppelin song. I listened to a full album for the first time probably about 5 years ago or something. I really only like I-IV though. Hits off the other records, but not a huge fan of the entire album).

6) R.E.M.: I remember hearing their hits on MTV and kinda liking them, but then someone gave me the Eponymous collection and I got into that... then I got Automatic for the People, and then have really gotten into their entire discography. I love just about every album of theirs, except for a couple 80s records... just haven't gotten into them as much (so like 85% of their discography I truly like all of it).

7) Radiohead of course started out with the Creep single. I went bat shit crazy when that song came on as a kid. Somehow I totally missed OK Computer, and then a friend showed me Kid A... that blew my mind. In hind sight, why that album is so amazing is Radiohead took a generation of Radiohead/Alt Rock fans that had bumper stickers that said "drum machines have no soul" and turned them on to drum machines/electronic music. Anyway, after Kid A, I went back to OK Computer and then bought every release since.

Red Hot Chili Peppers of course started with Under The Bridge on MTV, and then the coneheads song (soul to squeeze) My sister also had Blood Sugar Sex Magic on tape and listened to it a bit. I then got older and when Californiacation came out I became a big fan. I then bought one hot minute and liked that and my own copy of BSSM. Have bought all their records since Mother's Milk.

9) Smashing Pumpkins: the Today music video... and then Mellon Collie came out and I was hooked... I was like damn... these guys are real musicians.

Damn... I'm just realizing I grew up on MTV. I didn't really realize that before, but A LOT of my favorite bands I can blame MTV on for the early 1990s. Good thing my parents didn't care I was watching MTV at 8-10 years old.

That's probably enough of this for now.

[manurock]

I am younger than many of you guys so my stories aren't that good but I'll share a few.

My first band in my top 100 I listened (and payed attention) to was Coldplay. When "A Rush of Blood..." went out I couldn't stop listening to them. Hadn't listened to anything similar at that time and it blew my mind. Now I still consider them a good band despite their reputation, though I don't like their last few albums.

As for Muse, I also started listening to them early, earlier than when they got so famous. I listened to "Plug-in baby" while I was playing Guitar Hero and started to dig up on them. I have to say that the first time I listened to "Origin of Symmetry" (which was the first album I listened from them) I didn't like it... now it's one of my all time favourites.

Then came Pink Floyd. My father had always played some CDs of bands I now love like Supertramp or Camel, but this time, I can't explain why, when he played the Wall CD2 and I listened to "Hey you" and "Comfortably numb" I loved it so much... it really was a turning point in my love for music. Since then I started paying much more attention, buying albums, an iPod... and enjoying so much as I do now. Truth is, I don't find the Wall their best album at all but it still has a soft spot on me.

[LedZep]

Well, my favourite bands of all time would be Pink Floyd, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden and David Bowie. I also have "current favourites", but I cannot think of a band as a "best ever" until I have listened to the majority of their discography and liked it. Also, the albums must be great no matter how much times I have listened to them. So, current favourites but not best ever (yet) would be Porcupine Tree, System of a Down, Radiohead, Tool, Biffy Clyro.

I am only 18 so I maybe don't have that long of a history of listening to music, but I have some interesting stories



Chronological order:

Iron Maiden - after my GNR+ACDC+RHCP phase finally ended (7th grade or so), I was introduced to some new good music. Green Day, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden. I know, strange combination but I liked them all. Today I think Maiden are far better than Green Day and Bon Jovi. The Number of the Beast was a song I've known since I was born probably, so when Maiden were hitting my town for a show, me and my dad decided to go. It was a few months before the concert that I started listening to Iron Maiden. And it was a whole new world… Hallowed Be Thy Name is still one of the best songs ever, and even though I was disappointed they didn't play it (Maiden England Tour), the show was so awesome that I am still listening to Maiden and going for a second show soon (which is strange considering I live in Croatia where big bands don't come so often). Since then I decided they really ARE one of my favourites. Now I'm hoping they'll play Hallowed Be Thy Name, Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Empire of the Clouds…

Led Zeppelin - it was at the end of primary school, and especially summer between 8th grade and 1st grade of the high school when I was crazy about Led Zep. Not that I am not today. Stairway to heaven just blow me away first time I heard it, and so my journey begun. Stairway, No Quarter and Rain Song are still my favourites, and I would rank Led Zeppelin IV as the best album ever written. Pure magic that record!

Pink Floyd - 2014 was my year of Pink Floyd. As with The Number of the Beast, Wish You Were Here and Final Cut were two songs that I've known since the beginning of time. When I started listening to Pink Floyd, at first I didn't like them too much. I have already given up on them when a friend suggested listening to a song called Echoes. It is not a song really, it's a f*cking masterpiece. Unlike all other bands, the moment I started liking them I knew they were my favourite. After Echoes, it was Dark Side of the Moon period, than Wish You Were Here, then Animals… Just when you think that they can't have YET ANOTHER mind-blowing album, they do. Meddle, The Final Cut, The Wall, The Division Bell, Atom Heart Mother…

Rush - 2015 was a year of Rush. Pink Floyd introduced me to different kind of music, prog rock. I liked it very much, and so I started discovering those great bands. First one was of course Rush. It was a different kind of prog rock, but I liked it as much as Pink Floyd. I needed more time to get used to their sound, so the first songs I liked were Closer to the Heart and Fly by Night. Tom Sawyer came after that, but it was Xanadu that started it all. It was another Stairway to Heaven. 2112, The Voyage and Hemispheres, Freewill, The Spirit of Radio, Subdivisions… If Pink Floyd have the most albums that are 10/10, than Rush has most 10/10 songs.

Pearl Jam - one of my dad's favourites. When I started listening to them I was discovering songs that I'd already heard before. Ten blew my mind… I liked Nirvana very much, but this was even better. Release and Black, two of the most beautiful songs ever. They have those non-commercial half-ballads, hit you hard with Alive and Go, they have great lyrics and singer, great guitars, great drums. Ten is probably the best album recorded in the last several decades. Pearl Jam is the reason why I started listening to grunge and love it now. I hope they just keep going and maybe even have a concert or two somewhere near me.

David Bowie - started listening to him several months before his death. So tragic. Blackstar is just pure art, and an art of a dying man. Albums from The Man Who Sold the World to Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) are all great. The longest winning streak in popular music. In that 10 years, he showed his many faces. from glam rock and some super catchy and interesting songs, to the epicness of the Berlin Trilogy. Blended so many genres, written great songs and never sold out (no, not even in the 80'). I want to be a musician like David Bowie when I grow up.

[dihansse]

[RoundTheBend]