Your Music Evolution
 

When we first get into music, it's either from our parents or the great.
channel of MTV to expose us to bands that we will then hate and look more into the underground for music.

You start with one band, then you get tired of their music for awhile then explore other better artists. Where did you start and where are you now?

Metallica
This is where it all started for me, when I finally was getting seriously into music. I promised myself when I was younger that I would never get into metal because it was to noisy, but well the first band I got into is Metallica. Great Melodic everything and it had everything I liked in the music, I think I got all my anger out from listening to their cd's in my pre/young teen years.

Blind Guardian
After getting tired of Metallica after pretty much three straight years of listening to them, I got into a more epic band which happens to be Blind Guardian which was more of a fantasy band with great metal vocalists and the music was just mind blowing with how they presented it. Great amazing band

Nightwish
What do you do, when you like epic music and heavy music such as Metallica and Blind Guardian but at the same time want something completely different? The answer- Nightwish, still this is one of my favorite bands, only releasing one horrible cd (their debut album) most of their music is flawless. To bad Tarja is gone now.

HIM
This band gets made fun of a lot, mostly for the female looking male singer, but great band either way. The lyrics mostly about love as everyone knows, after Nightwish they were interesting to get into.

Dream Theater
A band that combines everything from every past band mentioned in this thread- Epic music/great solo's/great atmosphere/great lyrics/many album. One of my favorite bands and probably always will be. I have most of their cd's and I enjoy listening to each one. Currently what I listen to most.

I am into more than those few bands, those have just been the most important bands that stood out to me.

System of a Down
Yeah, fuck you. A friend got me their debut for my tenth birthday (lol) and I loved it for a year or two. Then I suddenly had no musical taste whatsoever for a long time!

Nightwish
I bought Once in September '03 and wound up orgasming all over it and hating SOAD soon afterwards. Funnily enough, I really don't listen to them much anymore.

HIM
Oops! Step in the wrong direction. I was into this shitheap of a band for about a month before I realised what I was doing and became tr00 again.

Dream Theater
First band I went around preaching to everyone. Now I own all their albums, all their lives and two DVDs. I still like them.

Agalloch
Oh lord. Utterly epic, bleak, atmospheric folky-progressive-doom-metal galore. Haughm is probably one of my favourite vocalists.

Pain of Salvation
K, this band is the reason I don't listen to DT much anymore. I've had Remedy Lane for about half a year and I still can't stop listening to it.

Massive Attack
I discovered trip-hop a few months ago, and now I listen to just as much of it as I do metal. Win. Can't help but get an odd look whenever I mention it to friends though.

There's no possible way I could do this with bands, it would take up pages upon pages. Ergo, I'll do it by genre.

My interests branched out. I started with classic rock. That got me interested in jazz, country, blues, folk, and metal. Jazz got me interested in modern orchestral music and hiphop. Metal branched into punk, and punk lead to interest in the avant-garde.

This isn't a "this and THEN I went onto something else" kind of thing, it's "this and then ALSO I started listening to that". Like I said, I could never list enough bands, but I'll give the first artist I started listening to in each genre: classic rock was Black Sabbath, jazz was Eric Dolphy, country was Hank Snow, blues was Leadbelly, folk was Pete Seeger, metal was Celtic Frost, for modern composers it was Erik Satie, rap was Slick Rick, punk was Black Flag, and the avant-garde was John Zorn. Now, these aren't my favorite artists or the one's I'd be first to recommend, just the ones that got my interests up.

Agalloch is fucking awesome.


Korn

Yeah that's right, the band that kick started the nu-metal genre was the first 'heavy' band I got into. And I got into them thanks to MTV. I still do occasionally listen to them from time to time. My path down nu-metal continues with...

Slipknot

I think my friends got me into them. I was a fanatic for along while, though I really only like their current album right now.

Slayer

I got into them after listening to the Tattoo the Earth live CD. Stain of Mind and Chemical Warfare were both on there and kicked my ass. Thus began my descent into thrash and other metal genres.

Meshuggah

I was thirsty for more heavy bands and someone from the Minibosses message board recommended Future Breed Machine. That was the heaviest shit I've heard at that point and I was really into the future sounding tone the guitars had.

Death

This band helped introduce me into into the more underground scene of metal. Symbolic was one of my most played albums in the latter half of high school. Still one of the greatest bands around.

There are other notable bands, but these were the important ones I suppose.

Metallica

This is where it all started for me, too. The black album was the first CD I ever bought, back when I was ten years old or so. I quickly started to explore their older stuff, which I also loved. Metallica was the first band I saw live, as well. I loved the guitar solos, and quickly sought more music with the same energy and riffage, which led me to:

Iron Maiden

Due to the influence of my older brother and the music I would hear him listening to, I started to get into NWOBHM stuff. Still one of my favorite bands to this day. The solos, the galloping riffs, the wailing. It was all perfect. I listened to them a LOT, and while I wanted more, I didn't know where else to find it. However, one day I stumbled across:

Iced Earth

I actually heard some of their stuff on an internet radio station in a class back in highschool once, and dug it. Through that, I discovered Demons and Wizards, which brought me to Blind Guardian. A whole new world opened up. I realized that music was still being released in places that weren't North America (this was before Iron Maiden got back together, and I sort of forgot that Europe existed). Luckily for me, there were lots of good bands still releasing things in Europe, like:

In Flames

Listening to their old stuff, along with that of Dark Tranquillity, Amorphis, and Children of Bodom, is what first got me into the growled vocals. I really didn't like it at first, but the instrumentality was just so good that I kept listening anyway. Eventually I stopped minding the vocals, and then eventually began to like them. They have a certain subtlety to them, ironically. Speaking of subtlety, you know a band is good when you've been listening to them for years and are still noticing new and interesting things they've done in their songs. For example:

Death

This was a huge one for me. Chuck was and is one of the greatest visionaries to ever pick up a guitar, and his memory lives on with all the bands drawing an influence from his music. I'd never listened to anything quite so technical before, which brought me to...

Cacophany

Along with Jason Becker's and Marty Friedman's solo stuff, Cacophany made me appreciate classical and technical guitar in a way I had never known before. Branching out to other like-minded musicians (Yngwie, Vai, etc).

At this point, I notice a problem that knk mentioned, being that this is way WAY too linear. Along the way after Metallica, I also got into Black Sabbath, another band that my brother listened to extensively. This led me to things like Van Halen, the Cult, and other classic rock acts. This more mellow side further chilled out as time went by, and got me into stuff like Sublime, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and lots of Spanish guitar. I could probably linearize everything, but right about now is the point where I started to get lazy, so that's all you get!

Stabbing Westward
A good friend of mine lent me their "Darkest Days" album when I was very young and it was a definite stepping stone into the harder stuff I listen to now. They were my favorite band for a while -- I got all of their CD's -- but now I can't really listen to them anymore.

The Smashing Pumpkins
They're kind of a sentimental favorite of mine; my best friend loved them, introduced me to their music, and has since passed away. The "Adore" album always makes me think of him.

Opeth
My first foray into European metal. I eased into it with "Blackwater Park" and "Damnation." My favorite is now "Orchid."

Pain of Salvation
Still my favorite band ever. I listened to "Remedy Lane" once and was instantly hooked. "The Perfect Element I" pulled me in even more. Daniel Gildenlow's vocal range is amazing, and I even had the connections (thank you, Adrian) to get the opportunity to hang out with him once a few years ago.

Evergrey
Really good dark metal that got me into concept albums (before I realized Pain of Salvation's RL and TPE were concept albums). I'm not as happy with their latest, "Monday Morning Apocalypse," but "The Inner Circle" and "Recreation Day" were so fanfuckingtastic that I can forgive them. I adore Tom Englund. And I'm going to get to see them when they come to ProgPower USA this September!

And this brings us to . . .
Jorn Lande
My favorite power singer. EVAR. I own all of his solo albums and tons more from other bands he's been in, such as Masterplan, Ark, The Snakes, Leatherwolf, and Mundanus Imperium. He'll also be at ProgPower this year, too :D.

(Also included are various death metal bands including Dark Tranquility, Strapping Young Lad, Behemoth, and Axamenta.)

Best metal singer ever = Eric Adams!

Growing up I was exposed to a lot of "smooth jazz" 'cause that's what my dad had on the radio. He also played a lot of Santana...Oye Como Va, hell yeah. Then there were the dark years of pretending to like rap while not really listening to music at all. Next I discovered video game and anime sound tracks and that's all I listened to for most of high school. The only actual band I listened to was Incubus. Finally I discovered The Mars Volta, and from there it was a slippery slope into obscure alt rock, metal, and anything progressive. First it was stuff like Dream Theater or Mahavishnu Orchestra, lately I've been getting into math rock.

I got into metal at a young age. My older brother gave me a compilation tape of various metal and hard rock artists. I was instantly into Judas Priest, King Diamond and Testament. I had also heard a few Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Slayer songs, but this tape is what really got me into it.
At that age I also listened heavily to Guns N Roses, but even then I was trying very hard to ignore their filler. I eventually got bored with them and now only like a handful of songs. I also enjoyed Pink Floyd, Animals is the first record I ever bought myself (and Appetite for Destruction the first CD I owned, received on my birthday).

It took some time before I delved more seriously into the genre, and the more "underground" artists I discovered after were Anacrusis, Bathory, Overkill, Amorphis in the early 90's, and in the mid-90's I got into more euro-metal: Blind Guardian, Therion, Moonspell, Emperor, Storm, Tiamat. At the same time I started to discover darkwave/ambient and neo-folk, such as Mortiis and Wongraven, but I am still today very much a n00b.

All across those years, I also listened to a lot of assorted movie scores, video game soundtracks, new age (Kitaro) and classical. And more recently (less than 5 years or so) I started to discover folk music. Stille Volk and Garmarna are two big favourites.

I still like all of the above, or at least their classic material. The only band I was heavily into at the time, and now I barely listen to at all, even their classic stuff, is GnR. Too much filler, really.

So, today... mostly metal, I'd say around 75% of what I listen to (very approximate estimation, but I reckon it's at least that much). The rest is comprised of folk, neo-folk, darkwave/gothic, ambient, movie scores, game scores, classical, classic or progressive rock, and the odd new age artist here and there. Tried as I might, there's very little music outside of those that I like.

I'm not even sure how my musical evolution plays out. I'll do my best to start from as early as i can remember.

Ice Cube
Yeah, i sorta went through a rap thing. Music was never really pitched to me when i was young by my parents, i was left to find my own taste in music. Me, not having a solid base in any form of music was left to listen to what my friends listened to. For a long time i thought the only bands out there that weren't classical music were Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, DMX, and so forth. I remember the one CD my friend had that wasn't rap, or that kind of stuff was Big Shiney Tunes album 2. The very first song i heard off of it was Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson. That song really caught me, and i wanted that album, even just for that song (yeah i was really impressionable).

Big Shiney Tunes 2
This compilation probably played the largest role in my musical development. I loved each song on this album, some more than others. It opened the doors for me to bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Third Eye Blind, Smashmouth, and other such mainstream stuff, but nothing that really stuck with me, except for The Tea Party. I wasn't huge into them, mostly because the sound of the song on that Compilation kind of scared me.

Crash Test Dummies
It was around this time that i got hooked on the folk band Crash Test Dummies. They had a terrific singer, and great instrumentalists to boot. Their song writing was creative. I lived off of this, and other bands my dad had lying around until i took another shot at the more mainstream stuff.

The Tea Party, and Creed
I bought myself a Creed album not long after starting grade 7. I was instantly hooked. After this i decided to try and branch out. I tried The Tea Party head on, along with Weird Al, and Smashmouth's less popular hits. None of the other ones stuck, but the Tea Party did grow on me over time, but Weird Al was an instant hit.

Rammstein
I was at a friend's house, and i was introduced to the dark Industrail sound of Rammstein. I couldn't understand it, but i didn't care, i loved the sound. I bought two of the albums and set down for a while just enjoying their music. After that, i discovered a website that listed almost every German born musical artist in existance. That's where i discovered...

Helloween
This band was an instant hit. I heard the song I Want Out, and i went right into downloading more of their stuff. Over the course of two days i had downloaded over 30 individual songs off Kazaa by them. They opened the door to the more talented side of music. Along with them came Rush, Dream Theater, the other two pillar bands to my taste in music. I went along with basically these three bands with some stragglers running along the side until for christmas i was given a rather strange gift that i was not expecting at all. I got a CD for christmas not too long ago, it was called...

Get Behind Me Satan
This album blew down all the walls surrounding my musical taste. Ever since receiving that album i've been going for almost anything i can find if it's recomended to me. I've gotten so much more adventerous, and i'm not afraid of new styles. I still listen to the three "pillar" bands in my taste more than anything, but i'm extending the pillar system to other such bands as The Tea Party (i'm now officially a fan), The White Stripes, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, and so on.

That's pretty much where i am now.

For most of my adolescent life I remember being hip to the Michael Jackson fad. I had Thriller on tape, I bought Moonwalker, I played the hell out of the Moonwalker arcade game. There was a lot of music out there in the 80's but the pop rock he did when Bad came out really struck a proverbial chord with me. It was catchy, and he had a great singing voice, and hell, we all know it, he had badass dance moves. I still listen to Bad when I need an MJ fix.

I remember the first two CDs I spent money on were Alice In Chains' self titled album and Soundgarden's A-Sides. Though I pretty much got tired of Soundgarden after I played out Pretty Noose and Burden in my Hand...

1997. Alice in Chains was my introduction to hard rock. I listened mostly to my local rock station, but they were a band that I really invested myself in. I liked their melodies, I liked their style, and enough that I figured I'd buy one of their albums.

1998, I heard The Prodigy's album Fat of the Land, as well as The Matrix Soundtrack and the Blade Soundtrack. Up until that point I had really dismissed a lot of techno music as the dance type, with super-happy female vocalists and cheesy effects. For lack of a better term, this blew me away. I was really sucked into the world of electronica. I delved into trance, breakbeat, trip-hop, and all kinds of different genres thanks mostly to MP3.com.
This was also the year I realized that game music was good, dammit, based mostly on my experiences with Diablo, Final Fantasy 7, and Super Mario RPG. I began actively seeking out songs on Napster running the gamut from Static-X to Diablo.

Fast forward: grunge, alternative, standard rock, and...
2001, I listened to Sevendust's album Animosity, and Soilwork's Natural Born Chaos album. They couldn't really be farther apart in style, but they both represented a real departure from what I was used to. I liked melodic singers with a hard rock base, bands like Finger Eleven, Stabbing Westward, Linkin Park, and others. When I stumbled upon these two albums, though, it let me step outside the box for a minute and ask myself how important my strict rules for melody really were. The truth was, I enjoyed the occasional screaming or growled lyrics, because it allowed me to contrast against the beautiful harmony. That year I also visited a certain forum that happened to be associated with a certain GFA3 project that was just coming online. Exposure, exposure, exposure. I ate it all up. Video game music beame my life for months, when I would often download something without any idea what it was just to find out if it was maybe any good. Lastly, I heard Juno Reactor's album, Bible of Dreams. As if the video game music wasn't enough, here I was being treated to a wonderful mishmash of cultural and electronic elements that really sent me spiralling. I got exposed to a lot of interpretational and experimental styles as a function of this, probably my favorite year in music, but at this point I was still under the impression that certain things were off limits.

Fast forward to 2003, when I bought my first Iced Earth CD (Burnt Offerings) from a used CD store. I had heard many good things from GFF members, and I figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. I found that I really liked it. Despite the wailing vocals and the melodramatic presentation of the album, I was digging it. I opened myself up to other avenues that I had only known by reputation before.

Early 2004, I gave Opeth a real chance. I had downloaded some of their material before, and wasn't very impressed with the death vocals. This time I listened to them for real, and found that if I was going to make concessions, and listened to the band not just for the melody, but for the combined effort of rhythm and melody (this goes towards the claim I've made before about death vocals being more of a rhythm instrument than a melody instrument) then I could enjoy myself a whole lot more.

Death and (mostly because of the rhythm component), hardcore music, began to work its way into my regular playlist. 2005 saw me buying albums from everyone from As I Lay Dying and Unearth to Into Eternity (Now one of my favorite bands), Juno Reactor, Dredg, The Mars Volta, The Haunted, and everything in-between.

My most recent attempts have included dipping my toes into classic & soft jazz, emo, as well as ambient and environmental music. I don't feel like I ever really tossed anything aside, so I'd say my musical evolution has been, in a general sense, outward rather than linear.

Well I have jumped from genre to genre trying to fin new things to absorb and enjoy. I start with as far back as I can remember, and when my musical evolutions really took off. I'll list bands/artists I feel were stepping stones.

Back in my early teens, in middle school was around the time music became enjoyable for me.

Korn - Yeah, this was a group I loved back in the 90's, my younger brother actually got me interested. This would later help propel me into harder stuff, but I rarely ever listen to them anymore.

Stabbing Westward - Another group I discovered during my Korn phase was this. I found their album, Darkest Days, to be very good. Solid instrumentation, decent vocals, a good mix, a good group. I still listen to them from time to time, but I often have them on a backburner for top songs.

Video Game Music - For a period of several years and most all of high school, VGM was my music obsession. I built A huge album collection, ranging from games I had played to games I hadn't but liked the music. It is still my largest area of music, but slowly others are catching up. Haven't had many new VGM albums as of late.

Billy Joel - I can thank my dad for introducing me to this guy. It was late in high school when I was looking through my dads old music, and found Billy Joel. I easily liked most of his work, he is a great songwriter and piano player, and not a bad vocalist. I still listen to him from time to time.

Porcupine Tree - This was after high school, but a friend of mine reccommended that I listen to this band. I picked up their newest album at the time, In Absentia, and I was hooked. The lyrics were good, the musicianship was flawless, a good mix of progressive and rock elements. I eventuall spread out and started getting their older, more experimental albums, and they are still a favorite of mine today.

King Crimson - I found out about this group from a friend, and I went and bought the album Red, and became addicted, this was one of the godfathers of Prog rock, and still in heavy rotation with my other music.

Dream Theater - This band I found out about a bit after finding Porcupine Tree, a bit different in style, but I grew to love DT as Well. I began with Scenes From A Memory, and it is my favorite album to this day from them. Though, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence comes close. This band was a platform to my current music obssession, Metal.

Metallica Yeah, I had heard them earlier in my life, but for the first time, I actually enjoyed them. I got most of their albums in a quick span of time, and the quickly became a good group for me, I haven't listened to them as much as of late.

Opeth - This was a bit of a long call for me at first. I had heard metal before, mostly thrash/speed metal, but I decided to expand my horizons. So I come across a song from Opeth, Harvest from Blackwater Park, and I really liked it. So I bought the album, and along came my first understanding of the growling vocals. I had a bit of adjusting to do to like it, but in time, I branched out even further into the death/black metal underground.

Sunn 0))) - After playing around with the black metal scene for some time, I discovered doom metal, specifically Sunn 0))). It struck me as odd first, like a mix of death metal with post rock, both ambient yet chilling. This expanded my views on metal even further, and now I really like the doom genre one of the most unique metal types.

Kamelot - I had heard some power metal before, but I mostly did not like what I heard. So I cross this album, Epica, one day at a music store, and just for fun, decided to purchase it, not knowing what to expect. I was surprised when it came to be one of my favorite albums of all time though. Everything about this band clicks with me, the guitars, the drumming, and I must say, Roy Khan is now one of my favorite vocalists. The album was awesome, nary a song I deemed as skip-worthy, so I went and gobbled up their other albums, even the ones with their old vocalist, though he is not as good. This is one of my all time favorite groups now.


There is much more in this cycle, but these were the important steps, my collection of over 14,000 song would have not been possible without evolution. My biggest area is till VGM, which trumps my second biggest genre metal, by several thousand songs. There's even some genres I did not mention such as classical, jazz, ambient, noise, and folk that I also enjoy. Most of my music is just diverse to say the least.

How awesome! We've got some Stabbing Westward fans, and a Smashing Pumpkins fan. That's the shit! I'm still a huge Pumpkinhead at heart. I know you guys like Darkest Days as far as SW goes, but I've gotta give props to Ungod as being my fav of theirs. Also props to Helloween for listening to The Tea Party. My fav of theirs has gotta be The Edges of Twilight.

I started in on classical and baroque stuff when I was really little. And I still play a lot of it when the mood suits.

For me I think Weird Al was a big gateway into all the stuff that I listen to now. When I was 11 my friend played Nirvana In Utero for me. That led me to Peal Jam, STP, NIN, Pumpkins, and about a million others.

Later I moved into the following:

Dream Theater
Radiohead
Tool
The Flaming Lips
Oingo Boingo
David Bowie
Michael Jackson
The Shins
Depeche Mode
and a ton of others that I can't recall at the moment.

Currently I've been listening to The Magnetic Fields, which kicks ass and I'm very surprised that it hasn't caught my attention earlier. The 69 love songs album is awesome, but my current favorite is Get Lost.

Yay, i love props. Also totally agreed on the Edges of Twilight thing. It's definitely my favourite of their albums. Splendor Solis is catching up though, that's a fine album.

I didn't know the Tea Party ever made it down to the states.

A buddy of mine turned them on to me. As far as I know, I've never heard of them getting any kind of radio airplay or media exposure here. It's a shame though cause they're a badass band that could've made it big here in the states.

This is why the CRTC is such a mixed blessing here in Canada. Good bands like the Tea Party and the Tragically Hip get airplay because of them, but we would never have heard of Nickelback without it, the bastards.

Everything really started for me back in 3rd grade or so with MTV

Back in the day MTV used to be pretty damn cool as you all might have guessed. I started off listening to bands like Green Day (dookie was probably one of my first albums), the Red Hot Chili Peppers (I still recall their video for Aeroplane), Oasis, and the Smashting Pumpkins. They were pretty good retrospectively and I still consider the RHCPs my favorite modern band.


Then I moved into Videogame music starting off with Final Fantasy Soundtracks and whatnot which eventually led me to OCremix and (of course) Gamingforce. Ocremix basically exposed me to electronica. I began listening to a lot of stuff like DJ Mystik, Armin Van Buren, and other random groups based on suggestions.


Not all that significant thus far right?


Then came the BEATLES. They changed everything.
Everything about them. Every album I got my hands on was pure gold.
From the genius therein, I began listening to a lot of oldies and classic rock from Bob Dylan to Al Green. Everything just kind of branched out from there espeically into Reggae and also a lot of Jazz.

I could write pages on this, so we'll just do the condensed version with a few of the important albums that really piqued my interest in what makes up most of my music collection:

Men Without Hats/"Pop Goes the World": Hey, fuck you. ;) Pure 80's new-wave sugar-pop, but no album brings back better memories of growing up.

Metallica/"...and Justice for All": I went through a rather embarrasing hip-hop/rap phase (yes, I bought a Vanilla Ice album), but AJFA was was brought me back to my senses with a swift kick to the head. Thank god...

Alice in Chains/"Dirt": This album was basically the soundtrack to my formidable high school years. And yes, if you do the math that means I'm an old bastard. I hadn't heard anything quite as powerful before, and I'm not sure I have since.

Nine Inch Nails/"Broken": This was the first CD I ever bought. Hell, I still have the version with the mini-CD.

Bad Religion/"Suffer": A friend and I went into a small independent record shop in Colorado and told the clerk to give us something that would blow us away. She picked this album and Helmet's 'Meantime', both of which opened my eyes to punk & hardcore. Although it's completely watered down now, I've been a fan of both genres ever since.

Skinny Puppy/"Too Dark Park": My next door neighbor in the dorms picked up this tape from an obscure band out of Canada, and it absolutely blew my mind. It was basically my first instroduction to industrial, and SP's brand of musical sculpture was nothing short of brilliance. They have been far and away my favorite band ever since.

Bauhaus/"The Sky's Gone Out": Oddly enough, the only reason I bought this album is because a review for the original Diablo in PC Gamer said the game music sounded very similar to Bauhaus. I was late getting into the genre, but were it not for this album I would have never started listening to some of the classic 80's-90's 'Goth' bands (Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, Clan of Xxymox,etc.). I actually get to see them open for Nine Inch Nails next weekend, and am giddy as the proverbial schoolgirl.

So, most of my current collection is made up of these genres (industrial, goth, metal, 80's new-wave, & punk) with more than a few game soundtracks and classic rock albums (I'm especially a sucker for Jethro Tull) sprinkled throughout. Makes for a pretty good mix, I think. :)

My interest is piqued. =o

Do you think any of these bands sound like the Diablo soundtrack? I like the instrumental stuff in the game, but if they overlay it with the doom-like vocals (see Type O Negative) it's kind of a turn-off for me.

I was really into music when I was very young (read: pop), so like in Kindergarten I was getting George Washington confused with George Michaels. And I liked/hated Madonna. Then around 4th grade I didn't listen to anything really, save for oldies, classic rock and whatever until 7th grade. A friend got me into listening to music while drawing and *boom* I was hooked.

::My Dad's Music::
Metallica
My dad's old fave band, definitely a big influence. My mother hated it, my dad and I loved it. I still like them, regardless of what other people say (well, even I can't really bring myself to like St. Anger).
Led Zepplin
God I love them. The ultimate classic, and I love their lyrics.
also, Black Sabbath/Van Halen/Dire Straits

::My Mom's Music::
The Beatles
Can't hate the Beatles...their sound evolved so much over the years that there's little not to like.
Aerosmith
Classic American rock. Period.
Queen
OMG my favorite band ever. Freddie Mercury has one of the greatest voices, and the band itself has a very operatic sound.
also, Tom Petty/David Bowie/REM

From this, I derived a base and got into other things, some of which are quite embarassing now:

Korn, Limp Bizkit (OMG), SoaD, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Creed

Out of these, the only ones I still listen to are SoaD and Pearl Jam, on occasion. PJ is actually quite good, in my opinion. But all this was a stepping stone to my senior year, when I was introduced to many things besides different music. At this time I also got into Apocalyptica, which was most definitely not a bad thing.

E Nomine/In Extremo/Nightwish/Rammstein/Therion/Luca Turilli
German bands, symphonic metal, etc. etc. Started me on a path of looking for similar bands, like Corvus Corax, Janus, Parzival, Ulver and others. Around the same time I was also turned onto non-metal bands, like QOTSA, Muse, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Moi dix Mois/Malice Mizer, Royal Crown Revue, Flogging Molly, Seven Nations and other things.

With the discovery of orchestra fused with metal, I accidentally stumbled onto the greatest band evah, KAIZERS ORCHESTRA. And that just caused all sorts of things to do with Norway and Scandinavia, like Folk metal and stuff.
Ulver, Finntroll, Einherjer, Dimmu Borgir, Cloroform, Skambankt, and Tom Waits, along with a desire to learn Norwegian.

Going to England brought about a brief flirt with UK bands, like The Darkness, Muse (which still continues), the Divine Comedy, HIM(not UK, I know, but I bought my first album of theirs while there), but ultimately I lost interest in a lot of it.

I still listen to a huge variety of different groups, languages and genres, as well as expanding my classical music composer interests; I didn't feel like that was worth putting down as well. Really, if it's a good song, then I'll listen to it.

What got me into music really was my first concert when I was six, I saw the Rolling Stones in Toronto and from there on it gradually evolved.

Rolling Stones - First band I ever really listened too, listened to them with my family from since I can remember until now.

NIN & KoRn - When I was in around 1st or 2nd grade, my brother being much older than me already developed his own taste in music, which rubbed off on me. This was my first exposure to hard rock and the industrial sound of NIN.

*Insert random pop/rap groups here* - From around 4th - 6th grade I hit a spot where all I listened to was pop and rap...dont remember much.

Rammstein - 7th grade, watched CKY2K and the opening song, Du Hast I believe by Rammstein got me hooked. It was a style I had never heard before, ever. This is when I got into heavy music a lot more. Rammstein, Cradle of Filth, Cannibal Corpse, etc.

Misfits - In 8th grade my brother then introduced me to punk, first The Misfits. And I fell in love, but my love for punk didnt expand much, I listened to some older punk like the Sex Pistols and Ramones but nothing tickled my fancy. To this day I still only enjoy Balzac and Misfits. Horrorpunk I guess is my thing.

Turbonegro - My latest musical evolution, in 9th grade I discovered Turbonegro and totally fell in love. The lyrics, the style, and the whole feel of the music. It is its own genre I believe. Its almost like Turbonegro fans have there own cults (aka Turbojugends), gotta love it.

As of now I listen to everything from DJ Tiesto, Turbonegro, lots of NIN, lots of Misfits and Balzac, Celldweller, Bravery, and some rap like DMX and Young Buck. But the list is huge, to big to type all down.

I never got into music until high school. For me it was all like "wow, those people are crazy with music" I've heard so much hip hop/rap and oldies 80's music so much along that time period, that I can't stand listening to it. Heres the main music I got into, from order of revelation.

A.F.I.
This was my official first, I'd say, before Linkin park.
Dj Tiesto
Just loved the sound.
ATB
Same
Muse
When Rose Online came out, I was looking for muse class. This apparently popped up.
Infected Mushroom
I was looking for something fast and crazy. Supposedly, the Israeli goa got me hooked.

Jiraiya, nice call on Turbonegro. I recommend everyone give a listen a.s.a.p.

How can you go wrong with Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker?

I guess I had the most mainstream tastes, which evolved to so much better towards the end.

Jewel - I really liked how mellow, meaningful, and calm "early Jewel" was. Mainstream Jewel is now "sell-out" to me.
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Destiny's Child - From late four-member status to "Emotion"
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Shakira - I liked just about every song on Laundry Service. Then she disappeared for a while. I wanted "Poem To A Horse" to be a single, but they chose "Underneath Your Clothes" ad "Obsession" instead =(
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VGM + Anime music - I started to like instrumentals and japanese vocals as opposed to the mainstream "everybody knows this" kind of songs
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Go! Go! 7188 - My current niche which I plan to cling to for a long time is JRock. Actually it's more like Go! Go! 7188, since a good amount have surf rock influence, but it's more like a mix of different styles, with just the right amount of melancholy.

END progression. Unless I venture into Jpop from here.

Black Sabbath
Ironically enough, the first music I really got into was given to me by my mother. We had an old record player in our living room, and there were very few albums my youngster ears could tolerate. One of those albums was "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. Iron Man being the main attraction for a six year old. Yeah, what can I say? My mom was an ex-hippie.

Iron Maiden
This is the band that started my adolescent mind toward enjoying music. I first heard them when I was eight years old or so, hanging out with my friend's older brother. After getting "No Prayer For The Dying" on tape, all I asked for was more Iron Maiden albums.

ManOWar
After discovering metal, I wanted more. As this band is recorded in the World Record books as the loudest band ever, they piqued my interest. Once again, I couldn't get enough.

KMFDM
This group came as a surprise to alot of my metal contemporaries. At first, I was resistant, but after awhile, they grew on me. While they have released some craptastic albums, the good slightly outweighs the bad.

ICP/Twiztid
Metal roots firmly intact, I headed off to highschool and was beseiged by a bunch of my peers turning into rap-heads. While, I was still holding up my devil horns proudly. Well, while I was on vacation, I saw a news report about this band, ICP, getting their album pulled from the shelves only hours after it was released. I didn't think much of it, but while I was on the Wildwood boardwalk later that night, I happened upon a music shoppe. I found one of their albums and bought it for about ten dollars and some change. I wasn't very fond of the music at first, but the lyrics were what it was all about. Bloodshed, horror, carnage. Took my highschool mind for a loop that any band could be so blatently violent and cartoonish at the same time. Twiztid happened afterward, and while it was liking by association at first, they grew on me. They were much darker and less cartoonish about their horror-rap, and quickly outshined ICP.

Pennywise
Around the same time in Highschool, the local arcade got this cabinet labeled "Top Skater." You remember the game right? Skateboard simulator with a punk soundtrack. Well, the majority of the songs, if not all the songs, were by this punk band called Pennywise. I hadn't heard of them before, and their music was pretty damned decent. I found as many of their albums as I could with the songs from the game and it continued on from there. Great band right there.

TSOL
This stemmed from my punk researching, and they're one of those bands that many people don't mention. They're amazing, I saw these guys live two years ago, and for a bunch of fourty-somethings, they still kick ass.

Mindless Self Indulgence
Freshmen year of college, this very cute young lady in my Math class starts talking to me about music. I used to wear my headphones into that class and just listen to music throughout, as it was the freshmen class and quite dull. So, this girl asks me about the music I listen to and suggests this band because she was on the street team or some such thing. I, wanting to get into said girls pants, bought the first full length album "Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy." Sadly, I didn't get into her pants, but the band is kickass.

mc chris/nerdcore
Everyone knows mc chris, or has at least heard of him. I heard a snippet of Fett's Vette on Sealab, and found the rest of his stuff later. Pretty funny and nerdy stuff, what can I say? Through finding him, I also found alot of sweet bands like M.C. Frontalot, The Minibosses, M.C. Steven Hawking, The Protomen, The Advantage, etc.

And for posterity's sake, it would be impossible for me to list every band I've ever listened to or obsessed over. There are plenty more, but I'm getting tired over here.

From Sabbath/Maiden to ICP? Must... resist... get out.. of... thread... ack!

I was basicly raised on classic rock. So I started to like alot of bands from the mid 60s up to the the early 90s (Pre-grunge). My mom and dad played alot of Jethro Tull, Beatles, little feet, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Queen, Eagles, Cat Stevens, Led Zepplin, ZZtop, Tom Petty Fletwood Mac, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Hendrix, Black Sabbath, ETC. between the both of them. Also every time I'd get in the car the classic rock radio station would be on. By Pre-school, I basicly learned most of the bands from that time and yet...I couldn't spell the simplest words.

I really didn't start getting my own taste in music until maybe second grade. Where I actually started getting into the Monkees after seeing the show for the first time in my life :ashamed: . I rarely go back an listion to them now. but back then I was really into them. Then I started to like classic rock again. Mainly the Bettles and Paul Revere and the Raiders....I still like them seeing as how I was raised on them...

Then sometime around age 9 I really got into music and developed my own tastes not based off of what my parents listioned to. In started out soft, then grew into louder bands. Although some of the louder bands I started to like through my dad.

Red Hot chilipepers
The first song I herd was Californiacation. But I remember listioning to them on the radio a few times when I was younger. I still listion to them

Everclear
Rarely listion to them anymore. I'm into more louder stuff now.

Metallica
Stole the black album from my dad. Still like and listion to them them....but only the older albums (before St. Anger).

Incubus
I liked the video for the song Drive. My mom got the album Make yourself and I happned to steal it from her. Still listion to them.

Collective Soul
Basicly found out about them through my mom. Still listion to them.

Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains
Seeing as how I basicly missed the grunge scene for I was like 3-5 during it's prime, and my mom wasn't into it back then, I started to get into some of the bands in my pre-teens. I still listion to them...alot.

Stone Temple Pilots
Heard Wicked Garden on a Nisan ad. Stole Core from my dad. Still like and listion to them now.

Foo Fighters
Still like and listion to them.

Godsmack
Heard them though my dad, still listion to them.

Days of the new and Tantric
Heard it through my mom. Liked them, still listion them to them from time to time...

White Zombie and Rob Zombie
I liked the songs they played on the radio alot. I still like him...and I sometimes go back an listion to him as well.

NIN and Filter
At first I didn't like NIN. But they grew on me. As for Filter....I was always partial to Hey man nice shot from hearing it on the radio alot. Still like and listion to both of them.

Offspring
I first herd them after a kid in my class swiched a girls backstreet boys tape out with Americana...needless to say...the teacher didn't like it. I still listion to them.

Korn
I don't know what got me into them. I guess they grew on me. I still listion to them, no mater what others say.

Tool and APC
Heard them though my dad. I still like and listion to them.

Beastie Boys
I liked some of their songs. Still like and listion to them.

Good Charlette
Don't ask....I rarely go back and listion to them anymore.

Powerman 5000
I don't know what made me get in to them. But I still like and listion to them.

Lacuna Coil
Heard about them though the radio where a DJ was having a rant about how Evenecence was copying them. Stole Commalities from my dad. Still like and listion to them....

Audioslave
I liked them because I liked both Soundgarden and Rage agenst the machine. Still like and listion to them.

Velvet revolver
Because I liked Guns 'n Roses and STP....Still have been meaning to get their album. But I do listion to them when their on the radio.

L'arc~en~cel, The Pillows, Orange Range, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, UVERworld, high and mighty color, and other Random J-rock bands I heard through anime.
This is what I really like now. American music has sort of taken a back seat for all the new music coming out sort of...how should I put this...sucks. So I opted for foren music. I listion them more then anything now. That's not to say that I don't listion to the above bands anyless. It's just that J-rock just apeals to me more now.

This could take a while, but I'll try, since it would be interesting to see my own musical evolution as well.

Late 1980s to 1993-ish: I was listening mostly to what my Dad played on the radio or on his cassette tapes. He played mostly 80s and 70s music, with Bands like Journey, Led Zeppelin, Chicago, Kiss, Blue Oyster Cult, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, and other such bands. It has stayed with me for a while now, so I still enjoy some of the songs, even if others have grown annoying or unlisteniable.

Around this time I also was watching cartoons on TV, so with the Animanicas, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: TAS, etc., I also gained knowledge of They Might be Giants, The Countries of the World Song, Danny Elfman (Although I wouldn't know who made the Batman opening song for years) and other songs played on these cartoon shows.

1995 - 2000: This was my formulative middle-school years and I had a limited knowledge of the internet. It was at this time that I discovered Rap and Hip Hop Music, as well as the Mainstream/Top 40 radio hits. This would explain why I still enjoy acts like Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Wu-Tang Clan, Xzibit, Busta Rhymes, Goo Goo Dolls, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Santana, Nirvana, and even now loathed acts like Nync, Britney Spears (Aka Trailer Trash), and other Teen Pop acts.

I also was exposed to Pokemon at this time, which while every kid in america at that time was trying to catch it all, I also got my first taste of Japanese Pop Music (The music composed for the game boy games I suppose).

2000-2002: With my increased use of the internet I learned about more music and got my first taste of downloading VGM, including Final Fantasy VII and old school Sonic/Mario songs. However I still was largely unaware of the massive world of music outside what I heard on the radio, such as [/b]Linkin Park[/b], Lil' Jon & the Eastside Boyz, System of a Down, etc.,

It was around this time I joined GFF too, Sophmore year of High School.

2003 - 2004: With drama invading my life, I wanted escape. I found it with my brief usage of DSL internet, but I also got frequent month-long downtimes at which I was away from GFF. The DSL internet allowed me to discover more music, some of which had already been around a long-time, along with emergning bands and genres like Techno, Dance & more VGM.

2005 - Present Day: With High School out of the way and college now a reality, I gained a HUGE jump in knowing about what bands existed and now I have a much larger appreciation and knowledge of the musical world. Major Bands discovered during this period include Amon Tobin, Massive Attack, MF Doom, Nightwish, and others.

I can only hope I discover even more acts in the future and get a large hard drive to hold it all :p

LOL. Glad I wasn't the only one thinking that.

Double Post:
Not all their stuff sounds like Diablo, but there are a few tracks that I'm pretty sure Blizzard lifted directly. 'The Three Shadows-Part I', 'Hollow Hills', and 'Silent Hedges' come immediately to mind. Bauhaus vocals are anything but 'doom-like'. They took a lot of inspiration from punk and glam rock, so there's none of the deep, menacing vocals you hear in bands like Type O. Peter Murphy is the lead singer, and you might be familiar with some of his stuff ('Cuts You Up', 'Sweetest Drop', etc.)

I'd recommend picking up their greatest hits CD 'Crackle'. It's a good intro and contains most of their best stuff. There's a few glaring omissions (leaving out 'All We Ever Wanted Was Everything' is criminal), but it's a good overview.

My musictaste is fucked up... when i was a little boy, i listened to the shit my mum was listening to... like "caught in the act" or "backstreet boys" ... that was because i didn't had an own CD player XD.
then, i listened to rammstein ... from rammstein i switched to eminem o,O... then i switched to some other hip hop shit... then i got from hip hop to trance / hardstyle / hardcore / psychedelic etc. which i still listen to... and rammstein is still one of my favorite bands XD

Avril Lavigne
We all had to start somewhere right? Well basically I was about 13 or 14..or even 15 and Popstars were dominating the tv and radio. I was pretty much getting bored of pop and r'n'b and wanted to listen to music that actually involved instruments and an artist who wrote their own songs. So being blissfully unaware at the time Avril Lavigne came along and I thought she was amazing. I still respect her as a musician, both of her albums are good and have some good songs on but I moved on to other music quickly.

Evanescence
I was pretty intrigued by recent rock music and I got introduced to Evanescence. It was around the time of the release of the Daredevil film, where they were relatively unknown here. I heard "Bring me to Life" and instantly fell in love with it. I loved the fact that the band had a female vocalist, I always liked when a woman could stand up and do something people tend to think males do better. Amy Lee's vocals just struck me, I remember thinking "THIS is the type of music I want to be listening to" I loved the lyrics, the blend of orchestra with rock, the angelic vocals everything. I looked into everything they've done (which is pretty much old EP's and Demos) and i'm still a huge fan. I even cried when I met Amy Lee =D.

Muse
Since I was showing my Evanescence fangirlism at school, I became friends with a girl (who is now one of best friends) who also liked them. We began talking and she was going on and on about this band called Muse. My knowledge of rock was, and still is, pretty limited so I hadn't heard of any of the bands she was ranting on about. Anyway, she let me borrow Origin of Symmetry and Absolution and from the point I pressed play to the second the albums finished I was hooked. I bought their CD's, DVD's, anything that had Muse on it I had. I loved the music, the lyrics, the vocals, the fact they were British (big up britland) just everything. There wasn't one song I didn't like. They're became my favourite band.

Jack off Jill
Clear Hearts, Grey Flowers was the album that made me a fan. I loved the opening track "When I am Queen", it was so dark and haunting. I never really could tolerate screaming vocals but I got used to them after listening how powerful they could sound in a certain context within a song.

Slipknot
After swearing i'd never ever listen to them or like them, I gave in when I saw them live. I thought they put on an amazing show, and as musicians they are extremely talented and know how to make powerful songs.

Lacuna Coil
Obvious connections to Evanescence, I heard Swamped on tv and loved it. I purchased Comalies and it took a few listens but they became a favourite. I even met them when I saw them live =o.

Nightwish
Since I were a kid I always loved orchestrated music in films, I just loved violins and choirs and all that. When I heard Nightwish for the first time was when I was really into Evanescence and heard Nightwish were Evanescence with talent. So I went on good ol' Kazaa and found The Carpenter. I hated it, and to this day I still hate that song. So on the release of their album "Once" I was hearing reviews that said the album was incredible. I heard it, and was completely blown away. It was perfect, my love of orchestra's, choirs, female vocals and rock music were all bundled into one package. I bought all their albums and saw them live too, i'm interested in the new vocalist although it'll be hard to replace Tarja.

Within Temptation
Fantasy themed, beautiful female vocals, orchestras, what wasn't to like?

Tristania
I saw them perform with Nightwish and I was just hypnotised by them, very dark yet beautiful.

Epica/After Forever
On my hunt to find more bands with the similar symphonic metal genre I found these two beauties.

Kamelot
I discovered these by accident when I was looking for Epica albums, since one of their albums is called Epica, but I'm glad I stumbled upon them.

Eisley/Imogen Heap
I remember ava sending me two albums that she fell in love with, one was Room Noises by Eisley and the other was Speak for Yourself by Imogen Heap. I didn't really give them a proper chance to begin with, but after seeing the lyric "I wasn't prepared for this" in ava's msn screename I felt compelled to check it out. I loved the song, and soon found it was an old EP version. I downloaded the official copy of the album and loved it. Eisley were just so...cute! Their songs were very positive and Stacy and Sherri's vocals were so sweet.
I became to be an Imogen Heap fan when I heard "Hide and Seek", it was different yet beautiful so I gave the full album a listen and became a fan, yay =D.

Some random artists and bands that I discovered over the years:
Bjork
Black Eyed Peas
Blue Oyster Cult
Bullet for my Valentine
Coldplay
Damien Rice
David Bowie
Delerium
Enigma
Flyleaf
Green Day
H.I.M
Hans Zimmer
Harry Gregson Williams
InMe
John Williams
Kelly Clarkson
Kittie
Linkin Park
Lostprophets
Marilyn Manson
My Chemical Romance
Nobuo Uematsu
Pink
Prince
Pussycat Dolls (that's right)
t.A.T.u
The Dresdon Dolls
The Gathering
The Killers
The Prodigy
The Used
Trivium
U2
Utada Hikaru
Visions of Atlantis

The Carpenters
As a kid, my mom adored oldies. Tie a Yellow Ribbon was a staple in our car and she owned every Carpenters cassette there was. She had oldie mix tapes, like with the Platters or the Temptations, Aretha Franklin and others. What I remember is my mom's handwritting on the cassettes detailing the song list, my favorite song ever, Yesterday Once More, always reminds me of her.

The Spice Girls
Starting with an unfortunate infatuation with the Spice Girls, then N'SYNC and the like, I got into the pop scene. Not much to say here, went to middle school, made friends and it was the big music of that era. I even bought the N'SYNC biography book, what shame.

Tupac
Very briefly dabbled in rap and R&B. Tupac was the main attraction but I also got in Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Brian McKnight, Craig David, R. Kelly. Main influence was that my old brother was really into it so I was affected since I would constantly hear California Love pumping out of her room.

David Tao
Went through a huge Asian Pop phase. David Tao, Jay Chou, Landy Wen, Sun Yanzi, Ayumi Hamasaki, M-FLO, Se7en, Shinhwa, G.O.D., BoA, etc. All the big Chinese, Korean and Japanese artist of the time, I explored. The issue was that because music is hard to find online, I had to buy everything and towards the end of this year long obsession, I had upwards of 200 Asian pop CDs, all which I don't listen to now. What a fucking waste of money. I also got into techno (it's around the same sound as Asian Pop) but for the sake of sanity, won't list.

John Mayer
When college started, my music change shifted drastically. It started with a love for John Mayer and Jason Mraz but I futhur explored thtat sort of sound. I'm going to lump artists like Elliott Smith and Andrew Bird here, for fear of being shot, just because I associate their sound somewhat alike. Soft rock, a little emo and angst thrown in and you go these emaciated white boys with guitars. Oh and Ben Lee, love Ben Lee.

Still there. I would like to think all of my previous music interests are still with me, I still listen (sparingly) to the rap, pop, Asian that I used to love but the genres I'm exploring are expanding, hopefully.

Yeah..I get that alot actually. Hey, can't say much for them. The best corralation I can make is that I was always a fan of storytelling lyrics, hence the jump. I'm not too proud of it, just kind of happened. Many of my friends who are into metal still give me shit about it to this day.

And just to add to the list of musicians I still enjoy:

AC/DC:
Stemmed from my initial steps into metal listening.

Metallica:
How could you grow up in the late eighties/early nineties and not have listened to these guys? Admittidly, I still enjoy their music, even the newer stuff.

Dragonforce:
Very recently got into these guys, probably around January of this year. Love the vocals, love the music, hate the ballads.

Goblin Cock:
I enjoy rocking out to music that makes me feel like a geek.

Eagles of Death Metal:
I heard about these guys when they had the Minibosses touring with them for a short while. Their new album is meh, but the first is incredible.

Monster Magnet:
Powerful lyrics, unique vocals, awesome band.

Del Tha Funky Homosapien:
First heard about this guy while I was in highschool and collecting all things Robotech/Macross. He had a song called "Protoculture" which was all about video games..immediately started listening to him.

Hieroglyphics:
Group consisting of everyone on the Hieroglyphics label, including Del.

Gorillaz:
First heard these guys when they debuted in the U.K., and having Del as part of the group(on the first cd, at least) got me interested, so I downloaded the album before it hit here in the states, then bought that. Very relaxing music. Their new album is pretty damned good.

Static-X:
Used to hate these guys when they first appeared. Not a big fan of the growling lyrics thing..but they grew on me because of a friend who was totally into them.

Bif Naked:
Another Highschool band, I first heard Bif on MTV when her single, "Moment Of Weakness" was getting a little airplay. The new cd is incredible.

Anthrax:
C'mon now..these guys kick ass. Period. First heard them when they did Bring The Noise with Public Enemy.

Def Leopard:
First and only record I ever bought in a store. Pyromania. Still love these guys.

Dance Hall Crashers:
The first concert I ever went to. DHC aren't what I typically listen to, but the duel vocalists compliment each other very well, and I too enjoy whiskey and gin.

Rollins Band:
Another (almost)punk band, pretty much stumbled onto these guys when I was trying out my punk music faze. They're not really punk, but Rollins was the vocalist for Black Flag before this, and they were indeed punk. Regardless, I listen to these guys every now and again.

MF Doom:
Underground rap artist extraordinaire. Geek sheek rolled into soe many tongue twists and rapid fire delivery. Great stuff. Especially his stuff as "Vicktor Vaughn."

Anything Les Claypool:
First, I heard Primus. Then, Les Claypool's Highball with the Devil, then more Primus. Then Fearless Flying Frog Brigade..and so many inbetween. Love the guy. I aspire to be as good a bassist as he, and I surely will never accomplish this task.

Buckethead:
Saw him touring with Primus, and I was working at a music store when "Monsters and Robots" came out. I got the promo copy for that album and never looked back. His stuff in Praxis is incredible, his solo stuff is very out there, and I recommend "Colma" (His entirely accustic album) to everyone I know.

Dj Spooky:
Oddly enough, I heard about this guy in the short-lived Gamer's Republic magazine. They had reviews of music and movies occassionally near the back of the mag. Damned good Dj, even if Dj type music isn't your thing. I believe the first album I got was "The Synthetic Fury E.P."

Vast:
Visual Audio Sensory Theater. Great name for their first album. I stumbled upon this once again because of a magazine..I think it was Alternative Press or some such type publication. Very incredible band, although their first cd is actually a solo effort. John Crosby, the vocalist, did the entire first album by himself. Great stuff right there.

Esham/Natas:
Esham the Unholy. This guy reinvented the Detroit rap scene way back in the day when he was only 14. Incredibly wicked and disturbing visuals created by his earlier music. Natas is a rap group, consisting of Esham, TnT, and Mastermind. Great stuff once again.

Weird Al:
Everyone's heard this guy..but I recommend seeing him live to everyone. Hilarious stage show, and the band and Al sound even better in person then on disc. Just umm..there will be alot of Hawaiian shirts and jerry-curled people..you've been warned.

I still have so many more bands to list..but I'm going to leave it at this for now.

My first heavy band was Linkin Park (lol) and that lasted quite some time, actually. In fact, it went right up to and a little bit past I got into real metal.

My first real metal band was Dream Theater, thanks to Xanadu (I think that's his name on these forums). I had to write a report on a guitarist and chose John Petrucci because I had heard some samples of his solo stuff and loved it. My transition into Dream Theater's material was only natural. This is still my favorite band.

After DT, I really had no order. I collected as much metal as I could, soon dropping nu-metal entirely. Some of my firsts were Iron Maiden, Grip Inc, Eldritch, Angel Dust, and Ayreon. I was also introduced to Therion and Nightwish at this time, but didn't care much for the vocals.

Soon enough, I decided to give Therion and Nightwish second chances, and ended up loving them both. This led me to looking into Symphony X for some reason.

I continued to gather up more and more metal for my playlist and discovered such bands as Evergrey, Kamelot, Helloween, and Pain of Salvation, all of which have remained on my top bands list. Also during this time I looked into the softer side of progressive music. I discovered Porcupine Tree, Spock's Beard, and Rush.

My introduction to harsher vocals came with my recommendation to Agalloch. At first, I was skeptical, but I grew to love their album "The Mantle." This also opened up melodic death metal for me, such as In Flames. Since then, I've become a huge fan of such music. Bands like Kalmah, Scar Symmetry, Wintersun, and Ensiferum are all on my playlist.

Still, I wasn't much a fan of one of the best death metal bands out there - Opeth. That changed when I bought their album "Blackwater Park" and heard the song "Bleak." INSTANT LOVE, mostly due to Steven Wilson's contributions. I now listen to Opeth constantly.

That's about where I stand now, I guess.