Well, I think this thread will be about confessing your personal musical journey.

As a child, I grew up watching many Disney movies and musicals. My father would play his Elvis Presley records repeatedly. I absolutely loved The Ghostbusters soundtrack. I loved the Grease movie. But probably coinciding with my move to Florida, my interest in music waned for a few years.

For me, it all started in late 1993 when I was in 7th grade middle school and I would wake up fairly early to watch TV. TV sucked and I wasn't much of a cartoon watcher, so I stopped on VH-1 and MTV. They actually seemed to play videos at the time and I would watch the music videos with some interest. I remember "Today" by the Smashing Pumpkins and some Bel Biv Devoe (or whatever) and the Meat Loaf video for "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)."

Anyway, I was big into comic books at the time, but I would soon be abandoning that interest. So one day, for some reason, I just started listening to my parent's stuff. I was a computer gamer at that point, so I would listen to Mariah Carey's "Dreambox" and Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" album while playing Wolfenstein 3-D and Doom. I bought the Boyz II Men album that was big at the time. I never confessed that to my peers in the middle school cafeteria, but I became fervently interested in what they were listening to. Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Metallica, and Pearl Jam often were the topics of discussion. I would buy or trade slices of pizza for a copy of Nirvana's In Utero, which the previous owner/classmate thought sucked. I latched onto Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots pretty hard. I thought they were the absolute best bands and I would write this all over my book covers. For the longest time, I don't think Pearl Jam was anywhere on my list. Then April '94 happened, and with Kurt gone, my Nirvana love just went absolutely crazy. I think I played that copy of MTV Unplugged on CD I had 'til every section of the CD had scratches. I would listen to it at my presbyterian church. I would talk about it there. I would talk about it everywhere.

Fast forward to January 1995, and "Better Man" was on the radio. I was like, "Who is this?" Pearl Jam was the answer. I thought it was incredible. I went to buy the record. I was told to buy Vs. to get the song. Wrong album, but I loved it. It was equally cherished. Then I bought Vitalogy and absorbed that whole record. Then I bought Ten in the summer and ate that all up. And that's how it was for quite a while. With particularly note onward though, in 1996, I was all about The Beatles' later catalogue and in 1997, I think The Smashing Pumpkins and Beck made the best music ever at the time -- still awaiting another record to make me love Pearl Jam more after my love affair with No Code had waned.

In the fall of 1998, it seemed like hip hop was where it was at. I bought every piece of crap rap album. I loved Lauryn Hill's record and still do. And the Beatie Boys record Hello Nasty is still tops in my opinion. But those are basically the only survivors in my collection from that time. I just tired of the relatively misogynistic music and that all quickly went by the wayside. I liked Eminem when he really burst on the scene in Spring 1999, but that's about it. I got into The Who in the summer a bit in 1999 -- mostly because of Pearl Jam's love for them.

At Florida State in the fall of 1999 and spring of 2000, I would listen and buy every Pavement and Belle and Sebastian record. I thought I was so cool that this was "indie music." In spring of 2000, I loved Rage Against the Machine's "The Battle of Los Angeles." But in late spring, I was all Pearl Jam again and would be so for a while.

In fall of 2001, I was really in love with U2. I watched that Elevation: Boston DVD countless time and I really fell hard for the song "Stay" and "Where the Streets Have No name" and last, but certainly not least "Bad." I kind of got into Staind at the time too. In 2002, I was a jackoff and was too involved with some crazy woman that ripped me to shreds that every lovelorn song made complete sense to me at the time. I think Riot Act came out at the right time to really allow me to turn a corner and focus on politics and get me off thinking about her. "Save You" just floored me. I needed Ed to scream like that again for whatever reason.

Then in 2003, I met a friend who was a musician and he would bring into the fold with Queen and The Police as those are his two favorite bands. I was completely mesmerized by The Police. I was like, "This is Sting?" And to a large extent, I still kind of feel that way.

My love for The Police really continued through 2004 and then in late 2004, I moved on with U2 again and I finally completed their catalogue. I did the same with Dave Matthews Band as I really enjoyed their sound and Carter Beauford completely sold me. I can hardly believe I bought every Live Trax release from 2004 to late 2006. I think it was around this time that I declared my triumvirate of bands to be Pearl Jam, U2, and Dave Matthews Band in that order. And that's been consistent since then though Dave Matthews Band has really fallen quite a bit (hopefully their upcoming album will have great material because I think they've been treading water a bit since 1998's Before Those Crowded Streets.)

In 2005, after an April breakup, I fell into Ryan Adams looking for something new. I quickly completed his solo discography and really enjoyed Heartbreaker and Gold at the time. In 2006, I was all about Coldplay in the beginning of the year and obsessed with Pearl Jam again by the end of it.

In 2007, I came across karaoke friends and they have since pushed me into enjoying Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen. And I got them into Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder's solo record. And honestly, that's pretty much how it's been since. In 2008, I got into Rush pretty hard. That's about it notably. Loved the new Coldplay. And 2009 has lead me to more Rush primarily so far. I've bought MGMT's latest. I bought Bon Iver's stuff. Bought the new Fleet Foxes. But I keep on going back to classics for the most part.

I'm forgetting and going without mention some other bands and music that I've really latched to, but I think this covers it most concisely.

What about you?

1994-1995: Green Day

1996-1999: Slayer / Metallica / Megadeth / Pantera / Marilyn Manson / Nine Inch Nails

2000 - 2002: Cannibal Corpse / Morbid Angel / Deicide / Tool

2003 - 2007: Burzum / Darkthrone / Nokturnal Mortum / Graveland / Finntroll / Dream Theater / Chroma Key / Marillion etc.

2008 - 2009: Dubstep / Drum & Bass / Hip Hop / Chroma Key / Marillion

2010 - Beyond: BAGPIPES

God bless, man. God bless.

Speaking as a child of the 70's...

When I was around 8-9, I finally was authorized to use the turntable my father had : I listened mainly to his discs : Beatles, the Who. For 2-3 years, I listened to all the LP I found that had great covers : I mainly remember a LP from the Shadows. I also listened to various Kinks and all the 60's stuff that my father has collected.
But the main act was the Beatles for this period.

In 1985, I was totally blown away by the sound of Mark Knopfler on Money for Nothing and I began my Dire Straits phase. It lasted a year, I bought all their LPs (I still have them), began to play guitar to imitate Knopfler (which I'm still unable to do...). And in 1986, I discovered Iron Maiden : that was one of the biggest shock I had : everything made sense, the lyrics, the attitude of the guys, the artwork. I spent 2 days listening non stop to Somewhere in TIme and Live After Death, to the point that I wasn't able to sleep for the songs have gotten so much in my head. So here began my metal phase, I traded tapes with guys from school and made myself a pretty good collection of everything that was offered on the metal scene at that time : Dio, Ozzy (I was pretty big on him when the tribute to Randy came out), Accept, Metallica, Scorpions, Michael Schenker...
In 1989, I met my now wife. We were in the same class and she was not only hot but also listening to what was closer to my music : hair metal. She was huge on Motley Crue (she saw them in Paris in 1989, Tommy Lee was doing his drum solo and the drumset was revolving but there was a trouble and the crowd started booing, Tommy, upset, lowered his trousers and showed Paris his dick, so technically my wife saw Tommy's dick way before Pamela ), Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and all that stuff...
In 1991, I was graduating from high school and playing in a band that had a little local success, we were playing metal tunes, I was very much in guitar virtuosity (that was the GIT-era, with Mike Shrapnel producing a new guitar god every month). The bass player from our band had MTV on his TV and showed me new bands that were doing a sort of mix of metal and alternative rock : I distinctly remember PJ (Alive), Soundgarden and Nirvana from those shows. I didn't hook up though, I was too deep in the metal virtuosity to stick to these bands that were, for me, very experimental.
In 1994, the metal scene I listened was clearly going in a dead end : Bruce left Maiden, Metallica were only the shadows of what they were 4-5 years before, I took interest in the jazz scene at first to expand my skills as a guitarist (that didn't end up successfully, I'm unable to "sound" jazzy when I play). I borrowed everything I could from the library (Rollins, Coltrane, Parker, Miles...). that period lasted a few years, I expended my tastes as a listener, went to many concerts (I was a college student at the times so I had some spare time) and bought as many cds as I could.
In 1998, my younger brother lend me a copy of Yield : this time was the right : I was blown away, the way Maiden blew me more than 10 years ago ! I bought the cd, and since then, PJ has been the central point of my musical universe. Every other act I've discovered since have been in some ways found through PJ. This very board has helped me find some great music for instance (Feist, Black Mountain, Frightened Rabbits, Heartless Bastards...). I've also gone back to the classic rock acts like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple. But I must definitely say that I'm very guitar oriented regarding my tastes in music and that's the real common point in all the stuff I like and come back to.

good read walter

I guess to start this off I dressed up as Bruce Springsteen when I was 3 years old for Halloween and some lady called me Willie Nelson and I told her "Im not Willie, Im Bruce!"... that was in 1985... The same year I wore out my copy of "Thriller" and said "garbage man took my beat it"... I would listen to those two records (Thriller and Born in the USA) a lot back then... I remember loving the videos for "Money For Nothing" and all the Michael Jackson one's because they were so epic, it was like a new movie being released.... I remember watching the MTV show "Remote Control" back then too while I would eat my Spaghetti O's... After that period I started in the school chorus (grades 3-12) and began guitar lessons in 9th grade... I got into all of the 90's grunge and alt rock music that came out...Pearl Jam was always the one band I loved more than anyone else from the start I guess because I could identify myself with a lot of what Eddie was singing about and the music on their albums was always so different from one to the other... I stole my sisters copy of "Ten" and listened to it while I would mow the lawn... My first concert was in 1997 and it was Beck's Odelay tour. I stared in school productions of Annie (i played Rooster) and the Wizard Of Oz (I was the Lion) this was a real confidence booster in my musical abilities especially performing in front of large crowds... Then i started writing my own music around my senior year of school and played in my first band "Natty Lite"...
We played at school a few times and covered "Every Rose Has it's Thorn",
"The Weight", "Yellow Ledbetter", "Rockin' In The Free World", "Last Kiss" and a few other songs.... after high school I moved to Nashville and played in a few bands and wrote most of my best songs while living there... I went to a music production school part time (SAE) and worked at a music licensing company (BMI)... as far as listening habits go for me im not really limited to one or two types of music... I like GOOD music, even if I it's a little mainstream sometimes I can admit that people are talented and try to listen to the song... My favorite music is rock, indie rock, alt rock.... but I also enjoy some of these- Jazz, Blues, Funk, Soul, Folk, Psych, Punk, Power Pop, Alt Country...
The best show I have ever seen has to be PJ at Bonnaroo last year, we were front row and they simply killed!!! I have seen a number of other bands over the years here is a sampling of that list-

NIN, Bush, The Who, Weezer, No Doubt, Coldplay, U2, REM, Foo Fighters, Interpol, BRMC, Ryan Adams, Kings Of Leon, Pete Yorn, Seven Mary 3, Oasis, Matchbox 20, Everclear, Our Lady Peace, Bb King, Counting Crows, John Mayer, Sonic Youth, MGMT, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Blues Traveler, DMB, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, The Bravery, The Strokes, and many others...

I got to meet the Kings of Leon two times because we used to know a guy named Brandon who did their sound, they were really laid back and cool guys...
we also met BRMC when they tour with the kings and they were very nice to us and talked about movies and music for a while... I also met Pete Yorn in Ashville NC one time he seemed a little shy but was nice enough to get a picture with us and the show was great...

i remember my mom listening to lots of beatles & elvis. my dad had a thing for queen & procol harum & dire straits. i still get shivers everytime i hear 'whiter shade of pale', that's my dad

i started with some fame soundtrack, followed quickly by stray cats...

i remember seeing the music video for 'death alley driver' by rainbow, thats my first cassette i bought. soon after that i heard ' iwas made for loving you' by KISS, and they had me. i became a huge KISS fan (which i still am). i listened to KISS, wasp etc a lot for a year or two.

i used to record stuff from finnish 'rock radio' i remember this yellow BASF-tape that had these songs in it: judas priest: steeler and metallica: fight fire with fire. the year was 1984. i was heavily into priest and maiden and i remember thinking; " how anyone can play drums so fast?" when i listened to ffwf. my thrash-years had begun...

i shoplifted the master of puppets cassette the same summer anthrax performed in my city (1987). it's always been a huge fight in my head whos better, anthrax/metallica...

oh, and lots of slayer and death angel followed...

then followed "my intellectual years"... I started to listen my dads lps, especiallly queen, genesis, phil collins solo, dire straits and pink floyd... my music taste developed hugely in those years...

late 1989 my little brother discoverd this odd band called Faith no more.. i liked the first single 'from out of nowhere' , so i decided to drive us to their gig in 1990... and they blew me away.. been a huge fan since

in 1992 the crunge was happening in finland too... i hated nirvana, but fell in love with pearl jam... they were supposed to play in finland that summer, but ed had some breakdown in roskilde 2 days before finlands gig...

early summer 1994 i was into metallica a lot, but somehow i was frustrated a lot to the music i was listening to... then one night i was coming home from a bar and i opened up the tv and woodstock 1994 was on.... nine inch nails... i was stunned... i can't really describe the feeling that i had that night... their performance was something i had never witnessed before.... the next day i picked 'downward spiral' from the store and love every second of it... my (then)girlfriend was furious for for listening to garbage like that

i'm pretty much at that same state as back in 1995. not much exciting bands (for me) has become since...


kp

I can't ever live this part of my life down on this board. Can I ever?

Please.

I'm agnostic now.

Be blessed,

jrod.

L

O

L

@


No fucking way. Is this documented in a thread? Holy shit you just rocked my world.

Wow. If RM was divided into episodes, this would be a good cliff hanger to end one on.

No, nothing is that bad. I take it in stride. But once in a while, I have to say something. I like this thread though. Some interesting stories are being told.

This thread is turning into quite the confessional.

I killed a hobo once.

If you ever make an album that should be the title track.

That would be the slow jam.

this just made my night

Has this been public knowledge for a while?

Wow, thanks. If I'd have known I'd get this kind of feedback, I'd have told everyone about the hobo a while ago.