Your Musical Journey - The Evolution of Your Music Taste

[temp100]

I'm sure we've had threads like this before, but I think we're due for another one with the large number of newer members etc...


My music taste has been all over the place really... Humans have a habit of judging themselves and their actions in the past as being inferior, and it's no different with musical taste. Unlike many others, I don't tend to abandon genres that I used to listen to and pass them off as rubbish, just because I'm currently in another music phase. I'll try my best to trace back my musical tastes, but it's difficult because my listening habits have gone around in circles, back and forth and all over the place. Just be aware that, despite being in one phase, I'll still keep track of other music. So here goes:

Pre-Music Stage: This was before I really got into music. My dad was an accountant and country musician so I received exposure to a fair bit of country, but he would also play rock music too. So in particular, I latched on to bands like the Beatles (poppy stuff), the Doobie Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Eagles etc. I listened to a lot of 50s/60s pop on the radio, but also listened to a lot of 90/00s pop shite. I remember my Dad giving me random country CDs and a Beethoven tape, presumably to get rid of the trash like Aqua. I liked Beethoven. It's worth noting that I played the keyboard at this point.

Music Initiate Stage - 16: This was about 3 years ago when I was 16. My friend gave me Blood Sugar Sex Magik (RHCP) and that was the first album I really became obsessed with. I also got into some other bands like Pacifier/Shihad, Sublime, Hootie and the Blowfish etc. On the electronica side of things, I was getting into Groove Armada, Concord Dawn, Chemical Brothers, Salmonella Dub, Daft Punk etc... Later in that same year, I heard Fade to Black and it really hit me. Metallica and Pantera were the first metal bands I got into as I seemed to skip the nu-metal stage.

17: I was getting into a lot of classic rock like Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Tom Petty etc... I really became obsessed with metal and my tastes in that area expanded. I really kept an open mind to all metal genres, but particularly latched on to Opeth. I did check out more classic/alt rock, grunge and funk, but at a much slower pace. I started playing bass at the start of that year too. Later in the year, I started to get into jazz after hearing Thelonious Monk and Eddie Lang.

18: I started to garner an appreciation for progressive rock - I suppose it was the result of liking Pink Floyd and Opeth. I started to love bands like King Crimson, Can and Camel etc. I also became deeply interested in the 1967-72 psychedelic rock. Later in the year, I became interested in post rock/metal - bands like Mono, Caspian, Isis etc... I really branched out in all directions in that year... I listened to more alt rock and some indie, folk, rap etc... On the metal side of things, I particularly liked doom.

19 (first half): In the first half of the year, I started to get into punk, emo and a bit of industrial. I also rediscovered some pop I used to listen to and listened to a lot more jazz. Further rock expansion. This was the period where I started to compose too.

19 (second half): This is my current period. I've been getting into post-punk, ambient electronica, film/game soundtracks etc. I am deeply into prog rock again and I'm becoming increasingly interested in avant-garde music. I feel a big classical phase coming on too. I'm looking at taking up piano again and delving more deeply into composing.

[Edgecrusher]

nice thread, good idea.

I don't really remember the ages, but whatever . . .

- Parents got me into piano at an early age. Didn't really
care for any music. I liked what was popular: Backstreet
Boys, *NSYNC, etc. Basically anything with a hook.

- I guess I was looking for something that was more
rebellious, so I turned to rap. Terrible, terrible phase . . .

- Became interested in Nu-Metal. Limp Bizkit was basically
the heaviest music ever, in my book. Bands like P.O.D. and
Disturbed followed.

- One day, I stayed home with a head-ache. During that
day, I picked up a KISS album, and I thought it was the best
thing I had ever heard. Led Zeppelin followed, as did Def Leppard,
Black Sabbath, Clapton/Cream.

- I picked up a guitar, and became fascinated with it. The
speed playing of 80's metal intrigued me. Bands like Van Halen,
RATT, Dio, Winger, White Lion begin to become my favorites.

- Like every beginner guitarist, Metallica begins to seem like the
best thing since sliced bread. They were dark, fast, and heavy
enough to make the parents cringe.

- I come to the realization that Metallica is thoroughly unimpressive
after hearing a little band called Megadeth, and their cd "Rust in Peace."
Pantera is the fucking shit, and while in this phase, some assfuck named
Nathan Gale kills my idol on stage. Yngwie, Vai, and Satriani begin to
tickle my fancy.

- Brief Death Metal phase. Only bands of which I still listen to are
Opeth (though not entirely DM), Necrophagist, and Behemoth. What
I pull away fro this phase is an appreciation for more esoteric music.

- Metalcore/NWOAHM bands like Shadows Fall, Trivium, Killswitch
Engage, Lamb of God, Unearth, etc intrigue me with the heavy
of thrash metal, and the shred of . . . shred.

- This is when I start to get into polymetrics/polyrhythms. Tool,
Meshuggah, Bulb, Periphery, Threat Signal, Droid, By Night, etc.
I'm still very much in this phase. I've recently gotten into Strapping
Young Lad.

[asdfkjhg]

cool thread

before I really got into music I basically just listened to whatever my dad listen to. shit like Cake, Tragically Hip, U2, The Beatles, Beck, and The Beach Boys! keep in mind I was like 11.

I think when I was 13 or something my taste went kinda downhill and I was listening to lots of pop stuff like Blink 182 and Sum 41.. and still all those older bands. I don't know when I picked up my Led Zeppelin or Nirvana obsession but it was around that time.

15: took guitar lessons for like a month (after I could already play) and my teacher introduced me to black metal. before that the heaviest shit I heard was probably Linkin Park or something. :lol: it sounded like crap at first but then I started liking all those 1st wave bands like Satyricon and Darkthrone.

16-18: kinda blurry.. I went through so many stages in this time. by the time I was 18 I still listened to black metal a lot but also got really into electronic and classical music. and basically everything in between


meh.. I guess that's kinda accurate. my memory isn't the greatest

[Fungus Amungus]

My very first band was the Beatles. I had 2 cds and I would listen to them when I slept. When I hit the age of 13 I started watching MTV. The bands I fell in love with was Korn, System of a Down and Creed. From there I listen to those three bands religiously for about a year, with some other bands on the side. Then at the age of 16 I found the beauty of bittorrent and demonoid. I made a list of bands people talked about and I also did some investigation and listend to samples of songs. Now I have about 100 gigs of music, 250~ artists and 800~ albums. I have genres covering from Jazz to Metal to Trance to Rap. I love music.

[gearslave]

The first band I really liked when I was younger was ICP, this is like 14-15 years old,

15-16 I started listening to Metallica and Pantera, but I always felt that there was something heavier out there for me.

16-19 I discovered Emperor, and my love of black metal was born, I would buy up random black metal cd's based on pictures of the bands I would see in metal magazines, My two favorite metal bands are still Satyricon and Darkthrone.

19-20 Went through a big David Bowie, Bauhaus, and Sisters of Mercy phase

20-23(present) Industrial, I can't get enough of this shit, and it's always being played loudly in at least one room of our house, needless to say, our neighbors fuckin hate us

[MusicIsDead]

Mainstream pop rock, mainstream rap, mainstream etc...until I hit nirvana. I listened to nirvana exclusively for probably 3 years, then pearl jam, then alice in chains, then soundgarden. I have favourite bands from every genre except for the 100000 different kinds of metal and country. I'm still heavy into grunge, and pearl jam is my favourite band at the moment, with a side dose of pink floyd.

[Diabolus Ruina]

13-15: Mainstream Rap and nu metal
16: Picked up a Jimi Hendrix album and got into classic rock
17: Started to listen to some core thrash metal bands such as Metallica and Megadeth
18-now: At 18 I listened to some death metal this guy had on his lap top and now I am more into death and black metal.

[psychomonkey62]

VERY early on, I like all the stupid bands like N'Sync, Limp Bizkit, Blink 182, and stuff like 3 Doors Down. Then during middle school I didn't really listen to music. I didn't really "like" anything. I just kinda drifted. When I played StepMania for a bit, I found some techno/house/dance stuff like Daft Punk, Darude, and Infected Mushroom, but I was still not satisfied. But then recently (as idiotic as it sounds) I got Guitar Hero 2. It wasn't so much the game as the message boards and stuff I went to. I started to listen to more music, like Symphony X, Buckethead, Megadeth, and other rock/metal. I became interested in progressive stuff, leading me to Dream Theater. (Also because of my brother's recommendations.....) And I'm currently getting into more bands, shown by my recent thread asking for input on good prog bands......

So......yeah. Thanks to Stepmania and Guitar Hero. And screw Limp Bizkit. They blow.

[Ernie Shiester]

God damn I'm old. :(

[Shmoopie]

I'd grown up with classic rock and Metallica/Alice In Chains/Nirvana/etc since I was in the womb. Seriously. It was on every day of my life pretty much. I still remember the first cd I ever got was steve miller band greatest hits 74-78 when I was like 7. And then the early teenage woes kicked in and at Ozzfest I was really introduced to Korn, Manson and Disturbed type shit [which I still like thank you very much.. I'm seeing Manson and Slayer in a month]. I slightly dropped the classic rock and went Korn crazy like a dumbass for a year and then I really don't remember what happened after that. It was my period of listening to everyfuckingthing I could I guess. A couple years ago I got into the rave scene and techno has stuck since.. the genre of techno I like is always changing though. A year ago I got into rap a bit more due to going out with a guy that introduced me to Tech N9ne. All we would listen to for months is Tech N9ne and Mindless Self Indulgence [both our favorite band].

Nowdays it's pretty much techno, punk and classic rock [I throw Metallica/Alice In Chains/Nirvana etc into that genre even though it's not since I just grew up with it all together].

edit: oh but I forgot about the preteen years of backstreet boys [That makes you larger than lifffffffffeeeeeeeee] and shit. I was more into the songs on the radio by eve 6 and everclear and shit which I still listen to because they are amazing songs. I just understand the meanings now.. half of the shit is about drugs. haha. the other day that "follow me and everything is alright. ill be the one to tuck you in at night" song was on the radio and I was making food or something and all of the sudden it hit me that it was about heroin. and its just weird that I had no idea when I was little you know? haha

[dude22]

I would listen to The Beatles or whatever else my dad would play when i was under 12. In 6th grade, my friend turned me on to weezer, less than jake, and dropkick murphys. I didn't listen to much else until 8th grade when I discovered Bittorrent. In 9th grade, I began listening to classic rock and techno. Now i have 3500+ songs of various artists and genres.

[subin]

Pre Music Stage:
Up until 8th grade I listened to a lot of different things, but mostly things like mainstream rap, rock, etc. Basically anything you'd hear on the radio at the time.

Discovering Good Music:
I remember back during the end of 8th grade the game GTA: San Andreas had came out earlier that year and I was obsessed with the song on the commercial. The catch was that I had no idea what it was called, or who it was by. On the last day of 8th grade a kid in my class brought in an album and started playing it. I instantly recognized it to be the same song that was on the commercial. I went over to him and asked him what it was and who it was by. He told me, "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N Roses. After that I went out and bought their greatest hits and I was a changed man.

Age 13-14
During the summer of 8th grade year I listened to that greatest hits album non stop and I began to get curious about what other good bands were like this. In addition my family had just gotten a new computer, something that would broaden my music horizon greatly. I began getting into bands like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, etc. Mainly just a bunch of classic rock type bands.

Age 15-16
I'd say my music tastes have broadened the most in this time period. After listening to a ton of classic rock I began to get into more types of music. One of the main reasons my tastes expanded so much were because of this site. I began to listen to jazz, funk, a little metal, more rap, blues, etc. Thats pretty much where I'm up to today.

[demonoid]

Im not sure of the years but i know how it went along.

1st PHASE
I started off listening to stuff like linkin park, greenday and nirvana.
Thought i was the "Cool" kid in school :uhoh:

2nd PHASE
Then i moved on to gunz N roses, blink182, pearljam, alice in chains and many of the 90's bands phase. Very enjoyable but for some reason my friends didn't like them! :preachon: (they were still in the above phase i mentioned :banghead:)

3rd PHASE(DONT ASK...god only knows why i moved away)
Then came the worst phase ever...i started listening to rap/hip-hop for like 3 months.
My friends would CURSE ME whenever i played those kinda songs.
Its good every now and then but playing it all the time made me look like an idiot.

Right now I'm 19 and i pretty much listen to anything...My harddisk/ipod is just filled with songs/artists that i don't even know where to start.
Also, somewhere in between the 1st/2nd phase, i started listening to metal.
Mainly metallica, Ironmaiden, pantera and judas priest. I just couldn't STOP playing their songs...until now.
My preferences change very often now...few days ill listen to a lot of classical rock, then ill move onto death metal, prog. rock/metal and so on.

And i never ever in my life have listened to stuff like backstreet boys/venga boys/(whatever BULLCRAP they used to show on TV).

[High On PCP]

Heh, I've been all over.

I started actually getting into music(going out and buying cassettes and CDs) when I was 11/12. The funny thing was, my music of choice was Insane Clown Posse. I think the reason I got into them was because of the gay man-love I had for pro-wrestling when I was that age, and I remember ICP did a WWF stint and that's what introduced me to them. I bought one of their CDs, Riddlebox I think and even at my young age I thought it was cool as hell listening to songs about people killing/maiming others in different ways.

I think in middle school(13-14), ICP stayed my favorite band, but I started listening to a decent bit of punk rock. Mixed in was some harder shit like Slipknot, Poison the Well, Cradle of Filth, etc.

Now, at 15 is when I sort of went 2 different ways. I pretty much dropped the ICP all together, also quit listening to punk rock. I had bought a TOOL cd when I was 13, and didn't care for it, but I had found a new interest in them, so Tool and A Perfect Circle became my music to listen to when I was at home by myself. All my friends(hung out with stoners at this time) were really big into rap, so I got into rap as well. That's what I would listen to when I was around other people. Jedi Mind Tricks and Nas were probably my favorites. I also downloaded a bunch of slowed down/chopped screwed songs before that shit got REALLY popular(when that whole down south rap/hip hop boomed in popularity).

I think when I was 17-18, I got really big into older hippie music- Beatles, CCR, Doors, Pink Floyd, Greateful Dead, Dylan, etc. I think at 19 I was introduced to Buckethead and Particle. Ever since then, those 2 have always been getting some quality playing time on my CD players. Those 2 are probably my favorites.

I pretty much stayed into the whole hippie music until recently- I've been listening to a shitload of metalish shit. A lot of Pelican, Symphony X, Rhapsody of Fire, Mars Volta, Gojira, Dragonforce. And still a lot of Particle and Buckethead.

edit- right now I'm listening to Jefferson Airplane- Surrealistic Pillow, which is (in my mind) without a question, as a whole, is one the best CDs out there you could own.

[Mattjam]

Okay. I'm almost 16 now.

1st stage: 7 years old and younger: Same bullshit as everyone. Stuff you heard on the radio, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, that shit. I'm embarrassed of this to this day:(

2nd Stage: 8 years old to 11: Rap. My cousin showed me an Eminem CD at 8 years old and I was hooked. I got in to rap big time, but it was mainly Eminem and D-12. I also lived in a predominantly black neighborhood in Ft. Lauderdale, so that didn't help my expansion.

3rd stage: Somewhere around 11 years old: I was on Musicnet searching bad words in the music search box because I was 11. I type in slut and the only result is "Marilyn Manson - Slutgarden". I fell in love with that song. I then got more and more of his songs. At this time I was a naive 6th grader, I also believed in God. Thus led to an internal conflict. Then this religious bitch IMs me on AIM and tells me about how God would hate me listening to Manson and if I wanted to please him I should stop. Sadly enough I didn't have much of a backbone and I listened to her.

4th stage: 12 years old: Regressing back in to rap. Big mistake. So it was basically a year of rap again.

5th Stage: 13 years old: I was in the car with my dad when he played Goldfinger's "99 red balloons". Again I fell in love and left rap completely for alternative rock. Goldfinger was my favorite, and there were a few other bands.

6th Stage: 13 years old to 14: In-between stage. I was kinda drifting from alternative rock, seeking something heavier. I found Powerman 5000 and Disturbed and thus started the reign of Alternative Metal. For months I listened to nothing but these 2 bands. This got boring, of course, and I turned to my brother for help.

7th Stage: 14 years old to present: Well my brother had learned that I liked the song "Blast Off to Nowhere" by PM5K. I told him I loved the screamed vocals in the chorus. "Oh so you like the heavy shit. Come to my room". So then we went to his computer and he introduced me to a lot of stuff. He burned me a CD that contained many bands, one of which stuck. "I like this one. Who are they and where are more bands like them?". The song was "Hate Crew Deathroll" by Children of Bodom. A fire was lit inside me that has continued to burn to this day: the birth of Death Metal. He introduced me to more bands like this, but seeing as how he wasn't huge in to Death Metal, much of the searching was done by myself. My views on Death Metal and Metal in general at the time were very simplistic and I just got whatever sounded good. I remember my first few favorite bands being Children of Bodom, Slayer, Megadeth, Slipknot (back to the previous statement...), Anthrax, and others. Mostly bands he mentioned. CoB remained my favorite until I found many other Death Metal bands in late 2005 and early 2006. January 1st, 2006 was my first taste of Arch Enemy, and that's where my horizons really expanded with Death Metal.
Oh yes in this time I picked up Marilyn Manson again, became atheist, and haven't looked back. He's now tied with Arch Enemy as my favorite artist.

8th stage: October 2007 or so to present: Not a very big stage, hardly enough to be grouped in to its own category. Just that I've been getting in to Gothic Metal more recently. Haven't dropped Death Metal at all, but I've been getting big(ger) in to Manson, Cradle of Filth, Wednesday 13, and a few others.

If you bothered to read all this PM me for a cool point.
EDIT: As I'm trying to add cool points, it's saying my sig has too many lines and I need to shorten it to 5. Can anyone help me with this problem?

[Mr Chainsaw]

I have a really bad memory from the years of smoke marijuana, so I can't really remember specific ages when I listened to some of the shit I did listen too. I do however remember every detail of each phase I went through which eventually brought me to the point I am at now which is a general music appreciator and researcher.

The Beginning

It's weird that I can't remember who I hung out with last night but I can remember certain things about the early years of my childhood. I'm talking about four or five years old. My mom drove a lot so I got to listen to the radio pretty much everyday. I heard a lot of 90's pop, grunge, and alt rock. Pearl Jam and RHCP stood out the most. Then I got into my mainstream pop phase that only lasted a month or two(Backstreet Boys and N'Sync). I then began hanging out with other kids and playing video games a lot. Playing Twisted Metal and listening to 90s rock was pretty much my life for about a year. Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, and RHCP basically ruled my life. This when I actually started buying albums. I got most of the stuff from said bands but I also had stuff from The Wallflowers, Matchbox Twenty, Chumbawumba, and Sugar Ray. After this is where it starts to get gay...

The "Grey" Area

I continued the alt rock phase until about 7th grade. 8th grade and into freshmen year I started listening to heavier stuff. Metallica and Iron Maiden were what I started listening too and I wish it had stayed there because I then started getting into emo/screamo/banana-nana femo. Bands like Further Seems Forever, From First To Last, From Autumn To Ashes, and Alkaline Trio filtered their way into my head. It was a sad time.

Enlightenment

I can still remember the day that I picked up my first Miles Davis album. I had heard from some source that Kind of Blue was one of the greatest albums ever made. It was like I was destined to hear it. I previewed it at a record store and quickly purchased it. I listened to it four times that night.

Present

I'm 18 and basically can call myself pretty intelligent and wise when it comes to music. I've been researching and listening to every kind of music really except rap and country. For some reason I can't get into those. I'm pretty good at knowing a lot of underground and obscure bands. I'm into jazz, classical, 60s/70s/80s/90s rock, electronica, post rock, prog rock, 20s jazz, and every other genre you can fit in. I play bass in a band and am at a concert every month. My record is 16 concerts in one month. Music has basically taken over my life, and I'm fine with that.

[Deamatix]

Childhood: All I really listened to was my Mom's country cassettes when she played those in the car. The only metal I really knew of was the theme music to the cartoon Transformers movie.

12-17: Started getting into metal with Rob Zombie, Metallica, Static X, and Slipknot.

18-19: My death/black metal phase, which all started when I was listening to The Berzerker. Also developed a liking for trance. Got my first acoustic guitar.

19.5: Still love metal, but I'm moving away from the extreme stuff, and listening to more rock.

[Rev'd_Flasher]

For those that don't know (there seem to be a lot of new members here recently), I'm nearly 39yo, so.....

Pre Rock - lots of reggae and pop. I have a major thing for Debbie Harry.

Rock - Deep Purple's Burn is the first rock album I hear. It blows me away. I get into the "Blackmore Connection" bands right away (Rainbow, Whitesnake, Gillan etc). Then I go through some phases - NWOBHM phase, first prog rock phase, thrash metal phase, US radio rock phase, second prog rock phase.

Post rock - I get into a lot of psychedelic and jam bands. I start branching out into jazz, fusion and some dance music. Third prog rock phase.

Now (ish) - Fourth prog rock phase, exploring some more extreme metal bands, some trance and electronica, also listening to some classical.

The "constants" (ie bands that I've been listening to for years without taking a break) have been Rush, Ozric Tentacles, Motorhead and Whitesnake.