I wanted to start a thread discussing metal. I was thinking it would be cool if people posted their metal background/progression and then posted song/album/artist ideas for the rest of us to look into. With spotify it's so easy to look up almost anything and hear it right away and I'm always looking for my next Opeth. By that, I mean that band you discover and end up buying ALL of their albums. That hasn't happened to me since 2002 with Opeth, but recently I discovered another band Katatonia and I'm digesting 4 of their albums and may end up buying them all.
I think it would be cool if people posted their "metal progression" and then a recommendation.
METAL PROGRESSION
Ok, I have been a metal head all my life. I clearly remember hearing the song Back in Black for the first time when I was in first grade. I was at an older friends house and he had tons of music and we just kept playing the opening part over, and over, and over again. Now days that song seems so tame and of course overplayed, but trust me in 1981 it was the greatest thing I had ever heard!! Soon I heard Highway to Hell and from the point of hearing those 2 songs on, there was no return.
In the early 80's it was all about these bands for me:
AC/DC
Van Halen
Scorpions
Ratt (this was my favorite group in most of elementary school)
Motley Crue
Dio
Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath
Twisted Sister
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Def Leppard (before Hysteria, I still LOVE the High n Dry album)
Dokken
Accept
Boston (yeah, not metal but loved that album)
That older friend was a huge influence on my musical tastes and he LOVED glam metal as you can see. I had no idea that I was missing out on the best metal ever....
One day a video for Metallica cam on MTV. I had heard of Metallica, but had never actually heard a Metallica song all I heard was that they sucked. I was curious and watched the video. What the hell is this? This was not like any metal, or music, that I had ever heard. I was the summer before 9th grade, and I didn't know what to make of it. I'm sure I was just sitting there with my mouth open. I'd like to say I reacted the same as when I heard Back in Black for the first time, but I did not. I didn't hate it, but I didn't get it either. One thing is for sure, it looked nothing like the metal videos I was used to. Where are the girls? The big hair? The make-up? These guys looked really serious and they sounded dark and scary.
Well, throughout high school I was kind of stagnant. I really liked Appetite for Destruction, but other than that I can't remember much of my musical preferences. I wasn't as crazy about all the hair metal anymore and besides since I was still living with my parents I wasn't allowed to listen to any "rock n roll" anyway - it's all the devil's music you know. My friends were into bands like U2 and INXS, and weren't really all that into them anyway. The Razors Edge album by AC/DC got me back into an AC/DC kick, and I got on a huge first 5 album Van Halen Kick.... but I already loved those bands.
I did hear the black album quite a bit senior year and liked it and thought, oh, they figured out how to play this is pretty good.
Finally, my freshman year of college (fall 1992) a friend of mine loaned me a cassette (yeah, that's right a cassette) of the And Justice for All Album. WOW WOW WOW
Man, I was ready for this now. Anytime I was walking on campus I had that album playing for at least 3 months straight. I couldn't believe how good and addicting it was while at the same time I never got sick of it!!! I don't know why I didn't immediately go out and buy their other albums, maybe it was because I was poor... but I think it was because I figured there is no way any of their other stuff is this good.
Finally around Thanksgiving I bought Ride the Lightning and was completely blown away all over again. It may be hard to believe that I had never heard this stuff, but keep in mind their older stuff was NOT played on the radio at that time and other than One there were no older videos, and NO ONE I knew was into this stuff, even the guy that lent me the tape.
Well I listened to Ride the Lightning and And Justice For All non-stop for a few months until I finally bought Master of Puppets. Good lord. You gotta be kidding me. This album was every bit as good as the others, maybe even a touch better!!!!
So for a whole entire year I basically listened to 3 albums and nothing else. Walking around campus, in my dorm room, getting pumped up while warming up for track meets, etc. I would say in my car but I didn't have a cassette player in there... no cd either of course.
Freshman year of college is a big mark in a person's life, so imagine how impactful this music was to me at the time. In a way I'm glad I didn't hear it when I was younger, I think I appreciated it even more since I was older.
I eventually bought Kill em All too, and loved it as well but not on the same level as the big 3.
So, those 3 albums are what shaped my musical tastes from that day forward and are the measuring stick to which all other albums are compared. All have come up short so far....
Ok, from Metallica I later got into:
Dream Theater
Iron Maiden
Slayer
Megadeth
Type O Negative
Tool
Pantera
Iced Earth
Fear Factory
Fear Factory was a big bridge band for me. From them the transition wasn't hard to begin accepting death growl vocals, hell FF first album is a death metal album basically - I'm not crazy about it though...
Fear Factory led me to another "bridge" band, In Flames.
In fact I would say for a person to be able to stomach death vocals, if they can get into Pantera, then Fear Factory, then In Flames first 3 albums then they've done it. That's how the progression worked for me.
From In Flames:
Death
Shadows Fall
Killswitch Engage
Arch Enemy
Around 2002 I found another "game changer" band for me. Opeth
I read so many good things about them online I figured I'd give them a shot so I bought the Still Life album. Not impressed. 2nd time through. Not impressed. 3rd time. Same thing. I was force feeding myself this album because even though I wasn't totally into it there was something about it that made me curious and I kept coming back. Finally it started to click and I was hooked. From there I bought all their albums and for me 5 of their albums are like a giant game of rock paper scissors to decide which one is best.
Morninrise
My Arms Your Hearse
Still Life
Blackwater Park
Deliverance
Great, great albums.
So, now days I listen to a lot of
Amon Amarth
Katatonia
Devin Townsend
Nightwish
Within Temptation
After Forever
The Gathering
Kataklysm
But I still listen to a ton of stuff from before. I don't stop listening to music that I like, I mix it back in from time to time. Tonight I might listen to any of these albums: Chemical Wedding, Aenima, Whoracle, Powerslave, Falling Into Infinity, October Rust, who knows.
I don't drop off the old music to make way for the new, with the exception of my glam metal days. Even still, there are times where I'll fire up the Invasion of Your privacy album...
I never looked the part of the metal head nor cared to. For me it was just about the music. I didn't wear the t-shirs, grow the long hair, smoke, etc., there is just something about metal when it's done right that does it for me. Always has, always will.
Song Suggestion:
hmmm... I'm really starting to get into Katatonia. Check out their song My Twin.
Ok, this post really got way too long and out of control. Hell, it may just end up me talking to myself on this thread and that's ok haha.... if you want to just give recommendations and not give a whole background like I did that's great too.
Also, give feedback on the suggestions others give. It seems like you always see suggestions but never any impressions from what is suggested.
I think it would be cool if people posted their "metal progression" and then a recommendation.
METAL PROGRESSION
Ok, I have been a metal head all my life. I clearly remember hearing the song Back in Black for the first time when I was in first grade. I was at an older friends house and he had tons of music and we just kept playing the opening part over, and over, and over again. Now days that song seems so tame and of course overplayed, but trust me in 1981 it was the greatest thing I had ever heard!! Soon I heard Highway to Hell and from the point of hearing those 2 songs on, there was no return.
In the early 80's it was all about these bands for me:
AC/DC
Van Halen
Scorpions
Ratt (this was my favorite group in most of elementary school)
Motley Crue
Dio
Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath
Twisted Sister
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Def Leppard (before Hysteria, I still LOVE the High n Dry album)
Dokken
Accept
Boston (yeah, not metal but loved that album)
That older friend was a huge influence on my musical tastes and he LOVED glam metal as you can see. I had no idea that I was missing out on the best metal ever....
One day a video for Metallica cam on MTV. I had heard of Metallica, but had never actually heard a Metallica song all I heard was that they sucked. I was curious and watched the video. What the hell is this? This was not like any metal, or music, that I had ever heard. I was the summer before 9th grade, and I didn't know what to make of it. I'm sure I was just sitting there with my mouth open. I'd like to say I reacted the same as when I heard Back in Black for the first time, but I did not. I didn't hate it, but I didn't get it either. One thing is for sure, it looked nothing like the metal videos I was used to. Where are the girls? The big hair? The make-up? These guys looked really serious and they sounded dark and scary.
Well, throughout high school I was kind of stagnant. I really liked Appetite for Destruction, but other than that I can't remember much of my musical preferences. I wasn't as crazy about all the hair metal anymore and besides since I was still living with my parents I wasn't allowed to listen to any "rock n roll" anyway - it's all the devil's music you know. My friends were into bands like U2 and INXS, and weren't really all that into them anyway. The Razors Edge album by AC/DC got me back into an AC/DC kick, and I got on a huge first 5 album Van Halen Kick.... but I already loved those bands.
I did hear the black album quite a bit senior year and liked it and thought, oh, they figured out how to play this is pretty good.
Finally, my freshman year of college (fall 1992) a friend of mine loaned me a cassette (yeah, that's right a cassette) of the And Justice for All Album. WOW WOW WOW
Man, I was ready for this now. Anytime I was walking on campus I had that album playing for at least 3 months straight. I couldn't believe how good and addicting it was while at the same time I never got sick of it!!! I don't know why I didn't immediately go out and buy their other albums, maybe it was because I was poor... but I think it was because I figured there is no way any of their other stuff is this good.
Finally around Thanksgiving I bought Ride the Lightning and was completely blown away all over again. It may be hard to believe that I had never heard this stuff, but keep in mind their older stuff was NOT played on the radio at that time and other than One there were no older videos, and NO ONE I knew was into this stuff, even the guy that lent me the tape.
Well I listened to Ride the Lightning and And Justice For All non-stop for a few months until I finally bought Master of Puppets. Good lord. You gotta be kidding me. This album was every bit as good as the others, maybe even a touch better!!!!
So for a whole entire year I basically listened to 3 albums and nothing else. Walking around campus, in my dorm room, getting pumped up while warming up for track meets, etc. I would say in my car but I didn't have a cassette player in there... no cd either of course.
Freshman year of college is a big mark in a person's life, so imagine how impactful this music was to me at the time. In a way I'm glad I didn't hear it when I was younger, I think I appreciated it even more since I was older.
I eventually bought Kill em All too, and loved it as well but not on the same level as the big 3.
So, those 3 albums are what shaped my musical tastes from that day forward and are the measuring stick to which all other albums are compared. All have come up short so far....
Ok, from Metallica I later got into:
Dream Theater
Iron Maiden
Slayer
Megadeth
Type O Negative
Tool
Pantera
Iced Earth
Fear Factory
Fear Factory was a big bridge band for me. From them the transition wasn't hard to begin accepting death growl vocals, hell FF first album is a death metal album basically - I'm not crazy about it though...
Fear Factory led me to another "bridge" band, In Flames.
In fact I would say for a person to be able to stomach death vocals, if they can get into Pantera, then Fear Factory, then In Flames first 3 albums then they've done it. That's how the progression worked for me.
From In Flames:
Death
Shadows Fall
Killswitch Engage
Arch Enemy
Around 2002 I found another "game changer" band for me. Opeth
I read so many good things about them online I figured I'd give them a shot so I bought the Still Life album. Not impressed. 2nd time through. Not impressed. 3rd time. Same thing. I was force feeding myself this album because even though I wasn't totally into it there was something about it that made me curious and I kept coming back. Finally it started to click and I was hooked. From there I bought all their albums and for me 5 of their albums are like a giant game of rock paper scissors to decide which one is best.
Morninrise
My Arms Your Hearse
Still Life
Blackwater Park
Deliverance
Great, great albums.
So, now days I listen to a lot of
Amon Amarth
Katatonia
Devin Townsend
Nightwish
Within Temptation
After Forever
The Gathering
Kataklysm
But I still listen to a ton of stuff from before. I don't stop listening to music that I like, I mix it back in from time to time. Tonight I might listen to any of these albums: Chemical Wedding, Aenima, Whoracle, Powerslave, Falling Into Infinity, October Rust, who knows.
I don't drop off the old music to make way for the new, with the exception of my glam metal days. Even still, there are times where I'll fire up the Invasion of Your privacy album...
I never looked the part of the metal head nor cared to. For me it was just about the music. I didn't wear the t-shirs, grow the long hair, smoke, etc., there is just something about metal when it's done right that does it for me. Always has, always will.
Song Suggestion:
hmmm... I'm really starting to get into Katatonia. Check out their song My Twin.
Ok, this post really got way too long and out of control. Hell, it may just end up me talking to myself on this thread and that's ok haha.... if you want to just give recommendations and not give a whole background like I did that's great too.
Also, give feedback on the suggestions others give. It seems like you always see suggestions but never any impressions from what is suggested.