Terrorvision were the first rock band I heard and was like, 'this is it'. In was sat on the floor in the living room listening to the radio on big ass 80's headphones and Alice What's the Matter came on. I was hooked and from then on I've been a rock and guitar fan. You just can't beat a good overdriven rock guitar sound it's magical.
The Cure and Joy Division changed my outlook on life and music. It is a bit difficult to say exactly why, but both bands turned me to the darker side of music across genres and periods.
Animals as Leaders has spoken so much too me without words at all. Essentially, djent and progressive metal as a whole has done this, but this band in particular has been magic. As a musician myself, I find listening to this really technical music inspired me to go to a higher level in music, and AAL was my main source of inspiration to do so.
I was listening to Jonathan Coulton on the drive to an unfulfilling job that I probably would have just kept doing forever because change is hard and scary. I was sitting there that day with “A Talk with George” stuck in my head on a loop.
Don’t live another day unless you make it count
There’s someone else that you’re supposed to be
'Cause something deep inside of you that still wants out
And shame on you if you don’t set it free
That was the day I walked out the door, sent in my resignation, and started a career that made a lot better use of my skills.
For me that was “Cantautorato”. That’s the equivalent of the singer-songwriter, but in Italy it’s so cool. It’s a genre that talks about the people, living conditions, daily life, humble loves, collective politics…
Listen to some songs of De Andrè, Lucio Battisti, Fausto Amodei, Lucio Dalla, De Gregori, or Mannarino and tell me what you think :)
I'd been pondering a change in career anyway, but I was at work one hot summer's day, sweating my arse off, listening to my tunes on the stereo in the workshop. Pennywise - Same Old Story came on and something clicked in me. Cycled past a tiny local radio station on the way home, went in to ask how to volunteer my help, and a couple of months later I was starting on a radio production degree.
I will always remember the first day I listened to the otherworldly guitars of my bloody valentine, or the combination of the haunting dreamy vocals and guitars of Cocteau Twins.
I did not know music could sound so mystical and magical. It’s like being in another world’s soundscape.
I wasn’t really in to music until a friend introduced me to Dragonforce. Little did I know that would be my gateway band to all sorts of metal genres. Depending on the mood I now mostly listen to atmo black, folk, prog, melo death, and of course power still holds a special place.
Arcade Fire saved me from religion and now speaks to me on a religious level. M83 speaks to me on a celestial level. Both have deepened my love for music.
The first album I heard from M83 was Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, and it’s been my favorite ever since. Highly recommend playing that one front to back if you have the time, it’s an adventure.
MOD/S3M and demoscene tunes from the early 90s. Moved to electronic music as the genre matured. Never looked back for over 30 years. Still have an archive of all of the tracker tunes from back then.
Jrock, specifically The Pillows, which lead to dozens of other jrock band discoveries. I don’t listen to it much anymore but it defined me and my friends from the years 16-26
Honestly it was classical. I had a music appreciation class in high school and the teacher was incredible, ended up being a step by step historical analysis of how music changed over the years and how it’s all connected from Ancient Greece all the way to Tupac. I truly believe that there isn’t another musical genre that has the ability to capture such a wide range of emotions with such pinpoint accuracy as classical music without having to rely on any lyrics to explain what’s going on. What would the musical equivalent of falling down the steps sound like? Losing a loved one? Getting lost in the Sahara? Riding a bike through Paris in 1925? Traveling to different planets? It made me realize how limited other genres are because they’re so stuck in their own mold and can barely wiggle out of the predefined standards of what that genre requires. It doesn’t make that music any less important, but it’s interesting to think about.
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