How did you all get started?

I started out strictly on the rock and metal scene back in late elementary school, mostly sticking to those classic, foundational bands that defined the genre...
pa once high school rolled around, I drifted into heavy metal and punk, but somehow I ended up circling back. These days, my rotation is pretty much limited to punk, ska, Oi!, and just the occasional bit of rock...

I think there’s already a thread for this, but I can’t seem to find it. FAIL. So, let’s just leave it be.

I spent a good chunk of my childhood listening to total garbage meant for kids. The Beatles, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys—all that stuff. Somewhere around 6th or 7th grade, my dad bought me the BBC Sessions Led Zeppelin, and then toward the end of elementary school, I started getting into Metallica. After that, I heard Slayer and stuck with metal (always with two L's!) pretty much through high school. I have to admit, though—kind of embarrassingly—the band that actually pulled me out of that narrow black and death metal mindset was Tool.
Then I discovered The Big Org and How It Feels. Jeremy and Cedric were basically my gateway into indie. And early Sonic Youth? That was some real foreign territory for me.

We'll see what happens next!

Alright, feeling emboldened by a few recent posts, I think I’m comfortable enough to come clean: back in 5th grade, I was into 2 Unlimited, and by 7th grade, it was Guns N' Roses. That was pretty much the whole story before Nirvana hit. Seriously.

EDIT:

gentlepuma20 beat me to it, so her post doesn't apply to the bit above.

EDIT2:

Actually, reading it again, it DOES apply, haha. Damn, while I was busy blasting Hardcore Techno, she was listening to those Irish trash tracks.

gentlepuma20 said:A thread like this already exists, but I can't track it down. FAIL. So let it stay buried.

I only found this one, but it feels like there’s actually another 🤷

P.S. I heard someone claiming Tool is a nu-metal band 😁

placidlynx23 said:but when I read it, it definitely DOES apply, haha. Man, back when I was into Hardcore Techno, she was stuck on those Irish tracks

feels like heaven

Tool isn't nu metal. I know that, being a huge fan of Slipknot's first album.

gentlepuma20 said:feeling like a lion, just living lifeeeee

🙏 👍 :closing_closet:

Yeah, feeling inspired by all this. Here’s another solid track for the rock crowd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1IqZObDla8

placidlynx23 said:P.S. I heard that Tool is actually a nu-metal band 😁

it's just pure rush for the younger crowd 🤷

Nicholas Perez33 said:just rushing through the newer generations🤷

those are the ones, Coheed & Cambria or whatever they're called

fadedowl said:it's just those Coheed & Cambria folks or whatever

I can't seem to find anything about this 😢

Nicholas Perez33 said:Rush for the younger crowd 🤷

I honestly have no clue what Rush is 😳. But I was being somewhat serious about that guitar sound. Oh yeah, we were just talking about Incubus, Korn, and Sepultura recently. I should probably mention that when it comes to Tool, I've only ever listened to one track.

You should definitely give Rush a listen on YouTube sometime. Though, honestly, you don't have to if you don't want to—I personally think Tool is way better 😁

fadedowl said:Wait, aren't those the Coheed & Cambria guys or something?

Oh boy 🤮 🙏
Come on now, I mean, Rush isn't REALLY that bad 🙏

My earliest memories involve a Small Towner and Magazin featuring Lily 🙏 driving along the coast toward New York City.

The next thing I have actually documented goes back to 1994 and 1995, back when I was obsessively, almost compulsively, tracking the MTV US Top 20 (from the Netherlands, obviously) and scribbling everything down in a notebook, calculating the points myself It was almost like a hobby, like skiing; let me show you my scoring system:

1st place - 35 points
2nd place - 30 points
3rd place - 27 points
followed by 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point

Because I wanted to predict what would actually be a HIT GOD DAMN IT. Here is how mine shook out:

1. ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper (422 points)
2. Take That - Back for Good (411)
3. U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (403)
4. Diana King - Shy Guy (402)
5. The Offspring - Self Esteem (373)
6. Scatman John - Scatman's World (359)
7. Scatman John - Scatman (347)
8. Mark'Oh - Tears Don't Lie (339)
9. TLC - Waterfalls (338)
10. Edwin Collins - Girl Like You (327)
11. East 17 - Stay Another Day (325)
12. Shaggy - Boombastic (322)
13. Bryan Adams - Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman (312)
14. Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone (276)
15. Michael Jackson - Scream (267)
16. Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise (263)
17. Bon Jovi - This Ain't a Love Song (258)
18. Simply Red - Fairground (242)
19. Seal - Kiss from a Rose (237)
20. Snap - The First, The Last Eternity (234)

Then, at the end of the year, MTV released their "official" Top 20, and that’s when I realized those bastards were lying 🤮 because their list looked like this:

1. Take That - Back for Good
2. ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper
3. Shaggy - Boombastic
4. East 17 - Stay Another Day
5. TLC - Waterfalls
6. U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
7. Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
8. Diana King - Shy Guy
9. Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone
10. Michael Jackson - Scream
11. Snap - The First, The Last Eternity
12. Bon Jovi - This Ain't a Love Song
13. The Offspring - Self Esteem
14. Scatman John - Scatman's World
15. Take That - Never Forget
16. Mark'Oh - Tears Don't Lie
17. Bryan Adams - Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman
18. Simply Red - Fairground
19. Bon Jovi - Always
20. Annie Lennox - No More "I Love You"'s

My list is backed up by hard data. So if mine is substantiated, what on earth backs up theirs??? 😠
Well, at least that way I trained my ears to recognize the hits 👋

After that, I only followed things sporadically, occasionally combining American, European, and a few local charts (like KROQ 🙏)

Before I knew it, I had stopped following MTV and the charts entirely, and right around then (middle of the middle GET IT???) I discovered Radiohead, and everything just went to hell 🤮 🙂

It’s all a mess, honestly, just some nonsense about Indian stuff and whatever 🤷

It's a shame I don't have 1994 documented; I was watching MTV back then too, and the songs were much better because that was exactly when Eurodance was dying off 🙏

It’s kind of wild thinking about what kind of person you actually are 🙂 🙂 🙂

hey, just passing along the standings table 🙂

One Saturday, I wasn't even home, so some kid from my class had to pull duty with nothing but a scrap of paper to keep them occupied. 🙏

ugh, what was the lyric again? 🤔

Danijela -> John Mayer -> Carlos Santana -> Guns N' Roses -> Metallica, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Metallica -> Dream Theater, Queensrÿche -> PJ Harvey -> alldiv>

Back when I was 11 or 12—mostly thanks to my older sister—it was all Enrique and Britney... though my absolute favorite back then? Peter, Jack, whatever—just some local guy. ---------------------- (Fast forward through a massive gap where I didn't listen to anything) ----------> In 8th grade, I’d literally hunt down songs on the radio just to finish my homework—makes zero sense looking back, right? ------------------------------------------------------------> (Then came another long stretch of total silence) --------------> January 2006: started hitting up peak hour videos on the Internet—strictly foreign music videos for me -> Madonna (Hung up, Sorry) -> Shakira (Don't Bother, La Tortura) -> more Shakira -> Hips Don't Lie -> Then in June, I caught the video for Imitation of Life and immediately felt like there was something special about R.E.M. -> Summer 2006: just riding the radio hits -> David Gray -> becoming a massive R.E.M. devotee -> Keane, Coldplay -> diving deep into everything foreign: pop, rock, oldies, new stuff, even country -> turned into an indie fan -> plus electronica and synthpop -> Punk -> Right now? It's R.E.M., INXS, Talk Talk, Suede, Daft Punk