First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

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lynchie137
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First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby lynchie137 » July 27th, 2017, 8:48 pm

For me, it would have to be Def Leppard's Pyromania. It was the summer of 1988 and I remember borrowing my Aunt's cassette copy of the album, thinking that it had the song "Pour Some Sugar on Me", which was a huge hit on radio at the time. I had no idea what album it was on or how many they put out at that point in their career. I just knew that it was Def Leppard who played the song. So when I saw this tape at her house, I just had to check it out. Unfortunately, when I got it home and looked at the track listing and didn't see said song listed on the back, I was more than a little disappointed. However, initial disappointment quickly gave way to natural curiosity, and I popped the tape in my old Panasonic cassette player. And as soon as I heard the opening chords of the lead off track "Rock Rock Till You Drop", I was hooked!!! I ended up listening to that tape constantly the rest of that summer, playing it a few times in a row every day as soon as I got up, a few times during the day, and probably once or twice before going to bed. I probably drove everybody in the house nuts playing it over and over but I couldn't help it. I was infatuated with that album. And nearly 30 years later and hundreds of albums later, I still am. I may not listen to it as much as I used do back then, but whenever I do, it knocks me right on my butt. To me, it's the best set of songs Leppard ever laid down on tape and it still holds up today.

How important was this album for me? Well, if it wasn't for me discovering it, I probably wouldn't have bothered to check out bands like Guns n Roses, which led me to other bands like AC?DC, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and finally, some of the heavier bands going at the time like Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and others. Which in turn, led me to even heavier and heavier music as well as branching out into other kinds of music. And I owe it all to that one cassette I borrowed from my Aunt way back in 1988.

And what of that old tape? Eventually, I ended up wearing it out, but I don't think my Aunt was too bothered about that. At least I hope she wasn't haha. I'll probably have to buy her a replacement copy someday....

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velcrozombie
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby velcrozombie » July 28th, 2017, 12:37 pm

I'm going to say Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins. My older cousin had been playing me rock music for a couple of years before that - Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Doors, Metallica, Anthrax, etc. - so the pump had been primed, but I didn't have enough of a musical vocabulary to identify with those groups yet. I liked U2 and Aerosmith - who had the Get a Grip album out at the time - and I'd heard songs by bands like Guns n Roses, but it was a superficial type of admiration - these guys were rock stars talking about things that I had no relationship to (that wasn't entirely true in U2's case, but they were in their postmodern phase at the time commentating on the idea of being a rock star - subtext doesn't register when you're 11).

I bought Siamese Dream for the song "Today", but it was "Cherub Rock" that grabbed me - the way the song builds from the opening drum rolls into this all-consuming ROAR was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. Even though it took me a couple months to get into the rest of the album, the unique sonic qualities of the band kept me coming back to further chip away at it - guitars that sounded like a lava lamp plugged into a Marshall stack; drumming that was as jazzy and complex as it was ferocious; and Billy Corgan's incongruent, childlike coo on top of it all. Beyond that was the emotional connection I built with the lyrics and their delivery - I may not of understood what Corgan was actually talking about, but the sincerity and vulnerability of his singing touched me in a way that was difficult to articulate. I lent the tape to all my friends and converted them as well. I still go back to it from time to time, along with the album before it (Gish) and it's immediate predecessors (Melancholy... and it's B-Sides, Pisces Iscariot and the underrated Adore), but I jumped ship after Machina - I should go back and give the the stuff I missed a look.

Voor
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby Voor » July 29th, 2017, 6:54 pm

Incubus--make yourself drew me in, but morning view made me a super fan.

lynchie137
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby lynchie137 » July 31st, 2017, 7:53 pm

Voor wrote:Incubus--make yourself drew me in, but morning view made me a super fan.


Which one of those albums had the song "Drive" on it? They played the video for that one a lot on much music back in the day. I didn't like it at first, but whenever I hear the song played on the radio these days, I kinda dig it. It was just a pretty good pop song. Cool video too.

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Atariboy
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby Atariboy » August 1st, 2017, 12:11 am

I fell in love with Downtown at the age of three. Still love Petula Clark 30+ years later.

CaptainCruch
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby CaptainCruch » August 2nd, 2017, 3:56 am

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang...

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astrodomekid
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby astrodomekid » August 2nd, 2017, 2:19 pm

*NSYNC. I listened to their "No Strings Attached" CD a LOT when I was a kid. I also had their self-titled debut album as well as their "Live from Madison Square Garden" DVD, and thanks to the best Mom & Dad in the world I was even able to get my hands on the "Celebrity" album once it came out. Ultimately, they were the first band I consciously decided to be a fan of, and my favorite band at the time. I just hope they re-release all 3 aforementioned albums on vinyl soon.

Voor
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby Voor » August 2nd, 2017, 7:09 pm

lynchie137 wrote:
Voor wrote:Incubus--make yourself drew me in, but morning view made me a super fan.


Which one of those albums had the song "Drive" on it? They played the video for that one a lot on much music back in the day. I didn't like it at first, but whenever I hear the song played on the radio these days, I kinda dig it. It was just a pretty good pop song. Cool video too.


Drive was on Make Yourself. It's success annoyed a lot of fans because it is Waaaayyyy poppy/simple compared to their other stuff. Oh well, the video was kind of cool.

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Retrology
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby Retrology » August 3rd, 2017, 12:36 am

I was listening to a lot of hard rock around the time Radiohead's In Rainbows album came out. When I heard "House of Cards" I was instantly blown away. So much so that I went and listened to the entire catalog. They've been my favorite band ever since.

lynchie137
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Re: First album, artist, or group that rocked your world

Postby lynchie137 » August 3rd, 2017, 6:56 pm

Retrology wrote:I was listening to a lot of hard rock around the time Radiohead's In Rainbows album came out. When I heard "House of Cards" I was instantly blown away. So much so that I went and listened to the entire catalog. They've been my favorite band ever since.



If you don't mind me asking, what bands were you listening to before you discovered radiohead?


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