Your Favorite Band

Obviously my user name gives away who my fave is (much like Uncle Sax) and for some others their avatar or signature picks tell the tale. Those of us who have been around here for a number of years know about Eyesore's love of the Leppard, Fat Freddy's worship of Overkill (or the Ramones), or Ult's devotion to Aerosmith/ Kiss. But what is your fave and when didi it happen?

I had liked Priest since around '86 or so when a friend got me into them. At the time I was also a huge Maiden fan as well as the heavier stuff like Metallica and Megadeth, and the lighter stuff like Dokken, Ratt, and Whitesnake. 1987 was a huge year for me where I stopped purchasing anything other than Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. But then Painkiller was released and it went up a notch. I remember jogging the High School track with my Walkman and Painkiller just booming into my brain meat. Every morning on the bus for about 3 months straight it was the same deal.

I would have to pin point that time as when it happened. From that moment on Priest were my desert island band. To my ears, they had it all - classic rock sounding songs, hard rock songs and "Judas Priest style Heavy Metal!" What say you, HoM?

Priest for me, too, if I really really had to choose just 1. Otherwise I have three bands that are above the rest: Priest, Maiden and Savatage.

My first Priest album I heard I believe was Defenders of the Faith. When Freewheel Burning started playing, at first I thought that was a chick singing!

They were always sort of among my favourites, but I got more into Priest when Ripper was in the band. Jugulator wasn't my first album, but it was my first "new" album, as in I bought it new shortly after it was released. Painkiller was old news by that time.

And that's also when I collected the entire back catalogue and fell in love with the past. Especially the 70's stuff, like Stained Class. Quite remarkable diversity. But somehow Defenders of the Faith is still my favourite by them. I still like Jugulator a lot, too. I've seen them live with Owens and a couple of times with Halford.

Probably Black Sabbath, it's difficult for me as I tend to love individual albums more than following a band throughout their career but from 69-82 Sabbath were untouchable.

My first love was Priest though and a very honourable mention goes to Celtic Frost.

Judas Priest for me. I became a fan in 1982 when Screaming For Vengeance came out. The video for "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" totally blew me away - they looked cool and sounded badass. I was hooked and I grabbed as much of their catalog as I could afford (which wasn't much!)

That 82-83 time period is when metal really clicked for me and I was a fan of Def Lep, Motley Crue, Priest, AC/DC and Van Halen. Maiden was not on my radar yet. 1983 was when the floodgates opened and I got into all sorts of bands.

KISS for me. I've been a fan of their's for as long as I can remember. I lived across the alley from a kid a couple of years older than me and he's the one who turned me on them. My older brothers used to get on me about it, saying I was only into them because of their image. That may have been an initial draw but their music has always been great to me.

My love for KISS opened the door for me to enjoy the heavier bands of the spectrum and I haven't looked back since.

Black Sabbath - Been a fan since I first discovered the 70s albums around 1983 or so. When i think about the ultimate example of what "metal" is to me then I'd pick songs like Into The Void, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Symptom Of The Universe.

If I open it up past metal then King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull are right there nipping at their heels.

Van Halen forever.

I'll put in another vote for KISS (guess my avatar gives it away). I've listened to them since I was 9 or 10 and never stopped. I don't like everything they've done, but most of their albums I could listen to straight through. Their look is a bonus. A band with awesome, catchy songs that look so cool you want posters of them on your wall and a memorabilia collection: that's the total package.

Metallica

corplhicks wrote:

Van Halen forever.

Who? 

Boris, they're big here in the states. 😜

Van Halen from the first time I heard VHI on a borrowed Walkman at a friends house where we were all playing pacman on Atari and gave up my turn to play with the "new" Walkman. I've been a fan ever since. That experience pretty much started my musical journey.

Black Sabbath have been my favorite band for the past 25 years or so. I love everything they have done, even the Tony Martin years are special to me now.
Ozzy is my preferred singer but I love the others as well.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Sabotage
Never Say Die
... these are their best albums IMHO.

What's funny about VH and I is my initial reaction was underwhelming. Running w/t Devil and the Diver Down album didn't really impress me (I'm a strange guy in that I find Running to be one of their weaker songs, but I do have nothing but respect for it). It wasn't until hearing the rest of that first album that I was blown away.

Fates Warning I guess. Heard them first in high school, and it just clicked. Their music just fits me, my character and feelings. Right now its a tie between them and Erra though.

My favorite band used to be The Angels (aka Angel City, aka The Angels From Angel City).

But several years ago I discovered this Swedish band called Diamond Dogs that's like a mixture of Mott The Hoople, Black Crowes, Rod Stewart and the Faces, David Bowie and The Clash. I've since rounded up everything I could find by the band including the lead singer's solo albums and new side project called The Crunch.

I think what I find most intriguing about Diamond Dogs is how varied their music is, not just album to album but even track to track on the same album. Sometimes punky, sometimes funky, sometimes fast and loud, sometimes mellow and laid back.

I've liked them since I can remember, which is around the time I was in kindergarten in the early '90s. Seeing them live for the first time in 2000 was an incredible experience. I've owned upwards of 200 bootlegs spanning their career over the years. These days they're not the most exciting band to be into, since new material seems unlikely, and basically every label out there continues to release the same Little Rock and Key Club shows under different titles.

I'm really glad Tom's solo career finally got off the ground, though, and he really seems rejuvenated these days with his new band. I'm excited to be seeing him again next weekend in Iowa with Billy Morris and Stephen Pearcy.

It's hard to choose between MEGADETH, JUDAS PRIEST, and FATES WARNING.

Temple of Blood wrote:

It's hard to choose between MEGADETH, JUDAS PRIEST, and FATES WARNING.

Then I'll choose for you. Priest it is. They are your favourite band now.

Thank you all for the replies and especially the cool stories and memories. I thinks it's awesome how music can make you remember and evoke a strong emotional and physical response. You can put on a Saxon or Megadeth album and suddenly it's 25 years ago and that time machine just takes you away.

It's scary for me to realize that the first time I saw KISS was on the 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween special. 39 years ago.

corplhicks wrote:

Van Halen forever.

I kind of already knew that.

VH is a super close second for me, corp. They are definitely the band I have listened to the longest; going back to getting a hand me down 8 track of VHII in the early eighties. I remember art class in 4th grade we got to use glitter pens and glue to make t shirts and I made my own Van Halen shirt with the logo on the front and song titles from 1984 on the back. ah, good times.

Why I don't have a tattoo of that logo is beyond me, even though I don't have any tattoos to begin with. I had it scribbled all over every notebook I had in high school. I even did the shirt idea you're taking about at f*cking bible camp. Got a lot of kids making fun of me, but I wore it with pride. That logo is such a statement.

Petra. Their music has both ministered and entertained me since I first heard them as a pre-teen. I don't necessarily listen to them as frequently as I once did, but if I could only listen to one band for the rest of my life it would be them. Met a few of the members and have an autographed guitar with the pick guard as a collage of all their album covers. Their music has blessed me and encouraged me in my walk with Christ and it has also rocked my face off. So I choose them.

If it needs to be more strictly metal, Iron Maiden.

S.D. wrote:

If I open it up past metal then King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull are right there nipping at their heels.  

How could I forget Rush? Jeez. Senility is a bitch.