Your FIRST 10 Favorite Bands

NOT your current TOP 10 bands...but who were the FIRST 10 bands/artists you ever got into growing up (Metal or not), and are you still a fan?

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Michael Jackson - I was 11 when Thriller was released...I wore out my cassette. I don't own it now, nor have I ever owned any other Michael Jackson albums. But I was really into it at the time.

Bee Gees - My mom listened to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack a lot...I still have a soft spot for those songs though I have never owned my own Bee Gees album.

Kenny Rogers - my great-grandfather (RIP) listened to a lot of Kenny Rogers in his truck when we'd ride around. He belonged to the old CBS Record & Tape Club and bought a lot of Kenny Rogers tapes. I still feel like a little kid when I hear "The Gambler" or "Coward Of The County" in passing.

Hall & Oates - In the early days of MTV you could not escape Hall & Oates. I loved the videos off of the Private Eyes, H2O, and Big Bang Boom albums. Still carry a Greatest Hits album of theirs on my iPod.

Van Halen - I was still in middle school when "Jump" came out and LOVED it! It was my first exposure to Van Halen and it sparked a lifelong love of the band that continues to this day.

Def Leppard - Pyromania was one of the first albums I ever bought with my own money when I was 12 (though it came out when I was 11). Played it to death. I'm still a fan but not as much as I was then. Pyromania is still my favorite album from them.

Journey - Frontiers was the other album I bought when I was 12 (though it came out when I was 11). I have been a Journey fan ever since and Steve Perry is one of my all time absolute favorite singers. Journey is one of my Top 5 bands in the world.

U2 - Again, early MTV played the hell out of "New Years Day" & the live version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday". I completely loved them both and watched them every time they came on. To this day, U2 are in my Top 5 favorite bands in the world.

The Beatles - I started getting into The Beatles in early high school. I had the blue & red cover Greatest Hits tapes and played them night and day. Despite my affinity for Metal by this time, The Beatles sunk into my core...I own every album and still play them regularly.

King's X - I discovered them in the Summer between junior and senior year of high school. I was into other bands, but was more a fan of the Metal genre itself and, aside from Van Halen, Journey & The Beatles, I did not have any other "favorite bands" until King's X. I bought the first album and have been a huge, huge fan ever since. I still buy all their albums, side projects, etc and have seen them live 6 times.

To this day, my 3 all-time, absolute favorite bands are: The Beatles, U2 & King's X.

Hootie and the Blowfish - My mom got me their CD when I was about 7. First music I listened to regularly.

Creed - My first favorite band and my first concert. I credit them with getting me into the sound of a heavy rock guitar. I'm 21 years old so I missed the grunge thing when it was new, and I didn't really give a smurf poo if Creed was derivative or not. They were new to me and I still dig them today.

Ozzy Osbourne - The first metal I heard was Crazy Train. Fell in love with the riff and the image of Ozzy. He was a total badass and I looked up to him as a kid (circa 1998). I really liked how he just did whatever he wanted and embodied rock 'n roll. Blizzard was the first CD I bought for myself.

Led Zeppelin - My dad played Zeppelin I and II all the time. Good Times, Black Dog, and Stairway had a huge influence on me. Loved the huge sound and the thunder of the hammer of the gods himself, John Bonham.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird changed my life. Still my favorite solo today and is probably the greatest song ever composed, across all genres and eras of music. Also due to my dad spinning the debut and Street Survivors all the time.

Megadeth - 99 Ways to Die is where it started for me. I couldn't believe the aggression and power in the that song. The riff was awesome and I loved the lyrics. This is where thrash began for me.

Minor Threat - Next to Iron Maiden, this is the band that really saved my life. As an angst-ridden teenager with severe bouts of depression, Minor Threat helped me realize that it's ok to get angry and scream and shout and go smurfing crazy. It was an awesome release of negative emotion and they made me feel better about being myself and being an outsider.

Good Charlotte - Oh boy here we go. Saw them twice. I was really into punk for a long time, I liked the pop-punk smurf poo and the hardcore stuff too. I could hear the influences in both, the same way I can hear blues influence in heavy metal today.

Nightwish - At one point may have surpassed Maiden as my all-time favorite. Bless the Child blew me away the same way Maiden did 5 years before. Totally new for me at the time and I found solace in Tuomas's emotional lyrics. The last band I became obsessed with, after Creed and Maiden.

Iron Maiden - Music started and ended here for me. I heard Wasted Years on June 21, 2000 and my life was never the same again. It has never gotten any better since that day and Maiden is and always will be my all-time favorite band and goes down for me as the greatest group of musicians to ever pick up and play. They saved my life with their song Wildest Dreams. It really picked me up at a dark time in my life and I worship them to this day. I'm atheist and I often credit Maiden with being the closest thing to a higher power that I believe in.

AC/DC - first album ever owned and still one of my all time faves

KISS - I've had a love/hate relationship with'em over the years, depending on the era/album, but I'm still a fanboy at heart.

Def Leppard - once they were one of my faves, but nowadays I rarely listen to 'em

Quiet Riot - Cheesy in retrospect but still good for an occasional spin

Motley Crue - I bailed on these guys after THEATER OF PAIN, never looked back.

Metallica - 25 years ago I would've taken a bullet for these guys. Nowadays, not so much.

Raven - still love'em even though it sometimes seems like I'm the only one.

Judas Priest - still a fanboy.

Iron Maiden - See above.

Ramones - see above and above.

Jefferson Airplane-older sister was always playing them while doing house work (late 60's)

The Beatles (same reason, same time)

The Doors (same reason, same time)

Grateful Dead (same reason, same time)

Jimi Hendrix Experience(same reason, same time)

Allman Brothers Band-got At Fillmore East as a birthday present (1971)

Led Zeppelin (was given Zeppelin 1 thru IV by a siblings boyfriend and my first pair of headphones, late 72/ early 73')

Humble Pie (one of the first albums I learned from start to finish on drums, which was Performance:Rockin The Fillmore, 1973)

Rush (one of the first bands I attached to as being "my band" if that makes any sense, 1974)

Either KISS or UFO ? (I got my first lps by both in early 1975)

ALL of these bands are constant listening to me. Music has and always will be an important aspect of my life.

Cool thread Shawn

by the time i started getting into music, enough to have favorites anyway, i was heavily influenced by my brothers records. i listened to a lot from these bands back in the day...
Misfits
Dead Kennedys
Black Flag
The Decendants
Hüsker Dü
Ramones
Circle Jerks
Minutemen
Adolescents
Degenerates

My list is not going to be too surprising and all these artists I still listen to, some more then others. I started getting into music when I was 12 ( saw my first concert Journey at that age) and 13 got really into music and got to see lots of shows between 13 and 17 thanks to an older brother, his girlfriends and my moped, here they are:

Elvis Presley- I was 7 years old when he died, and the day he died, my mom reacted with a bit of sadness, but I had no idea who he was. That same day they played the movie 'Loving You' and I became a fan. Mostly was exposed to his music by his silly ass movies, but as a kid I loved his corny movies.

AC/DC- This band was the first band I heavily got into and bought all their albums etc. I discovered them at 12, at an anti rock rally where Rev Billy Mayo spoke about evils of rock music, it touched my 12 year old soul and next day, pedaled my ass to Kmart and bought 'Highway to Hell'

Alice Cooper-The Rev Billy Mayo's anti rock pamphlet became a handy buying guide and I bought his 'Greatest Hits' , and became a major fanboy ever since.

Black Sabbath- My older brother had 'Heaven and Hell' on tape and borrowed it and never returned it, I was 12 going on 13, and thought Dio was greatest singer that ever lived

KISS-I first heard of KISS because of some moronic movie called "KISS Meets Phantom of the Park' I was 8, but it was til I was 13 that I became a fan thanks to my older brother owning 'Rock and Roll Over'. I played the album so much and one day left it on the turntable and the hot Florida sun warped my album.

The Doors-I was 13 and MTV started promoting the then new live album 'Alive, She Cried' I never heard anything like them before. To me this band was much more then music, and this may sound daft or silly but this band changed my life. This band introduced me to poetry, jazz, blues, Jack Keroauc, and helped expand my world view as no other band as since then. Remains my favorite band of all time.

Deep Purple- I bought 'In Rock' because Creem magazine called them the Greatest metal band of all time, I was 13, when I bought that album I understood what they meant. Blackmore quickly became a guitar hero.

Jeff Beck- I was again 13 and it was not really Jeff Beck but a Jeff Beck album 'Truth' which for a few years was the only Jeff Beck album I owned. I loved it, and was disappointed when I learned the singer Rod Stewart was the same poofester my sister listened to. Brilliant album, and Jeff Beck was incredible, actually he is still pretty bad ass.

Jimi Hendrix- In middle school kids would trade their vinyl records (usually stolen from their parents) for my lunch money. I quickly became obsessed with music and this dude told me about Hendrix. I traded lunch for 'Axis: Bold as Love'. First time I heard it, I was not sure what to make it, but once I listened to it with headphones, it made sense, and loved it.

Aerosmith- Their self titled album was acquired by me when I was 12 and thought Steven Tyler was coolest cat in the world.

Hmmm.... Time to go back in my memories of when I heard what band, not necessarily favorites but stuff I listened to a lot growing up

KISS - First band I really got into, KISS Destroyer was the first album that was my album. Still a fan

Van Halen - Got Van Halen I as a birthday present as a new release, still a fan

Foreigner - Picked up 4 as a new release, played that album to death. Picked it up as a new release because I had already heard their earlier albums. When I lived in Monterrey, CA in 79 - 80 (Dad was at Naval Post-Graduate School), the public library had what seemed to me to be a huge collection of LP's. I used to check out albums all the time, if I heard a song on the radio and I liked it, I would borrow it. They had Foreigner, so I listened to the early albums. I used to check out KISS - Alive all the time (before I finally bought it with birthday money at the Navy Exchange). I still like some of their stuff.

AC/DC - Loved them when I heard them on the radio, I think my first AC/DC album was Dirty Deeds then For Those About To Rock as a new release, quickly started collecting their back catalog, still a fan

Def Leppard - Picked up Pyromania as a new release, still a fan but not as much as I was, I wish they would write songs I like again

Ozzy Osbourne - Started with Blizzard and Diary, love the early stuff, don't like his most recent stuff. Got into Sabbath because of Ozzy, but that was around the Bark At The Moon period.

Styx - Got Paradise Theater as a new release, played it to death. Got a few of the earlier albums at the point. Still like them.

Judas Priest - had British Steel as a new release, still a fan

Iron Maiden - Got Piece Of Mind as a new release, I don't think I need to answer if I am still a fan......

Queen - Picked up The Game as a new release, then got some of the back catalog. Still like everything up to Flash Gordon soundtrack.

It's easy to see why I am such a huge Metal fan now - Love 70's metal and hard rock. Just love the music that a loud, distorted guitar makes. Some honorable mentions have to go out to other stuff I listened to and liked a lot, but not as much as the others but lead up to my personal metal explosion starting in 1983:

Ted Nugent, Aerosmith (had Rocks, played it alot, still the only Aerosmith album I really like), Pink Floyd (had The Wall on cassette as a new release, listened to it a bunch until the tape got eaten), Rush (friends had Moving Pictures and the earlier albums). Other bands that I either got from my Uncle and Aunt's old albums when they moved out of my Grandparent's house or listened to with friends or on the radio - ELO, Sweet, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Blue Oyster Cult,etc, etc....

Very cool thread!

Man, I won't remember albums very well but here goes.

Styx-Heard Renegade and was hooked. Now their a mild interest.

Queen-Because of Another One Bites the Dust.

Pat Benatar-Her first three albums were huge at my school.

The Who-Some late night DJ played the whole Who's Next album and I loved it.

Iron Maiden-Because they had the cooles album covers.

Def Leppard-At first, I was the only one I knew into them but others came around.

Neil Diamond-The only music my parents played I liked at all and his early stuff is actually good.

AC/DC-Because they rocked and everyone was into them.

Judas Priest-Again, I was the only one I knew into them for awhile.

Foreigner-Hey, it was Jr. High.

KISS - Destoyer, Rock and Roll Over. I was a bonified Kiss fanatic in grade school. Use to collect all the magazines and stare at 'em for hours.

Aerosmith - Toys In the Attic was the one that did it for me. It was 1975, I was in grade school. I became an Aerosmith fanatic with this record and then Draw the Line and Get Your Wings. I use to argue with kids in school that Aerosmith were better than the crappy Bay City Rollers, Jackson 5, Sean Cassidy and whatever other crap the kids were into at that time. I remember watching the horrid Sgt. Peppers movie just to watch the kick ass Aerosmith bit towards the end.

Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo! I got detention for bringing this record to school for music appreciation day. "This guitar right here is guaranteed the blow the balls off a charging rhino at 60 paces..." Pure lunacy!

Alice Cooper - I can't remember which album I had first, but I love Alice early on. Grade school in the 70's. The only other guy to come out of the Sgt. Peppers movie unscatched.

Peter Frampton - Comes Alive. Wore the grooves off that record back in the day.

Jimi Hendrix - Had a neighbor that was a teenager when I was just a grade school kid that got me into bands like Hendrix, Kiss, Ted Nugent, etc. Electric Ladyland is still one of my all time favorite records.

Boston. The self-titled and Don't Look Back were regular players for me in the 70's.

Angel. The song "Tower" got me into these guys in grade school. I had a friend whose older brother was heavily into Angel, so he got me hooked as a kid.

Judas Priest - This would have been a little later in life, around middle school/early teens. I picked up a copy of "Stained Class" in a used record store and "Exctier" blew me away. Now that was heavy!

Deep Purple - Machine Head! It was my introduction to HEAVY! in the early 70's. I just remember thinking how heavy songs like "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin'" were.

Black Sabbath. It was definitely "Paranoid" that made me a fan. Heavy with a great hook. I think it was actually on a compilation record that I heard the song first. I'm fairly sure local radio didn't play Sabbath at the time. (WYSP and WMMR out of Philadelphia.)

Thin Lizzy - Like Ted Nugent and Peter Frampton it was their live album that made me a fan. It seemed so heavy at the time. Scott Gorham was so darned cool. I remember telling my mom (I was just a kid at the time) that I wanted my hair to be as long as Scott Gorham's. She said, "not in my house." By the time I reached high school I started growing out my hair.

Yes. Very different band from what I normally liked, but I got into this band in grade school as well. I believe it was "Fragile" that hooked me. I had a buddy in school that was a big prog fan. He also got me into Genesis, Nektar and Pink Floyd. Still love all those bands. I remember some of his older buddies threatened to beat me up because I dared to have Yes and Genesis records with Kiss. They hated Kiss and hated the image, their popularity and thought they were poor musicians. I suppose if you are a prog-head, Kiss wouldn't be your cup of tea. Not sure why they were so threatened by a pre-teen kid being into them though.

Twisted Sister. This one would have been around my early-to-mid teenage years. 1979 - 80 or so. TS were a popular local band in the tri-state area and would regularly pack clubs. They put out this 45 RPM single with "Lady's Boy" and "Bad Boys" on it. I was hooked. Ruff Cutts became a regular player and a favorite among my friends.

Anthrax. Another local band. It was the Soldiers of Metal 45 that hooked us. It was speed, intensity and METAL! By this time I was a genuine metalhead.

Heathens Rage. Another local band. This would have been high school in the mid-80's. We all swore that HR would be the next big band but alas it never really happened for them.

Queensryche. Bought the EP as a new release and Queen of the Ryche blew us all away. When Warning came out I was equally impressed, so much so that I painted the cover on the back of my denim vest, though I used the logo from the EP at the top. Painted the Anthrax logo just below Queensryche painting. Wish I still had that vest.

George Harrison
Traveling Wilburys
Hall and Oates
Vio-lence
Motley Crue
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The Cars
Queensryche
Alice Cooper
Rolling Stones

Quote :

Hall and Oates
Vio-lence

Seeing those two names right next to each other made me laugh for some reason.

My first 10?


Def Leppard
Guns N Roses
Metallica
Megadeth
Black Sabbath
Deep Purple
Scorpions
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Led Zeppelin

Hard cuestion because so many records and bands at the same time i was discovering when i started to listen to metal/hard rock. Still, this are the most important ones:
EUROPE
KISS
MAIDEN
JUDAS
OZZY
WASP
VENOM
VAN HALEN
BARRICADA
MANOWAR

Messiah Prophet Band
Daniel Band
Altar Boys
Stryper
Deliverance
Barren Cross
Bride
Vengeance Rising
Saint
and probably ACDC (don't tell my parents)

Can't call myself a fan of the first two anymore, as I haven't owned there stuff for decades. Other than that, I listen to the rest regularly. Brings back allot of awesome memories and temporarily takes me out of the "chaotic" life we now live in.

The first ten?!?!?!? I'm taking the before HS angle... When everything changed.

The Doobie Brothers
CCR
Journey
Jimi Hendrix
Peter Frampton
Def Leppard
MSG
Van Halen
Def Leppard
Scorpions

Billy Joel
Kenny Rogers
The Moody Blues
John Denver
The Highwayman

Those 5 are my pre-hard rock/metal favorites. My post hard rock/metal favorites:

Metallica
Faith No More
Alice In Chains
Iron Maiden
Guns & Roses

Mortification - My dad raised me on this band. In elementary school Blood World and the self titled were my favorite albums and then when Relentless came out I really got into it.

Audioslave - Some time around 2002 or so I mentioned to my father that I liked the Rage Against the Machine song that was featured in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 game. He got me this album for Christmas revealing it was the same band but with a different singer. I actually followed these guys faithfully until they split up.

Powerman 5000 - The other odd ball in my musical taste. Heard their music in the aforementioned video game as well as the movie Titan AE and really got into it. Fell away from them once they went some lame pop punk direction.

Yngwie Malmsteen - This is the point where I officially started to care a lot about music, whereas before it was just something to listen to. Heard a song through Pandora radio (I am a Viking) and loved it. Asked my dad, he lent me his compilation and got me Marching Out for my birthday. Still my favorite guitarist

Megadeth - Around the same time as Yngwie, I had purchased Ride the Lightning and really liked it. Knowing that Megadeth was similar but supposedly a more consistent band, I bought a compilation. I absolutely loved it, far more than the Metallica I had been enjoying.

Kreator - My brother encouraged me to check out SOD, somehow it led me to Kreator

Judas Priest - Heard a song from Demolition and thought it was cool. First I checked out the Ripper era and eventually I loved it all.

Honestly from this point it turned into a mess of thrash that I got into all at the same time so I'll have to stop here.

Very cool idea for a thread, really cool thinking back to those early bands and how I sort of came full circle with the thrash/death metal.

Jimi Hendrix
The Who
The Beatles
The Byrds
Beck
311
Sublime
The Beach Boys
Michael Jackson
Pink Floyd

I'm pretty certain those artists are the ones whose albums I bought first when I was a teenager between 15-16 years of age that brought me into the music world.

Three Dog Night

The Guess Who

Styx

Jethro Tull

Kiss

RUsh

Meatloaf

Queen

Boston

Judas Priest

Elvis (My mom was a fan and I was hooked from a very young age)

Jimi Hendrix (heard him on the radio and went and bought Are you experienced...not a bad choice for a kid in 6th grade)

Eric Clapton (started with cream records and went into solo stuff...cocaine)

AC/DC (Back In Black and Hiway To Hell..had them on 8-track)

Dokken (Loved them the first time I heard tooth and Nail..got it a week after it came out)

Waylon Jennings (You couldn't live in Texas back in the 70s and not know this guy)

Molly Hatchet (My favorite southern Rock Band...followed them from the first album)

Helix (a local radio station played Billy Oxygen when it first came out)

Ted Nugent (Double Live Gonzo hooked me)

Chuck Berry (Guitar genius)

Aerosmith - My brother's copy of Get Your Wings got me started on heavier music.
Kansas - My brother also had Leftoverture and Point of Know Return. My intro into prog.
Styx - Also my brother's. Grand Illusion, Equinox, and II. I think I played them more than he did. I learned to put vibrato in my voice from singing with Dennis DeYoung.
KISS - Love Gun was my first album, though I had several of their 45s before that.
AC/DC - Bought Back in Black on vinyl in '82 with money mom had given me for school clothes. I felt a little guilty about that.
Foreigner - My brother (again!) had their self-titled and I later bought 4. Loved the sax solo in "Urgent" and learned it on my alto sax to impress my friends!
Journey - Actually I listened to my friend's Infinity and Evolution albums, then bought Captured when it came out. Played it almost daily for a long time. Learned to sing in my head voice by singing with Steve Perry.
The Police - Synchronicity. 'Nuff said. This band was so far ahead of its time that I don't think pop music has caught up yet. I like Sting's first couple of solo outings too, but I've lost interest lately.

That's not ten, but its all I could think of!

Good thread!

The Beatles - courtesy of the Hey Jude/Revolution 45 single which I played until it wouldn't play any more

The Doors - I inherited a few singles (Hello, I Love You, People Are Strange. Love Me Two Times) and also the debut and L.A. Woman LPs.

The Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet (mono version), Let It Bleed and the 45 of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" were some of my first rock albums.

The Doobie Brothers - "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" was one of the first albums I ever owned, my Mother bought it for me for either my birthday or Christmas, can't remember now.

Kiss - "Rock 'N' Roll Over" was my first, a few months later I discovered my favorite Kiss album..."Alive!", which is still one of the best albums ever released.

...I will continue part two tomorrow when I'm less drunk.

The Police
Def Leppard
Krokus
Scorpions
Ratt
Motley Crue
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Slayer

The list pretty much remains unchanged over the years:

1- Judas Priest
2- Helloween
3- UDO
4- Accept
5- Hammerfall
6- Saxon
7- Iron Savior
8- Deep Purple
9- Annihilator
10- Iron Maiden

The Beach Boys - since that was always played by my mom when I was a little kid. First music I even remember hearing.

Ozzy Osbourne - Pretty much started it all for me.

Krokus - Much like Ozzy this is where it began. Thanks K-Tel records.

The Clash - MTV was so great at the beginning for discovering stuff. It was funny to learn later how averse they were to doing those videos.

Triumph - another MTV discovery. Saw them do a soundcheck at Notre Dame's ACC during soccer camp one year. Always count that as my first concert.

Twisted Sister - I actually got into them upon seeing the video for "You Can't Stop Rock N' Roll" then like a year later Stay Hungry came out.

The Pretenders - another MTV turned onto band.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - with her it was radio that introduced me. Plus I loved the fact she was from Baltimore.

Rolling Stones - when we got HBO they used to show Let's Spend The Night Together all the time. Still probably my favorite concert film.

Motley Crue - to this day still in my top ten favorites.