Musical interest roll call

[bosk1]

Not sure whether this is an idea that will catch on or quickly die on the vine, but I had the thought of posting this because of the old political/religious subform thread, which is basically a survey for people to post what their basic positions are on some key issues.

So, to get this going, here are some ideas for issues to discuss.  Feel free to answer some or all, or to add additional ones:

-What is your favorite band?

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

-What was your musical journey in life like?

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock
• Modern rock
• Classic prog
• Modern prog
• Prog metal
• power metal
• Classic metal
• Hair metal
• Grunge
• Thrash metal
• Nu metal
• Death and/or black metal
• pop
• jazz
• classical
• rap/hip-hop
• R&B
• punk
• other

[Anguyen92]

Ooooo.  Fun idea.  This will definitely take some time to get my thoughts together about this.

[JayOctavarium]

OOOOH I love this idea. I echo Anguyen... it's going to take a bit to gather my thoughts and fill this out.

[Stadler]

Not sure whether this is an idea that will catch on or quickly die on the vine, but I had the thought of posting this because of the old political/religious subform thread, which is basically a survey for people to post what their basic positions are on some key issues.

So, to get this going, here are some ideas for issues to discuss.  Feel free to answer some or all, or to add additional ones:

-What is your favorite band? Gun to head:  The Beatles.   It's hard to focus on one, though.  Kiss, Genesis, Dream Theater, Yes, Zeppelin, could all be in the Top Five.

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?  Going For The One is favorite, no debate.  Others:  Abacab, Hemispheres, Images and Words,

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?   Hard rock/British heavy metal

-What was your musical journey in life like?  Hacked around with guitar, hacked around in bands in high school, but in hindsight, I didn't appreciate the work that it takes.  Joined a string band in Philly (Google: Mummers Philadelphia) and learned more about being a musician in three years than I did in the prior 30. If I knew then what I know now....

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?  Country and Western.  Johnny Cash was a big one, Kris Kristofferson, Elvis, George Jones...

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?  Rolling Stones Hot Rocks, The Beatles Red and Blue albums (my mom bought them for me when John Lennon was shot, and I thank her every day for that).  Billy Joel The Stranger.  The Royal Guardsmen Snoopy vs. The Red Baron (Not joking at all).

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock

Staple; essential

• Modern rock

  Take or leave.

• Classic prog

  Staple, essential

• Modern prog

Take or leave.

• Prog metal

Take or leave.

• power metal

Take or leave.

• Classic metal

Staple; essential

• Hair metal

Underrated; less a musical genre than a lifestyle

• Grunge

  Overrated; less a musical genre than a lifestyle; way more classic rock based than they'd care to admit.

• Thrash metal

Overrated.  One dimension of classic metal.

• Nu metal

  Way overrated.  One dimension of modern metal.

• Death and/or black metal

Can't comment; not my thing.  Seems more gimmick than substance.

• pop

  Love it to death.  WAY underrated in terms of song writing and even playing.  If it was so easy, everyone would do it.

• jazz

  Love a lot of it, some of it is hard to swallow. 

• classical

  Love a lot of it, some of it is hard to swallow; big fan of rock interpretations (like ELP).

• rap/hip-hop

Hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

• R&B

  No opinion

• punk

Overrated; less a musical genre than a lifestyle; way more classic rock based than they'd care to admit. (Both the Sex Pistols and the Ramones are hard rock bands with shitty singers).

• other

[Crow]

-What is your favorite band?

Hard to answer this since it kind of depends on my mood but if I had to generally say, The Hirsch Effekt

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

10 in no alphabetical order. I dunno if these are even my "top 10":

• The Antlers - Hospice
• East of the Wall - The Apologist
• El Drugstore - Plague Ship
• The Hirsch Effekt - Holon : Anamnesis
• Oceansize - Frames
• Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element I
• Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition
• Spectral Lore - III
• Thrice - Beggars
• Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

"Progressive Metal", but less the specific genre and more "metal that is progressive to some extent"

-What was your musical journey in life like?

Young Child: Lots of classic rock - greatest hits compilations from the beatles, elvis, steve miller band, the beach boys, probably some others
Age 10 or so: listened to pop radio
Age 11-14ish: got real big into electronic music while i was playing DDR
Age 14ish-18ish: mostly just pure prog metal
Age 18ish-22ish: djent existed too, some harsher prog metal in general
Age 22ish-now: i've literally more than doubled the size of my library & gotten into black metal, death metal, post-hardcore, etc. on top of what i already listened to

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

Answered above lol

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

• Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory and Awake
• Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element I and Remedy Lane
• Opeth - Ghost Reveries
• Sigur Ros - ( )
• Thrice - Vhiessu and Beggars
• Oceansize - Frames
• East of the Wall - The Apologist
• Alrakis - Alpha Eri
• Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock - it's fine but i don't actively seek it out
• Modern rock - i don't like radio rock much but some emo and post-hardcore leaning stuff is cool
• Classic prog - it's fine but i don't actively seek it out
• Modern prog - it's like classic prog but not novel
• Prog metal - absolutely
• power metal - i don't see a reason why anyone needs more than, like, 3 power metal albums ever
• Classic metal - it's fine but i don't actively seek it out
• Hair metal - no
• Grunge - no
• Thrash metal - maybe my least favorite metal subgenre besides inane stuff like grindcore and whatnot
• Nu metal - okay i lied this is worse than thrash
• Death metal - completely different genre than black metal. pure death metal i don't tend to like, need it proggy
• Black metal[ - tend to only enjoy the more atmospheric stuff, but there's a lot of it i like
• Pop - depends on the era & incredibly hit-or-miss regardless but can be great if done well
• Jazz - don't like it on its own, like it as a flavor in other genres
• Classical - no thanks
• Rap/hip-hop - the polar opposite of what appeals to me in music
• R&B - same as pop, though i don't have any artists or albums in this genre i really love
• Punk - pure/hardcore punk, no, punk-inspired genres, yeah
• Other - love me some ambient/drone if it's done well

[Architeuthis]

My favorite band?  It's a three way toss-up between Rush, Yes, and Dream Theater.  All three bands have put out so much good music over the years.

Favorite albums:  too many to mention but I will mention a few. 
 Boston - debut album, and Walk On.
 Yes - TALK, The Yes album, Union.
 Dream Theater - Octavarium, TA, DT12, and now d/t.
 Rush - Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Clockwork Angels
 The Who - Who's Next

Favorite genre:  Classic Rock, Prog Rock, Classic Metal, progressive metal etc.

Musical Journey:  grew up listening to classic Rock/ pop music. In high school I got into bands like AC/DC, Scorpions, Van Halen, Boston, Guns N Roses, some hair metal etc. I got into Rush around 1989-90 and was  blown way!
 Listening to Rush made me want to become a musician and I saved up and bought my first guitar. I later got into Dream Theater in 1993, then YES in the mid nineties.  I didn't like the grunge scene in the nineties so Dream Theater and Yes were my saving grace at that time period.
 I started really digging Symphony X post 2000, and started to really appreciate Iron Maiden by 2010, lol, now they are in my top five favorite bands.  As far as a musician myself, I've played in a few bands since 1995. Mostly original music but was in one cover band about 7 years ago. We recorded one cd of original music that I recently posted a link to in the musicians forum. It was alot of fun, kind of a more straight forward direction..

Household growing up:  I was exposed to some classic rock by my older brothers. Journey, Boston, Styx, Doobie Bros, Pat Benatar,  etc. My mom listened to Alot of John Denver and my dad liked country and goldie oldies.  So much more to mention here.
 
Classic Albums as my identity:  I would say the ones abovementioned in the fav albums part. Boston is a big one, along with Rush.  I forgot to mention their live album Exit Stage Left, that was a pivotal album that floored me musically and changed the way I look at music...just incredible!!! 

[Cool Chris]

-What is your favorite band?
Dream Theater

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

In no order and chronologically all over the map...

Images and Words
The Wall
Delicate Sound of Thunder
Hysteria
Who's Next
Arena (Duran Duran live album - the only cassette I owned to make the short list, I played the crap out of this in the mid-80s)

Strange to think some of my favorite bands (Iron Maiden, Nightwish, Within Temptation...) don't make my favorite albums list. I just tend to like most of their stuff equally without any one album standing out.

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?
Prog/Metal and Symphonic Metal

-What was your musical journey in life like?
As a kid in the 80s: mostly whatever was on MTV/radio in the rock/pop genre. Didn't really gravitate to anything specific nor did I own many cassettes.
High school in the early 90s: Classic rock once I heard some Floyd, then prog/metal once I heard Images and Words.
Late 90s: Lost interest in music, my life was going off the rails.
00s: Got back on track and back in to music, and Dream Theater specifically, which opened me up to bands of that mold, Also started going to clubs and getting in to dance music and disco.
10s: Started expanding in to more symphonic metal and other prog/metal bands

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?
Not much I can remember, some 60s classic rock (Beatles for example). Parents did not play much music at home.

[senecadawg2]

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

Anathema - Weather Systems
Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
The Cure - Disintegration
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
Dream Theater - SFAM
Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye
Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
Tool - Lateralus
Yes - Close to the Edge


-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

Metal (I'm being purposefully non-specific) and folk


-What was your musical journey in life like?

When I was younger I listened mainly to pop on the radio. Later I discovered two songs which transformed me quite a lot: Dream Evil's "Chasing the Dragon" and Dream Theater's "Hollow Years" (Live at Budokan). They opened the door to many sub-genres of metal, as well as progressive rock. Eventually I emerged from the woods and started listening to more popular genres again, including a lot of singer-songwriter stuff (I don't like that label but it's hard to avoid). For a long time I was pretty snobbish about my music (my friends would say that I still am), but I'm pretty sure I've become a lot more open-minded lately.


-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

Nothing that I care to remember.


-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

(in addition to the favorites listed above)
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
David Gray - Life in Slow Motion & White Ladder
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun
Rush - Hemispheres
Sigur Ros - ( )


-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

Classic rock - Not something I typically pursue, but I enjoy quite a few of the classics.
Modern rock - Hit or miss
Classic prog - Fan of the big ones—Yes, Rush, Selling England By the Pound, Thick as a Brick etc.—but not something I listen to a lot these days
Modern prog - Generally enthusiastic about a few bands and artists (Steven Wilson and Anathema stand out), but probably not as much as most on here
Prog metal - Definitely a fan, apart from the more modern djent trend
power metal - I'd say this is an underrated genre and a lot of fun, but never has produced my favorites
Classic metal - Apart from a handful of albums, I don't spend a lot of time here
Hair metal - Not my style, but I've enjoyed some stuff in the past
Grunge - Not my style at all
Thrash metal - Apart from a couple Metallica albums, thrash never did much for me
Nu metal - Not my style at all
Death and/or black metal - Some of my favorite bands and albums; probably the sub genre of metal I listen to most, these days
pop - I don't know what's popular these days but I love a lot of pop and I always will
jazz - I enjoy the classics—Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane especially—but don't spend a lot of time listening to Jazz
classical - Rachmaninoff and Debussy have my number, I also enjoy some contemporary composers like Ludovico Einaudi, as well as a lot of classically-inspired film scores
rap/hip-hop - Mostly a pass for me, but I've been listening to Nas's Illmatic quite a bit lately
R&B - Mostly a pass
punk - I like many bands that are influenced by punk, either musically or in terms of the punk attitude. They generally go by "post-hardcore," "emo," "post-punk," or God knows what else. I honestly don't know what any of these things mean, but I like a lot of bands who get lumped into these categories: Brand New, Thrice, and their ilk.
other - I've been enjoying a lot of country, folk, and americana lately

[MirrorMask]

-What is your favorite band? Iron Maiden. They always will be. But my musical tastes always expand and I always focus on new stuff so I never indulge on the same bands over and over. I don't listen to the old Iron Maiden albums anymore, and the only time I hear their classic is at concerts. I started to follow them in 1995, no need to hear The Trooper's studio version for the 4575437th time.

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums? Scenes from a Memory, Trans Siberian Orchestra's Beethoven's Last Night, Iron Maiden's entire catalog basically with special mention for Piece of Mind and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Blind Guardian's Imaginations from the Other Side and Nightfall in Middlearth, Bruce Dickinson's Chemical Wedding.

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely? Right now, Folk Metal. More generally, anything heavy with clean vocals - Heavy / Power / Epic / Prog Metal, but Dream Theater are basically 98% of the prog metal I listen to.

This is something I add:
Favorite male singer: Bruce Dickinson
Favorite female singer: Loreena McKennit

-What was your musical journey in life like? I was just a passive listener to whatever the radio or the family was passing, basically mainstream italian stuff. Discovered Bon Jovi with Always in 1994, that was my introduction to foreign and somehow heavy music. I started with hard rock with Bon Jovi and Guns n' Roses, then I was introduced to Iron Maiden and my musical life was determined: metalhead for life. Early bands were Maiden, Metallica, Blind Guardian, Helloween and Manowar, must have heard them a gazillion times. Then I had my "phases", when I would discover a band and would be spellbound by the sound, with that sound being for a time my favorite. Manowar and Virgin Steele were HUGE in my appreciation of epic metal. German metal also gave dozens of bands to love. When I discovered Savatage, probably a gateway for more operatic and bombastic metal, I was really, really into them, they must have been my then-current favorite band for a couple of years. In recent years (at least 10 by now) I discovered folk metal and that's what I'm still drawn to, music with a lot of weird instruments.

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up? As above, generic mainstream italian stuff.

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity? I am old enough to have lived in the cassette tapes era, so my introduction to bands were not YouTube videos (they didn't exist) or full albums, but compilations made by a classmate. I can't tell you my first Maiden album or my first Metallica album - I had compilations of their songs. So those songs mixed with the albums current at the time (or classics) of Blind Guardian and Helloween were those in huge rotation in my "early days".

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock
- I've always liked more metal than rock. Ok I'd say, I can listen to it, but I'm not a big fan as a whole.

• Modern rock
- Same as above.

• Classic prog
- Very casual listener. To this day I haven't heard to a huge chunk of the classics of the genre.

• Modern prog
- Even more casual listener, basically not really following the scene.

• Prog metal
- Dream Theater is my Jupiter of prog metal - all the rest combined can't match up, put together, the mass of it.

• power metal
- Great starting point, but I've moved on from it. I still listen to the classic bands, but I don't go searching for new power metal bands.

• Classic metal
- Love it.

• Hair metal
- Never a fan save the occasional song.

• Grunge
- As above, never a fan.

• Thrash metal
- Metallica is 99,5% of trash metal I listen to.

• Nu metal
- Nah.

• Death and/or black metal
- Nah, I don't like harsh vocals.

• pop
- Nah, but the occasional song and especially the occasional remix in rock / metal version is cool.

• jazz
- Nah.

• classical
- If for whatever situation I have to sit through classical music, it's no big deal at all. But I just don't go looking for it.

• rap/hip-hop
- Please gods, no. Nope nope nope.

• R&B
- Nah.

• punk
- Nah.

• other
- FOLK METAL BABY! I love folk metal as said above.

[The Walrus]

Awesome thread idea, enjoying the responses so far. I'll add mine soon...

[pg1067]

-What is your favorite band?

In some order:

• Dream Theater
• Rush
• Fates Warning

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

Without thinking too hard about it:

Asia - self-titled
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Dream Theater - I&W, SFAM and SDOIT
Evanescence - Fallen
Fates Warning - No Exit through A Pleasant Shade of Gray and Darkness in a Different Light
Genesis - A Trick of the Tail
Helloween - the two Keepers albums
Iron Maiden - TNOTB through Powerslave
Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East and Defenders of the Faith
Kansas - Leftoverture and Point of Know Return
Metallica - Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman
Queensryche - debut EP through Operation: Mindcrime
Rainbow - Rising and Long Live Rock n Roll
Rush - 2112 through Signals
Styx - The Grand Illusion through Paradise Theater (except Cornerstone)
Toy Matinee - self-titled
Triumph - Allied Forces through Thunder Seven
UFO - Lights Out and Strangers in the Night
The Who - Who's Next
Yes - The Yes Album through Drama


-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

Metal/prog metal


-What was your musical journey in life like?

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

Born in the late 60s with three older sisters who were into folk and the Beatles, so I got a lot of that as a young kid.  Lots of classical as well via my mother and playing in the school band from 4th through 9th grade.  Got into popular/rock music via The Beatles at age 13.  Got into hard rock/metal via my two best friends in high school and their older brothers.  Started playing bass after high school and played in bands in the Los Angeles/Orange County areas in the late 80s and early 90s.


-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

Beatles catalog, "classic" era Styx and Yes, prog era Rush.


-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?
Classic rock

* Varies widely depending on the artist.

Modern rock

* Not much, but I took my kid to see Panic at the Disco and was impressed.

Classic prog

* Mostly love it.

Modern prog

* Haven't heard much that impresses me.

Prog metal

* Mostly love it.

power metal

* Like a couple bands.

Classic metal

* Mostly love it.

Hair metal

* No.

Grunge

* No.

Thrash metal

* A few bands (notably Metallica).

Nu metal

* Not even sure what this means, but I think it might apply to Evanescence.

Death and/or black metal

* No (HATE cookie monster vocals).

pop

* Mostly no, but a few songs here and there.

jazz

* Mostly no, but a few songs here and there.

classical

* Generally yes, but I don't go out of my way to listen to it too much.

rap/hip-hop

* FUCK NO!

R&B

* Mostly no.

punk

* No.

[TAC]

-What is your favorite band?

1a..Dream Theater
1b..Iron Maiden
1c..UFO
4...Alice Cooper
5..All things Dio
6. Thin Lizzy

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

Top 10:
10. Alice Cooper- Killer AND School's Out
9. Thin Lizzy- Renegade
8. Dream Theayter- Scenes From A Memory AND Live Scenes From New York
7. Metallica- Kill "Em All
6. UFO- No Heavy Petting
5. Michael Schenker Group- MSG
4. Helloween- Keeper Of The Seven Keys Parts 1 AND 2
3. Iron Maiden- The Number Of The Beast
2. UFO-Strangers In The Night
1. Dream Theater-Images And Words

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

NWOBHM

-What was your musical journey in life like?

Bought KISS Alive II in the fourth grade..
Junior High years 80-82...Discovered AC/DC, Van Halen, Rush
High School-(Class of '86)..spent most of those years listening to UFO and Iron Maiden
College-Discovered Alice Cooper
Post grad-Discovered Dream Theater

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?


I wouldn't classify my parents as real music fans, but there was always music playing. We'd go camping a lot, and my parents had an 8 track player. Stuff like Chuck Mangione and Barry Manilow. My mother loved Johnny Mathis. My father was a high school teacher, so when he was correcting tests, he would always have the radio on, so when I hear those 70's one hit wonders or soft rock hits, it takes me back to that time.

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

KISS Alive II
AC/DC Back In Black
Def Leppard-High n Dry
UFO-Strangers In The Night
Michael Schenker Group-MSG
Helloween-Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt.1
Dream Theater-Images And Words

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock

...Love it, generally. Grew up on it.

• Modern rock

...Nope

• Classic prog

...Generally too loopy

• Modern prog

...I have no idea what this is.

• Prog metal

...Love it, generally

• power metal

... Love it generally

• Classic metal

...My favorite

• Hair metal

...I like what led up to it, until it actually got there

• Grunge

...Not really into it

• Thrash metal

...Done right, it's great.

• Nu metal

...No idea what this is

• Death and/or black metal

...I've opened up a bit to this provided the music is good enough and the vocals are not overbearing

• pop

...Hate it

• jazz

...Not really

• classical

...Nope

• rap/hip-hop

...Hell no

• R&B

...Not really

• punk

...Not really

• other

[/list]

[JayOctavarium]

-What is your favorite band?

Pink Floyd
Dream Theater
Metallica
Green Day

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?
Pink Floyd - The Wall, Animals, Dark Side Of The Moon
Dream Theater- Octavarium, Awake, Scenes
Metallica- Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, And Justice For All
Porcupine Tree-  Fear of a Blank Planet
Green Day- Dookie, Insomniac, American Idiot


-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?
This is a tough one. I want to say prog, but how does one define prog? lol

-What was your musical journey in life like?
Was given a Queen Greatest Hits CD when I was little. Played the crap out of it. Got into Green Day in Middle School, and in High School discovered classic rock (big Zeppelin and Pink Floyd fan), and as well as Punk (Misfits, Dead Kennedys, local bands). My best friend is a musician, and all throughout High School was introducing me to more and more music, including Dream Theater.

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?
Classic Rock (my dad), and Country (my step mother).

Specific albums my dad always had on were:
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Queen - Greatest Hits (Hollywood)
Random REO Speedwagon compilation
Moody Blues-  The Story of the band (Greatest Hits)
and a few more I can't think of.


-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?
The Wall

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?
Classic rock- What is Classic Rock now a days? I love it
Modern rock-Depends
Classic prog- Yes Please
Modern prog- Hell yea
Prog metal- Yes
power metal- Meh. take it or leave it
Classic metal- Yesss
Hair metal-Meh
Grunge- Yessss
Thrash metal- Yessssss
Nu metal- meh. I liked Linkin Park growing up
Death and/or black metal- It's hard for me to find acts that I enjoy, but they are out there.
pop- meh
jazz-Yess please
classical- meh
rap/hip-hop- no
R&B- meh
punk- F*ck yea

[bosk1]

What is Classic Rock now a days?

  Good question.  I remember seeing a package tour with REO, Styx, and Journey back in around 2002 or so.  At one point during Styx's set, Tommy Shaw was talking to the audience and said, "Man, the other day, I heard one of our songs on a 'classic rock' station!  I guess that means we're...'classic rock' now?  Man, does that mean I'm old?"  Or something along those lines.

[The Walrus]

-What is your favorite band?
Toto, Stratovarius, Guns N’ Roses, Enya, Sonata Arctica, Randy Newman

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?
#1: Toto – Toto IV
Stratovarius – Episode
Sonata Arctica – Winterheart’s Guild
Tycho – Awake
Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain
Explosions In The Sky – The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Rhapsody – literally any of their first 6 albums

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?
I don’t know what my favorite genre is these days. The genre I’ve always identified with most is 90s-early 2000s power metal, keyboard and vocal-focused stuff like Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica, and to this day I love that stuff, but I don’t actively look for any bands in that genre anymore. I am nostalgic for that era, though.

-What was your musical journey in life like?
Early childhood: video game soundtracks, 90s Nintendo stuff was my jam
Preteen: mostly whatever pop music my older sister liked and radio hits
Teen: 80s bands like Maiden and GnR, followed by a healthy dose of power and prog metal and a brief stint with the more extreme ends of the spectrum, and a deep dive into symphonic metal as well
Most of the 20s: moving away from all things metal in favor of exploring all the other wonderful things the wide world of music has to offer

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?
Mom liked the crooners and mellow stuff like Barry Manilow. She also loved Van Halen, The Carpenters, The Mamas & The Papas, Toto, Def Leppard… She’d also play a lot of holiday albums around Christmas time, so your Kenny G renditions and Michael Buble and stuff. Dad has always liked 70s and 80s rock, ACDC reigns supreme in his eyes. I watched lots of Disney movies as a kid too so there was a lot of that music playing on TV, and I would often leave certain video games running just to hear their music. I also played instruments so there was a bunch of that.

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?
Most of what I listed above in my all-time favorites. There are a lot of others, too, but too many to list.

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock

– I like it, for the most part. Some artists annoy the hell out of me.

• Modern rock

– Truly awful.

• Classic prog

– Crapshoot. There’s King Crimson, and then there’s… Genesis.

• Modern prog

– Not sure what this means to be honest.

• Prog metal

– If there was ever a genre whose artists usually try way too hard, way too often, it’s prog metal. Too many bands trying to throw the kitchen sink into their albums, and too many bands screaming and growling. Too many bands sounding like Tool on sedatives, too.

• power metal

– A once great genre that has now opted to shine the spotlight almost exclusively on one-trick gimmick bands, with no end in sight. Now is the winter of my discontent, truly.

• Classic metal

– like Iron Maiden? Iron Maiden’s pretty sweet

• Hair metal

– Motley Crue’s 1998 Greatest Hits is all you need, nothing more, nothing less.

• Grunge

– Apart from a few Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains songs, this genre sucks eggs.

• Thrash metal

– I like very few thrash metal songs. Testament is about all I’ll listen to.

• Nu metal

– I’m convinced this genre is a punishment for humanity from God himself

• Death and/or black metal

– Truly awful. Noise, noise, noise.

• pop

– I have no problem admitting I like some pop music. I own CDs by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Lana del Rey, and more.

• jazz

– I love jazz, and I love smooth jazz even more. Incognito rules.

• classical

– I LOVE CLASSICAL MUSIC. Chopin is my favorite composer. I do not enjoy 20th century classical music with all its experimental hogwash; Tchaikovsky is painful, Scriabin even moreso. I own the complete works of Beethoven on 87 CDs, to indicate where my allegiance lies. Also a massive fan of Bach, of course, as well as Domenico Scarlatti whose music is not only delightful to hear but an absolute joy to play, truly 'fun' in every sense of the word.

• rap/hip-hop

– There’s some good stuff here but I can’t lie, I really only listen to select Eminem and Kendrick Lamar tracks

• R&B

– Don’t know much of anything about R&B but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard throughout my life

• punk

– get a job

• other

– I LOVE new age music, and I am probably the biggest Randy Newman fan around these parts. 90s Nintendo soundtracks make me happy.

[bosk1]

-What is your favorite band?
Toto, Stratovarius, Guns N’ Roses, Enya, Sonata Arctica, Randy Newman

Wow, as long as you've been posting here, I'm surprised that I had no idea about most of that.  Even as far as what I've seen you post about GnR, I didn't realize you held them up that highly.

[The Walrus]

-What is your favorite band?
Toto, Stratovarius, Guns N’ Roses, Enya, Sonata Arctica, Randy Newman

Wow, as long as you've been posting here, I'm surprised that I had no idea about most of that.  Even as far as what I've seen you post about GnR, I didn't realize you held them up that highly.

Oh yeah, dude... I think GnR is the absolute pinnacle of rock music. There is not a single group that embodies the spirit of rock n' roll better than the classic GnR lineup. Well maybe Aerosmith, but GnR is just on another dangerous level entirely, the confidence they exuded on stage, oh man. I can remember the exact moments I heard many of their songs for the first time and just what an impact they made on me, I remember the moment I heard Jungle for the first time, it was like knowing I was experiencing a life altering moment. I could gush about GnR all day; behind the scenes shenanigans aside, I must have watched those UYI concerts on DVD as a kid a hundred times. Axl running across a massive stage, strobe lights going wild, Slash running around off the stage in front of the audience shredding away... yeah man. Manifestation of 'cool' right there. As far as I'm concerned, 'real' hard rock died with GnR in the 90s.

[cramx3]

-What is your favorite band?

Iron Maiden, followed by Dream Theater (it has been this way for a long time now) and then Nightwish currently sits at #3.

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

Dream Theater - Images & Words
Kamelot - The Black Halo
Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

Metal pretty easily, but specifically is tough.  I think the top end of the power metal genre is probably my favorite, but I'm not sure the genre as a whole is.  I like classic metal, prog, thrash, some nu even.  It's hard to say which one I identify with most closely. 

-What was your musical journey in life like?

I used to love punk and ska music.  Punk music is catchy and heavy and fast, but lacks diversity and technicality.  After time, I discovered more metal music and realized it had a lot of what punk offered plus much more and started listening to a lot of 80s metal.  I've never been one who likes a lot of screams, so the classic stuff really was enjoyable and then I moved from there to power as I felt like power metal had an 80s vibe to it but wtih more melody and fast speeds.  Dream Theater was the first real prog metal band I got into and they opened doors for me to explore more prog metal and become more interested in music that is deeper than just a typical song. 

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

My parents liked classic rock so that's what we listened to a lot, but also current pop music as I had an older sister who liked that.  My parents are big Eric Clapton fans.  My dad saw Black Sabbath as a kid, but he never really got into metal, just more of a rock guy.

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

I'm not sure how to interpret this other than albums that I absolutely love and maybe aren't my favorites that I listed above but are deeply important to me.

311 - Self Titled
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
AFI - The Art of Drowning
Offspring - Smash
Van Halen - 5150
Dream Theater - Images & Words

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock

I enjoy it because as I mentioned, my parents would listen to it a lot. 

• Modern rock

There's very little modern rock that I enjoy.  Maybe Greta Van Fleet is the onyl one that I can think of.

• Classic prog

Not interested in it

• Modern prog

Not interested in it

• Prog metal

A favorite genre of mine, and a current favorite as well.  A lot of the new bands I discover currently are prog metal.

• power metal

A favorite genre of mine, and a current favorite as well. On the flip side, I'm not finding new bands in this genre that I enjoy.

• Classic metal

I like a lot of it.  I think there's a lot more good music here that I'm just a bit hesitant to dig into, essentially bands people say are really good, but I just don't have an interest in digging into their catalogs for various reasons (a big reason is if the band doesn't exist anymore).

• Hair metal

I definitely have a soft spot for hair metal.  I don't love it all, but there's lots of really fun music in this genre and the fun sing along chorus's too.  I hardly listen to this genre anymore, but I like it.

• Grunge

I've never been able to get into grunge.  Alice in Chains is the closest and that's a recent enjoyment for me, I wasn't a fan in their heyday and the rest of the grunge bands from the 90s never were of interest to me.

• Thrash metal

I find thrash metal to have vocals I often don't enjoy, but I love the thrash guitars and drums.  Bands like Slayer I enjoy but I can never love and the genre is mostly filled with bands I can enjoy but would never love.  Metallica is the one that I enjoy the most from this genre.

• Nu metal

I did enjoy this a lot more at the time.  I was a huge Limp Bizkit fan when 3 dollar bill was released.  But I fell out of love with them by the time their second album dropped.  Some bands like Slipknot who may or may not be nu metal I do enjoy though.  I think I do enjoy some of the styles of Nu metal, just not full on nu metal. 

• Death and/or black metal

Not my thing.

• pop

Pop can be catchy.  I don't enjoy most pop music, but there's good stuff out there and I certainly enjoy when my favorite metal bands do a poppy song if its well done.

• jazz

Not my thing.  I respect it a lot though.

• classical

Not my thing.  I respect it a lot though.

• rap/hip-hop

Not my thing.

• R&B

Not my thing.

• punk

I enjoy some punk still.  I used to love it, but punk becomes very samey after a while.  Some of the best punk bands are still really good to me like Bad Religion for example.

• other

I feel like I don't like country music, but some of the more modern rock country stuff that is popular isn't terrible. 

I still like ska music if I'm in the mood.  Ska is practically dead, but I've always enjoyed it.

Reggae is good stuff, but I don't listen to enough.  I typically like heavy music so I don't tune into reggae but when I do and I am in the mood, this is good chill music.  I've gone to a few reggae/ska shows over the recent years.  I enjoy these.[/list]

[krands85]

Great thread!

-What is your favorite band?
Dream Theater

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?
Dream Theater: Images and Words, Train of Thought, A Dramatic Turn of Events, Scenes From a Memory
Muse: Origin of Symmetry
Metallica: Master of Puppets
Tesseract: Altered State
Isis: In the Absence of Truth
Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine
System of a Down: Toxicity
Radiohead: OK Computer

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?
Progressive metal

-What was your musical journey in life like?
I've always enjoyed music, but I didn't listen to a huge amount as a young kid - mostly just what was on the radio and in the charts. When I was maybe 10 or 11, I was beginning to enjoy more rock based songs. I remember listening to Neighbourhood by Space with my best friend over and over again as well as really liking The Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene. I probably discovered these sorts of songs from listening to the Now That's What I Call Music compilation albums, which were released regularly in the UK. I definitely remember me or my sister having this particular one: https://www.nowmusic.com/album/now-thats-what-i-call-music-35/

Oasis was probably the first band I really loved and explored more of though, instead of just listening to the odd song here and there. They were huge at the time and most of my class at school listened to them. As a teenager in the early 2000s I was really into nu-metal/alternative metal. I had Sky TV at that point and there were a lot of music TV channels, I'd spend a lot of time watching Kerrang, Scuzz and MTV2. Linkin Park and System of a Down were among my favourites. One of my best friends watched a lot of the music channels too, but he was also in to a lot of heavier stuff as well. Despite being so into nu-metal, Muse became my favourite band in the early 2000s. Origin of Symmetry was just incredible to me and I loved checking out live bootlegs, b-sides, posting on their forum and they were the second band I saw live (after Radiohead)

The influence of my friend got me into bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth and also a fair bit of grunge I think, but the next big change in my tastes came when another friend recommended Dream Theater to me and played me some tracks from Octavarium, around 2006. It took me a while to really check them out properly, but I probably did so shortly after Systematic Chaos came out. I really loved Train of Thought, I guess from coming from a more metal background. It took me a little while to get in to the other aspects of their music, but eventually I was obsessed with the band and music in general. I was listening to so much music, I would almost always have something on playing through my PC if I was at home or via CD/MP3 player if I was out. I enjoyed looking at my stats/graphs on Last.fm too and discovering new bands from there.

I was loving DT and getting in to similar bands like Symphony X, as progressive metal just sounded so good to me. In the late 2000s/early 2010s, I was also into a lot of post-rock and post-metal bands (mainly instrumental), like 65daysofstatic, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky etc. I became friends with another guy who was into a lot of these bands too and we started regularly going to gigs in Glasgow. Actually the first one was DT at Prog Nation 09, it was the first time we'd met in person and even though he wasn't really into that type of music, we had a great night and continued that for a few years until he moved abroad.

Apologies, I've droned on for ages here, just lots of nostalgic feelings coming out! Anyway, I don't listen to as much music these days and don't get to gigs very often anymore unfortunately, but I still love most of the same bands and discovering the odd new gem, mostly through this forum.

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?
My dad had a great sound system, but the only bands I can really remember being played a lot were The Pet Shop Boys, Crowded House, Meat Loaf and Chris Rea.

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?
Well I'll go for the most important ones in my musical journey. Oasis: Definitely Maybe & What's the Story Morning Glory; Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory; System of a Down: Toxicity; Muse: Origin of Symmetry; Dream Theater: Train of Thought & Images and Words

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

• Classic rock

- enjoy the odd song, but not something I'd specifically listen to

• Modern rock

- bit of a mixed bag

• Classic prog

- strangely not something I've explored very much, though I'm sure I'd really like a lot of it

• Modern prog

- some great stuff in here

• Prog metal

- my favourite genre

• power metal

- great, though I should probably explore a bit more

• Classic metal

- some great stuff in here too, though a lot of the older bands I've not really listened to

• Hair metal

- never really listened to this

• Grunge

- had a period maybe 10-15 years ago where I listened to this a lot, though not so much anymore

• Thrash metal

- mostly limited to Metallica and Megadeth here, though I listened to Anthrax for a while too

• Nu metal

- I loved this in the early 2000s, lots of great bands and albums but again, I don't listen to that much these days

• Death and/or black metal

- I love Opeth, but not much else

• pop

- generally hate it, especially in recent times

• jazz

- not generally my thing, though I enjoyed a lot of the stuff I heard in the TV show Treme

• classical

- I've always quite enjoyed classical music, but mainly the well known pieces, I'd never really explored the genre beyond what I'd hear on TV/movies. Recently started checking out a lot of stuff on Youtube though and found some fantastic pieces

• rap/hip-hop

- generally hate it, though I did enjoy the odd Eminem song like Stan years ago and the parts in nu-metal

• R&B

- not my thing

• punk

- never really listened to much punk

[SoundscapeMN]

this topic will likely be a nice, long read. 

I'll try and answer these later tonight when I have more time.

[Phoenix87x]

-What is your favorite band?

       Rush

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

       1. Kid A
       2. Misplaced childhood
       3. Downward spiral
       4. Disintegration (The cure)
       5. Images and words
       6. Before these crowded streets (Dave Matthew's)
       7. Pleasant shade of grey
       8. Wish you were here

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

       1. Prog metal
       2. Electronic - Like synthwave and EDM

-What was your musical journey in life like?

       Started with offspring and greenday, then obsession with Nirvana, then obsession with Dream theater, then only prog metal and prog rock
         Then some more traditional metal and thrash, then jazz, Hip hop and Electronic and now everything

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

        Prog rock and prog metal, and classic rock

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

        Refer to the favorite albums part

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?


Electronic - Currently my favorite genera and most listened to (EDM, synthwave, retrowave, vaporwave and so forth)

Classic rock - Decent
Modern rock- idifferent

Classic prog- Love it
Modern prog- Love it
Prog metal- Love it

Classic metal- Love it

Grunge- Don't care about nirvana anymore, but soundgarden, alice in chains, smashing pumpkins are awesome
Thrash metal- love it
Nu metal- love it
Death and/or black metal- love it

pop- if its catchy, then I'm down
jazz- love it, specifically bebop
classical- Respect it, but rarely listen

rap/hip-hop- love it, especially drake
R&B- love it. Its very chill

[TheCountOfMinnesota]

What a cool idea!

-What is your favorite band? It's a 4-way tie: Dream Theater, Cheap Trick, Propagandhi, Skinny Puppy

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?  6DOIT, Cheap Trick 'At Budokan', Potemkin City Limits (Propagandhi), Too Dark Park (Skinny Puppy), Wish You Were Here, Hemispheres, The Sound of Perseverance, Van Halen's debut

-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely? This is difficult for me; I'm all over the board!  I usually tell people I like rock music and leave it at that.

-What was your musical journey in life like?  Played violin from age 3, and guitar from age 10.  My dad is a huge music fan in general and brought me to my first shows and introduced me to rock.

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?  Pink Floyd, Rush, Jeff Beck, Nektar, Janis Joplin, Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Van Halen

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?  besides my favorites listed above, Dark Side of the Moon, Rites of Passage (Indigo Girls), Moving Pictures, Surfing With the Alien, Images & Words, Rust in Peace, Semantic Spaces (Delirium), Morningrise (Opeth) and about 40 others!

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?
Classic rock LOVE
Modern rock meh
Classic prog love Rush, Pink Floyd, Camel, Genesis, Nektar
Modern prog I've actually never heard anything by Marillion or Spock's Beard.  I like Steven Wilson alright.
Prog metal I'm learning about this genre, and just got a ton of cool recommendations from this forum!
power metalnot really my thing.  This is Dragonforce, right?  They're pretty much the power metal standard-bearers?  Then no thanks.
Classic metalsure
Hair metalI like some Motley Crue! But I LOVE Lillian Axe
Grunge I like three albums: Core, Facelift, Nevermind.  Oh, and Dirt.  4 albums
Thrash metalClassic thrash I love Anthrax and Megadeth
Nu metal c'mon man
Death and/or black metal in small doses, although I love Death for some reason.  And Opeth.
pop I love pop music, but only with female vocals.  Not sure why that is.  I generally hate pop with male vocals, like Ed Sheeren.  Blech
jazz nope, never.  hate
classical Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky I love.
rap/hip-hop nope
R&B ugh, no
punk sometimes! Most people think of Propagandhi as punk, but I don't
other for me the great other is Skinny Puppy, a category all their own

[Anguyen92]

Man, this is a long post.  I didn't think it would take me around 1.5 hour to craft.  Here's what I got.

-What is your favorite band?
My favorite band is Alter Bridge.  They have been in that position for almost 12 years and honestly, no one comes close to that.  This is the only band I’m willing to travel out of state for if they have a big special show.  If I had like $3,000.00 in October of 2017, I would have flown to see them play with an orchestra in London at the Royal Albert Hall. No questions.  If only I did have the money at the time……..  Well, meeting them in person in Orlando, Florida in September, hearing their new album before it is officially released, and seeing a brief live set do just fine for me.  I state before and I will state it again.  I would not do anything like travel out of state to see a band except for Alter Bridge.

Although I did have a lot of #2 favorite bands for certain periods of time.  Sometimes it was Foo Fighters, sometimes it was Rush, sometimes it was Seether, Skillet, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Owl City, etc.

-What are some of your all-time favorite albums?
Alter Bridge – Blackbird
Skillet – Comatose
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Shinedown – Us and Them
Dream Theater – either DT12 or Awake


-What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

I’m going to go say Modern Hard Rock.  Mainly bands that you would hear on Sirus XM Octane and Turbo.

-What was your musical journey in life like?
Childhood – listening to boy bands and late 90s pop in the background (thanks to my sister) and when we got to the early 00s.  Nu metal…… (also thanks to my sister).

High School Years- I got more into bands that I would hear their songs since they were official theme songs of WWE PPVs and then I got into bands when I hearing their songs from fanmade Youtube videos of various WWE PPVs.  That’s how I got into Alter Bridge, Seether, Shinedown, Daughtry, etc.

College Years – Once WWE decided to go another way with what they want as theme songs for their PPVs, I decided to listen to iHeartRadio more and listened to this station called Sixx Sense and really listen more into the modern hard rock bands and the Active Rock radio format and got into bands like Breaking Benjamin, Halestorm, A7X, Sixx: A.M., etc.  Then I found this forum, DTF, and got myself more familiarized with the songs and the lore of bands like DT, Rush, Iron Maiden, etc.

Post-college years (the now) – Nowadays, thanks to the internet, I can find a lot of different kinds of music in a lot of ways.  Sometimes, my favorite Youtubers/Twitch Streamers would play something in the background while they are playing videos games and I get curious on what band is that, what song is that, etc.  It’s how I got into bands like Owl City, Poets of the Fall.  Sometimes, I see some musicians I like collaborating with someone that I didn’t expect that particular musician to collab with, but it turns out to be awesome and then that particular musician/band’s catalog turns out to be awesome.  That’s how I got into Zac Brown Band and Lindsey Stirling.  I sometimes watch anime and hear some themes songs and it sounded immense that’s so ahead of the curve from the stuff you would hear in the West and I want to listen to more stuff from that well.  I really dug this Japanese singer, Aimer, and her albums and rate one of the albums she released this year as my favorite album of 2019 so far. 

I guess to sum it up, I never stop chasing wanting to hear new stuff no matter who they are or where I find it.  I just want to enjoy it in ways that only I can define.

-What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

Growing up, it was a mixture of my parents (mainly my mother) playing music from this variety show called Paris By Night and my sister playing whatever current pop stuff was at the time whether it was boy bands (NSync, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees), pop teen stars (Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera), and Nu Metal (especially Limp Bizkit.  Shudder……….).  The fact that I got into hard rock after all of that amazes me.

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?
Aside from my all-time favorite albums, I would say the following.
Switchfoot – Vice Verses
All five Alter Bridge albums (seriously, that band has inadvertently created the soundtrack of my life, time and time again, and I don’t think I would be in the spot that I am in without their music pepping me up when I need it)
Sixx: A.M. – This is Gonna Hurt
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
Breaking Benjamin – Dear Agony
Owl City – The Midsummer Station (although, I do like the Maybe I’m Dreaming album better)

-How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?
•   Classic rock
   I don’t like classic rock.  Have no personal investment to it and have no reasons to do so.  I appreciate what those bands done in the course of history, but other than Rush, if I could, I can live without them and it wouldn’t affect me one bit.
•   Modern rock
   I like a good portion of the bands I hear some stations like Octane, but there are some bands that are so bland, especially when there are so many screaming/whiney vocals without any distinctions that can make them appealing to me.  It’s like whose the next in-line in terms of recognizable modern hard rock vocalists after guys like Myles Kennedy, M. Shadows, Lzzy Hale, Corey Taylor, Ben Burnley, etc.  The only one closest to those guys I listed is Jonny Hawkins from Nothing More to me.  I'm not counting the guy from Greta Van Fleet or else I might as well say Robert Plant and he ain't modern (but still good).
•   Classic prog
   Don’t know much about those bands.  Have no interest to do so.
•   Modern prog
   See Classic Prog
•   Prog metal
   Don’t know much about it other than DT, but if there’s a band that may peak my interest, it could be something I can get into more.  I'm seeing Coheed and Cambria and Mastodon in June so I can't wait to dig into more of those guys stuff.
•   power metal
   Once again, don’t know much about bands from that genre and have no interest to do so, but if a band peaks my interest.  Who knows.
•   Classic metal
   See Classic Rock, except replace Rush with Iron Maiden
•   Hair metal
   I hate those bands and their attitudes at the time of their peak. I feel like they represent a lot of things that I stand against.  It seems like those bands were in their peaks today, oh boy, they wouldn’t survive in this today’s social media culture.
•   Grunge
   Out of the main four big grunge bands, I like Soundgarden.  Have a lot of respect for Alice in Chains (especially in the now).  The rest, ehhhh.  As for Nirvana, it sounds cruel (but it is how I feel) that the only good thing for me about Nirvana was that it brought attention to Dave Grohl and then he went on to form Foo Fighters and they created music that I enjoy.
•   Thrash metal
   See Classic Rock, especially replace Rush with Metallica and even that’s pushing it
•   Nu metal
Nu Metal gets a lot of flak and some of it deserving.  There’s only so much Korn and Rob Zombie and others that I can tolerate hearing on Octane/Turbo in a day.  That stated, I think Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory and Meteora deserves all of the praise it gets.  Everyone in my age bracket should know at least one Linkin Park song, especially In the End or Numb.  Also, I think Disturbed doesn’t get enough credit for having so many solid songs and hits.  There’s more to them than Down with the Sickness.  Same goes for Papa Roach.  There’s more to them than Last Resort as I always say.
•   Death and/or black metal
Don’t know anything about it.  Probably don’t want to get into it given my preferences in vocals.
•   pop
The modern pop stuff, nowadays, have a lot of stuff I don’t enjoy, but I do enjoy Ed Sheeran a lot.  I do want to get into more decent JPop stuff.  I feel like I’m only scratching the surface after getting into Aimer’s music.  I would say about my stance on pop and this applies to any music as well:  I just want to hear something that seems honest and not created only for the purpose to sell something.  I feel that musicians’ role is to create music that’s meaningful to them and is able to communicate that with an audience that is willing to listen and relate to.
•   jazz
I think jazz might be a bit too slow for me to get into, but I think it’s a good platform for musicians to show what they can do.
•   classical
I don’t enjoy classical.  I mean if there are some classical music that is loud, intense sometimes, and have meaningful lyrics that relates to me, sign me up for that
•   rap/hip-hop
Like Pop, if rap/hip-hop feels more honest and creative and not released only for the purpose of getting rich, great.  I feel like there are few examples far in between though.
•   R&B
Like jazz, I think it has a great platform for solid singers to show what they can do, but it’s not really what I’m looking for
•   punk
I’m not too keen on punk and their lifestyle choices and the whole “if you do a certain thing, that’s not punkish of you.”  I always think music should always bring people together in ways people would not expect, but love experiencing.  Having a “that’s not punk” or “that’s not metal” mentality seems to go against what I am looking for in music and I feel that it’s only hurting themselves if people have that mentality.
•   other
As for other genres, I want to get into more modern J-Rock stuff.  I feel like there’s some good stuff there that I am missing out on.  Also, I want to get into more bands like Poets of the Fall.  They just make beautiful sounding music and depicts very vivid images in their lyrics and tone.

Hope you enjoy reading this long post.  Just me rambling like I always do when I do long posts.

[Ruba]

What is your favorite band?

- Animal Alpha, but Nine Inch Nails is my favourite band that has released more than three albums.

What are some of your all-time favorite albums?

-
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Animal Alpha - You Pay for the Whole Seat, But You'll Only Need the Edge
The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia
Ministry - Filth Pig
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding
Nightwish - Century Child
Leprous - The Congregation

What is your favorite genre/subgenre?  Which do you "identify" with most closely?

- Industrial, alternative rock and metal.

What was your musical journey in life like?

- As a kid, I watched a lot of music television and learned probably the most about popular music that way. I tended to like rock music even back then.. Then when I was about twelve years old, I heard some other boys from my class play Metallica, Iron Maiden and AC/DC and I was converted into a metalhead pretty fast. In middle school I got also into bands like Megadeth, Anthrax, Queensrÿche and well, Dream Theater and also a little bit into extreme metal through Sepultura and Death. I mostly looked down on music that wasn't metal. In high school I became more tolerant musically and started liking other genres of music too. I used to hate electronic music, but then I got into Ministry and later Nine Inch Nails. Later on I've gotten into piano-driven pop/rock, 90s rock, doom metal...

What kind of music was playing in your household when you were growing up?

- Mostly Finnish pop and rock music.

What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

-
Green Day - American Idiot
My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade (back in the day I only had an illicit mp3 copy which didn't have I Don't Love You, I really should get a physical copy)
Metallica - Master of Puppets
AC/DC - For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
For Iron Maiden and Megadeth I didn't have such clear cut favourites, but let's say The Number of the Beast and Peace Sells... But Who's Buying
Dream Theater - Awake
Animal Alpha - You Pay for the Whole Seat, Buy You'll Only Need the Edge
Ministry - Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Bruce Dickinson Skunkworks - s/t
The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia

How do you feel about the following genres/subgenres?

- Classic rock
Hmmm... I'm not maybe a fan per se, but generally I tend to like 70s/80s rock.
- Modern rock
I don't know what's considered modern rock anymore. Nickelback? Coldplay? Imagine Dragons? So nope.
- Classic prog
Pink Floyd is great, and so is Rush's prog era. Other than that, I've never been that interested to check 'classic' prog bands out. I've been listening to some 80s King Crimson lately and I LIKE IT!
- Modern prog
I don't know what bands count as modern prog, so I have no feelings either way.
- Prog metal
Ehhh... I don't know. I do like proggy music, but I prefer good melodies to noodling for noodling's sake.
- power metal
Generally not my thing.
- Classic metal
It's usually at least alright.
- Hair metal
Hate it.
- Grunge
I don't think grunge's really even a genre. Out of popular 'grunge' bands, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden are pretty great, Stone Temple Pilots good, Nirvana OK but overrated to hell and Pearl Jam I don't like. I like 90s rock though.
- Thrash metal
Outside a couple of bands, not really a fan.
- Nu metal
Deftones is awesome and Papa Roach's lovehatetragedy is a great album. Outside them, no.
- Death metal
Sure, why not.
- Black metal
I can stand more athmospheric kinds of black metal, but not a fan.
- Pop
I love me some 80s pop! But after that decade, good and original sounding acts are few and far between.
- Jazz
I'm not well versed in it at all, but I like the kind of jazz you can dance to.
- Classical
Never really gotten into it.
- rap/hip-hop
I can get the appeal of old school gangsta rap, but otherwise no.
- R&B
Some old R&B is fine I guess? The modern chart crap? No.
- punk
I like the energy and attitude of some punk bands, but not a huge fan.
- Industrial
I like it a lot.
- Doom/sludge/stoner metal
I generally like these genres. The more your riffs sound like Black Sabbath, the better.
- Post-hardcore
At best it's punk rock energy mixed with prog metal. What's not to like?

[Stadler]

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

KISS Alive II
AC/DC Back In Black
Def Leppard-High n Dry
UFO-Strangers In The Night
Michael Schenker Group-MSG
Helloween-Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt.1
Dream Theater-Images And Words

Other than Helloween - just not familiar (though I heard a Michael Kiske solo song that blew me away!) - this is like a master class in metal.  These are Mt. Rushmore albums right here. I'd go so far to say that you don't have to LIKE them, but if you don't KNOW these, you can't credibly call yourself a metal fan.  Boom, I said that.

[Stadler]

Mom liked the crooners and mellow stuff like Barry Manilow. She also loved Van Halen, The Carpenters, The Mamas & The Papas, Toto, Def Leppard… She’d also play a lot of holiday albums around Christmas time, so your Kenny G renditions and Michael Buble and stuff. Dad has always liked 70s and 80s rock, ACDC reigns supreme in his eyes. I watched lots of Disney movies as a kid too so there was a lot of that music playing on TV, and I would often leave certain video games running just to hear their music. I also played instruments so there was a bunch of that.

I probably hit on your mom in college.  She better dealed me with dad.   

(I'm totally joshing with you; nothing but props and respect for your parents; I just saw the easy joke).

[The Walrus]

Are... are you my real dad? No wonder I love John Wetton so much.

[King Postwhore]

I bet you I saw Wetton live before you were born Mike. Lol

[pg1067]

-What albums do you consider "classic" as part of your musical identity?

KISS Alive II
AC/DC Back In Black
Def Leppard-High n Dry
UFO-Strangers In The Night
Michael Schenker Group-MSG
Helloween-Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt.1
Dream Theater-Images And Words

Other than Helloween - just not familiar (though I heard a Michael Kiske solo song that blew me away!) - this is like a master class in metal.  These are Mt. Rushmore albums right here. I'd go so far to say that you don't have to LIKE them, but if you don't KNOW these, you can't credibly call yourself a metal fan.  Boom, I said that.

Statements like the highlighted one bug the crap out of me, but I'll leave that as it is.  As for the rest of this, I'm with you on the "master class" idea, and I'd agree that Back in Black is a "Mt. Rushmore of Metal Album," but none of the others belong.

I'll defer to you and others about Kiss, but I always thought the first Alive album was more highly regarded.

With respect to Def Leppard, I think you'd get a ton of argument that either Pyromania or Hysteria is the more appropriate "Mt. Rushmore album."

Strangers in the Night is no worse than my second favorite live album of all time, but I don't think any UFO album -- much less a Michael Schenker Group album -- goes on any "Mt. Rushmore" of metal.

And, as much as I love DT, the reality is that no DT album is going on any "Mt. Rushmore" unless it's for prog prog metal.

You can't have a "Mt. Rushmore" of metal without Back in Black, something by Sabbath and something by Metallica.  As for the fourth band, I'm not sure who it is, but it ain't UFO, Schenker or DT (maybe Kiss, but I think that spurs the whole "is Kiss really a metal band" debate).

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I don't really see how either KISS or AC/DC are metal bands, honestly. AC/DC is kind of heavy, I guess, but it seems more just like a rock n roll kind of thing, vocals aside, at least.

[Ruba]

I don't really see how either KISS or AC/DC are metal bands, honestly.

Both have had a big influence in metal music though.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Oh yeah, definitely. But I wouldn't consider them metal, so saying you have to like them to be a metal fan is pretty strange.

[Ruba]

Oh yeah, definitely. But I wouldn't consider them metal, so saying you have to like them to be a metal fan is pretty strange.

Well me neither and I've only heard three of those albums so if Stadler doesn't think I'm allowed to call credibly myself a metal fan, I'll just say I'm more of a music fan.

[cramx3]

Consider the time too, Kiss was metal then and maybe it's not considered metal now, but I think it's OK to classify it as that personally.

As for Def Leppard, maybe Hysteria or Pyromania are the more popular albums but High n Dry is more metal and the best Def Leppard album.  I'm not sure I'd say it's a master class album for metal, but it's a really good album and top notch in the genre for the time. 

I guess a metal master class discussion is kind of a cool concept, although "master class" just seems like a ridiculous trend these days. 

[Stadler]

Well, we can certainly disagree, but to further explain, I think it's like anything else.  You can't change a set of tires and call yourself a mechanic, you can't sign a contract and call yourself a lawyer, you can't boil a hot dog and call yourself a chef.  There is information that you need to have to call yourself more than a dabbler, and I think music is the same thing.   It doesn't mean you can't like or enjoy music without knowing the entire pedigree, but it gives a necessary context.   Pearl Jam didn't make a lot of sense to me until I finally listened to the non-Tommy Who albums, and Steve Vai made ZERO sense before I listened to the deeper cuts on the albums Hendrix made while he was alive.

And PG, Ruba, I meant it to spark conversation, not insult you, so take it for what it is. 

Shadow:  I didn't say LIKE, I said KNOW.   It's about musical knowledge, not taste.