Your favorite band/artist whom you wish you followed since their inception

[Cool Chris]

Let's face it... sometimes our timing is off. That artist/band we love now we weren't exposed to early on, or our musical tastes were different back then, or maybe they just formed when we were too young, or even before we were born.

What is that one band whom you wish you heard right out of the gate, and have been a fan of ever since?

For me, I'd say Iron Maiden. I wasn't in to metal growing up in the 80s. Over time I grew to like their radio hits, but not enough to check them out. On a whim I bought a greatest hits CD (released after DoD), loved every song, and bought a few albums. I loved those, and decided to buy them all. Saw them in concert, and they have been around the top of my favorite bands ever since. Their sound, which always Maiden, has evolved over the years, they've had their ups and downs, line-up changes, and I would have liked to have been on that ride with them from the beginning.

[HOF]

There are very few bands that I really like who I can say I was there from the beginning.

I will say I was watching that new video podcast about Kevin Gilbert, and it sounded like it would have been a lot of fun to be there in LA when he was sort of breaking through via a local radio show and playing acoustic gigs every week around town. Of course he was already somewhat known for Giraffe and Toy Matinee before that.

[ProfessorPeart]

Rush

Sadly, I was born in 1976 and did not actually become a fan until somewhere between Counterparts and Test For Echo. T4E was my first new album from them as a fan and I saw them on (almost) every leg when they came through Chicago. Occasionally, I would replace Chicago with Milwaukee on a couple of those. I only missed 2 shows from T4E until the end. First one was the first leg of the Clockwork Angels tour. Was hospitalized with kidney stones and surgeries for them. Had front row tickets in the 200 level at the United Center. Killed me to miss that. Caught the second leg in Milwaukee, which ended up being my final show. Then I missed the final tour. Money issues, but I made peace with Clockwork being the end for me. Loved the venue and it was Summerfest in Milwaukee.

Younger me always asked why anybody would listen to that band with the girly sounding singer. Time kept pounding me with hearing the hits all over the place over the years until I broke down and bought Chronicles. The rest is history.

[HOF]

To expand a bit, one of the fun things for me about discovering a band is learning the history, knowing where a band has come from to understand where it is going, exploring the depths of a back catalog and finding more odds and ends when that’s done.

Starting out with a band new is somewhat less *interesting,* though I imagine it might be somewhat exciting depending on how amazing the band is. That said, most debut albums are not a band’s best (I can’t imagine I would have had a high view of Rush, Dream Theater, of Marillion based on their debuts).

There are a few newer bands I’ve discovered in the past few years based on their debut albums who I really hope stick around in the game and make more music and maybe develop into something exciting. But right now there’s the debut and crickets and who knows if there will be a second.

[wolfking]

Iron Maiden.  I was born in 84.  Discovered them around 98/99.  First album I was 'live' for was Brave New World.  What a wonderful feeling being a fan and knowing all their stuff up to that point and going to the cd store to buy that album on the day of its release too.  It was my birthday too so remember it well.

[Cool Chris]

Younger me always asked why anybody would listen to that band with the girly sounding singer. Time kept pounding me with hearing the hits all over the place over the years until I broke down and bought Chronicles. The rest is history.

In '93 maybe a friend gave me 2112. I asked him what it was. He said "just listen to the title track." 20 minutes later I thought "I don't know what the hell I just listened to, but it was the most amazing thing I've ever heard." Eventually I bought Chronicles, recognized a couple songs from the radio, and while I never became a huge Rush fan, that purchase was a noticable milestone in my musical development.

[MirrorMask]

I don't really have any major regrets. I was born the day before The Wall was released (feels cool mentioning it), and just few months before my favorite band, Iron Maiden, debuted with the self titled album in April 1980.

Discovered their music in 1995, didn't feel like going to their concert because I was still young and inexperienced, but I did see them in 1998 and I never missed a concert ever since, with two justificable exceptions (one time I was abroad for the Blind Guardian Open Air and the other time they played too far away from me on a working day in the middle of the holidays season, translated into "no extra days off from work, we're all locked and alternated with our vacations").

However, if I go back to my very initial line, I guess that SOME regrets can be found. Mainly:

- Savatage - didn't really pay attention to them, and so they totally flew under my radar when they played at a festival I WAS ATTENDING TO. I was there for Judas Priest. My cousin enjoyed all the show and eventually turned me to them. Obviously we all know that after 2002 they stopped making albums and touring  so I really wish I could have been a fan to see them at least once in their 2001-2002 last tour.

To elaborate better on this: the festival had TWO STAGES but in a closed venue, and it was hot as hell. There was a lot of traffic going in and out. We were all gasping for air. So when it was time for a band I didn't know - Savatage - to play, I went outside to catch some rest and some air. Had it been a normal open air concert, maybe I would have actually paid attention to their show.

- Alice Cooper - at least I did see him live twice, and his age doesn't matter, but I discovered him only in 2013. If he would have been part of my musical growth I could have had 20 years of concerts from him under my belt.

- Bruce Springsteen - started to listening to him only this summer. Why oh why it took me so long? had I been a fan, I could have seen them at least in 2016 or even 2013 in the stadium of my hometown. I've never been to a stadium concert because in Italy metal is still the devil's music or whatever and the only two bands that could realistically fill a stadium, Iron Maiden and Metallica, never got one. I could have seen Springsteen in a stadium.

[Podaar]

I somewhat envy the fans who where aware of and followed Opeth's early career. It must have been pretty electrifying to put on one of the earlier albums not knowing what strange corner they were going to turn. I don't think backing into their catalog has the same impact.

As a point of reference, they were not on my radar until Watershed.

[MoraWintersoul]

I got into everyone as early as I could really, and I get into a lot of new bands every year, so I try to really cover my bases. I regret not getting deeper into more popular bands who tour more often and have more people in their fanbases I can talk to. I love the social aspect of sharing music, and when you get really deep into obscure stuff and never get to see them in person, music becomes just another hobby you have that consists of you sitting in front of a computer alone.

[Lowdz]

I'd love to have been a KISS fan in the early days.
Same with Rush. Both were very established by the time I was on board.

I never really looked back at bands from before I started my musical journey other than these two, maybe a few others - Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Skynyrd.

I was there at the early-ish days of NWOBHM and went from there.

[jingle.boy]

Well, it's kinda hard to be a fan of something/someone whose inception was before we were born!  Not sure if the question is whether we wish we were born at a different time, or which bands do we wish we'd jumped on board with from the outset?  If the former, naturally for me it's Zeppelin.  If the latter, I wish I'd hooked into DT earlier than I did ('96).  I'm also completely unsure how I missed out on classic metal acts like Dio, Ozzy (solo), Fates.  Triumph is another, but I was only 5 when their debut was released.  Would've loved to have been a fan in their heyday of the early 80s.

[New World Rushman]

I wish I knew about DT when they were starting out. I didn't discover them until around the time of ToT when I was 40.
Would have loved to had a chance to see them at Birch Hill in Old Bridge. Being a NJ guy, I frequented that joint regularly in the 80s when I was in my early 20s and went out a lot.

[Lowdz]

Not quite on topic as I was a huge UFO/MSG fan - but TAC's listening party is showing me that they made some great music after they dropped off my radar - wish I'd stuck around for it.

[Kwyjibo]

To have experienced the rise and fall of the mighty Led Zeppelin would have been cool I think, but I was born in '70 and they started in '68. By the time I began listening to other music than childrens songs they were already done.

[jingle.boy]

To have experienced the rise and fall of the mighty Led Zeppelin would have been cool I think, but I was born in '70 and they started in '68. By the time I began listening to other music than childrens songs they were already done.

Precisely!

[Stadler]

Iron Maiden.  I was born in 84.  Discovered them around 98/99.  First album I was 'live' for was Brave New World.  What a wonderful feeling being a fan and knowing all their stuff up to that point and going to the cd store to buy that album on the day of its release too.  It was my birthday too so remember it well.

I had already seen Maiden TWICE, before you were born!   

[HOF]

Another thing I suspect is that being a fan of a band from the beginning can make it harder to accept a change in direction later in a band’s career. It doesn’t bother me that Abacab doesn’t sound like Foxtrot, or that Signals is keyboard driven, or that Steve Hogarth is Marillion’s singer and not Fish. I came to all of those bands later in their careers and was able to work my way backwards. So many fans of those bands very stubbornly refuse to even try the later periods of those bands.

[Stadler]

I'm with Chad:  is the question about when I was born, or all things being equal and the same, who do I wish I liked sooner?

The former:  Led Zeppelin, by far.  I would love to be able to see one of those legendary early '70's shows at the Garden in NYC.  Also being born that early, I could have seen Kiss in a theater in NY, and the Dead.

The latter:   The Dead, UFO.  I saw the Dead for three nights in Hartford as a security guard and didn't realize what I was seeing.

Something else:  I wish I got into the "ethos" a little more with Dream Theater and Marillion.   I got into DT with Images and Words, and bought every album on release, but I didn't see them live until BC&SL.  I missed all the legendary shows in NY, despite living two hours (max) away, and I missed all those shows at Toad's Place, where they would play a couple times a year.  I also missed all the side-bar shows, like the early Transatlantic and the "Yellow Matter Custard" shows. Bummed.

[MirrorMask]

I'll amend my answer: if I can travel back through time or adjust my age, definitively I'd love to see the rise of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest in the 1980s, Dream Theater in the Images and Words tour, Alice Cooper and Bruce Springsteen in the '70s, and for the sake of witnessing an historical event, Helloween in the Keepers tours, even though I'm a Deris fanboy through and through.

[pg1067]

For me, this boils down to two things:  (1) I was born in 1967 but didn't really get into popular/rock music until the summer of 1981; and (2) I've lived my whole life on the west coast.

As far as #1 goes, I wasn't alive when the Beatles started and couldn't have realistically been into bands like Rush, Styx, Sabbath, Zeppelin and Priest from the beginning.  Maiden and Triumph were somewhat more realistic, but my late start made that impossible.

For #2, we have bands like Fates Warning and DT, both of whom started on the other side of the country and took a while to get national/west coast attention.  Night on Brocken was released about the same time as Powerslave, so I certainly could have gotten on board with FW from the beginning, but I have no idea if the three John Arch albums were available at any record store where I shopped, and FW didn't play in southern California until June 1988 (No Exit tour).  I heard about and starting getting into FW soon after that, but they already had released four albums by that time.

Similar situation with DT.  I actually heard about DT around the time WDADU was released and tried to find the album but couldn't.  As soon as Pull Me Under hit the airwaves, I was in hard, so I'm about as early as anyone outside the greater NYC area, but still not from the start.

So...while I can say I wish I had been there from the beginning for these bands, it just wasn't realistic.  Metallica is about the only band that was truly realistic.  I really didn't get into them until some number of months before MOP was released.  My friend bought RTL while we were still in high school, and it took me quite a while to warm up to Hetfield's voice.

[The Letter M]

While I was born in 84, and there have been plenty of 90s prog bands I've come to know and love, I will only limit myself to bands/artists that have started since I discovered prog in 2002-2003. I don't think I would've enjoyed Spock's Beard or The Flower Kings back in the 90s when I wasn't really listening to prog or much classic rock in general, so we're going to the point where I was actually and actively discovering bands like that.

I think the first one that comes to mind is Haken, with their 2010 debut. I was already a Dream Theater fan for over 7 years by that point, so I kind of wish I had started following Haken from their debut album. Instead, I did not discover them until after The Mountain was already released in 2013, and Affinity was their first new album after I became a fan.

The Tangent is one I found out about just a bit after their 2003 debut. I discovered them after diving into the TFK catalog and finding out about Roine Stolt, so naturally I discovered The Tangent around 2005 or 2006, and got on board with their third album (where Roine had finally gotten out of the band, go figure).

Karmakanic is another that comes to mind. Their debut was also in 2003, and I hadn't really discovered The Flower Kings until 2004 or 2005, but I was already getting into prog back then, though Karmakanic is a bit different than Rush and Dream Theater.

Riverside is another that debuted in 2003 that I probably could have enjoyed back when I was just getting into Dream Theater and discovering other prog and prog metal bands. I like them well enough to have wished I had gotten on board at their debut, but instead, I only found out about them once their fourth album, Anno Domini High Definition, was released in 2009.

-Marc.

[Max Kuehnau]

Sade and Toto came to mind instantly. Genesis and Van Halen as well. (and, being the bloody German of the bunch, Kraftwerk and Herbert Grönemeyer) Kate Bush as well. So you see, there are some.

[OpenYourEyes311]

Dream Theater. Ugh. Makes me upset thinking about it. I was so close to getting into them five years earlier than I did, which was 2003.

I was born in 1984, so I never had a shot at the Charlie days, but it would have been amazing to see Pull Me Under on MTV or hear it on radio and get into them in '92. Would have made my first big rock show I went to that much sweeter.

In 1998, my dad brought me to see two of his favorite bands of all time, Deep Purple and ELP. It was the day before my birthday. A band named Dream Theater opened up. They made and impression on both of us during Peruvian Skies, when they quoted "Have a Cigar" by Pink Floyd (my dad's favorite band) and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica (my favorite band). It was a great moment we shared together.

In 1999, I held their new album Scenes From A Memory IN MY HAND at the local Newbury Comics and put it down because I was a poor 15 year old who couldn't afford every CD from every band. One of my big regrets of life was putting that down. Now, I did finally get into them in 2003, just before Train of Thought came out, but missing out on the Scenes and Six Degrees tours (especially seeing the setlists in hindsight) really bugs me to this day. I've seen them every tour since 2004, but they're the one band I wish I were there from the beginning.

On a personal note, I was able to pay my dad back for that first big rock concert and putting DT in my little 14yo brain. Before he passed in 2014, I was able to bring him to see DT headline a show in 2007, Emerson & Lake on their final tour together in 2010, and a pretty kick ass Deep Purple show in 2011. We also got to see our favorite bands together, as we saw Metallica in 2003, and Roger Waters do Dark Side in 2006, and The Wall in 2010. Good times.

[twosuitsluke]

Totally Pantera for me, off the top of my head! I was born in '83 so if I'd have gotten into them early enough I could've seen them live before they imploded. That would've been an experience to say the least!

It's funny, I was thinking about adding Dream Theater, but I don't think it would've actually made a difference  I got into them in about '05 but in 15 years, I've still never seen them live. I just went through my top 20 artists on Last.fm and the only ones I've not seen live are Dream Theater, The Beatles (obvs), Pain of Salvation, The Ocean and Between the Buried and Me. Out of those 5 bands one obviously split before I was born, 3 I'm a relatively new fan, and the other is Dream Theater. Is it weird that I've never really made an effort to see them live like I have all the other bands??

[bosk1]

Here are a few:

Y&T:  I got into them around 1984/85 after the release of In Rock We Trust, their fifth studio album.  35 year and many albums later, that seems relatively early in retrospect.  But given that they were local boys and played all over Northern California back in the day, I wish I had been a fan since the first album in 1976.  I mean, given that I would have been 6 years old, it wouldn't really have been practical (unless my dad had been a fan and took me to see them during those early times), but still.

Maiden:  Kinda similar.  I was too young to have gotten into them at their literal inception.  But I was just starting to like that type of music when they broke out with NOTB and POM, and wish I had jumped on the train back then.  It wouldn't be until 2013 or so that I really gave them a chance. 

Dream Theater:  Yeah, I picked up I&W in 1992.  But wasn't really much more than a casual fan until they released SFAM in 1999.  I didn't even buy Awake, ACOS, or FII until after that.  It would have been cool to have been in on the ground floor with WDADU with these guys.

Floyd:  I wasn't alive when they began, so I can't really respond to the literal question asked with this band.  But I think my response captures the general spirit of it.  I didn't get into these guys until the early '90s.  But I was first aware then Another Brick started showing up on radio as a single, and wish I had gotten into them earlier so that I could have maybe caught a show in the '80s, or at least the Division Bell tour.

[Cool Chris]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I intentionally kept it vague and didn't put restrictions on it, such as realism, to allow for varied responses.

[SoundscapeMN]

Kevin Gilbert considering I had never heard his name until 2000 or 2001, some 4-5 years after he died.

I suppose had I known about him and even got to see him live, his death probably would have been impossible for me to get over for a long time, but given the fact i might have been able to see him live and maybe meet him, I'd have taken that.

[TAC]

Not quite on topic as I was a huge UFO/MSG fan - but TAC's listening party is showing me that they made some great music after they dropped off my radar - wish I'd stuck around for it.

 

Iron Maiden.  I was born in 84.  Discovered them around 98/99.  First album I was 'live' for was Brave New World.  What a wonderful feeling being a fan and knowing all their stuff up to that point and going to the cd store to buy that album on the day of its release too.  It was my birthday too so remember it well.

I had already seen Maiden TWICE, before you were born!   

My avatar is my first time seeing Dream Theater, but my 8th Maiden show.

[ReaperKK]

The first thought that comes to mind is dredg, I didn't get into them until before The Pariah was released. I wish I was able to catch more shows. There are a few others that I wasn't alive to see like Pink Floyd which would've been killer to see from the 70's on.

[Lethean]

If I can only pick one, I'll go with Rush.  It would have been great to get into DT from the beginning and I'm sure I missed a lot of great tours, especially the original Scenes tour.  However, I've still been able to see the majority of their catalog live, which I think is awesome. 

So I'll go with Rush, who released many great albums before I was born and there are so many songs I never got the chance to see live.  And I get it, kind of, but I really wish they had brought more stuff back and mixed up their setlists more. 

On the other hand, if I did get into Rush way back then, hopefully I wouldn't have become a curmudgeon who thinks Power Windows sucks...

[The Curious Orange]

I'm always happy to have discovered new artists I can get passionate about, so while I might ask myself why it took me so long to get into Devin Townshend, for example, I'm just glad I got into him eventually.


That said, I really regret not seeing Queen, Dire Straits, The Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa when I had the chance.

[Stadler]

Hey, get this.  I mentioned The Dead, and I mentioned seeing them back when I didn't care.     Well, I subscribe to Dead.net and get the Dave's Picks releases each year, and the next one is a rare (i.e. never happened before) two complete shows release of... the stand in Hartford that I saw.    So I get to hear, now, what I missed back then.  I'm pretty psyched.  I'm trying to think but this may be the first full show official release of a concert I was at. 

[dparrott]

***never mind, I read the title wrong***

I got into Metallica with the Black Album as I was getting into metal in general. I wish it was earlier.

[ytserush]

Rush, Marillion, King Crimson, John Zorn, Max Webster, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Nice, Buddy Rich, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever. I'm sure there's a ton more, but that's all I got for now

[TheCountOfNYC]

Haken. I first heard them in 2016 watching one of my favorite Guitar Hero players on Twitch. He played Celestial Elixir on stream and I was floored. It’s still my favorite song by them and I didn’t get to hear it’s wonder until six years after it’s release.