Bands or albums that changed your life

[FatherAlabaster]

They don't have to be metal, or any specific genre. They don't have to be the best or most classic bands or albums, or your favorites... you don't even have to listen to them anymore. But, especially as a musician, it's a serious question to me, because there are certain recordings that I've come across over the years that defined me. They actually changed my life. Not just "my influences", because I have lots of those, but things that influenced me so much that I have no idea what kind of musician or even what kind of person I would be without them. No particular number, in no particular order, but I'm curious. What albums really changed your life and made you who you are today? I can only list mine chronologically, roughly in the order that I encountered them: Ray Lynch - Deep Breakfast. This is sappy mid-80s synth music, no vocals. Almost unbearably happy and predictable, but my parents would play it in the car whenever we went on trips, and listening to it makes me feel like I'm five again. Rush - Moving Pictures. The first tape I ever made for myself. I didn't know what "stereo" was and we didn't have a tape dubber, so I just stuck my boom box in front of one of the living room speakers and recorded it. I was eleven. Imagine my surprise when I got the CD years later, and heard it in stereo for the first time. Pink Floyd - The Wall. Metallica - And Justice For All. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime. None of these albums fit on my blank tapes in the correct order, so I had the songs all out of whack, and all the tapes cut songs off halfway through. I took what I could get. Pearl Jam - Ten. The sound of middle school... what else can I say. Yes, I still listen to it sometimes. Pantera - Far Beyond Driven. Soundgarden - Superunknown. Both of these albums were transcendent for me - the guitars didn't sound quite like anything else I had heard, and some of the riffs sounded like they came straight out of their brains as pure sound, like their fingers were just intermediaries. Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve. This is still one of my favorite albums by any band. Fear Factory - Demanufacture. I had "Soul of a New Machine" and liked it, but I wanted more melody. I encountered promo tracks from both the Meshuggah and FF albums on a sampler CD from a music magazine, and played it to death. The same magazine introduced me to The Abyss, Pitch Shifter, DRI, and Truly. Deicide - Once Upon The Cross. Not my favorite anymore, I hardly ever put it on, but the first time I listened to the title track, I was actually scared. It grabbed me by the throat and let me see that death metal wasn't just fun angry noise, that it had real impact, real power. Rotting Christ - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers. I had never heard of them and bought this album on impulse. I had no idea what to expect. The harmonies on this album changed the way I approached melody in songs, and worked their way into my guitar technique for years afterwards. Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery. I had a badly dubbed tape of this that died, and it took several months for the record store to order me a copy on CD. I've never been more excited about an album than when I brought this back home. Another one I hardly ever listen to anymore, but if I want to, I can hear all the songs in my head. Opeth - Morningrise. If this was a list in order of importance, this album would be at the top. It completely rewired my understanding of songwriting. I'm still dealing with the repercussions of listening to this album 16 years later. Another impulse buy, I didn't like it at first, and then one day I did. I listened to it every single morning, all the way through, for six months afterwards. It's not my favorite Opeth anymore, but no other album has had this much impact on me. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger. What Deicide did for me with death metal, this album did for me with black metal. Joy Division - Closer. Swans - Children Of God. I made the mistake of falling asleep on my couch to both of these albums. Every time I hear them, they send me down the same bleak, angry, despairing rabbit hole, despite their being vastly different from one another. Katatonia - Discouraged Ones. This wasn't the first Katatonia I really liked, and in fact it took me a while to get into. I like almost everything they've done, now, years later - the early stuff, the new stuff - but the droning simplicity of this album always sucks me back in. No polish, no bullshit. I can't define why I love it. Lionheart - Paris 1200. They're a medieval a capella group based in NYC. This album in particular focuses on very early polyphony, in some cases just two-part music based on simple Gregorian chants. It works for me on so many levels, it's hard to describe them all. I love the melodies and they wind up in my music; they hint at how different musical thought was 800 years ago; they sometimes feel like they're dragging me back there. The album serves a meditative purpose for me - it is worshipful, reverent music, and though I don't worship, I appreciate the mindset. It reminds me of my upbringing, yet since I didn't grow up Christian, it doesn't have the uncomfortable resonance for me that it does for some of my friends. This album also helped me pull through some of the hardest times in my life. I don't think I could narrow it down any further. There's lots of other stuff I like better right now, and some of my favorite bands aren't on here; but I had fallen in love with all of these by the time I was 20, and at this point I cannot imagine myself as a musician or really as a person without them. If you have a list, and you'd like to share it, I'd love to hear it.

[RelentlessOblivion]

This will be a short one for me Pink Floyd - The Wall My parents used to play this album all the time. It's responsible for my love of music I think and is still one of my favourite ever albums. AC/DC - High Voltage My first exposure to properly loud, straight up rock music. It's music like this that really showed me what can be done with the guitar Pantera - Cowboys From Hell This was my first ever metal album. As such this album can be almost directly linked to my still being here. Metal has been there whenever I've been in those really dark places in my life so I can say this album not only changed my life but saved it. Judas Priest - Painkiller The guitar work on this album is what made me decide I wanted to learn how to play the instrument. Wanting to learn the guitar changed my life giving me another outlet through those dark times.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Bands or albums that changed your life I'm at breakfast, so I can't go into a whole list, but I'll start with the first. Tool - Lateralus When I was a kid, I didn't know that music existed outside of country and pop. When I got to middle school, I started hearing some pop punk that got me vaguely interested in music, but it wasn't until I heard this album that I ever loved music. My friend Ryo bought the album and his mom made him get rid of it because she was a fundamentalist Christian and she didn't like the imagery. He had me keep it for a few months until he could find a good place to hide it, and I listened to it almost every day and bought my own copy when he took it back. It was so dark, so unconventional, it was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It showed me that music had deeper possibilities and could express emotions better than the crap on the radio, and all of the occult imagery and symbology made me very curious as well. Definitely life changing for me, and Tool remain my favorite band to this day, and the reason why I kept getting into heavier music. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[FatherAlabaster]

I love Tool, although my favorite album is Aenima and I didn't really like the later stuff. I haven't heard Lateralus in years. It's odd to me how many of my favorite bands didn't wind up on my list. I guess for me it's not so much about whether I like them as it is about the impact they had on me, like Deicide - not my favorite death metal band at all, but they really changed things for me. These are great responses so far, keep them coming!

[RelentlessOblivion]

I find it interesting that I have such a short list but hey playing by the rules limits me quite a bit. There are many albums I wouldn't want to live without but only a very select few which have had a profound impact on my life.

[FatherAlabaster]

I find it interesting that I have such a short list but hey playing by the rules limits me quite a bit. There are many albums I wouldn't want to live without but only a very select few which have had a profound impact on my life.

Honestly, today I was walking around wondering why I had such a long list. And wondering why some of my favorite stuff didn't belong there. But yeah, I really dug your response, it's exactly what I'm curious about: what opened a crucial door, what made you take your first step down a path. I always look back through the music I write to figure out where it came from, and sometimes I turn up whole sets of attitudes towards life that are based on nothing more than some dumb lyrics I heard when I was twelve.

[RelentlessOblivion]

It speaks to the power of music which can have such a profound and meaningful impact on someone's life. Music can make the most ordinary day seem like something special and unique. I firmly believe that the most powerful force in existance is music.

[Ghouly]

Opeth - Still Life This album changed my life because it sparked my passion for Opeth. It was at an Opeth concert that I met my spouse. Thus, I'm married because of Opeth! Metallica - And Justice for All The first Metallica tape I ever bought, and the first thrash metal I'd ever got my hands on. Largely responsible for my evolution as a young teen, from punk and grunge and rock, into metal. Ayreon - the Human Equation This album got me through very dark times, and also introduced me to the Prog genre, which is now probably my favorite. Ayreon also opened up the gates to an immense amount of artists because I'd go and check out which bands the various vocalists were from. The album also ties me to the person who introduced me to them, and with a lot of music I make that mental connection to the relationship that sparked the music recommendation. So I suppose when I listen to Ayreon I think of my friend fondly. It's like a forever gift! Led Zeppelin - IV The first album I really fell in love with as a kid that sent me down the rock path, as opposed to the pop (or some other) path. I've evolved and listened to so many things over the years but my love for LZ has not ever changed and there's still aspects of their music that blow me away. I was really little when I got into this. I'd definitely attribute my appreciation for metal to my roots in this band.

[orcslayr23]

Dragonforce: They were my introduction to "real" metal. I don't care about them anymore, but it's very possible that I would've never really gotten into metal without them. Elvenking: They were the second metal band I ever got into, and I still love their music (they are my favorite band). It's hard to put into words how they changed my life, but their music is more than just music to me. Woods of Ypres: (Woods 5) This album is unbelievable. Lyrically it's so crushing, heavy, and personal that it kind of transcends "regular" music for me. Listening to the song "Alternate Ending" while reading the lyrics one day caused me to tear up, which has NEVER happened to me with music. It may have indirectly helped me discover my atheist beliefs, but I wouldn't swear to it. Because of the power of the aforementioned lyrics i've had a much greater appreciation for lyrics and "true expressions of emotion" in art in general. I haven't started a music project with "serious" lyrics yet, but the lyrics on Woods 5 make me want to find a way to express myself in a way that David Gold did. Soilwork: I love this band, but before I took a vocal lesson with Speed, I didn't have any interest in learning how to sing. I definitely now have the interest, i'm just still very self-conscious about it and need to devote the time and money to taking lessons. This is more of a "hopefully will change my life in the future". ORCumentary: (can I use my own music?) Making music with ORCumentary has allowed me to express myself, go to places, and meet people and other artists that I would have never been able to otherwise. It's extremely fulfilling and I feel very lucky and grateful that i've gotten the support i've gotten so far making music (and presenting it in a live format) in such an unconventional way.

[Ghouly]

Woods of Ypres: (Woods 5) This album is unbelievable. Lyrically it's so crushing, heavy, and personal that it kind of transcends "regular" music for me. Listening to the song "Alternate Ending" while reading the lyrics one day caused me to tear up, which has NEVER happened to me with music. It may have indirectly helped me discover my atheist beliefs, but I wouldn't swear to it. Because of the power of the aforementioned lyrics i've had a much greater appreciation for lyrics and "true expressions of emotion" in art in general. I haven't started a music project with "serious" lyrics yet, but the lyrics on Woods 5 make me want to find a way to express myself in a way that David Gold did.

This is so awesome. I love Woods of Ypres and I also got a bit sniffly over 5. I can totally relate.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Bands or albums that changed your life

This is so awesome. I love Woods of Ypres and I also got a bit sniffly over 5. I can totally relate.

I've only heard them once or twice, but I wasn't impressed. Should I be giving them a second chance? Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[Ghouly]

I've only heard them once or twice, but I wasn't impressed. Should I be giving them a second chance?

I don't see why not, maybe you'll listen to a song you didn't hear before that appeals more. My fav album is Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth. But I can definitely understand how its not to everyone's taste.

[KSMASH]

Led Zeppelin IV for me as well!! The opening lick in Black Dog blew my mind. I knew right then that I wanted to play electric guitar and fill my life with music.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Bands or albums that changed your life

I don't see why not, maybe you'll listen to a song you didn't hear before that appeals more. My fav album is Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth. But I can definitely understand how its not to everyone's taste.

Okay, I'll give them another shot then. It has been a while since I've heard one of their proper tracks, the last time I heard one of their songs was last year when Novembers Doom played a cover of one of their songs as a tribute. Novembers Doom sucked that night though, so it could easily have been them butchering the song. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[RelentlessOblivion]

I have another one for my list Mournful Congregation - The Monad Of Creation I haven't had this album for all that long compared with most of my collection but it was my introduction to Funeral Doom. This genre is really helping me cope with some serious bullshit going on right now helping me work through my manic depressive moods in a healthy way and Monad just happens to be my favourite Mournful Congregation album as well.

[JBaker]

I guess I'll do this chronologically... 1. Motorhead Hearing Ace of Spades on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 soundtrack is pretty much the first time I can remember listening to a Metal track. It was such a mesmerizing and empowering experience. After living with my sister's collection of bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, Good Charlotte etc. and my mum's so-called 'world music', hearing such a dirty, ballsy and heavy track really made me re-evaluate how I understood music (and made me feel like a bad-ass), and was the first time I ever felt compelled, at the age of 6 or 7, to actually own an album myself. This led to my mum stumbling upon, and subsequently buying me, their greatest hits collection: 'Deaf Forever' in a service station... 2. Black Sabbath My next birthday (or maybe Christmas) after buying Deaf Forever, I got a greatest hits 2 disc collection by Black Sabbath. I didn't immediately like the first disc (the one with early material like Black Sabbath and NIB), as back then it seemed a bit too dark and weird. I put the album aside for a few months, I think, but then I decided to give disc 2 a try. I was instantly blown away by the opening tracks, Tomorrow'd Dream, Supernaut and and Snowblind. Supernaut left the biggest impact as it was still heavy, but also more upbeat and it went just so well with the videogame I was playing. I then became a huge fan of the rest of their stuff and, for quite a while, they were the only band I listened to! And, I'd say they're about joined with Alice in Chains as my favourite band to this day! 3. Nirvana After basically living on a diet of Motorhead and Sabbath, with the odd spurt of Sex Pistols now and then, I discovered this band just as I started high school. I became obsessed with this band as I adored Kurt's vocals, the loud/soft dynamics (this seemed really new and exciting back then as I hadn't yet come suffered all the shitty nu metal and post-grunge bands that completely abused this idea) and how a simple pop melody could be twisted to become so dark and heavy; completely brimming with the kind of angst we all feel at 13 years of age. This changed my listening habits significantly as I got into lots of alternative rock bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Faith No More and The Smashing Pumpkins. 4. Disturbed and mainstream Nu Metal in general Ah, yes. The good ol' early 2000's wave of commercial Alt Metal. For most people on this forum (certainly those around my age), these probably served as little more than gateways into 'true' Metal bands. Where I obviously differ is that these bands weren't responsible for making me like Metal as I'd already dipped my toes in with Sabbath and Motorhead years prior to this. Korn, Disturbed and System of a Down did, however, recapture my interest in Metal and made me wanna check out modern bands. I credit Disturbed the most as this was the first band (arguably) in the Metal genre that gained my interest after all the 90s alt rock. This swiftly led to my discovering Korn and SOAD. 5. Sepultura At this point I was a little stuck as to where to go from here. I found modern more authentically Metal bands too extreme but traditional and Power Metal seemed too soft. When I first heard Sepultura, I kinda dismissed them as another 'screamy' band, but something about them made me come back. Before long, I grew to really like them and eventually bought Roots. This was like the perfect album for me: much heavier and more extreme than anything I'd been into previously, but had the familiar down-tuned guitar sound and pretty simplistic grooves I loved hearing from bands like Korn. It also felt really cool that I'd finally discovered a (relatively) legit Metal album. It felt so dangerous and heavy at the time! This band did a few things for me. Firstly, it showed me that music doesn't need to have a catchy melody to be enjoyable. This, in turn, led me to discover more extreme bands like Napalm Death, Deicide, Origin, Mayhem, Dying Fetus, Behemoth etc. Meanwhile, the 'Groove Metal' scene with which this band's mid-nineties material is associated is probably my favourite Metal scene to this day! 6. Tool This band, along with Deftones, were kinda responsible for me appreciating music for its beauty as well as aggression and heaviness. They led me to appreciating music on a totally new level where I now listen to music and pay it my full attention. I now no longer use music simply as a means to get myself 'pumped up' (don't get me wrong; I still love a fair few 'heaviness for the sake of heaviness' kinds of bands if I'm in the right mood); I've also learned that music can be a far more thought-provoking, meditative experience. 6. Massive Attack The band that got me into genuinely chilled-out music. I guess the horrible dark druggy feel and occasional heavy moments of Mezzanine meant that it was able to appeal to me as a Metal/ heavy rock fan. Wow, I think I've talked bollocks for long enough now. Because my life story is so fucking interesting! God, I need to find myself a hobby...

[FatherAlabaster]

Wow' date=' I think I've talked bollocks for long enough now. Because my life story is so fucking interesting! God, I need to find myself a hobby...[/quote'] Nah, dude, that was good post. Thank you. I really enjoy the detailed responses. We're all here because we care a lot about music for one reason or another.

[NTNR]

Metallica - ...and Justice for All Made me want to play heavy, fast metal. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden Made me want to play good, melodic, fast heavy metal Helloween - The Best, the Rest, the Rare Showed me how to combine the two bands above in an awesome way. Cannibal Corpse - Vile Made me want to play faster, heavier and more brutally than ever. Paradise Lost - Icon Made me want to play slow and beautiful and moody music My Dying Bride - Trinity Made me want to play the above slower, heavier and with a more sinister and hateful flare.

[RelentlessOblivion]

So the key thing to take away from that post is: expect Mike's solo melodic thrash album out soon followed by his sellout album where he blatantly rips off a boring death metal band

[odinnsman]

Sabbaths first 3 albums, made me feel like metal was not just a music form but a dark world to enter and explore, just the groove of the music and the dark atmosphere it creates, Monster Magnet's Powertrip, and Maiden's Killers, both made me see hard rock as a kind of state of mind, being laid back, inner strenth, not letting things get you down, going for what you want, not giving a crap about stuff that don't matter. Master of Puppets, for giving me such a rush and being so huge and epic, made me want to make my life as epic and adventurous as the album was. Napalm Death Greed Killing album, making me want to explore extreme metal after always dismissing it for being too noisy before.

[sadistic1]

Wow I could make this a really long post but I will spare you. I will pick one Album although I could pick several at various stages in my life. "Master of Puppets" and I'll tell you why. I grew up listening to all kind of music. Iwould play my dads vinyl, cassettes and 8 tracks. Everything from Oldies to funk to classic rock. Sabbath, AC/DC, Jackson 5, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Bob Seger. You get the point. I always favored the rock side of his collection. Ok back on track.. When I was 11 my Mom put me in a rehab facility for depression. I guess I was depressed after my Grandpa died while i was with him in Oregon. Anyhow, this facility had different wards. One for adults with depression and such as well as a youth ward. Also there was a drug and alcohol rehab ward for adults and young teenagers. One evening they hosted a dance for all of us "Inmates"...lol They were spinning different records that were dance and pop music mostly. If you had vinyl in your dorm room, you could bring it and the DJ would spin it. The drug rehab ward had a lot of Metalheads that they used to call the Hessians. They had Master of Puppets on Vinyl (wish I had an original pressing) and the DJ put it on. I had never heard of Metallica at that point. When Battery started playing, I was mesmerized. It was so different than any other rock or Metal I had heard before. I was hooked instantly. It was raw, fast, aggressive and everything I was looking for in music but I just didn't know that I was looking for that nor that it even existed. I was listening to a lot of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and artists like that up until this point. After Battery finished the HEssian asked the DJ to put on Welcome Home Sanitarium. As soon as the chorus came on the staff counselors freaked out and made him turn off the record. They confiscated the album. I knew this was something I needed to get my hands on right away. I asked the Hessian what that band and album was called and thats when I knew things were going to be different for me musically. We were only allowed certain music and this spurred the staff to be more strict on the types of music allowed in our dorms. That next week when my Dad came to visit and bring me some new cassettes I told him about Master of Puppets. I remember that week he brought me in a ZZ Top cassette. I knew they would not allow Master of Puppets to be brought in. Also we were not allowed to have recorded cassettes for fear that we may record things happening in the facility. Confidentiality I suppose. So I taught my Dad how to take a regulat cassette and put tape over the tabs to allow your tape recorder to record new material. My Dad had just bought his first CD player and Master of puppets was the first CD he ever purchased. He recorded it in it's entirty over a Dire Straits cassette. The next week he brought me more tapes and Dire Staits was one of them. He clued me in that Metallica was on that tape. I listened to that tape over and over again throughout my 9 months in there. Once I was out, I was able to learn more about the band and buy their prior releases. I knew I was a metal fan for life. As my life progressed and needed something a little harder, faster, darker, and more aggressive. That's what led me to Slayer. Slayer didn't fulfill that desire after awhile which led me to Death Metal. It helped that in High School there were a good population of Hessians who were so willingly to share and trade tapes so we can all experience this great wave of music that was taking over our minds. Ok so I think I took up enough of your precious time for now. Sorry it was so long. I drank a bunch of coffee this morning. Cheers!

[FatherAlabaster]

That's a really cool story. Thanks for posting. My experience of Master Of Puppets was a little different, though it was one of my favorites growing up as well: I had a Casio sampling keyboard, the small one with the touch pads that would play back whatever short sounds you recorded. It came with a tape of all kinds of different sound samples (thunder, doors opening and closing, farm animals, etc...) - which was neat but I never used it. I had Ride The Lightning on tape, but I didn't have Puppets, so one of my friend lent it to me to copy. The only tape I had to use was this Casio tape with all the samples on it, so I recorded over that. But something must have been misaligned in my cheap shit tape deck, because it didn't completely erase the noises. So between every song on Puppets, I had shit like jet planes and roosters crowing and pigs squealing. Use your imagination. That was how I listened to it for two or three years, until I had the money to get a legit copy. I wish I still had that tape, because nobody believes me. The closest you could get to the experience is listening to the beginning of that Soundgarden track "Searching With My Good Eye Closed".

[sadistic1]

That is funny. I'm glad to see someone else used to record over other tapes. The quality was always garbage but hey it was metal.

[odinnsman]

Here's something weird I just rememberd. I got a proper bought copy of And Justice For All on cassette tape in the 90s, and on the end of side 1 after One finished, there was 5mins of opera and something that sounded like and instrumental Atomic by Blondie. Still have no idea whether it was meant to be there.