the five, most important bands in your life

[killsaly]

 

[killsaly]

All the music that I like is important to me, and I do not think I could make a top list of what is more important to me than other music.  Also I do not think I would want to get that deep into my personal life and explain stuff like why I was obsessed with Modest Mouse starting in 2004.  Maybe one day if we ever hang in person.  I try to watch out what I put out there in the digital world; always have, and always will.

[Unsanity]

Black Sabbath - they started it all and are better than most that have come after. Been listening to my Mom's Paranoid LP my whole life.

At The Drive-In - My best friend was obsessed with them way back when and showed me the way. I wasn't into punk at all until I heard ATDI. I have followed everything the guys have done since the initial break-up too. Love it all. Shaped my entire life since middle school.

Helmet - Something about them always resonated with me. I always felt like Page Hamilton and I were....uh..on the same page. He always sounds like he is strangling his guitar and that mixed with John Stainer's excellent drumming grab me and don't let go.

Killing Joke - Most consistent band of all time? These guys can do no wrong and it pains me to keep seeing them cancel shows. I thank Dave Grohl for introducing me to these titans.

Faith No more - ever since I got a second hand copy of Angel Dust on cassette in the late 90's I have been a super fan of Mike Patton and the boys. I got turned on to tons of other music through my love of FNM.

Picking five was hard, really hard. These are bands I constantly go back to and mean a lot to me.

[dyecraig]

forever changing:
love
miles davis bands and his band member's bands
velvet underground
nick cave & the bad seeds and side projects
fela kuti & africa '70/egypt '80

[Space Freely]

Stop, cheating.  And please give some lengthy diatribe as to why such 5 bands control,  you so.  Please.

I enjoyed your diatribes, but can honestly say that though I'm a music fan, no band is all that important to me in the bigger picture of my life.

[Yada]

killsally'd and hutch'd in less than a page, nice.

[hutch]

New Order/Joy Division- something about these guys really hit a nerve with me...from unknown pleasures up to technique its all pretty much perfect...musically.. the art aesthetic of the covers...technique is perfect..shame about republic..

The Cure- these guys I started not into at all and finished loving..robert smith is a genius........ i guess i listened to disintegration at the perfect moment...so looking forward to show this summer at merriweather

AC/DC- my favorite rock and roll band.... i have to say that after back in black i'm not a huge fan.. but the bon scott era (and back in black which i can't help but think bon had a hand in) i can eat it up...these guys sort of gave me a new lease on life in my late 30s...just energized me...seeing them live in 2008 was a big deal.. if i could have a time machine and meet any rock and roller it would be bon...when Malcolm left it was over.

Ween (I may revisit this choice...kind of on the fence about this one....).. its hard for me to pick one "90s" band but for some reason i pick these guys even if I'm ticked off at their incredible fall over the past decade and change....such a perfect run between chocolate and cheese and white pepper.. i guess they sort of encapsulate good times for me... its all become a bit tinged with sadness as of late though...

Rolling Stones- masters of the chuck berry rock and roll which is my orange juice... I'm a Stones not Beatles guy.

[Kubacheck]

my list is very "old-centric".... and in my case, getting heavily into a band also included researching them, reading as much about them as I could, as well as listening to the music.....

1) The Doors, first band I really got into as an early teen... read "No One Here Gets Out Alive" and wore out "Absolutely Live" and their self titled first album on my turntable.... from there I went on to....
2) The Who.... someone gave me a mix tape that included "My Generation" from the Smothers Brothers show.... read "Before I Get Old" and listened to "Live At Leeds" all the time..... first CD I ever bought when I got my first CD player in the mid 80's was "Live at Leeds"...
3) The Beatles.... read all the books and made my own mixtapes of what I considered to be their greatest hits, not what someone else thought were....
4) Pink Floyd.... pretty much everything they put out up to and including "Final Cut" spoke to me in some way...
5) Luna.... heard a song (IHOP) on the radio in the late 90's which completely grabbed my attention... which is funny because that song is not exactly representative of their "normal" sound.... bought everything they'd already put out, kept up with them, listen to them still currently more than any other band....but for some reason, never made it to a show, so I lucked out when they decided to do more shows last year and beyond.....

[Kubacheck]

Rolling Stones- masters of the chuck berry rock and roll which is my orange juice... I'm a Stones not Beatles guy.

I'm with you there, I think if you were able to look up the definitive audio definition of "Rock and Roll" as a music form, it'd be "Carol" from Ya-Ya's..... the Stones and Rockpile were by far the best at doing Chuck live, IMO.....

[hutch]

5) Luna.... heard a song (IHOP) on the radio in the late 90's which completely grabbed my attention... which is funny because that song is not exactly representative of their "normal" sound.... bought everything they'd already put out, kept up with them, listen to them still currently more than any other band....but for some reason, never made it to a show, so I lucked out when they decided to do more shows last year and beyond.....

yeah.. I almost put Luna in place of Ween.. I could see it either way... huge Luna fan here...and their reunion did not/does not have the horrible feel of what has happened to Ween...

[killsaly]

killsally'd and hutch'd in less than a page, nice.

[bearman🐻]

Good thread.

1) The Beatles (age 5)  -- Cemented my love of music. What more can I add? 'Nuff said.
2) The Smiths (age 11) -- First band that made me realize I could find an identity through music...just be yourself. Be geeky, be strange, be uncool, be queer, be miserable, be happy, but be true to yourself.
3) The Pixies (age 14) -- The band that made my world of black and white go to technicolor. They completely changed how I listened to music, they opened up a door that I walked through, closed, locked and threw away the key...first concert I ever saw, and first band that I really felt was "my own". I was ridiculed for liking "the Pussies" by the numbskulls that listened to Metallica and Ice T. I guarantee you later on those people went to college and bought "Last Splash" by the Breeders to make a girl like them or listened to Pavement (okay, Pearl Jam). But the Pixies made some of the most difficult years of life bearable.
4) Elliott Smith (age 23) -- Technically not a band, but screw it, it's my list. Plus, he toured with a band and got his start in Heatmiser. One of those voices and songwriters that made me realize I was growing up and needed another voice, another direction. Still one of the most special people to ever grasp a guitar and stitch together words, music, and emotion into the most remarkable form of beauty and art.
5) Luna (age 34) -- I got to see Luna in the 90's but it wasn't until after they broke up that I really explored their discography and realized their extraordinary genius and that includes their last LP "Rendezvous". Sometimes it takes life experience to really appreciate the intricacy and detail of certain music. For me, Luna represents a step into adulthood where I finally became more secure in who and what I am. I discovered the bulk of their music at a time when I realized that I only have myself...I'm the one who chooses what I want and need from life. Seeing their tour last autumn was magical to me. I still keep discovering music that I obsess over and that makes me hear things differently. But I'm still a picky mofo.

[radley17]

The Who
Velvet Underground
The Clash
R.E.M.
Parliament Funkadelic

Honorable Mention

Sonic Youth
Dead Kennedys
Cramps
Grateful Dead
Public Enemy

[bob72]

I was introduced to the following bands pre-1990. They represent a very specific time and place for me. Time travel doesn't exist, but these bands are the next best thing:

• Jane's Addiction
• Living Colour
• Descendents
• Naked Raygun

And yes, I know she's not a band, but #5 is Bjork. Not just a musician to me, but a phenomenal artist in general.

[Here's the thing]

Feelies
REM
Neutral Milk Hotel
Springsteen
David Bowie