Dirty_Boogie
Still got the ol' tagger on it
When you realize what a genius Steven Wilson is...
When you first heard "new" music
- Thread starter Tucson Thump
- Start date
RaySachs
New Member
Most of the stuff that got through to me and opened my head up was recorded and out there long before i personally GOT it and had my head turned around by it. I was born in '59 and started hitting some sort of musical appreciation maturity somewhere in the latter half of the 70's. So Coltrane, Miles, the best of the Stones, Dylan, Hendrix, Clapton, etc, I got REALLY into well after it had been around a while. I really liked Hendrix Smash Hits and Best of Cream and early Stones when I was like 10 years old but I can't say I really GOT it until I was 17-18 at least.
But a moment I'll never forget was when the first Dire Straits album was released and Sultans of Swing was played on the radio one morning - "we got some really interesting new music for you this morning, from England". I had just started playing guitar within the past year and was just getting an idea of the kind of stuff I aspired to play. And man, when Knopfler stated unwinding some of those lead lines and intertwined rhythms, I just totally stopped what I was doing and focussed RIGHT in on it. That morning was probably about the first time anyone in the US heard that album so it wasn't just new to me, it was new to everyone. And it immediately turned my head inside out. And Knopfler immediately became one of my key influences. I never got good enough to emulate him in any meaningful way, but it was still a big part of the sound I heard in my head when I was playing.
-Ray
But a moment I'll never forget was when the first Dire Straits album was released and Sultans of Swing was played on the radio one morning - "we got some really interesting new music for you this morning, from England". I had just started playing guitar within the past year and was just getting an idea of the kind of stuff I aspired to play. And man, when Knopfler stated unwinding some of those lead lines and intertwined rhythms, I just totally stopped what I was doing and focussed RIGHT in on it. That morning was probably about the first time anyone in the US heard that album so it wasn't just new to me, it was new to everyone. And it immediately turned my head inside out. And Knopfler immediately became one of my key influences. I never got good enough to emulate him in any meaningful way, but it was still a big part of the sound I heard in my head when I was playing.
-Ray
Lister
Playing guitar badly since the 70's...
Some great ones listed so far, Eruption, Sultans, I'd also add Crazy Train with the late great Randy Rhoads.
But for me, my biggest AHA moment happened in 1983. I was driving along a back road when Pride and Joy came over the car speakers. Whoa, what is this? Who is this? I literally stopped in the middle of the road, thankfully no traffic, and listened to this song that was just so different from anything else being played on the radio at the time-1980's synth pop anyone? Very shortly, I was in the record shop getting my own copy of Texas Flood! The really cool thing about Stevie was he wasn't shy about giving props to those that influenced him, so I started digging through guys he mentioned, Freddie King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Kenny Burrell, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy among others. Looking back it's easy to say that I should have already known about these great musicians, but as a white nerd in flyover country long before the interwebs(lol), nobody was playing these older blues guys on the radio in my area. I will always be grateful to SRV for mentioning these legends in his interviews and leading me to a love of the blues that still resonates through my playing today.
But for me, my biggest AHA moment happened in 1983. I was driving along a back road when Pride and Joy came over the car speakers. Whoa, what is this? Who is this? I literally stopped in the middle of the road, thankfully no traffic, and listened to this song that was just so different from anything else being played on the radio at the time-1980's synth pop anyone? Very shortly, I was in the record shop getting my own copy of Texas Flood! The really cool thing about Stevie was he wasn't shy about giving props to those that influenced him, so I started digging through guys he mentioned, Freddie King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Kenny Burrell, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy among others. Looking back it's easy to say that I should have already known about these great musicians, but as a white nerd in flyover country long before the interwebs(lol), nobody was playing these older blues guys on the radio in my area. I will always be grateful to SRV for mentioning these legends in his interviews and leading me to a love of the blues that still resonates through my playing today.
Very similar for me. GnR was really the first for me though. So raw and brash compared to the hair metal. That’s when I picked up guitar. A few years later as Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, STP, Nirvana, Tool all broke- it was a new time. A lot of discovery. I was just starting high school, was serious about guitar and all this new music felt honest and I connected with it right away. I was just beginning writing my own music just prior to that too. So this new scene had a huge impact on me and my writing.I kind of regret being too young to not have experienced the truly ground breaking new stuff. Stuff like Hendrix, Sabbath, & Van Halen. But, my era wasn't too shabby. I was just getting into high school when the grunge era took hold. Pretty amazing to hear stuff like Pearl Jam, STP, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Nirvana for the first time. Another wow moment was 1996 when Radiohead released OK Computer. I still never tire of that album and there has never been another one remotely like it. But, THE wow moment in music for me was when Dream Theater released Images and Words in 92 and hearing Pull Me Under for the first time. My god... the song that more or less sent me on a big musical journey that not only included Dream Theater, but lead to the stuff that inspired them such as Rush, Yes, Malmsteen, and much much more. It also really sparked my fire on the guitar. Before I heard that one song on the radio, I was into more straight up rock.... Aerosmith, GNR, Motley Crue.. But, after that is when I really started to develop a passion for musicians music. It was my manager at the seafood shack I worked at, a great drummer, who loaded up the tape when we were cleaning up after a shift. If it wasn't for him, who knows where I might have gone musically. I'd probably be a Taylor Swift fan and not play the guitar at all
I should give the first Korn album an honorable mention too. Can’t say it influenced me much but I remember buying it and saying WTF is this?!?
Then ‘96-97 Radiohead with OK Computer and Sevendust self titled. Polar opposites but both blew my mind in different ways. There’s been very little since then that’s gotten me that excited.
Oh...Korn absolutely. I have all of their albums through Untouchables in my library.
One thing I should have mentioned, and you reminded of me of it when you mentioned Sevendust, was Godsmacks first album.
Wakester
Re Member
Never heard of Porcupine Tree until about 15 minutes ago. Why the hell didn't I crawl out of the cave sooner. That is some awesome stuff!
There were so many “oh man!” moments, but only one, true, O-M-G...Eruption with headphones on, days after its release. Recorded it onto cassette and played it 100+ times on our summer trip back to Texas. Was afraid my parents would think I was into all that “heavy metal” music (and start searching my room for drug paraphernalia...like there’s no drug use in rock-n-roll 
).
However, the next epiphany happened very recently, like in January. Eric Johnson’s intro to Cliffs in person at NAMM. I’ve heard this song a thousand times but he never played that intro like that before. I stood there with my jaw agape.
). However, the next epiphany happened very recently, like in January. Eric Johnson’s intro to Cliffs in person at NAMM. I’ve heard this song a thousand times but he never played that intro like that before. I stood there with my jaw agape.
Tucson Thump
Mint Heavy Relic
I was out at a remote archeological dig along the Columbia River during the summer of 1974, living in an Army squad tent.
Laying out on a sand dune one night looking at the stars when I first heard Weather Report's "Mysterious Traveler".
Laying out on a sand dune one night looking at the stars when I first heard Weather Report's "Mysterious Traveler".
drdoom8793
THAT guy at Chick-fil-A
The classics are obvious, especially the first time I heard Pink Floyd's DSOTM and The Wall. Most recently, the first time I stumbled upon City and Colour, I was truly hooked.
Mike Duncan
DGT Player
Nirvana changed everything. It saved us from hair metal. I graduated high school in '91 and thought my friends who were fans of Warrant, The Bullet Boys, Winger, Skid Row, Poison, etc...were absolute bozos. Nirvana and Pearl Jam came in and washed away the Tom Foolery.
+1 to this! PT blew me away the first time I heard them, too. Wilson's latest album is mind-blowing.
Tucson Thump
Mint Heavy Relic
Who is warranted with saving us from disco? I'd like to give them props here right now.
Dirty_Boogie
Still got the ol' tagger on it
Too late, Sergio has bought it back with a vengeance!
ElrytNamrogo
My name be scrambled
Awesome, I was actually going to say Deadwing because that was my first experience with Porcupine Tree. Then I kinda moved backwards to In Absentia, Stupid Dream, and Sky Moves Sideways.
Like Les said, I have to many to name...but Dark Side of the Moon, Hendrix, Marley, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam all had that effect on me.
