I'm a Music Lovuh Too...

Well, I talk about music a lot, given that my immediate friends have wildly varying tastes. Two of my closest friends love Showtunes or anything from any musical ever written, yet one also dabbles in country, Cher, and the like while the other has the entire discography of HIM (and all that entails, hee hee).

So I thought it's time for a personal look back at the music that has been our foundation of what we listen to every day, and what kinds of music influences us constantly. Hopefully this will be sufficiently different from my colleauge's post. So beginning with myself:

I grew up a steadfast Christian, listening to boring hymns every single Sunday. But my brother had copies of Metallica's Black Album (that I don't remember ever listening to) and Offspring's Smash (which I do). Needless to say, Offspring was a keen reminder that there was a world outside repetitive worship songs and extra-mind-numbing hymns. At the same time I was listening to Delirious and Jars of Clay, I was also listening to Metallica's S&M double album and more on-the-fence bands like Creed. But your musical taste can only reflect what you hear, and as such, I liked bands my brother likes, because he was the sole source of the music I listened to.

It wasn't until my family moved that I began to search the world for music that I could have as my own. Interactions with far-reaching friends led me to take interest in bands like Evanescence, and A Perfect Circle. I listened to them incessently, as bands I've never really heard the likes of before. But the obvious progressions of Evanescence and APC respectively were their more extreme brother bands, Within Temptation and Nightwish (for Evanescence) and Tool (for APC). I fell in love instantly.

Nightwish and Within Temptation are symphonic/opera metal bands. Orchestras back drums and electric guitars, with operatic female singers at the helm. It is epic, it is fantastical, and it encompasses every emotion. You can headbang, you can sway, and so on. My brother, who goes for the epic, loud sounds, latched on, and last Halloween ('07) we went to a concert in Seattle, and generally had a good time, not counting the morons we had to deal with.

Tool is another, deeper direction. They are a thoughtful, insanely talented band, where every song is influenced by each member. Nobody is left out, and each member can be cited as one of the best in their field. To illustrate, Maynard James Keenan is their most well-known member, as the lead singer of both Tool and A Perfect Circle, but he doesn't write any of the music, just the lyrics. Their grammy winning song, "Schism," has a heavy riff everyone has heard, created by their bassist, Justin Chancellor.

They are a bit of a polarizing group, as their fans tend to be hardcore zealots, and completely elitist (yes, I admit it). But it's difficult to ignore their talent, and even those who have heard and don't want to listen to their music admit that they are quite good (I'm looking at you, big bro).

I look at these three bands as the platform for all the other music I listen to, be it U2 and Coldplay or Metallica and Korn, Lacuna Coil, Anberlin, Rise Against and on and on.

Now, what music has left you speechless, has had you begging for more? What music are you a fangirl or fanboy for, and what music in your childhood set the stage for your current headbanging material?

And yes, I will look up bands I hear about that I don't know about already. So list a ton!