Life-Changing Bands (or Songs)

I spent the morning listening to all the stuff posted here that I hadn't heard before.

SoonerAviator said:
Would love to hear from you all on bands/artists/songs that have changed the way you listen to music or have touched you (appropriately or inappropriately) in a profound way. I'm not talking necessarily about bands that just put on a good show or have abundant talent, but those who draw your focus much more intensely. Sometimes an artist has a sound or way with words that becomes truly transformative in your life. I would expect this topic may have a lot of artists that I haven't heard of (or didn't get exposed to much), so I'm interested to see what comes of it.

Edit: added option for individual songs since sometimes a song may hold a significant meaning even if the band wasn’t particularly impactful to you.

As thread starter, here's one of mine:

Manchester Orchestra. Alt-Rock band out of Atlanta. Lead singer/song writer was a preacher's kid, so many songs have a religious overtone but often from a questioning/darker tone. Lots of creative lyrics that often provide commentary on difficult situations. They had a few hits on the Billboard charts (which is where I first heard them), but they keep the tours pretty low-key. If I were to point a person to a few songs as an intro, I'd probably suggest "I Can Feel Your Pain" for it's raw emotion (written about a young female fan who passed from Cancer), and "The River" which is more typical of their sound.
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I live in the Atlanta area and had never heard them. That's some powerful stuff.


Bell206 said:
There's been hundreds over the years that tweaked me in various ways, but Pink Floyd is still my go to group since I was a youngin. However, here's my current short list that keeps me on the straight and narrow path.
Crazy Diamond-Parts I-V:
The End (Man on Fire soundtrack):
Amazing Grace:
Take Me Home:
Whiter Shades of Pale:

Comfortably Numb:

Then there is Mike Oldfield, Hans Zimmer, Queen, Evanesence, Creed, Jennifer Thomas, Andrea Boccelli, Audiomachine, James Blunt, etc, etc, etc. All depends on the mood. Grew up listening to my Dad's reel-to-reel blasting an A-Z of different artists with some I still follow today like Kingston Trio, Richie Havens, Cream, Stones, Hendrix, etc, etc, etc.
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The first album I bought was "Dark Side of the Moon". I do love "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".

kyleb said:
Allman Brothers. Stormy Monday.

Boz Scaggs. Loan me a dime.
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I'm not usually much on the blues, but I do like what the Allman Brothers do with a blues song.

nauga said:
Oh dear God. The popular music of my teens was absolutely awful. A high school teacher loaning me a copy of The Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" and Devo appearing on SNL are probably the two biggest musical epiphanies of my life and definitely changed the way I listened to music. The relief in finding that there was much more to music than Donna Summer and The Eagles was liberating. :D

Not from NMTB but representative and hopefully inoffensive :rolleyes:


...and the aforementioned SNL episode:


This, a million times. If you listen to my choices understand that music accompanies my moods but does not define them :eek:.

Several examples of songs that have led me to bands with catalogs deep enough to guided my tastes, and that I still listen to frequently:

Iggy Pop

The Nomads

Which gets us through the 80's.

Nauga,
to be continued.
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Back in the late 70's, my sister introduced me to the Sex Pistols. I didn't get it then and I still don't. I'm not adverse to all punk, I'm fine with the Ramones and am rather fond of X, which is sort of a different direction, and I'm certainly not averse to fast and loud (Mudhoney anyone?) but I never got the Sex Pistols.

nauga said:
The 90's were a little dry but got there eventually.

Jawbreaker


Man...or Astro-Man?


Pinhead Gunpowder


Dead to Me


Riverboat Gamblers


It's funny (to me anyway) how the East Bay sound really grabbed me, long before I had ever been to the area.

Thanks for indulging me :p

Nauga,
whose neighbors should know by now
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My favorite 90's bands were Loud Family and Lush. I'm also very fond of Veruca Salt's "American Thighs" album.


Sundancer said:
Ray Charles - I can't articulate it, but there is a quality, a characteristic of his voice I find compelling. Same for Nina Simone. Her covers of "To Love Somebody" and "Feeling Good" are terrific.
Also have to include Harry Stewart's "End of My journey", bith his natural voice and the melody. Genuine, moving, haunting.

Weird things is, I'm definitely NOT a blues or gospel fan. Some performances transcend genre I guess.

Oh, Oh, and yeah - Joan Osborne's cover of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted"! So well done, it is hands-down my favorite cover of all time. I ration myself to once a month,
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That Joan Osborne record is quite a perfomance. She really puts herself out there, and the backing arrangement is great.

My current favorite cover is Sara Bareilles doing "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and apparently it's Sir Elton's favorite as well.

BrianNC said:
I actually had the album pictured in the video, but that song wasn't on it. Not sure why they used that pic for the video. That song was on the third album. I bought that album, Focus II, or also known as Moving Waves for 'Hocus Pocus'. But it turned out to be a really great album. The second side was all one song and it was really good. It really surprised me.
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Yeah, I don't know why they used the cover art for "Moving Waves" when "Sylvia" is on "Focus III".

BrianNC said:
Amond others:

(Yes album "Close to the Edge")
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I love 70's progressive, and that's my favorite Yes album - all three tracks of it.

nauga said:
'88 Lines' showed up in my Pandora feed the other day. I think it was @wanttaja that did a parody of it and all the people Captain Zoom has...well, zoomed.

First, Hocus Pocus brings back memories, but not their version. We bet an enthusiastic band at an open mike night that they couldn't cover it. We lost. It was at once hilarious, frightening, and awe inspiring. (Sounds like a song by The Sweet :) )
Second, GAME THEORY!!! Thank you! 'Don't Respond' is one of those songs I heard once or twice when it was first released and thought it was interesting but never got around to tracking it down. Done! There is all kinds of stuff like this just lurking and waiting to be found.

For me it's an unnatural attraction to Drum and Bass. I blame The Powerpuff Girls.

Save yourself a lot of time and skip to the middle.


Nauga,
and his short attention span
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Are you familiar with Porcupine Tree? Silly name, great band.

MauleSkinner said:
I hated 80s music until...well, I still hate most 80s music. I could’ve gotten by without that decade.

Interestingly, I’m hearing some of those artists going “back to their roots” and/or singing “old guy” music on the blues stations.
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Past about 1982, what was played on the radio wasn't interesting to me at all. What's now referred to as "alternative" had a lot of good stuff.


Bill Jennings said:
If we're talking truly life changing:
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OK, now I have to ask the question. Ginger or Mary Ann? And while I'm at it, Jennifer or Bailey?
 
SoonerAviator said:
Agreed on that CC song. I have a hard time with a lot Christian rock mainly due to the format the music takes. There tends to be a heavy emphasis on repetition of the chorus and generally pretty mundane musicianship (not a knock on the musicians), almost always in 4/4 time. It causes me to lose interest because the songs from several artists ends up sounding much the same. The genre (being what it is) tends to focus around the same handful of themes which I understand but also get apathetic hearing. There are some great gems though, often with those bands/artists who tackle some of the more intimate/difficult subjects in their lyrics (not usually the stuff churches would have in service). It has to be difficult to write music which is predominantly lyrics-forward while still wanting to have something challenging for musicians to play (country music is often this way).
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Try listening to some Glenn Kaiser. Master blues/rock player and outstanding lyricist.
 
I didn’t realize it’s been 16 years.

Warren Zevon wrote and recorded
his goodbye after he found out his cancer was going to kill him. It was released just before he died.

His last recording:

 
This list represents the bigger shifts in a somewhat chronological order.

U2
R.E.M.
New Order
Dinosaur Jr
Mudhoney
Pixies
Minor Threat
Bikini Kill
Public Enemy
D.R.I.
Slayer
Jesus Lizard
Rodan
Air
Bon Iver
deadmau5
IDLES
clipping.
 
Hmmm... tough one as there are so many artists/songs. But as "transformational", guess I'd have to go with:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Fleetwood Mac - Mystery to Me
Supertramp - Crime of the Century

Each of those caused me to go WOW!! Still have the vinyl for those. The sound off vinyl is, IMHO, smoother and more mellow than CD or other digital. All three were excellent in concert.
 
Half Fast said:
Try listening to some Glenn Kaiser. Master blues/rock player and outstanding lyricist.
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Great suggestion. Listened to about a half-dozen of his songs this afternoon. Definitely has some solid chops and would fit right in with SRV or BB King.

Speaking of rock/blues guys I'm a big fan of Clapton as well. Guy is an icon in both genres.
 
Anyone here listen to the Decemberists?

They are totally not my style but I love them. The dude writes songs like novels. Its just great.

 
In 1969/1970 the Deja Vu album became sort of my personal anthem for the next twenty or so years:


Yep, the '70s produced lots of classic tunes. Here are a few of my favorites:





Then came the '80s... Word up!
 
When I was very young, my Mom would play Simon and Garfunkel albums. I remember staring at the album covers and listening to her play the music.

As the decades have gone by, I've really come to appreciate the greatness of that duo. Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Boxer, America, Sounds of Silence, etc. etc. etc.

0001768382.jpg
 
Cluemeister said:
When I was very young, my Mom would play Simon and Garfunkel albums. I remember staring at the album covers and listening to her play the music.

As the decades have gone by, I've really come to appreciate the greatness of that duo. Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Boxer, America, Sounds of Silence, etc. etc. etc.

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S&G reminded me of the early days of SNL.

They played this one night, it was filmed at one of the airports and shows people coming home for Christmas.

This is the only copy I could find:

 
Matthew said:
I didn’t realize it’s been 16 years.

Warren Zevon wrote and recorded
his goodbye after he found out his cancer was going to kill him. It was released just before he died.

His last recording:

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"There's Disorder in the House" is another.

I'm not a religious guy, at all, but the original "Jesus Christ Superstar" has stuck with me for 50 years.
 
I was looking for Patti Smith's version of 'Because the Night' for this thread and found this by Garbage and Marissa Paternoster of Screaming Females. I think Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen would approve.


Nauga,
nostalgic
 
A few that have been getting some play in my car



Not a cover guy, but this does justice

 
To channel some of my CA roots







 
I wouldn't have picked you as a Distillers guy, but we have something in common.


Nauga,
on an LA mission
 
I'm a pretty big fan of the Foo Fighters as well. In my opinion, probably the best rock band from the mid-90's to present. Just all around good rock, and Dave Grohl seems like a cool cat. I'd post YouTube links to some of their big hits, but I'd have a dozen or more just to scratch the surface, lol. Listening to their work from beginning to current, you can hear how they go from a more raw/garage band sound to a more polished, musical sound . . . but the rock is the same. They also are known for not taking themselves too seriously, so their videos are often pretty humorous. They put on a fantastic show as well, glad I went for their latest tour.

Aviation-related:

Latest stuff:
 
So nobody is going to go with whatever song was playing 9 months before your child was born?? ;)
 
I will see your rock and roll and raise you some classical....

My favorite cello piece played by my favorite cellist:

Here is the piece that changed me as a cellist while in college. A slightly more dramatic version than how I play it:

One of my favorite symphonies:

And for good measure.....love SRV:
 
The first four albums that come to mind are:
- Rush - 2112
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Van Halen - Van Halen
- Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East

Other albums that greatly influenced me a bit later:
- Yes - Close to the Edge
- Black Flag - Damaged
- REM - Murmur
- Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun
- Minutemen - What Makes a Man Start Fires?
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
I will see your rock and roll and raise you some classical....
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Wow! The Shostakovich! I played the solo and discant b flat Cornet parts on that awesome piece! That was in my last performance in High school... Always a favorite and I still have the whole thing memorized 43 years later!

My sister was the Cellist, but I kept up with her on violin until I went to the dark side and played French horn and trumpet in High School. We had a huge band and sounded like an orchestra during the non-marching season...

I listed SRV as one of my heroes on an application for an elite group of (special operators) and I was ridiculed. When asked why I placed him at the top of my list, I told them nobody, No-body can create his TONE. I guess they were no musicians...
 
Life changing? Standing on a friend’s gazebo built over the rocks looking over Raspberry Straights to Afognak Island on a foggy morning waiting for a Beaver on floats. It had been a successful hunt and now was time to go home. My friend put this song on the outdoor speakers as I sipped coffee alone that early morning. It wasn’t music I knew and it was awesome in that setting.

 
My weird list

Korn- Alone I Break
Metallica- Mama Said
Chevelle-The Clincher
Pearl Jam- Release


And when I would break up with a girl in the old days
Sam Kinison- Wild Thing
 
charheep said:
My weird list

Korn- Alone I Break
Metallica- Mama Said
Chevelle-The Clincher
Pearl Jam- Release


And when I would break up with a girl in the old days
Sam Kinison- Wild Thing
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Love Chevelle (the band and the car)
I could never hear Pearl Jam again and be just fine lol
 
Just saw Chevelle in concert. Breaking Benjamin was the "headliner" and they sounded way better live. It was more the sound guy. Chevelle was all bass and you couldnt hear the vocals. BB was just right
 
charheep said:
Just saw Chevelle in concert. Breaking Benjamin was the "headliner" and they sounded way better live. It was more the sound guy. Chevelle was all bass and you couldnt hear the vocals. BB was just right
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Not too surprised, just because Breaking Benjamin's musical style is a bit more "vocals forward" than Chevelle. I could also imagine that with Chevelle's typically heavier quitar sound that the studio wizards can clean it up a bunch, where that magic isn't as easily done in live concerts. I'd still like to see both in concert though, I'm sure it was worth the ticket price.
 
Oh boy, that’s easy. Transformative? Not until Muse did I feel a band expressed my own soul. It divided my life into before and after: There is my musical appreciation before Muse, and I loved all the greats you mention, Pink Floyd, Allman Bros, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. etc., and post Muse - after which no one comes close, especially their early albums. They’re caving to pop a bit much later on.

There are too many amazing songs, I will embed only one video but if you don’t know Muse, here are some of my recommend songs:

Newborn
Sunburn
Starlight
Fury
Shrinking Universe
Sing for Absolution
Stockholm Syndrome
Dead Star
Eternally Missed
Time is Running Out
Citizen Erased
Knights of Cydonia

And what I call simply, “Map...”

 
SoonerAviator said:
Great suggestion. Listened to about a half-dozen of his songs this afternoon. Definitely has some solid chops and would fit right in with SRV or BB King.

Speaking of rock/blues guys I'm a big fan of Clapton as well. Guy is an icon in both genres.
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If you're a rock/blues guy you've got to love Stevie Ray Vaughn who we lost much too early. For blues you have to include Janis (Joplin) who was also lost too early. Arguably the greatest female blues singer of all time.
 
Archer Jack said:
If you're a rock/blues guy you've got to love Stevie Ray Vaughn who we lost much too early. For blues you have to include Janis (Joplin) who was also lost too early. Arguably the greatest female blues singer of all time.
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Love SRV. Have watched a few decent documentaries on him as well. Shame he was taken in his prime.

I like JJ, but am not as familiar with her work outside of a dozen or so of her most popular songs. I’ll have to dig up some material to listen a bit deeper.
 
Not life changing.. but pretty cool
Would love to see them come play at the Rough River Fly-in.



Always enjoyed this piece by the Fry Street Quartet.
A few moments remind me of Bugs Bunny cartoons.

 
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John Lennon... I identify with much of his spirituality...

Imagine is my favorite song of all time...
 
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