Mastodon: I realized heavy music can be eclectic as well as complex (without it just being for the sake of complexity).
Neurosis: The textures and importance of composition and emotional investment in music. They also got me interested in metaphysical science and a few different authors.
Carcass: These guys along with The County Medical Examiners got me seriously thinking about a career in pathology and now I'm top of my Advanced Anatomy class and attending Northwestern after my senior year and then off to Michigan University for pre-med. They've influenced me musically and academically.
System Of A Down - I saw a live video of them when I was eleven and the image of Serj Tankian jumping around and rocking out like a fool onstage is still burnt into my memory it was watching that video that made me realize I wanted to play music for a living I had never seen such passion in my life
Tool - Music could mean something and it was an important medium, it was not just for entertainment. Music could contain a message
All That Remains - Its important to be who you are and express yourself thusly
In Flames - These guys are amazing without even trying, and they inspire me to get to that point
I could go on with more bands and more reasons but I dont have all day and neither do you. But yes I can honestly say that my love of punk rock that grew into my love of metal made me not only the musician I am today but also the person I am today.
Cacophony - Made me try ALOT harder in my music writing/guitaing
Weezer- Made me realize that there was other music than metal, and is pretty good for mellowing out
Jimi Hendrix - Made me pick up guitar in the first place
Quiet Riot - The first metal band I started lsitening to, and I freaking loved it lol
The first band that had any real effect on me, were Good Charlotte when I was 7
I know that a lot of people don't like them and think it's not good music or whatever and I know that there's far more talented musicians out there, but they're not about that, and wern't about that for me.
They proved to me that you didn't have to come from a good place to get anywhere, and that even kids from broken homes could realize their dreams if they just worked at it.
They gave me inspiration to do stuff with my life
That said I get REALLY uppity about half assed fans/people that think young and hopeless was their first album (or even if they think little things was their first song )
Cream, Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Doors being played continuously when I was really young. The concepts and music were so strange, and I couldn't figure out why. Then in my teens I figured out they were using hallucinogens to give them these weird perspectives, so I started taking LSD and it opened my mind and let me see the world in a whole different light.
Listen motherfucker, let me make this clearI've had your fucking poetry up to hereYour tender recollections and wistful reminisceExcuse me, Mr Shakespeare, while I go have a piss
skinny puppy -to dark park
this 1 sent me head1st into the darkest industrial around it changed my looks to my way of thinking not 2 mention made my friendz think i was insane....was on tape btw i feel old
atari teenage riot - sick to death ep
got this 1 yr after puppy it woke me up 2 the potential weapon music can be. DHR changed my life
aphex twin- richard d james album made me realize the sound can be your personal bitch if u spend enough time on it
The Beatles were all I listened to before grade school age, so I guess all of their songs are permanently implanted in my head...?
The first major CD i really liked was Synchronicity by the Police...and then...yeah..
I'd say these albums are all major influences on my music and speak volumes about me personally (hopefully that's good?)
-Queens of the Stone Age
-Sing the Sorrow- by AFI
-Songs for the Deaf- by Queens of the Stoneage
-Heroine- by From First to Last
-Nocturne- by The Human Abstract
-In Vogue- by Drop Dead Gorgeous
-Count Your Blessings- by Bring me the Horizon
-Slaughter of the Soul- by At The Gates
-Annihilation of the Wicked- by Nile
Rush : I grew up on these guys. They made me who I am.
All That Remains : Got me into the 'Metalcore' Scene and really made me look at how I took lyrics in. Also has inspired me to (attempt) to learn how to mix screaming and clean vocals.
In Flames : Purely poetry.
Mindless Self Indulgence : To be whoever you want to be, no matter how messed you may look.
Slipknot : Describing how I feel at times with perfect lyrics. And everyone needs a litlte insanity in their life.
Thrice : Another inspiring band.
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Kyuss: taught me that you don't need to play at 300mph with blastbeats to make the heaviest fucking music possible.
Atari Teenage Riot: I was into a lot of electronic music before, but hese kinds showed me you can blur the lines between electronic music and extreme music.
Deftones: There are no such thing as dischords
Space: I loved these guys back when everyone in my school was prematurely wanking over Spice Girls, boyzone and all manner of 90's pop shite. Showed me at a very early age that popularity doesn't = good.
Therapy?: You can be as musically diverse as you want and still retain individual characteristics.
I would give you one of my beers
But I've only got six.
There's an absolute crap load that have influenced me if I'm honest, but most recently:
The Dresden Dolls - A combination of theatrical stage performance and gutsy music that comes from the heart and hits you in the exact same spot.
Amanda Palmer - Front lady of The Dresden Dolls, and also solo artist. Her music is fantastic, but she's also incredibly human. The contact and connection she has with her fans is something amazing. Also the drive and determination she has to keep making art and music is just inspiring.
(The perfect drug, I just read your post - *high fives*)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - I was introduced to them at the age of 1 or 2. John Frusciante's playing had influenced me to learn guitar, and the way the whole band works together had inspired me to pursue a career in music.
The Punk genre - When I was a baby, my parents would play me a lot of punk such as UK Subs, Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Damned, Sham 69, etc. If it wasn't for this music, I dunno what I'd be listening to now.
The Jrock genre - Well, I've been a fan of the genre for a few years now, but when I seen Dir En Grey live in january, I was amazed at how they connected with the crowd, despite the language barrier.
black flag - easily the best 80's hardcore band. greg ginn is a fucking amazing guitarist, inspires me all the time. their line-up for "my war" is the best black flag line-up and produced my favorite black flag songs. hearing "damaged" for this first time in middle school blew my mind.
Pink Floyd - The Wall : It's one of those Albums which any one can relate to, its such an awesome album full of songs which have been beamed into my head from a young age and given me so much.
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge : As clique as any super core fan says, but this album saved my life. I was so depressed and it gave me a feeling of Belonging, an inspiration, every time i listen to it I get more inspired to go and make music.
The Cure - Wish : It makes me happy,
I wish the moon was made of Cheese, there would be more mice with rocket ships.
Converge/Pig Destroyer - Showed me that music can be raw and aggressive but still maintain amazing atmosphere and conveying a beautiful tragedy through the lyrics and vocals.
Atari Teenage Riot; because, like someone else already said. It shows how extreme music and electronic stuff can come about and how something "artificial" like electronic stuff can sound really chaotic and to a sense unstructured.
Nine inch nails; again like someone pointed out. Even being in a lesser phase in life, can spark music, lyrically or musically.
Meshuggah; Slow doesn't mean not heavy... it also gave me more understanding on how odd timesignatures work.
The Dillinger Escape Plan; I do like my stuff hectic and chaotic, but even then, with a sense of clarity. I think they pull it off better than most of the similar artists.
Marilyn Manson; Back in the day, when he was good. I remember seeing him on MTV with his video for "The beautiful people"... great song and got hooked for quite a while then. It also was when my life went downhill *giggles* In time I realized that you should be out of your mind to make stuff like that, shocking people is cool and if you do it in style it's even better.
Cradle of filth; A bit of the same Manson stuff, it also introduced me to the world of concept albums with their release of Cruelty and the beast. Complete albums telling stories... heck, I was 16, the internet wasn't what it is now (1998) so I had some fun with CoF back then.
And a final one then.
Combichrist; Pretty much introduced me in EBM, or at least EBM I liked. A lot of the stuff I heard about 10 years ago wasn't that great so I didn't really spend too much time on it. Ever since I heard their album The joy of guns, I piece by piece got more involved with similar acts, up to the point where I listen to more EBM and Cyber stuff then metal. After seeing CC live a few years ago, I decided to try and do something similar, hence I'm through with local metal bands and I'm just abusing (soft)synths ever since.
Marilyn Manson - By far probably the most influential artist for me. In fourth grade, when I had no idea who he was or anything, I heard Sweet Dreams and it was my favorite song. Apart from Manson being what got me into ALL the music I like now, I've read up on a lot of his other work, lyrics, etc and over the five years new meanings keep coming up in his work to me. His lyrics always speak to me, whatever time I listen.
System of a Down - After discovering Manson I began to love System too, their sounds were so unconventional I loved the middle eastern influence. I think they inspired me to really try to be more creative with music.
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty much for lyrical value, and I'm tired of typing.
Many artists have influenced my musical style, which I am glad about because I feel I have a more original sound than most
one artist that made my life change was (i know, i know...) Jon Bon Jovi. Some of his music is just...amazingly comparitive to my life, especially "Welcome To Wherever You Are".
I'd say The Prodigy, they were the first band I really listened to. Up until then I'd just listened to the standard pop-compilations. I guess it's been like 13 or 14 years, and I still love them.
Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Joplin, Jim Morrison, Robert Smith, J Mascis (the guy from Dinosaur JR), etc: as far as songwriting goes, music from artists like these, especially from the 60's and the 70's era, though a few modern artists. People who wrote meaningful songs and had talent, who had things to say.
As far as sound... wow... Shudder to Think, sonic youth, Dragons of Zynth, sunny day real estate the cure, dinosaur Jr, Reggie and the full effect... just stunning indie, noise or otherwise brilliantly crafted music.
Lyrics wise, some indie and underground hiphop too: Aesop Rock, Scroobius Pip, etc.
"Thus shall you think of this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream."
-- the Diamond Sutra, Mahayana Buddhism
I can't say any musical artists have changed my life in general, but from a musical standpoint, BT has been a great influence on me. His album This Binary Universe has proven to me that you can make glitchy sounding electronic music, yet still back it with a beautiful melody, and that there are still highly unexplored areas of music composition.
Faery Child @ Soundclick, click image above to enter!
My mother was a religious fanatic so it was mostly oldies growing up. Then I pulled a fresh prince and pissed off the local gang bangers and got shipped to Indiana to live with my father. He bought me a walkman and I started raiding his cassettes. Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, and the Doors made me the fuck up I am today. He also bought me my first Epiphone acoustic... Now I have lots of guitars and basses.
and I know that there's far more talented musicians out there, but they're not about that, and wern't about that for me.
