At what age did you discover the music you like best

[Tracy 2112]

there has been talk on another thread that the music you discover in your early 20's is the music that formulates what you "like best". I have to chime in here, b/c the music I was listening to at that time of my life is my least visited "phase". For me, my overall landscape came in 2-3 phases: early years, we're talking 8-12 years old with all the Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones, etc... then late teens with REM, SRV, Sabbath and RUSH, and later when I was over 30, the more "experimental" stuff, punk, grunge, alternative, no depression, etc..Hell, I was a metal head when I was 21 and I really don't listen to the Priestes or Maiden anymore.

Anyways, just more food for thought about that music we all love!

[LeanneP]

I was pretty lucky growing up: my Dad, 20 when I was born, loved the British Invasion bands, Dylan, the Band, Cream, Floyd, CCR... So the first song I ever learned that wasn't a nursery rhyme was Hello, Goodbye. He taught me how to use his stereo when I was 6 and I would listen to all kinds of awesome stuff after school with the big fat headphones on, lying in the middle of the living room's shag carpet.

I spent some time in my tweens obsessed with Duran Duran but I also had the good sense to buy Police and U2 albums.

The big change for me came when we moved in the summer before Gr 9 and I walked to a record store a couple blocks away. I told the guy at the counter, "I hate all the stuff I've been listening to like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode. I want to listen to something else." He handed me a cassette of Murmur and said, listen to it and come back next week and tell me what you think. Of course, I loved it.

I got into punk, second wave ska and this emerging genre they called "college rock". My Dad started listening to this stuff with me. At 18 I discovered the Pixies. Oh man, I loved them!  My tastes were always eclectic and never tied down to one style. I'd happily listen to Pink Floyd followed by the Supremes followed by NOMEANSNO followed by Bjork followed by Paul Simon followed by Pizzicato Five...

I liked lots of local bands and didn't get too tied into obsessing over big bands in my 20s until I met my husband, who worked at a record company and had a radio show. He introduced me to Guided By Voices and we followed them around like the Dead. I'm still in touch with all the old fan club people and made a lot of amazing connections.

My husband also introduced me to roots music, Grateful Dead and heavy metal. While I can appreciate the Dead and the metal (my husband specialises in metal tho he loves a broad range of music), I seem to have fallen in love with roots music of different kinds, particularly a bluegrass kind of vibe.

Hmmm, this got long, sorry. So, my soul responds to music that's kind of folky-country that I discovered around my early 30s, but I feel like 60s/70s "classic rock" type stuff is as familiar as my own skin and mid 80s stuff like The Smiths and REM makes me nostalgic, but post punk power pop and the more creative stuff of the early to mid 90s is when I came of age - I was 20 in '91 - and that stuff make me feel like a young chick on the prowl.

[exist10z]

Ok, since I more or less posited this idea in the other thread, I better jump in...

To simply answer the question posed, I discovered the music I like best in the past year.  Not because the music I have discovered in the past year is the best, or even my favorite 'all-time', but it isn't music I've already heard a hundred (or a thousand times), hence it's what I like best right now.

Which was sort of my argument for current music in the other post.  However, I also argued that what is 'best' for any given time, holds up over time, so there is certainly music I still like which I discovered earlier.  This is really a different issue from the other thread.  I would argue, as I have seen others argue, that the 'golden age' of rock/pop was the Sixties and Seventies, that's when I think the most ground was broken and/or produced the best musicians.  And certainly some of my favorite music is from that time period (of course I discovered it in the 80s, as I was just a babe in the 60s/70s), but I can't listen to Zeppelin and The Beatles constantly, as I already spent entire years listening to their music.  Sometimes you have to move on.

So, that's why I'd say my favorite music is whatever I've discovered in the past year or two (or maybe 5 or 6, bands still releasing fresh albums/ideas), not necessarily the music I would rate as the best ever.

I've gone through so many stages over the years, from heavy metal to classic rock to hard rock, to Eighties alternative, back to classic rock, to grunge, add in some 'rap'/hip-hop, to early electronic and dance music, to surf music, back to classic rock again, and on to the music I listen to know.  What I listen to now is everything.  If it's interesting, creative, well-done, and moves me, I listen.

I never got 'stuck' on a genre or in a time period.  I like to grow, to change, to see what's coming and embrace it, it's exciting, it's living.  I always say that if I ever stop changing and growing, ever become set in my ways or thoughts, ever become closed to new ideas, just shoot me, because I'm already dead...

[Ruckus]

That has always changed but new music I discovered the younger I was, the more I found it exciting. 

Run DMC and the Beastie Boys in the late 80's, RUSH and Violent Femmes along with allll the great hip hop of the early and mid 90's to my obsession with jazz in the late nineties, more underground hip hop in the early 2000's along with many a jam band and metal band along the way.

As existence says, I can only refer to the music that I'm discovering now as the best because it is fresh and exciting to me more than trying to relive the memories in the past of discovering new music.

Going back to the sidetracked thread that spawned this one, the idea of labeling a decade of music with a broad brush always irked me.  Until relatively recently, major record labels, FM Radio and MTV (all in cahoots) controlled what we had access to and it made generalizations easier.  Nowadays, we have infinite access to any type of music we choose to listen and anyone who even tries to describe 2000's music in any generalities I would not take seriously.

It seems every day obscure music from the 60s or 80s or whatever is unearthed as underappreciated during their time and now lauded such as Nick Drake or Television.  For this reason alone, I can't understand someone saying 90's was 'THIS.'  There's a ton of shit that never made it but we can now find.  Regardless, 90s hip hop to me will always be the most concentrated output of greatness in a single genre I've ever heard.  It even exceeds 50's jazz or 60's rock for me.

[Mr. White]

I like a lot of different kinds of music, but I mainly identify myself as a rocker who appreciates jazz very much. I was influenced by several things in my childhood. I sang in a church choir from 4th grade to 11th grade. I played in the school band from 5th grade to 11th grade.

My grandfather liked country and listened mostly to standard or traditional country from the 1960's and 1970's (Willie Nelson, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Merl Haggard, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Barbara Mandrell, Flatt and Skruggs, anything on The Grand Ole Opry ... you know, old style country music). My parents were only 18 when I was born (senior year baby back in 1966) and listened to popular music on the radio (Three Dog Night, The Captain and Tennile , Olivia Newton John, The Beatles, Neil Diamond, Frankie Valley and The Four Seasons, Elvis, ... you know, standard radio friendly stuff for the late '60's and early '70's).

I distinctly remember having a major change of mind and heart about what I liked and what I wanted to listen to when I was in the 4th grade. A friend of mine turned me on to hard rock via KISS. Soon, I was listening to a wide variety of hard rock and progressive rock (RUSH, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Dio, Alice Cooper, The Who, The Doors, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Boston, ELO, Styx, Kansas, Chicago, Yes, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and much more). Being a trumpet player in the band led me into the jazz world pretty hard and heavy (Maynard Ferguson, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie, and much more). By the time I had reached high school, everybody knew I loved and listened to more music than just about anybody. I even got to be a real DJ at a small AM radio station near my home town when I was 17 years old (the summer between my junior and senior years in high school that lasted until January of my senior year when I was "let go" along with the rest of the DJ's when the station changed hands).

College and beyond gave me more to love (REM, The Pixies, John Mclaughlin, Santana, Queensryche, Tom Waits, The Grateful Dead, Todd Rundgren, and much more).

My tastes were formed very early on. I have broadened my musical tastes to include instrumental music, jazz-rock fusion, heavy metal, progressive, experimental, new age, traditional jazz, folk, acid rock, blues, alternative, grunge, classical, and much more rock and roll. I guess I am trying to say that my tastes in music have broadened a lot, but my formative years really started before I was out of elementary school. I still listen to much of what I was listening to in the 1970's and 1980's. I have continued to add music from all kinds of influences, but I will never outgrow the great music that brought me to My Morning Jacket and the other great bands I am experimenting with at present. As Ronnie James Dio used to sing, "Long Live Rock and Roll, Long Live Rock and Roll!"

[Tracy 2112]

Great stories so far!

(except for Ruckus', which is pretty lame  )

[Ruckus]

Great stories so far!

(except for Ruckus', which is pretty lame  )

Age 15 Month 5 Day 12

[Fully]

Great stories so far!

(except for Ruckus', which is pretty lame  )

Age 15 Month 5 Day 12

I don't think there is one particular age. I keep discovering new music that I love,  and I have a huge fondness for music that I discovered when I was younger.  I listen to both differently. I probably have more enthusiasm for things I'm am just beginning to listen to but I have more nostalgia for the older music. Some things I used to love don't really resonate with me anymore. I guess as I've changed so have my tastes.

[Tracy 2112]

is that a banana with an AK?

[e_wind]

My family is definitely less than interested in music, outside of my brother and I.

I discovered the band that I like best when I was single digits. My brother is 10 years older than me and was at the end of his highschool scareer when Ten came out. He was a big influence in my life long love for Pearl Jam.

When I was in highschool, about 15, I started listening to punk/hardcore/poppunk. Classics such as Minor Threat, Black Flag, Gorilla Biscuits and the newers like Have Heart and Blacklisted. And, somehow Lucero was always very, very loved in this "scene", so I've loved them for a long time. Many of these bands have stuck with me, but I grew so tired of the people involved and thier bullshit that I basically abandoned that whole part of my life, outside of listening to some of my favorites in my car. But goddamn I loved this angst filled shit. The album Unfinished Business by a band called Instilled from Alabama ( I believe)  is one of the best albums of all time and clocks in around a whopping 15 minutes.

Somehow, I went from that music directly into MMJ fandom, which has opened the doors to all the pop/alt/rock music of today. So, I did/am discovering the music I like best now, beginning 4 years ago when I was 18. In the last 4 years I've discovered MMJ and Wilco, who are easily two of my favorite 3 bands, AND in the last 4 years, I've started to appreciate albums like No Code and Yield by PJ a lot more, so I don't really think its a contest at this point. 18-22 are my best musical years.

[pawpaw]

I can point back to some of the exact moments when I really fell for the kinds of music that I love, and they almost all happened in cars. I wasn't discovering any of them for the first time, but something just finally clicked.

Of course I knew about the Rolling Stones. Everyone knows about the Stones. I'd been hearing their songs for 15-20 years by that time, and was driving home from fishing late one afternoon. I was in my early 20s, and Can't You Hear Me Knockin' came on the radio. THAT RIFF is still the baddest thing I've ever heard, just amazing. I made a stop before heading home and bought Sticky Fingers at Tower, then spent the next several months going backward and forward through the Stones catalouge. Songs I'd been hearing my whole life, songs I'd never sought out to listen to, but had rather just been a part of classic rock radio background noise, now sounded sexy and smart and unbelievably fuckin' ROCKIN! They're still my favorite band.

My Morning Jacket didn't stick right away. I had a sudden surge of interest after I bought It Still Moves (and then the preceding two right after), even saw a show at Slim's in San Francisco, which kept me flying REAL high on them for several months, but it was a time when I was seeing and listening to A LOT of music and they just got lost in the shuffle for a while after that. By the Fall of 2005 (I was 27), I would listen to their albums every 3 or 4 months, but decided that they needed to come with my soon-to-be wife and I on a camping trip to the Mt. Shasta area. The songs from the first two albums especially set in while my wife and I were driving up and down these gorgeous canyons, and on the barren, open basin north of the mountain, just exploring and enjoying the time. We got back to the city and decided to buy tickets to one of their upcoming shows at the Fillmore, which they later encouraged us to wear costumes to. We've both been full-on fans since that Fall.

And OF COURSE I'd heard "the Oldies" before. You know...The Temptations, The Supremes, that kind of stuff. But similarly to the Stones, it had just been background noise, music I rarely heard outside of the car and music I never focused on. Around 2006-2007, my wife and I would make it a coming-back-from-a-weekend-trip-routine to listen to Tony Sandoval's Sunday Super Oldies show while stuck in Bay Area traffic on a Sunday afternoon. Tony was (and still is) just a COOL DUDE, with an excellent taste in music. He'd play the best, widest ranging selections of classic Soul and R&B from the 60s and 70s. I still remember one of the first times we heard his show - we were crossing the Bay Bridge and I Second That Emotion came on. Perfect weather and setting, and maybe the perfect song - it was a peak driving experience (at all of 55 MPH  ). Starting that night, I took it upon myself to dig into all the classic Soul and R&B I could find, and I'm still digging.

Like most people that would post in this kind of thread, I've got a pretty wide interest in music beyond what's mentioned above, but those are some of my favorites.

[Tracy 2112]

I was in my early 20s, and Can't You Hear Me Knockin' came on the radio. THAT RIFF is still the baddest thing I've ever heard, just amazing.

2 things:

1st, your story made me put on my Stones I-tunes mix, so thanks.

2nd, there's a great story from back in the day (early 70's) when Steven Tyler was at a party in Boston and an argument broke out  b/c some guy was saying Mick Taylor does that opening riff, whereas Tyler was arguing it was Keith (which it is). All of this led to Tyler pushing the guy out of a first floor window and out on to the street (who cares if that's true or not, right?)

[pawpaw]

I was in my early 20s, and Can't You Hear Me Knockin' came on the radio. THAT RIFF is still the baddest thing I've ever heard, just amazing.

2 things:

1st, your story made me put on my Stones I-tunes mix, so thanks.

2nd, there's a great story from back in the day (early 70's) when Steven Tyler was at a party in Boston and an argument broke out  b/c some guy was saying Mick Taylor does that opening riff, whereas Tyler was arguing it was Keith (which it is). All of this led to Tyler pushing the guy out of a first floor window and out on to the street (who cares if that's true or not, right?)

2 things:

1st, you're welcome. 

2nd, awesome story. I'd never heard that, and I hope it's true. Did you ever read Keith's autobiography?

[Tracy 2112]

I was in my early 20s, and Can't You Hear Me Knockin' came on the radio. THAT RIFF is still the baddest thing I've ever heard, just amazing.

2 things:

1st, your story made me put on my Stones I-tunes mix, so thanks.

2nd, there's a great story from back in the day (early 70's) when Steven Tyler was at a party in Boston and an argument broke out  b/c some guy was saying Mick Taylor does that opening riff, whereas Tyler was arguing it was Keith (which it is). All of this led to Tyler pushing the guy out of a first floor window and out on to the street (who cares if that's true or not, right?)

2 things:

1st, you're welcome. 

2nd, awesome story. I'd never heard that, and I hope it's true. Did you ever read Keith's autobiography?

Keith's book is on my list

[APR]

I think a lot of people on this board are very open minded and listen to tons of different things.  One of the main reason why I like coming to "The Other Music" page on the Forum is to get recommendations.  I like reading these conversations as well.

So back to the age question - apart from the open mindedness of most MMJ fans - I think most people like the music they had when they were growing up partly due to the nostalgia factor. 

For example, a few recent shows I attended (I am 40)

Black Keys, Futurebirds - younger crowd
Pinback, Radiohead - felt 40 was about age appropriate
The Who - older crowd

I'm more interested in expanding my listening experience with new bands and new albums.  For example, I'm way more excited to hear the new Jim James album compared to the new Soundgarden.

[EverythingChanges]

I am 20, so my story might not be as fledged out yet, but nevertheless, here it is. 

I grew up around classic rock.  In my early years it was classic rock or nothing.  Kiss was my first obsession and it lasted from probably age 5 to about age 15.  I don't listen to them as much as I used to, but they still hold a spot in my heart for opening me up to music.  My first concert was Kiss and Aerosmith.  Around age 10 I fell in love with AC/DC and I saw them my sophomore year in high school on their Black Ice tour. 

The next phase of my musical journey started with the most paramount band discovery I probably have ever had.  Pink Floyd opened me up to a whole new world of music.  I understood that a good song doesn't need a repetitive and catchy chorus, but instead, it needs depth.  Depth in lyrics and depth in sound.  The adult themes Floyd discusses in their songs really got to me.  Dark Side of the Moon changed the way I looked at albums vs. songs.  No longer would I buy one song from an album; if the album was not good enough for me to purchase as a whole then it wasn't worth my time.  Animals was a godsend.  Dogs is and will always be a song that defines my musical taste.  It is every bit a masterpiece.  If you haven't heard it, stop reading this and go and check it out.  Matter of fact, I will link it at the bottom of this post.  The Wall was so dark and vivid.  The insanity and the anti war theme meshed so well together, I could feel Roger's pain.  Pink Floyd is a band no one will ever be able to recreate; they are the definition of original.  Rush was an almost equally important band to me during this phase of my musical journey.  Why wouldn't they be?  Their lyrics are intelligent and their music is so expertly crafted. 

So where do I go after Pink Floyd and Rush? I felt like music like that is impossible to top, and in a way it is.  However, my brother introduced me to MMJ.  It took me a while to warm up to them, but doesn't all great bands require such a thing?  I'm Amazed was my first tune and from there I went on to discover the entire Evil Urges album.  Smokin' From Shootin' reminded me of Pink Floyd in every great way possible.  I saw them on their Circuital 2011 tour, at which point I was relatively obsessed with them.  My defining musical point in my life happened last summer when I went to Forecastle to see MMJ headline.  At this point I was 100% devoted to MMJ.  I demanded Steam Engine and Strangulation 24/7 on a Twitter account I had made specifically for the spontaneous curation series.  I no longer felt like classic rock was this monster that could never be de-throned.  There is so much great music both past and present.  Classic rock just had the luxury of being mainstream at the time, which could be viewed as both a burden and a gift.  My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Pearl Jam, Radio Head, Menomena, Explosions in the Sky, Dr. Dog, Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Jack White, John Butler Trio, and so on all have equally great music to offer as does classic rock.  You just have to look harder today.  Today I am so much more open to new types of music.

Pink Floyd - Dogs - Animals (FULL)

[e_wind]

In a very basic choice of words... As someone in the same age group I couldn't agree more about Pink Floyd. To me, they mastered the art of an album, and no band did what they did until year 2085.

The Floyd sound is so above what any other band has ever done it doesn't make any sense. You can listen to The Wall and genuinely feel like you're watching a movie or reading a book. I can say without any doubt that I believe  they should hold the position in music history that The Beatles do. The Beatles weren't the best, they were the first. Floyd took it to another lever.

And, im a huge Lennon fan, and in no way a Beatles hater. But Floyd is THE BEST.

[EverythingChanges]

In a very basic choice of words... As someone in the same age group I couldn't agree more about Pink Floyd. To me, they mastered the art of an album, and no band did what they did until year 2085.

The Floyd sound is so above what any other band has ever done it doesn't make any sense. You can listen to The Wall and genuinely feel like you're watching a movie or reading a book. I can say without any doubt that I believe  they should hold the position in music history that The Beatles do. The Beatles weren't the best, they were the first. Floyd took it to another lever.

And, im a huge Lennon fan, and in no way a Beatles hater. But Floyd is THE BEST.

I've always said this to my friend who is obsessed with the Beatles! Pink Floyd, imo was the most innovative rock group there was.  Listening to Dark Side in a dark room on your headphones is one of the best personal music experiences one can have.  But not only can you have this experience with just one of their albums, The Wall, Animals, Wish, Meddle even The Final Cut or Division are all great examples of this.  Their shows are still one of the most creative and innovative shows there are.  Too bad Gilmour and Waters don't get along too well anymore. 

[exist10z]

In a very basic choice of words... As someone in the same age group I couldn't agree more about Pink Floyd. To me, they mastered the art of an album, and no band did what they did until year 2085.

The Floyd sound is so above what any other band has ever done it doesn't make any sense. You can listen to The Wall and genuinely feel like you're watching a movie or reading a book. I can say without any doubt that I believe  they should hold the position in music history that The Beatles do. The Beatles weren't the best, they were the first. Floyd took it to another lever.

And, im a huge Lennon fan, and in no way a Beatles hater. But Floyd is THE BEST.

I've always said this to my friend who is obsessed with the Beatles! Pink Floyd, imo was the most innovative rock group there was.  Listening to Dark Side in a dark room on your headphones is one of the best personal music experiences one can have.  But not only can you have this experience with just one of their albums, The Wall, Animals, Wish, Meddle even The Final Cut or Division are all great examples of this.  Their shows are still one of the most creative and innovative shows there are.  Too bad Gilmour and Waters don't get along too well anymore.

Hold on there young whippersnappers...

Listen, I love Pink Floyd as much as the next person, and I can see how a case can be made to put them in the pantheon of rock, but to just say, 'Floyd was better than The Beatles', well, that's a little out there to me.  By the way, in case you think maybe I don't appreciate the 'creativity' of Pink Floyd, my favorite Floyd album is Animals, and I once spent a solid 6 hours tripping my balls off while continuously watching Live at Pompeii, over and over (you had to rewind of course, it was a VHS tape).  One Of These Days...  Anyway, I get it, I really do.

However, I think you are dismissing what The Beatles did and what they were, aside from just the incomparable nature of the catalogue.  They changed music, literally.  And that was before they even got good.  I don't personally go in for all the doo-wop stuff, that's just not my thing, but starting with Rubber Soul in 1965, they basically invented psychedelic rock.  From 1965-1970, the Beatles released 5 of the greatest albums ever made.  In FIVE years.  The variety and depth of the musical accomplishment on The White Album alone is stunning.  Sgt. Peppers broke ground no one even knew existed.  And Abbey Road is maybe the greatest album ever made.  Talking about an 'album' as a whole, and your appreciation for the completeness of the form, but not recognizing Abbey Road?  The whole 'second side' of Abbey Road is continuous. 

Anyway, I am not THAT old, both Pink Flyd or The Beatles were before my time, and I discovered both at different times.  Like it sounds the two of you, I discovered Floyd first, it went well with where I was at the time - exploring.  Later, I found The Beatles, and my appreciation grew.  Again, I can see making a case for Floyd, but I suspect that if you really investigate (listen) enough, The Beatles will come out on top.  Probably.  And if you haven't gone long enough and deep enough into The Beatles catalogue yet, then you have a real treat waiting for you (and I am jealous).

[LeanneP]

they mastered the art of an album, and no band did what they did

The Wall is not an isolated instance of the rock opera and I'd go so far as to say it's one of the less appealing, tho that may be my bias against latter Waters works. Dude got dark and creepy and I always prefer the wonderful psychedelia of their early work (and hold Live at Pompeii as one of my all time favourate musical anythings).

The Who pretty much created the rock opera. First came A Quick One While He's Away (my fave Who song!) which was about 10 minutes long and told the story of a woman who's boyfriend has been away for a long time so she takes up with "Ivor, the engine driver" and when the boyfriend returns she has to tell him about the relationship.

The Pretty Things released SF Sorrrow in 1968 (I'm less familiar but my husband LOVES this) . A year later Tommy by The Who came out.  Four years after that The Who released Quadrophenia, another rock opera and my fave of the bunch.  Both of The Who operas were translated to stage and/or screen. 

Almost anything by Alan Parson's Project is a concept album. My Dad listened to APP in the 70s, meaning I had to, too. Lamb Lies down on Broadway by Genesis is a standout.

Of course, these are just the most famous examples. There were loads more cohesive, concept albums, too. I will agree that into the '80s, the concept/rock opera style record was ditched for a more singles focused approach to music, but it still happens. My faves might be Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, OK Computer and Kid A from Radiohead, Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, Blur's Park Life...

I'm not saying Floyd weren't awesome at the concept album or didn't employ that method of album making, but there are LOADS and LOADS of awesome examples of albums that work as a whole experience before and beyond Floyd.

Now, I think I need to listen to some Who and Neutral Milk.