The thread pretty much says it all... this is about the songs that really melt your face when you heard them and left a permanent "mark" on you..
I'm talking about those songs that have been huge stepstones in your life.
If you play along, please attach some youtube file or something for each song, and tell a quick story if there is one, and also try to respect the chronological order in which you heard those songs.
Here are mine (in chronological order) :
Johnny Clegg - scatterlings of Africa
My dad was playing this to me and my sister all the time, we loved it. Super-cheesy world music FTW. When you're 5 years old you don't give a shit about "mainstream" and cheesy, you don't even know what that is. You just enjoy the music for the joy it brings you. Then you grow older and start getting all picky and talk a lot of shit about some artists. I wish i could go back to my former "music innocence" sometimes and enjoy the music for itself without giving a shit if it sounds "embarassing" or not.
Dire Straits - money for nothing
First time i heard an electric guitar riff, that was my first introduction to "heaviness", thanks to my Dad (who happens to look and play the guitar like Mark Knopfler by the way
) playing it on his stereo at home. I think i was around 5-7 years old at this time.
Michael Jackson - beat it
My brother got a couple of MJ vinyls when he was around 10 and we were listening and enjoying the shit out of it for a while. The "beat it" sounded catchy and heavy, and the live version with the electric guitar is definitely heavy.
Tina Turner - we don't need another hero (beyond the thunderdome) (Mad Max 3 o.s.t)
Cheesy but totally epic, just like the movie. Left a huge imprint on me when i was a kid. My Dad bought the vinyl for me and i was listening the shit out of it. First movie o.s.t that got me.
Robocop - o.s.t
Around 2"20 -> first time a movie w. classical music moved me i think. This part is so sad and beautiful at the same time. First movie i got obsessed with. The soundtrack is amazing. The movie too. Paul Verhoeven FTW.
Funny thing is the instrumental intro on one of the last Dimmu Borgir albums sounds amazingly close to that part i mentioned above.
Nirvana - smells like teen spirit
Heard this through a friend of one of my older brother's friend during holidays, the cd had just been released. One step heavier, super catchy, i was blown away immediately by the power of the music, and i remember my brother and sister and I listening over and over to the tape in our parents car during holidays trip. I was around 7.
Pearl Jam - Go
Heard that one in the "NBA rising stars" basketball VHS, during the Shawn Kemp part (Seattle Supersonics FTW). Sounded amazing, and i loved the stage diving and "wildness" of the band onstage. Resulting in Pearl Jam's "vitalogy" (VS was sold out) being the first cd i bought. I think i was 9 or something.
body count - born dead
Loved the pinch harmonics, gangsta talk and gang vocals. I think i heard this at school when i was 10 or something. Without Ice T, my English would suck to this date.
pantera - living through me
Heard one song off the "the great southern trendkill" album on the radio, can't remember which one exactly though. The album cover was sick and that song has the sickest face-ripping thrash riff and vocals ever IMO. First metal band that sounded kind of brutal/extreme to me also. Still sounds more brutal and extreme than most extreme metal bands today IMO.
downset - empower
Heard this one song during the same radio show where i heard the Pantera song. Catchy song, amazing vocalist, first "hardcorish" band for me. Love the verses riffs also.
sepultura - C.I.U (criminals in uniforms)
Heard Sepultura during that same radio show AGAIN (i think this radio show really changed my life actually ), loved it but it was a different song. 2 years after or something, my brother borrowed the 2-CD "the roots of sepultura" cd. Surprisingly i didn't liked it at first, but then that CIU song (off the "Arise" era) got me hooked and that's basically how i became a "thrash metal" fan (alongside with Pantera), hence my forum nickname...
exodus - and then there were none (live)
My brother got a tape from that same highschool friend he got the Sepultura cd from (my brother was hardly into metal actually, but he was borrowing metal cds from his friends for me to listen to... Thanks bro' ).
Joe Satriani - one big rush
That cd was in my dad's collection (he's a guitar player), and it happens to have tons of super catchy and badass and heavy tunes, conversely to most of the guitar hero cds which i find super generic/uninspiring/soft/boring. Just the backing track of that song makes me cream my pants.
Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I laugh Tomorrow
Shred/guitar hero thing meets skate crossover thrash metal. Epic song. Amazing part starting at 2"44, badass guitar solo after.
deftones - lotion
Saw Max Cavalera praising them in magazines, saw the hottie on the cover (best cover ever ?), got the album for christmas, those ethereal melodic vocals blew me away, and the other parts sounded super pissed-off. Was the first nu-metallish/emocore band i got into... Then several years later led me to other amazing bands like 36 crazyfists, Glassjaw, Cave In...
HEAVY+GROOVY+EMOTIONAL
fear factory - replica / hi-tech hate
I thought i was ridiculous and "meh" at first, especially the "silly" (well that was my first impression, which quickly changed ) machine-gun riffing and weird melodic futuristic vocals. Then "Obsolete" came out and i fell in love and the "hi-tech hate" song grew on me and i became a fan. Loved the aggression and futuristic/video game atmosphere, and that clean chorus is fuckin' EPIC. Fear Factory with Will Haven during the Obsolete tour was my first metal show.
RATM - killing in the name
Heard this on the radio. Instant love. Sick vocalist, fresh and aggressive and catchy music.
offspring - come out and play (keep em seperated)
Super cheesy guitar lick at the beginning but got me into punk rock. Heard this on the radio and bought the cd. End story.
faith no more - digging the grave
Saw a commercial on French TV (true story), was blown away by the chorus, the chunky verse riff, and Mike Patton vocals. Got the cd for christmas.
pennywise - society
Got me into punk-rock heaven. That was the time were i was way into skateboarding and snowboarding also.
Vision of disorder - imprint
Was blown away by the raw character and sheer aggression, and those weird clean vocals. Then my brother bought this cd for my birthday. Thanks again bro'. Face-ripping Phil Anselmo featuring also.
Will Haven - Muse
Deftones gone bitter and desperate as fuck. You listen to this you feel like you wanna kill your ex girlfriend and jump through your apartment window but it's so fucking intense you love it.
incubus - vitamin
Djembe drums, catchy song, amazing chorus, amazing vocalist. Love at first sight. I think i was 13 or something at that time.
deicide - serpents of the light
Heard this on a metal magazine sample cd. Loved it. They got me into death metal. Ordered the album.
Cradle of filth - cruelty brought thee orchids
Shockingly clicky drums tone for me at the time, but amazing song with some Iron Maiden epicness meets thrash and death metal. Got me into black metal.
Dimmu Borgir - Behind The Curtains Of Night Phantasmagoria
Second gateway to black metal for me. When i listen to it today, it reminds me of Carnal Forge meets early Slayer with blast beats and Cradle Of Filth.
cannibal corpse - pounded into dust
Heard this on another magazine cd sampler. Got my ass-kicked by the non-stopping brutality and blast beats. Bought the cd right away.
slipknot - eyeless
Got intrigued by the "this new Roadrunner new act is gonna melt your faces" advertising and the album cover, then heard that song on a magazine cd sampler, got blown away by the Korn meets Sepultura meets Faith No More meets Pantera meets Death Metal vibe. And fuck those drums and vocals were too good !!!
The brutal DM vibe of some other songs got me deeper into death metal.
merauder - life on my own (cro-mags cover) / find my way
Heard the "life on my own" song on a cd sampler (took me years to find out it was a Cro-Mags cover btw), the in your-face-ness of the vocals and the music killed me. My first NYHC/hardcore metal love basically. Perfect blend of thrash metal and hardcore. Can't find the song on youtube though. Then heard the "find my way" song later on, the beginning of that song is everything i like in my music (two-step-friendly thrash/hxc riff/beat, big aggressive vocals that have a nice flow).
http://www.deezer.com/fr/music/track/6807211
earth crisis - end begins
Totally crushing hardcore-metal. Vocals sound like an enraged dog. Sick. First time i heard about straight-edge/veganism/animal rights also. Starting to make perfect sense today
Glassjaw - piano
Heard the Ross Robinson praise, heard the first killer single, fell in the love with the unique blend of Vision Of Disorder meets Bad Brains meets Emocore a la Deftones. Unique vocalist also. The killer solo at the end is simple yet epic.
aborted -nailed through her cunt
Saw a good review of that cd when it came out, heard that song and was blown away by the grind/death with a Pantera-ish vibe thing.
Down - stone the crow
Sludge/groove metal meets southern rock, made by a dream line-up. What else ?
Eyeless - king of serpents
Heard about those guys through a national Roadrunner contest, and knew they were from my town (Montpellier). Heard that song and was blown away by the Pantera meets Napalm Death meets Morbid Angel meets Meshuggah meets VOD vibe. Quickly became their number 1 fan and great friend of theirs. First time i heard Engl amps also. Loved that Engl Ritchie Blackmore tone instantly.
dying fetus - praise the lord (opium of the masses)
Got this from my ex-bandmate who had all those sick NYHC and brutal death metal cds (merauder, madball, nile, morbid angel, kickback, hatebreed, origin...). Sick tapping riffs, amazing drumming, brutal yet catchy, crushing mosh parts, tons of groove, tasty parts, ridiculous low vocals.
cryptopsy - faceless unknown
Badass hardcore-ish vocals on left-field/chaotic/ultra brutal death metal. Canada FTW.
Immolation - sinful nature
Finally figured what the praise was all about and fell in love with their unique style of death metal. Super left-field, dark, evil, intense and catchy death metal.
Madball - can't stop, won't stop
When i first heard Madball back in the days, it was the "pride" music video and it didn't do anything to me. Then i grew up and found out how awesome they were.
Skarhead - T.C.O.B
NYHC with a killer old-school twist to it.
e town concrete - Shaydee / first born
Amazing groove, aggression, fresh-sounding riffs, tasty rap part in the middle, sick vocalist, tasty musicians. Merauder mixed with hip hop and "good" nu-metal ? Perfect blend for me.
Hatesphere - downward to nothing
Thanks Denmark for making thrash the shit again !!! Bringing back brutality and groove into thrash !
Animosity - fake blood
Deathcore done right. Funny how they matured after, and are now in super renowned modern metal bands (Navene is Animals as Leaders, and the bass player and 2d guitar player are in the Faceless or something).
rag men - my world / insomnia / no questions
Members from Merauder/Skarhead/Hatebreed/EarthCrisis/Madball, sounded amazing on the paper already. Then i heard those songs and immediately got into it. Perfect blend of NYHC, old-school rock, metal and punk-rock. Amazing Sepultura "Territory" cover also.
Jorge (also sings in Merauder) and Mitts (also plays guitar in Madball, Skarhead, H2O...) are some of my "heroes", and i got to know them since which is great.
Funny how it sounds like "emotional rock songs" made by tough guys or something
Those 3 songs here : http://www.deezer.com/fr/music/rag-men/rag-men-561635
Irate - i remember
Got into this band when i got into beatdown, and then found out they were heading toward a more classical metal/thrash direction, with their own beatdown and even "rock songwriting" twist to it. That song is more of a heavy rock song (think Metallica black album era) with some über-pissed vocals, but is highly emotional IMO.
Cave in - lost in the air :
Got in the band with their early aggressive post-hardcore stuff, but got finally hooked by their more mainstream ethereal post-hardcore rock stuff. I strum the intro riff any time i play the guitar.
Circle Of Tyrants - Joe Spinell
Necro and his crew brought my interest back in rap music. I got tired of the whole metal fanboy namedropping and the "trying to sound more extreme and gory than Cannibal Corpse" thing, but those guys put out some sick backing tracks and have a nice flow.
La Rumeur - y a toujours un lendemain
Reminded me that rap is also about the "take no prisoner" attitude (which reminds me of my favourite metal bands, except it has no screaming, distorted guitars nor double bass drumming), dedication and lyrics. Anti bling bling.
Alice In Chains - down in a hole
Never been really into AIC (whereas i was a huge PJ/Nirvana/Soundgarden fan... go figure) but that song made me realize how emotional and heavy that band was and made them stood apart from the other Seattle/grunge bands (which i also love).
Keren Ann - lay your head down
Sweetest song and voice ever. So beautiful and peaceful. When listening to it with headphones, you feel like she's whispering to you or something. Makes me feel weird now cuz' it brings back some "ex-gf" memories
Wisdom in chains - my promise
Hardcore band that managed to bring back actual "songs" into hardcore for me. Makes me think of Pennywise mixed with hardcore and rock/metal, which is awesome. The part that starts in the middle moves me. For real.
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Heard the name for years, and finally took the time to check out his music, and it stood to its reputation indeed ! I was feeling terrible (i.e dumped ) at this time and the melancholy of the music really spoked to me, for good and for bad This is one of the most emotional record ever, and the production is amazing, feels like the band is playing in the room with you.
Covenance - the wasting
Exactly what i needed after feeling semi-depressed being dumped and feeling sad thanks to Jeff Buckley (see post above). Pure crushing Maryland slam death. Stripped-down Dying Fetus/Misery Index kind of thing. No place for whining here. Perfect music to do an intense workout to and stop being lazy.
Soilwork - king of threshold
Extreme yet super-fresh and catchy and intense. This song is just crazy.
Michael Jackson - earth song
I had not heard this song in like 15 years, and it jumped back at me when i saw the "this is it" movie. Made me realize again how epic MJ was sometimes.
New Found Glory - coming home
Who guessed i could go back to pop-punk someday I think this song sounds a lot like Michael Jackson also
Leeway - stand for / hornet's nest
I was digging into the old '"legends" of NYHC, and finally checked them out, found them weird first (sounded kind of cheesy and those vocals were quite the opposite of what i like in heavy music (i love pissed off menacing vocals)), but then the killer melodies and amazing grooves got me, and now i love the singing also. The mosh part in the middle of "stand for" is HEAVY AS FUCK. I also dig the more rock/moody evolution they followed after, and the singing on that "hornet's nest" song is amazing.
Comes with the fall - waiting out the breakdown
Finally decided to check out "the rock band where new Alice In Chains' singer comes from" and i didn't expect to be blown away that much. This guy is one of the most talented singers out there, has a very diverse style (he can do way more than what you hear in AIC !), and those songs are the shit. Think Soundgarden meets U2 meets Jeff Buckley meets Alice In Chains meets LEd Zeppelin.
Maximum Penalty - could you love me
One of those other NYHC gems. I love the Bad Brains meets Pennywise feel on this.
Textures - awake
I've really liked the band since they second album, but they got better and better throughout the years, and the super emotional ethereal singing got me in the end (whereas the "djenty" aspect kind of annoyed me at first). New album is a gem also. Plus they make me enjoy that aspect (ethereal emotional singing) of some other bands even more : Devin Townsend/SYL, Scarve, Gojira...
That's all i can remember for now and that's more than enough for you to check out
Funny thing is that i still love all those songs, and even more now than back then. Actually they're my favourite songs/bands pretty much, and it sums up my musical influences and evolution also (grunge -> groove metal/rap metal/thrash metal -> punk rock/funk rock/nu-metal -> brutal death metal/black metal/hardcore/rap/pop -> all of this mixed together).
A lot of those bands have been around for a long time (or still around) and killing it all the way.
I'm talking about those songs that have been huge stepstones in your life.
If you play along, please attach some youtube file or something for each song, and tell a quick story if there is one, and also try to respect the chronological order in which you heard those songs.
Here are mine (in chronological order) :
Johnny Clegg - scatterlings of Africa
My dad was playing this to me and my sister all the time, we loved it. Super-cheesy world music FTW. When you're 5 years old you don't give a shit about "mainstream" and cheesy, you don't even know what that is. You just enjoy the music for the joy it brings you. Then you grow older and start getting all picky and talk a lot of shit about some artists. I wish i could go back to my former "music innocence" sometimes and enjoy the music for itself without giving a shit if it sounds "embarassing" or not.
Dire Straits - money for nothing
First time i heard an electric guitar riff, that was my first introduction to "heaviness", thanks to my Dad (who happens to look and play the guitar like Mark Knopfler by the way
) playing it on his stereo at home. I think i was around 5-7 years old at this time.Michael Jackson - beat it
My brother got a couple of MJ vinyls when he was around 10 and we were listening and enjoying the shit out of it for a while. The "beat it" sounded catchy and heavy, and the live version with the electric guitar is definitely heavy.
Tina Turner - we don't need another hero (beyond the thunderdome) (Mad Max 3 o.s.t)
Cheesy but totally epic, just like the movie. Left a huge imprint on me when i was a kid. My Dad bought the vinyl for me and i was listening the shit out of it. First movie o.s.t that got me.
Robocop - o.s.t
Around 2"20 -> first time a movie w. classical music moved me i think. This part is so sad and beautiful at the same time. First movie i got obsessed with. The soundtrack is amazing. The movie too. Paul Verhoeven FTW.
Funny thing is the instrumental intro on one of the last Dimmu Borgir albums sounds amazingly close to that part i mentioned above.
Nirvana - smells like teen spirit
Heard this through a friend of one of my older brother's friend during holidays, the cd had just been released. One step heavier, super catchy, i was blown away immediately by the power of the music, and i remember my brother and sister and I listening over and over to the tape in our parents car during holidays trip. I was around 7.
Pearl Jam - Go
Heard that one in the "NBA rising stars" basketball VHS, during the Shawn Kemp part (Seattle Supersonics FTW). Sounded amazing, and i loved the stage diving and "wildness" of the band onstage. Resulting in Pearl Jam's "vitalogy" (VS was sold out) being the first cd i bought. I think i was 9 or something.
body count - born dead
Loved the pinch harmonics, gangsta talk and gang vocals. I think i heard this at school when i was 10 or something. Without Ice T, my English would suck to this date.
pantera - living through me
Heard one song off the "the great southern trendkill" album on the radio, can't remember which one exactly though. The album cover was sick and that song has the sickest face-ripping thrash riff and vocals ever IMO. First metal band that sounded kind of brutal/extreme to me also. Still sounds more brutal and extreme than most extreme metal bands today IMO.
downset - empower
Heard this one song during the same radio show where i heard the Pantera song. Catchy song, amazing vocalist, first "hardcorish" band for me. Love the verses riffs also.
sepultura - C.I.U (criminals in uniforms)
Heard Sepultura during that same radio show AGAIN (i think this radio show really changed my life actually
), loved it but it was a different song. 2 years after or something, my brother borrowed the 2-CD "the roots of sepultura" cd. Surprisingly i didn't liked it at first, but then that CIU song (off the "Arise" era) got me hooked and that's basically how i became a "thrash metal" fan (alongside with Pantera), hence my forum nickname...exodus - and then there were none (live)
My brother got a tape from that same highschool friend he got the Sepultura cd from (my brother was hardly into metal actually, but he was borrowing metal cds from his friends for me to listen to... Thanks bro'
).Joe Satriani - one big rush
That cd was in my dad's collection (he's a guitar player), and it happens to have tons of super catchy and badass and heavy tunes, conversely to most of the guitar hero cds which i find super generic/uninspiring/soft/boring. Just the backing track of that song makes me cream my pants.
Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I laugh Tomorrow
Shred/guitar hero thing meets skate crossover thrash metal. Epic song. Amazing part starting at 2"44, badass guitar solo after.
deftones - lotion
Saw Max Cavalera praising them in magazines, saw the hottie on the cover (best cover ever ?), got the album for christmas, those ethereal melodic vocals blew me away, and the other parts sounded super pissed-off. Was the first nu-metallish/emocore band i got into... Then several years later led me to other amazing bands like 36 crazyfists, Glassjaw, Cave In...
HEAVY+GROOVY+EMOTIONAL
fear factory - replica / hi-tech hate
I thought i was ridiculous and "meh" at first, especially the "silly" (well that was my first impression, which quickly changed
) machine-gun riffing and weird melodic futuristic vocals. Then "Obsolete" came out and i fell in love and the "hi-tech hate" song grew on me and i became a fan. Loved the aggression and futuristic/video game atmosphere, and that clean chorus is fuckin' EPIC. Fear Factory with Will Haven during the Obsolete tour was my first metal show.RATM - killing in the name
Heard this on the radio. Instant love. Sick vocalist, fresh and aggressive and catchy music.
offspring - come out and play (keep em seperated)
Super cheesy guitar lick at the beginning but got me into punk rock. Heard this on the radio and bought the cd. End story.
faith no more - digging the grave
Saw a commercial on French TV (true story), was blown away by the chorus, the chunky verse riff, and Mike Patton vocals. Got the cd for christmas.
pennywise - society
Got me into punk-rock heaven. That was the time were i was way into skateboarding and snowboarding also.
Vision of disorder - imprint
Was blown away by the raw character and sheer aggression, and those weird clean vocals. Then my brother bought this cd for my birthday. Thanks again bro'. Face-ripping Phil Anselmo featuring also.
Will Haven - Muse
Deftones gone bitter and desperate as fuck. You listen to this you feel like you wanna kill your ex girlfriend and jump through your apartment window but it's so fucking intense you love it.
incubus - vitamin
Djembe drums, catchy song, amazing chorus, amazing vocalist. Love at first sight. I think i was 13 or something at that time.
deicide - serpents of the light
Heard this on a metal magazine sample cd. Loved it. They got me into death metal. Ordered the album.
Cradle of filth - cruelty brought thee orchids
Shockingly clicky drums tone for me at the time, but amazing song with some Iron Maiden epicness meets thrash and death metal. Got me into black metal.
Dimmu Borgir - Behind The Curtains Of Night Phantasmagoria
Second gateway to black metal for me. When i listen to it today, it reminds me of Carnal Forge meets early Slayer with blast beats and Cradle Of Filth.
cannibal corpse - pounded into dust
Heard this on another magazine cd sampler. Got my ass-kicked by the non-stopping brutality and blast beats. Bought the cd right away.
slipknot - eyeless
Got intrigued by the "this new Roadrunner new act is gonna melt your faces" advertising and the album cover, then heard that song on a magazine cd sampler, got blown away by the Korn meets Sepultura meets Faith No More meets Pantera meets Death Metal vibe. And fuck those drums and vocals were too good !!!
The brutal DM vibe of some other songs got me deeper into death metal.
merauder - life on my own (cro-mags cover) / find my way
Heard the "life on my own" song on a cd sampler (took me years to find out it was a Cro-Mags cover btw), the in your-face-ness of the vocals and the music killed me. My first NYHC/hardcore metal love basically. Perfect blend of thrash metal and hardcore. Can't find the song on youtube though. Then heard the "find my way" song later on, the beginning of that song is everything i like in my music (two-step-friendly thrash/hxc riff/beat, big aggressive vocals that have a nice flow).
http://www.deezer.com/fr/music/track/6807211
earth crisis - end begins
Totally crushing hardcore-metal. Vocals sound like an enraged dog. Sick. First time i heard about straight-edge/veganism/animal rights also. Starting to make perfect sense today
Glassjaw - piano
Heard the Ross Robinson praise, heard the first killer single, fell in the love with the unique blend of Vision Of Disorder meets Bad Brains meets Emocore a la Deftones. Unique vocalist also. The killer solo at the end is simple yet epic.
aborted -nailed through her cunt
Saw a good review of that cd when it came out, heard that song and was blown away by the grind/death with a Pantera-ish vibe thing.
Down - stone the crow
Sludge/groove metal meets southern rock, made by a dream line-up. What else ?
Eyeless - king of serpents
Heard about those guys through a national Roadrunner contest, and knew they were from my town (Montpellier). Heard that song and was blown away by the Pantera meets Napalm Death meets Morbid Angel meets Meshuggah meets VOD vibe. Quickly became their number 1 fan and great friend of theirs. First time i heard Engl amps also. Loved that Engl Ritchie Blackmore tone instantly.
dying fetus - praise the lord (opium of the masses)
Got this from my ex-bandmate who had all those sick NYHC and brutal death metal cds (merauder, madball, nile, morbid angel, kickback, hatebreed, origin...). Sick tapping riffs, amazing drumming, brutal yet catchy, crushing mosh parts, tons of groove, tasty parts, ridiculous low vocals.
cryptopsy - faceless unknown
Badass hardcore-ish vocals on left-field/chaotic/ultra brutal death metal. Canada FTW.
Immolation - sinful nature
Finally figured what the praise was all about and fell in love with their unique style of death metal. Super left-field, dark, evil, intense and catchy death metal.
Madball - can't stop, won't stop
When i first heard Madball back in the days, it was the "pride" music video and it didn't do anything to me. Then i grew up and found out how awesome they were.
Skarhead - T.C.O.B
NYHC with a killer old-school twist to it.
e town concrete - Shaydee / first born
Amazing groove, aggression, fresh-sounding riffs, tasty rap part in the middle, sick vocalist, tasty musicians. Merauder mixed with hip hop and "good" nu-metal ? Perfect blend for me.
Hatesphere - downward to nothing
Thanks Denmark for making thrash the shit again !!! Bringing back brutality and groove into thrash !
Animosity - fake blood
Deathcore done right. Funny how they matured after, and are now in super renowned modern metal bands (Navene is Animals as Leaders, and the bass player and 2d guitar player are in the Faceless or something).
rag men - my world / insomnia / no questions
Members from Merauder/Skarhead/Hatebreed/EarthCrisis/Madball, sounded amazing on the paper already. Then i heard those songs and immediately got into it. Perfect blend of NYHC, old-school rock, metal and punk-rock. Amazing Sepultura "Territory" cover also.
Jorge (also sings in Merauder) and Mitts (also plays guitar in Madball, Skarhead, H2O...) are some of my "heroes", and i got to know them since which is great.
Funny how it sounds like "emotional rock songs" made by tough guys or something
Those 3 songs here : http://www.deezer.com/fr/music/rag-men/rag-men-561635
Irate - i remember
Got into this band when i got into beatdown, and then found out they were heading toward a more classical metal/thrash direction, with their own beatdown and even "rock songwriting" twist to it. That song is more of a heavy rock song (think Metallica black album era) with some über-pissed vocals, but is highly emotional IMO.
Cave in - lost in the air :
Got in the band with their early aggressive post-hardcore stuff, but got finally hooked by their more mainstream ethereal post-hardcore rock stuff. I strum the intro riff any time i play the guitar.
Circle Of Tyrants - Joe Spinell
Necro and his crew brought my interest back in rap music. I got tired of the whole metal fanboy namedropping and the "trying to sound more extreme and gory than Cannibal Corpse" thing, but those guys put out some sick backing tracks and have a nice flow.
La Rumeur - y a toujours un lendemain
Reminded me that rap is also about the "take no prisoner" attitude (which reminds me of my favourite metal bands, except it has no screaming, distorted guitars nor double bass drumming), dedication and lyrics. Anti bling bling.
Alice In Chains - down in a hole
Never been really into AIC (whereas i was a huge PJ/Nirvana/Soundgarden fan... go figure) but that song made me realize how emotional and heavy that band was and made them stood apart from the other Seattle/grunge bands (which i also love).
Keren Ann - lay your head down
Sweetest song and voice ever. So beautiful and peaceful. When listening to it with headphones, you feel like she's whispering to you or something. Makes me feel weird now cuz' it brings back some "ex-gf" memories
Wisdom in chains - my promise
Hardcore band that managed to bring back actual "songs" into hardcore for me. Makes me think of Pennywise mixed with hardcore and rock/metal, which is awesome. The part that starts in the middle moves me. For real.
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Heard the name for years, and finally took the time to check out his music, and it stood to its reputation indeed ! I was feeling terrible (i.e dumped
) at this time and the melancholy of the music really spoked to me, for good and for bad This is one of the most emotional record ever, and the production is amazing, feels like the band is playing in the room with you.Covenance - the wasting
Exactly what i needed after feeling semi-depressed being dumped and feeling sad thanks to Jeff Buckley (see post above). Pure crushing Maryland slam death. Stripped-down Dying Fetus/Misery Index kind of thing. No place for whining here. Perfect music to do an intense workout to and stop being lazy.
Soilwork - king of threshold
Extreme yet super-fresh and catchy and intense. This song is just crazy.
Michael Jackson - earth song
I had not heard this song in like 15 years, and it jumped back at me when i saw the "this is it" movie. Made me realize again how epic MJ was sometimes.
New Found Glory - coming home
Who guessed i could go back to pop-punk someday
I think this song sounds a lot like Michael Jackson also Leeway - stand for / hornet's nest
I was digging into the old '"legends" of NYHC, and finally checked them out, found them weird first (sounded kind of cheesy and those vocals were quite the opposite of what i like in heavy music (i love pissed off menacing vocals)), but then the killer melodies and amazing grooves got me, and now i love the singing also. The mosh part in the middle of "stand for" is HEAVY AS FUCK. I also dig the more rock/moody evolution they followed after, and the singing on that "hornet's nest" song is amazing.
Comes with the fall - waiting out the breakdown
Finally decided to check out "the rock band where new Alice In Chains' singer comes from" and i didn't expect to be blown away that much. This guy is one of the most talented singers out there, has a very diverse style (he can do way more than what you hear in AIC !), and those songs are the shit. Think Soundgarden meets U2 meets Jeff Buckley meets Alice In Chains meets LEd Zeppelin.
Maximum Penalty - could you love me
One of those other NYHC gems. I love the Bad Brains meets Pennywise feel on this.
Textures - awake
I've really liked the band since they second album, but they got better and better throughout the years, and the super emotional ethereal singing got me in the end (whereas the "djenty" aspect kind of annoyed me at first). New album is a gem also. Plus they make me enjoy that aspect (ethereal emotional singing) of some other bands even more : Devin Townsend/SYL, Scarve, Gojira...
That's all i can remember for now and that's more than enough for you to check out
Funny thing is that i still love all those songs, and even more now than back then. Actually they're my favourite songs/bands pretty much, and it sums up my musical influences and evolution also (grunge -> groove metal/rap metal/thrash metal -> punk rock/funk rock/nu-metal -> brutal death metal/black metal/hardcore/rap/pop -> all of this mixed together).
A lot of those bands have been around for a long time (or still around) and killing it all the way.
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