How did you become a metalhead?

[korruption]

And of course feel free to leave jokes about metal plate implants in your head too.

*ahem*

So Metallica's "Black" album did it for me. Since it was considered their turning point to sellout status, it was a perfect introductory album for me since at the time I was still listening to the radio from time to time. Megadeth followed up (except I couldn't stand the vocals at first), and then eventually Fear Factory came along and I was hooked forevAAWWW! (by the way I should also mention "Through the Never" is one of the most underrated songs of all time )

 

[EyeballKid]

Sadly, Metallica's "Fuel" and thus ReLoad did it for me. Then I discovered real metal.

 

[muzmaze]

Good topic.
Well, its kinda like 2-phases (over 25+ years) of metal listening for me.

The 1st phase started mainly as hard rock / metal, the usual Van Halen, Rush, Maiden & Priest. Metallica's "Black" album was really the only American metal that I liked. After years & years of listening to these bands , guess I got a little tired of them, more so the American metal scene and needed to expand.

The 2nd phase started about 5-years ago when I found a Scandinavian melodic metal band (thru Melodicrock.com) called Lasttribe. Got hooked on what I think is the best metal scene...Scandi style-power metal, then the searches began. Thankfully, found even better bands like Tad Morose, Communic, Olympos Mons and of course the best in Pyramaze.
I give credit to the Computer age / various websites and of course my fellow Metal-heads, you guys are the ones that recommend and discuss (which I really enjoy) many of these great bands. Didn't have these options as a young kid, so I'm more into metal now-than ever! My wife and other people my age think I'm crazy that I listen to this style of music. I tell them they are correct-and they don't know what they are missing.

Cheers!

 

[BurntOfferings666]

Wow, I've never seen a thread like this before! Good pick Korruption!

I got into metal very early in life (at about 12 years of age) while I was still in elementary school. The guys at the time were into some stuff that I enjoyed, but it wasn't right for me at that point in my life. I went and picked up Iron Maiden's Somewhere In Time and I was hooked at that point. Next album up was the brand new Iced Earth album, Night of the Stormrider, and that was the cornerstone of my metalheadness

I've gone through phases, like I'm sure most of us have: thrash, goth, death/black, classic, and for the last several years I've been stuck in the power/prog genres. For me, the Scandinavian melodic power and prog genres contain my favorite elements of all the other genres of metal. I have been fortunate enough to work for an online radio station where I've able to get in contact with many underground and indie bands, which only furthered my love of the genres.

As Muzmaze said, credit must be given to the computer age and fellow metalheads for spreading the word of amazing bands, who without the internet and word of mouth and the digital bootlegging of albums, would still be complete unknowns.

 

[The Wicked One]

I was classic rocker
got into sabbath (ozzy radio stuff)

bought a power rock cd that had JP (youve got another thing comin) and Skid Row (18 and life) on it.
bought master of puppets on a whim and the rest is history.

 

[paranoidmexican009]

well at first i was into nu-metal...slipkot, korn, SOAD, that shit. i thought i was hardcore, but then some guy let me listen to dantes inferno by iced earth. after than i was hooked, so i asked him to make a list of bands that i should check out. the rest is history

 

[itsmydamnation]

i guess it started with early offspring ( ignition, self titled) then i progressed to metallica ( like everyone...lol ) then into other thrash ( testerment, pandera etc) then into prog/power/speed where i haven't moved very far from in a long time....

 

[GuitarRage99]

Good ol Metallica's Ride the Lightning did it for me. And from then on I discovered Priest Maiden, and finally Iced Earth. Then i discovered Pyramaze one day on Myspace before Lance King departed.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Well when I was about 12 me and my friends were listening mostly to Blink 182 (lol). Then, when my friend started learning to play guitar, he started listening mostly to Metallica, and also Dream Theater and Symphony X. Took me a while to get into them, but eventually I fell in love and have been into metal ever since.

 

[chrissie]

I was 14 and my friends listened to AC/DC. So I bought the first AC/DC album. It was also the first album in my life. This was 26 years ago.

 

[carbon]

I was listening to an internet metal radioshow as a joke, I thought it'd be funny to listen to. Edenbrige was on and I was like "WOAH!" THIS IS GOOD! - Then I saw "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden.
Ever since i've been addicted.

 

[muzmaze]

I Then I saw "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden.

This one song may be more responsible for baptising Metal heads than any other song. Then you see the video and you were hooked for life!

 

[EyeballKid]

I'm also in the Maiden via "Run to the Hills" camp.

Funny thing is, I can't think of very many Maiden songs that I now dislike as much as I do "Run to the Hills".

 

[TheAnonymous]

Yeah that song has something really annoying about it. It's probably cool to see live though.

 

[muzmaze]

"The Trooper" along with its video-had an impact as well.

 

[carbon]

I'm also in the Maiden via "Run to the Hills" camp.

Funny thing is, I can't think of very many Maiden songs that I now dislike as much as I do "Run to the Hills".

I'm with you, I don't like it very much either..
I like, The Clansmen an Pashendale alot. those are probably my two favorite.

 

[Charno]

I became a metalhead somewhat three years ago or so. Due to living in a weird place (out of the city, not many kids around, mostly houses of grownups whose kids were all grown up or really too old for me to hang out with), the only people I could hang out with were a bunch of local rap fanatics.
So, when I was 10, I listened to rap. Up until... I was 13? Probably something like that. An incident happened with the local guys, which, by the way, included me getting beat up REAL hard for no real reason, after which I had lost faith in rap and everyone associated with it. In the meanwhile, one of my classmates had found Slipknot. We all almost immediately got hooked. Next, they got hooked on Korn, but I just couldn't stand it. Meanwhile I really liked some Estonian punk bands, but they weren't all that good. I got introduced into bands like Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir, but eventually I heard Lord Of The Rings (the acoustic version) by Blind Guardian on my friend's CD-player and I decided to check it out because it sounded so cool. I was completely hooked by their style. Later on, I heard about Demons & Wizards and checked out what Iced Earth was. Needless to say, I liked it even more than Blind Guardian. Other bands followed. Now I'm an addict and damn proud of it

 

[NM 156]

Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Black Sabbath

then

Van Halen
Rush
AC/DC
Judas Priest
Motley Crue

then

Queensryche
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Yngwie Malmsteen
Mercyful Fate
Slayer
King Diamond
Stryper
Fates Warning

then

Suicidal Tendencies
Dream Theater
Biohazard
Pantera

then

Korn
Sevendust
Life of Agony
Cannibal Corpse
Nevermore

then

Evergrey
Pyramaze
Dreamscape
Outworld

 

[Iced Dog]

by the way I should also mention "Through the Never" is one of the most underrated songs of all time )

All of the non-single tracks on that album are underrated. Metallica basically got me started on the path...I picked up S&M and was quite smitten, particularly by Master Of Puppets and how the crowd chanted the chorus, just awesome. So I dug through the early catalog and loved Puppets and Justice...that led me to Megadeth and Iron Maiden, but my real breakthough so to speak was Iced Earth (in the fall of 2003)...it was like a heaven-sent combination of early Metallica thrash and melodic Iron Maiden, I mean are you kidding me?? I think I had found them via an Amazon user/suggestion list. It wasn't long after that I was finding other underground melodic metal bands, thanks to various forums and filesharing.

As for Pyramaze, some dude on an old Iced Earth fan site (Iced Realm) mentioned this amazing debut album called Melancholy Beast...I tracked it down in early 2004 and therefore here I am. Now I feel almost spoiled by all the great power/prog/symphonic stuff that comes along...the hard part is finding people to share it with, but that's where you fine intarweb folk help fill that gap

 

[korruption]

Also, Blind Guardian was my entry into the power/prog genres of metal which opened an entirely unknown world. I found "Ashes to Ashes" somewhere online (think it was "Lord Belsebub's Metal mp3s" or something). My first listen was kind of "Ok this is some wierd shit", then eventually became "Oh yes, can I get a fuck yes, ladies and gentlemen?!" Course I was alone so I just held my lighter up and commenced headbangery until I was nearly able to floss my teeth with the veins popping out of my forehead.

Too bad their latest album is [Opinion] One of the biggest pieces of unentertaining, all-around-disasterous-pieces of horrendous unbearable-crap-I-would-rather-bungee-jump-nutsack-first-into-a-truck-of-hippo-puke-than-listen-to-again that has ever polluted my stereo.

I'm not holding any hopes in hell that they could possibly redeem themselves after such an abortion-worthy piss puddle release that "A Twist of the Cocks" was. [/Opinion]

So anyhoo I just had to vent so don't take it too seriously mmkay?

Sooooo back on topic...