The "First Album You Heard Is Your Favorite" theory

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

Powermetal Rebel and I were talking with Erik Ravn from Wuthering Heights on their message board and came up with an interesting theory. It regards your favorite album from your favorite classic rock/metal bands (really just applies to bands with large catalogues over long period of time). The three of us noticed that many of our favorite albums from our favorite classic bands are the FIRST album we heard by that band.

Obviously this theory isn't a "catch-all", there will many exceptions. The theory is that a larger percentage of your favorite albums by a band just happens to be the very first album you heard...back in the day.

I can think of many right off the bat (the year I first heard it in parenthesis):

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (1980)
Blue Oyster Cult - Cultosaurus Erectus (1980)
Judas Priest - British Steel (1980)
Pink Floyd - The Wall (1980)
Styx - Paradise Theatre (1981)
REO Speedwagon - Tuna Fish (1981)
Nazareth - No Mean City (1981)
AC/DC - Back In Black (1982)
Rush - Moving Pictures (1982)
Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love (1982)
Demon - The Unexpected Guest (1982)
Saxon - Wheels of Steel (1983)
Metallica - Kill 'Em All (1983)
UFO - Obsession (1984)
Michael Schenker - Assault Attack (1984)
Overkill - Fell the Fire (1985)
Flotsam and Jetsam - Doomsday for the Deciever (1988)

That's just a bunch off the top of my head. I ran into several where the theory didn't apply (Savatage, Led Zep, Megadeth, Deep Purple, Scorpions, KISS and Maiden). Out of the bands I could think of right off the bat (and limiting my list to bands where I'm familiar with most/all of their discography), the majority seems to support the theory. What's your experience?

 

[sixxswine]

Powermetal Rebel and I were talking with Erik Ravn from Wuthering Heights on their message board and came up with an interesting theory. It regards your favorite album from your favorite classic rock/metal bands (really just applies to bands with large catalogues over long period of time). The three of us noticed that many of our favorite albums from our favorite classic bands are the FIRST album we heard by that band.

The theory that I had, was that bands would write their firts album's worth of material, play live, refine the songs over a period of years, then get signed...
One that sticks out for me is Cinderella's Night Songs, it's more influenced by AC/DC than their image might lead you to believe. I said had, because it does not apply anymore, there is no band development, there are bands that get signed based on trends, don't blame what you guys call "mallcore" because you can trace this back to the mid-80's with Thrash Metal, Hair Bands, then Grunge, ect.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I agree, Sixx. The downward trend didn't start with "grunge" or with Nirvana. It started with the slew of hair metal bands in the latter part of the 80s. That was when the whole music industry completely changed to fads. That was when the American record companies started taking control instead of the musicians.

That's why this theory more applies to classic bands than anything from the MTV and beyond era.

 

[Powermetal Rebel]

I can think of many right off the bat (the year I first heard it in parenthesis):

It amazes me that you remember the years you first heard them. I tried to do that but it didn't go too well.

I've reevaluated a big part of my collection and found for me the theory is very accurate for 70's rock (when I bought 1 LP at a time & wore it out) but the theory seems to fall apart when I started buying records on a much larger scale.

PMR

 

[Evil?]

I would say that this theory holds up in many cases. For instance, the first album i ever heard by Death was, Sound of Perseverance. BEcasue i heard that one first and listened to it so often, when i went back and listened to the older Death stuff, I thought chucks vocals were not as good. It is normally the other way around. I have since lost a preference and enjoy both of Chicks vocal styles, but having heard SOP first had an effect.

 

[Thoth-Amon]

Well I can think of one album off the top of my head that fits this description:
Slayer- Decade of Aggression... the first Slayer album I ever heard... still one of my favs and still the Slayer album I listen to most.

 

[Hawk]

Thats theory does not work for me.

First Zeppelin Album I heard
Led Zeppelin II, my favorite, Physical Graffiti.

First Queen album I heard; Night At The Opera, my favorite, Queen II.

First Rush album I heard Fly By Night, my favorite Power Windows.

First Riot album Rock City, favorite Fire Down Under.

Perhaps you guys bought the albums you liked so much because they were recommended to you. And they already had a status as well known and good albums.

I started buying albums around 1976/77 in those days I knew nobody who liked the same music as me. So there were no recommendations. I had to figure it out by myself. Each album was a complete surprise to me. And I had to discover gradually what I liked or disliked.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

Perhaps you guys bought the albums you liked so much because they were recommended to you. And they already had a status as well known and good albums.

This is true for me. I always had people reccommending albums for me in the beginning. It wasn't until about 1983 that I started discovering bands for myself, but even then they were bands like Ratt and Queensryche who I read about in Hit Parader magazine.

 

[poundingmetal74]

The non-technical name for the theory is the "what is learned first is learned best" theory. Basically it says whatever you learn (or listen to) first you'll learn it the best. For example walking - you walked first therefore, you got damn good at it! Most of us heard Appetite for Destruction first, hence it's our favorite GNR album (although it was their best regardless).

In many cases it holds true because you spend the most time growing with a band's earlier albums, and more often than not, their first album(s) tend to be better (Queensryche for example).

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

In many cases it holds true because you spend the most time growing with a band's earlier albums, and more often than not, their first album(s) tend to be better (Queensryche for example).

That's a whole other topic for discussion. I agree that many bands had their best albums early in their career. But how many? Over 50% like the original thread topic?

Queensryche definitely put out their best albums with the first four/five and then fizzled out. Metallica did the same, as did Megadeth.

In contrast, Savatage just got better with age, or at least maintained a steady quality over decades. I feel the same way about Blue Oyster Cult. They didn't put out a bad record throughout the 70s and 80s. Priest had a 10 year run from the debut to Defenders. Sabbath through Born Again. Maiden thru 7th Son.

 

[sixxswine]

That was when the whole music industry completely changed to fads. That was when the American record companies started taking control instead of the musicians.

I like the underground labels that have surfaced as a result. Have the artists gained complete control? Probably not, but it beats 98% of the stuff that is out on a major label or that is distributed by one...

 

[carnut]

For me this also is mostly true,some examples;

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Iron Maiden - Killers
MSG - MSG II
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Van Halen - Woman and Children First
Scorpions - Blackout
Loudness - The Birthday Eve
Metallica - Kill'm All
Angel Witch - Angel Witch

all albums that were the first I heard of these
bands and still like the most...

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I like the underground labels that have surfaced as a result. Have the artists gained complete control? Probably not, but it beats 98% of the stuff that is out on a major label or that is distributed by one...

The problem is, with Sony BMG having such a stranglehold on the American market, the vast majority of these underground labels are European. That means great American bands like Benedictum, Cage, Winter's Bane, Icarus Witch, Overlorde, etc. have to go overseas just to get a record deal. And the touring is an issue too. These American bands don't even tour here! There's no money in it because American's are too lazy by nature to seek out a music "underground". The sheople are more than happy to just take what MTV and their local radio stations feed them. Meanwhile, a tour of Europe has throngs of people attending their concerts, where here they'd have to be happy filling up a small bar with an $8 cover charge.

 

[Wheezer]

It doesn't fit for me:

Band: first, favorite
Queensryche: EP, O:M.
Armored Saint: March, Symbol (close second is Delirious Nomad)
Tool: Undertow, Aenima
Tesla: Mechanical, Great Radio
Alice Cooper: Love it to Death, Welcome to my Nightmare

It's similar with nearly every other band I could name off. The one common thread among all those is that I got into them fairly early in their career, or in the case of Alice I started with his (their) earlier stuff, and worked forward. Bands that I back-catalogued are prolly different. I haven't thought about it but I would guess that's the case. I tend to go for bands that get progressively better anyway. They may still call themselves Metallica and Queensryche but those two ceased to exist for me right after Master of Puppets and Promised Land, respectively.

 

[ElectricWiz]

First...then favorite:

Queensryche - S/T EP - Rage For Order
Black Sabbath - Live Evil - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast - The Number of the Beast
Slayer - Show No Mercy - Hell Awaits
Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance - Defenders of the Faith
AC/DC - For Those About to Rock... - Back In Black
Metallica - Kill 'em All - Master of Puppets
Led Zeppelin - IV - Physical Graffitti
Scorpions - Blackout - Blackout

 

[No-Mercy]

as electric wiz did, first then favorites


1) Iron Maiden- Piece Of Mind. SomeWhere In Time (at the moment)
2) Blind Guardian- Somewhere Far Beyond. Nightfall In Middle Earth
3) Saxon- Rock The Nations. Killing Ground
4) Overkill- Bloodletting. From The Underground And Below
5) Metallica- Master Of Puppets. Ride The Lightning
6) Megadeth- Peace Sells. Rust In Peace

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

The one common thread among all those is that I got into them fairly early in their career, or in the case of Alice I started with his (their) earlier stuff, and worked forward. Bands that I back-catalogued are prolly different. I haven't thought about it but I would guess that's the case.

I think your "back cataloging" comment is very key here. I find it applies more to bands that I discovered somewhere in the middle of their discography and had to go back through a slew of past albums.

If you discover a band "as they are happening", the theory is less likely to apply because you're kind of riding along with them as they progress and improve their crafts. In that instance, a band is much more likely to release your favorite album long after you first heard them.

Eh, the theory needs more work and needs to be narrowed down. :Smug:

 

[The saYer]

the theory holds for me but only cause of recommendations. usually I listen to the weakest albums last as if I can't get enough of a band.

I like discovering what a band is about and the first heard does that for you, after you hear the first album, usually you already know what the band is about and there is more limited discovery, just a theory of mine.

 

[Bryant]

I agree only to a point. I first heard Wayne era Metal Church with both the S/T and "The Dark" but prefer Howe era. I also heard Bon Scott era AC/DC before Johnson and though I prefer the Scott era as a whole, "BIB" is their absolute masterpiece. That was released in 1980 btw.


Bryant

 

[sumairetsu]

Don't really agree. Of these bands, my first and then favorites are these:

Kiss
1st) Destroyer
Fave) Alive!

Deep Purple
1st) Made in Japan
Fave) Made in Europe

Slayer
1st) Show No Mercy
Fave) Reign in Blood

Venom
1st) Welcome to Hell
Fave) Welcome to Hell

Voivod
1st) RRROOOAAARRR!!!
Fave) Nothingface

Queensryche
1st) The Warning
Fave) Rage For Order or Promised Land

Judas Priest
1st) Defenders of the Faith
Fave) Unleashed in the East

Mercyful Fate
1st) Don't Break the Oath
Fave) IX

Bjork
1st) Debut
Fave) Vespertine

Hey, nobody said they all had to be Metal!