Up and Coming Metal Fans - What Would You Recommend and Why?

Malice

So, an interesting point was raised in this thread (specifically this post). Basically, imagine your twelve year old brother, cousin, nephew, neighbour or whatever comes to you and asks for recommendations. Where do you start? Is whatever you recommend going to consist of the well-known 80s classics (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets etc.), 90s classics (Burn My Eyes, Demanufacture etc.), 00s classics (The Blackening, Come Clarity) or some combination of them all?

Please don't just fire up a list, take the time to explain why you'd recommend something.

Twilightning

I think this would be interesting alright. I'd be more interested in indoctrinating my 8 year old nephew into rock and metal rather than waiting for him to ask me for recommendations though! Of course at his age his ears haven't been corrupted by the ****e television shows and blockbuster movies the kids of today have already fall victim to so I have that working in my favour at least. I don't think I'd be able to hold his attention for very long with music I listen to though.

Angron

I'd probably give them a mix of the decades. There have been great albums from each decade, it'd be unfair just to shun some albums just cause other albums/bands from that period might suck. There is just too much good from each decade to justifiably ignore those years.

If my brother was to come to me about music I'd be glad, sadly it's not looking likely. He's a huge fan of those talentless gimps known as Jedward.

120_Minutes

what you recommend will be based on a few factors, with this one head and shoulders at the top:

When did you get into metal?

you'll have individuals (like myself) who joined in the 90's who have the classics (early thrash eg metallica, megadeth, slayer et al) to work from, along with future classics that came out when they were getting into it (machine head, FF, Tool) then as you move forward if you stick with it you'll have modern bands to recommend...

...now thats the point i bow out at. my tastes changed as the 2000's rolled around, so with regards thrash and/or regular metal i'd have no business recommending anything to a youngling (perhaps killswitch, one of the few modern metal bands i like) from this decade.

so, what you recommend is based on:

your own taste in the genre (and its many sub genres)
when you got into the genre itself.
what you think your charge will be into.


so its very subjective....as it should be!

Motley Crue

I would make the person a mix CD with tracks from the following bands

Queen, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Faith No More, Alice In Chains, Slayer, Temple of the Dog, Meat Loaf, Def Leppard, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Megadeth, Napalm Death, Slipknot, Thin Lizzy and Fear Factory

I would then ask him, after a few days, which tracks in particular he/she enjoyed and what songs they leaned towards more. From there we could look at the bands who have branched off and been inspired by these "household" names and bands who also similar in sound and style to those listed

I think it's as important as possible to give a broad musical taste of the entire Rock and Metal genre, how much it differs in style, sound and shape - that way the person looking for influence and guidance is better informed!

deathrider

Mix-tape (or modern equivelant) is the way to go. Why just say "here's some 80's stuff, suss the rest out on your own"? Give him a fair hammering of all types of stuff from over the years. Range it out a bit to get plenty of different genres in (some fast, some stompy, some light, some epic, and some of everything else you think is worth a spin), and see what catches him most. If he comes out saying "Jesus, that Annihilator stuff is fantastic!" then you'll know to pass him more of that genre.
It's not like there's any shortage of good Metal to choose from.

smackbunnybaby

120_Minutes wrote: »

When did you get into metal?

you'll have individuals (like myself) who joined in the 90's who have the classics (early thrash eg metallica, megadeth, slayer et al) to work from, along with future classics that came out when they were getting into it (machine head, FF, Tool) then as you move forward if you stick with it you'll have modern bands to recommend...

Well this is the point.
The 80s kids had the late 70s early 80s bands hence a lot of them like Sabbath and Maiden and ACDC.

The 90s kids had late 80s and early 90s bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Pantera.

I think for this to make sense you need to have NOT formed your own idea about metal. You need to be a new-ish fan in late9 0s early 2000s.

What were your albums that got you into metal?
Would Mastodon be seen as gods to you?
Or maybe Lamb of God?

I think us older metallers can be quite cynical about newer things....it might be good, but it's no Master of Puppets etc etc. And if it is, we aren't going to admit it. ...

viadah

I personally don't like the encroaching genre bias which I haven't noticed in years, for my own broadening tastes in my early teens nothing had more of an impact than 'Come to Daddy' by Aphex Twin. It was electronica (or whatever) but it can't be denied it's a heavy song, and it would be an easy step from there to head for Dillinger Escape Plan's version of the song. Though that said I would be inclined to recommend 'entry level' stuff like Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son' or Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' for a grounding of what metal is before moving on up through the ages.

I think we would all start out recommending the bands that we got into first, it's the most obvious point of reference. I barely listen to Maiden or Metallica these days but they're the reason I listen to Combichrist and Rammstein now.

nyarlothothep

I would recommend both rock and metal, as they are in the same broad general area in that metal evolved out of rock and bands can migrate back and forth between both. So I would probably say listen to Led Zeppelin 4,2,3,1 and Physical Graffiti, then listen to Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall by Pink Floyd, check out as much Queen as possible, also listen to 80s/90s Metallica, Trial by Fire by Testament, check out some SOAD and RATM and decide which one you prefer, (the correct answer being RATM initially but SOAD in the long run), for new music listen to The Mars Volta, specifically Deloused and Frances the Mute, then listen to Gojira, all the Opeth albums, Nine Inch Nails and Reverend Bizarre. Incidentally this is my musical listening journey.

InigoMontoya

I think I'd stick mainly to newer bands/material. Makes it a bit more interesting than some 30 year old album, and if they have any taste for metal they'll come across the classics anyway.

So, some of the great 00s albums from Mastodon, Neurosis, Opeth, Primordial, Woods Of Ypres. Also Amon Amarth, Leprous, The Ocean, Isis, Gorod, Nader Sadek, Gorerotted.

Probably some songs from the likes of Lamb Of God, Chimaira, Lazarus AD, Sylosis - they may be limited overall but they have some kickass and fairly accessible songs.

Joe_Dull

I started off with stuff like System of a Down, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine and Evanescence... I'd say give whoever it is a mixtape of gateway bands, with a few heavier songs thrown in. No sense throwing them in the deep end and scaring them off.

jenizzle

I would definitely start off light, and work my way up. It could be possible that if you dived right in with some Norwegian black metal, they'll get put off by its intensity and therefore give up.

I loved Alice in Chains - they, for me, were a good progression from 'normal rock' (Pearl Jam, RHCP) to heavier metal and I worked my way on from there by listening to slightly different genres at a time. I wouldn't give them an mp3 player full of metal either, it needs time and the brain could become overloaded.

InigoMontoya

Joe_Dull wrote: »

I started off with stuff like System of a Down, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine and Evanescence... I'd say give whoever it is a mixtape of gateway bands, with a few heavier songs thrown in. No sense throwing them in the deep end and scaring them off.

jenizzle wrote: »

I would definitely start off light, and work my way up. It could be possible that if you dived right in with some Norwegian black metal, they'll get put off by its intensity and therefore give up.

Feck them so! :pac:

Joe_Dull

InigoMontoya wrote: »

Feck them so! :pac:

That's not the spirit :rolleyes:

iroced

I would give him the full picture.

Starting off from the "basics" in the 60ies. Just a few things. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Hendrix, Yardbirds, Pink Floyd...
Just to show him what gave birth to the 70iwes music "explosion" and diversification. Led Zep, Purple, Sab', AC/DC. Then Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Rush, Scorpions, UFO, Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy... Then Judas Priest would be a good link between 70ies Heavy psychedelic Rock and 80ies Heavy Metal.
From there I'll just throw a bunch of examples of every sub-genres that appeared from the late 70ies : Punk Rock (The Clash, Pistols, The Exploited...), NWOBHM (Maiden, Accept, Saxon), Thrash (the big 4 and the followers Exodus, Coroner, Testament, Annihilator), Black (Celtic Frost, Bathory, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, and onward to the "symphonic/melodic" ones Cradle, Dimmu), Death (Death, Morbid Angel, Cynic, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Opeth), Power (Helloween - a good historical link with Thrash - and on to the development of the genre from Gamma Ray, Stratovarius and Blind Guardian to the late 90ies "explosion"), Fusion (Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine), Grunge (Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Progressive Metal (Fates Warning, Queensryche, Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery, Vanden Plas... only there if he/she's into it, I'll go back to the 70ies prog' Rock profusion), Instrumental/Guitar oriented (Malmsteen, Satriani, Vai), Groove/Nu-Metal (Pantera, Machine Head on the one hand, Korn on the other), "Experimental" (Tool, Devin Townsend) ...etc...
Then, from the late 90ies, I'd finish with the Heavy revival (Power Metal : Hammerfall & co, Melodic/Symphonic Metal, : Rhapsody & co) and the growing of the core-derived Metal in the 00ies. Avenged Sevenfold, Mastodon, Isis, Neurosis, The Ocean etc...

Basically, I'd go through a historical progression to show him how the genre evolved, how every new subgenre appeared in general in response with the previous one. I think a lot of the general masses disdain for this music should be avoided with that approach. And if he/she doesn't find any "point of entry" in there, well I think it's not for him. In the other case, He/she'd have the main "historical guideline" and could start exploring his favourite subgenres/periods on his own (and fill in everything I forgot).

TheStickyBandit

I think it would be silly to start youngsters off with an array of eclectic metal bands. I think it would be necessary to have some sort of gateway band which will slowly introduce them into the depths of the genre.

I think bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet for my Valentine are prime examples of this. They will be obsessed with these bands and then listen to those bands influences, for example I liked/still kinda like Trivium and I found out Corey's favourite band were Annihilator so that got me into them! And so on....

The mixtape idea, would solve most of your problems though!

iroced

TheStickyBandit wrote: »

I think it would be necessary to have some sort of gateway band which will slowly introduce them into the depths of the genre.

I think bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Bullet for my Valentine are prime examples of this.

Well, I think your approach would work fine if he/she likes your "gateway bands". If they don't, you're going to adopt the "eclectic" approach step by step (or should I say band by band). Hence my global approach .

triggermortis

iroced wrote: »

I would give him the full picture.

Starting off from the "basics" in the 60ies. Just a few things. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Hendrix, Yardbirds, Pink Floyd...
Just to show him what gave birth to the 70iwes music "explosion" and diversification. Led Zep, Purple, Sab', AC/DC. Then Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Rush, Scorpions, UFO, Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy... Then Judas Priest would be a good link between 70ies Heavy psychedelic Rock and 80ies Heavy Metal.
From there I'll just throw a bunch of examples of every sub-genres that appeared from the late 70ies : Punk Rock (The Clash, Pistols, The Exploited...), NWOBHM (Maiden, Accept, Saxon), Thrash (the big 4 and the followers Exodus, Coroner, Testament, Annihilator), Black (Celtic Frost, Bathory, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, and onward to the "symphonic/melodic" ones Cradle, Dimmu), Death (Death, Morbid Angel, Cynic, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Opeth), Power (Helloween - a good historical link with Thrash - and on to the development of the genre from Gamma Ray, Stratovarius and Blind Guardian to the late 90ies "explosion"), Fusion (Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine), Grunge (Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Progressive Metal (Fates Warning, Queensryche, Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery, Vanden Plas... only there if he/she's into it, I'll go back to the 70ies prog' Rock profusion), Instrumental/Guitar oriented (Malmsteen, Satriani, Vai), Groove/Nu-Metal (Pantera, Machine Head on the one hand, Korn on the other), "Experimental" (Tool, Devin Townsend) ...etc...
Then, from the late 90ies, I'd finish with the Heavy revival (Power Metal : Hammerfall & co, Melodic/Symphonic Metal, : Rhapsody & co) and the growing of the core-derived Metal in the 00ies. Avenged Sevenfold, Mastodon, Isis, Neurosis, The Ocean etc...

Basically, I'd go through a historical progression to show him how the genre evolved, how every new subgenre appeared in general in response with the previous one. I think a lot of the general masses disdain for this music should be avoided with that approach. And if he/she doesn't find any "point of entry" in there, well I think it's not for him. In the other case, He/she'd have the main "historical guideline" and could start exploring his favourite subgenres/periods on his own (and fill in everything I forgot).

'full picture' and you didn't mention Queen? tut tut!

viadah

That sounds a bit like school to me, what if the newbie just wants to hear an aul tune? Society is soundbites these days with an appropriate attention span. Throw on '****ing Hostile' by Pantera, everyone loves that song on some level. The 'pop' approach would be easiest I'm now inclined to think, accessibility first. I reckon one of them 8 gigabyte USB thingys loaded with predominately with the kind of accessible bands that have front paged Kerrap over the many years with some sneak attack gems thrown in there and tell the new acolyte to take their own pick. Give them the element of choice missing from a lecture or even a mix CD.

lord lucan

I'd just whack my ipod on shuffle,there's everything from Metallica/Slayer/Anthrax/Megadeth/Maiden to classic rock from GN'R/Aerosmith/AC/DC and Van Halen. If they don't get into something based on all that goodness there's no hope for them!

nyarlothothep

viadah wrote: »

That sounds a bit like school to me, what if the newbie just wants to hear an aul tune? Society is soundbites these days with an appropriate attention span. Throw on '****ing Hostile' by Pantera, everyone loves that song on some level. The 'pop' approach would be easiest I'm now inclined to think, accessibility first. I reckon one of them 8 gigabyte USB thingys loaded with predominately with the kind of accessible bands that have front paged Kerrap over the many years with some sneak attack gems thrown in there and tell the new acolyte to take their own pick. Give them the element of choice missing from a lecture or even a mix CD.

I think iroced's approach is good in relation to someone who would have the qualities of being a scholar of music, it would produce someone with a very well rounded knowledge and taste in music but I think that it wouldn't work for everyone.

viadah

I'm not knocking iroced's approach, just saying it may be a little too erudite for most.

iroced

Yeah guys, where can I hide after forgetting Queen ? :eek: Well, I'm sure there's plenty other important ones I didn't mention.

I know that by the look of it, my approach seems erudite and/or boring, but you could integrate it with the "mixtape"/"loaded memory stick" one. Just put on key songs of key albums of all these bands in a chronological order. You could organize it year per year starting from the early 60ies till the late 00ies. Basically you give him what you consider the "full thing" and he/she plays around with it. If he/she doesn't want to follow the chronological "scholar" order, he/she can listen to it randomly. But when he/she'll like something, he/she'll have the date information and judge it in relation.

I'd take 2 examples. If a youngster listen to Pantera's "A New Level" in 2011 without replacing it in its 1990 context, I'm not sure he'll get the same appreciation of the power, the sound, the intensity of it. Because, today this palm muting riffage is pretty common.
It's the same with Black Sabbath first 6 albums. Considering they were done between 1970 and 1975 make them legendary. The darkness of the atmospheres (especially on the "Master Of Reality" album) was unique and the heavyness so new. If you don't consider the period, it sounds standard Heavy Metal.