Mold My Taste in Music!

CasMat

I didn't know where to put this thread, since it is kind of a 1k thread, but not really.. I'm not known enough (if at all) to make one of those anyways, so I thought I'd make use of this 1000th post. I decided here since I want serious answers.

I do not know music. For pretty much my entire life I have generally been indifferent towards music, even though I like it. The thing is, now I feel that I am missing out on something that could very well become a big part of my life, but I don't know how to go about getting myself into it. Now I've noticed that Smogon looks to have good taste in music - I don't really know; I'm just guessing - so I decided to ask about this here. What is some good starter music (or beginner music or whatever you would have it called) that could potentially get me into what you would consider good music? Assume that I have no real likes or dislikes when it comes to music at all, since as of now I don't really know if I do or not. It'd also be nice if you could tell me how I would go about acquiring this music... (read: for free)...

Thanks to whoever posts.
 
Porcupine Tree (progressive metal)
The Eagles (classic rock/western/country)
Mogwai (post-rock)
Immortal Technique (rap)
A Perfect Circle (progressive metal)
Iron & Wine (alternative)
Brand New (rock)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (rock)
Radiohead (rock)
Muse (rock)
Metallica (rock/metal)
Johnny Cash (classic rock/country)
Frou Frou (ambient indie)
Weezer (rock)
Street To Nowhere (alternative)
Straylight Run (alternative)
The Spill Canvas (acoustic/alternative)
Snow Patrol (alternative)
The Smashing Pumpkins (rock)

All amazing music. Bolded are my faves.
 
dream theater and porcupine tree is what got me into music originally. to be honest, just do what i did: read up on the album reviews in the Entertainment Reviews forum, pick the songs that are rated 4 and above, and download them on limewire or anywhere else. the albums that are reviewed are mostly "classics" and are very solid for new music listeners.

you may not think you have a specific taste in music, but youll soon learn some things sound like shit and some things sound beautiful to you.
 
I recommend listening to some good, accessible pop and rock music, and build from there. Of course, pop music is probably my favorite genre so I may be biased. Complex music is hard to get into if you don't know the basic elements, though. To start, I would recommend:

Blackfield - One of my favorite pop/rock groups, catchy music that has really good texture. The words are usually really depressing, so don't let it get you down. Some of their songs can introduce you into heavier stuff, so it's a good launch point.
Ben Folds - one of the best piano players you'll hear. Plus chicks dig guys who listen to Ben Folds.
The Beatles - maybe youi've heard of these guys.
The National - these guys have a bit of a Western/cowboy tinge to their sound (especially since the singer has a deep voice), but they are wonderful.
Incubus - a well-known band these days. I would recommend songs from their albums Make Yourself, Morning View, and SCIENCE. Incubus is one of those bands "everyone can usually agree on."
 
Here is what I have listened to over the years, since I was roughly 13. The first few acts might be easier to get into since that's what I was doing. The genre followed by popular examples
Skater Punk Rock - Green Day (older stuff), Blink 182, Alkaline Trio
Heavy(ish) Metal - Iron Maiden, Opeth
Nu metal - System of a Down, Ill Nino, Linkin Park
Metalcore - Protest the Hero, Atreyu
3rd wave Emo - Taking Back Sunday, Alexisonfire
Hip Hop - Fort Minor, DJ Format, Jurassic 5
Indie/Rock - Reuben, The Kooks, Arcade Fire, The Cure, Death Cab for Cutie, Hundred Reasons, Nine Black Alps
Electronica - Chemical Brothers, Justice, Daft Punk, Erol Alkan, Kissy Sell Out, Groove Armada

It all depends on where you are in life and how you're feeling at the time. I listen to a lot of stuff so I can usually identify my mood and listen to music that suits it. For example, today was nice and sunny so I put on some euphoric dance and it got me going. On a rainy day on the bus I'll put on some Death Cab for Cutie so I can muse on the lyrics. It's all about knowing what you want.
 
Dio and Ozzy as well as their Black Sabbath stuff is classic, if you want to get into any kind of metal start there. Other good older stuff includes Rush, Guns'N'Roses, Van Halen and Iron Maiden. I like Job for a Cowboy, Iced Earth, and some Dimmu Borgir as far as the new stuff goes. Punk, Nu, and Indie are gay IMO but once you start listening to music one thing will become very, very clear: Oppinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most of them are full of shit. This is more true in music than anywhere else.
 
The one album that I can attribute to getting me into the music I like today is Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins. Not only is it pretty much unanimously considered a classic, it represents a wide range of musical genre and mood. There are angry songs and positive songs, heavy rock and power ballads mixed in with some pop and alternative. It is solid musically, and should really garner your respect for music in general. You can then branch off from there depending on which songs you find you like the best, so i would recommend downloading the whole album.

Also congrats on 1K bud, and thanks for being original (:
 
Ok, I see it is time to put my music degree to good use!

I recommend starting by downloading songs not albums.. It is cooler to like albums or something, but I usually get bored by the end of them. If you like a song, then try the album..

Ok, I am mostly picking stuff that is pretty easy to get into, but that does sorta mean some of it can get boring pretty fast.. Also I am giving vague headings but genres are for people who dont really like music.

Old Music:
The Beatles
Songs: I wanna Hold Your Hand, Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Strawberry Fields Forever
Albums: Revolver, Rubber Soul
Yeah, I am guessing you have an idea who the beatles are.. These songs I think pretty much cover the range of what they did..

Stevie Wonder
Songs: Superstition, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Isn't She Lovely
Albums: Songs in the Key of Life, Innervisions
Stevie Wonder made probably the most easily likeable music of anyone ever.. Real sing-along pop stuff, great melodies, and he is an awesome musician as well..

Jimi Hendrix
Songs: All Along the Watchtower, Purple Haze, Angel
Albums: Axis: Bold as Love
Again I assume you know who this is.. Awesome Guitarist, awesome music.. Tended too get a bit bluesy at times for me, but if that's your thing then this is your man..

Led Zeppelin
Songs: Stairway to Heaven, Heartbreaker, Fool in the Rain
Albums: II, IV
If I am being honest, I dont really like LZ's sound much, but they were just so damn good at what they did, I have to include them.. You probably know Stairway, but if not definitely get it. Fool in the Rain is sorta not as well liked by LZ fans, but I like it.. LZ almost define classic rock.

Pink Floyd
Songs: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Comfortably Numb, Time
Albums: Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd are a band people either love or hate.. They wrote complicated, often long psychedelic rock music, but it is still pretty easy to listen too..

The Clash
Songs: Rock the Casbah, London Calling
Albums: London Calling
I figured I had better include some Punk.. I am not a fan of it in general, but this album is pretty likeable regardless..

Newer Music:
Radiohead
Songs: Karma Police, Lucky, Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Yeah, you probably now of these guys too.. There recent stuff gets more electronic, can be a little hard on the ears, but this stuff is awesome. Eerie and permenantly miserable rock and roll..

Arctic Monkeys
Songs: Mardy Bum, I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor, When the Sun Goes Down
Albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
Great melodies, great lyrics.. Generally up-tempo but not too complicated or anything..

The Shins
Songs: Kissing the Lipless, Australia
Albums: Chutes Too Narrow
Indie lite.. One of my favourite bands, cheerful pop with brilliant lyrics and melodies, with a lot more effort I guess than you get from Arctic Monkeys.

Porcupine Tree
Songs: Shesmovedon, Trains
Albums: I dont even know lol..
Uhh, yeah, very easy to get into rock band.. I'm not a huge fan, but dont let that stop you..

Yeah I might augment this list a bit as I go.. I havent mentioned any rap/hiphop/whatever, but most of the hiphop I listen to is probably not what you want..

Have a nice day.
 
you might also want to check out

rise against (injection, paper wings, behind closed doors, torches),
bad religion (parallel, american jesus, the defense)
anti-flag (stars and stripes, the press corpse, this is the end)

if you like punkrock, or

streetlight manifesto(that'll be the day, the saddest song, failing flailing)
ska-p (cannabis, a la mierda, welcome to hell)

if you like ska-punk


also,

the red jumpsuit apparatus - face down ,
zebrahead - rescue me
zebrahead - falling apart

are good songs too
 
OMG PORCUPINE TREE HAS SUCH A STUPID NAME HOW COULD YOU ADVOCATE THEM????

Just kidding guys, I've changed, I swear.


I'll just make some recommendations out of music that I like:

Eric B. and Rakim - Rakim has a really somoth voice, the lyrics are nice, and Eric B.'s beats are amazing. One of my favourite hip-hop groups. I recommend... uh, everything off of the Paid in Full album. Paid in Full is a very popular track, but there are some other great ones.

Wu-Tang Clan - A little bit less accessible, but Kung-Fu and video games references in hardcore rap are always cool. Gravel Pit, Protect your Neck, Protect your Neck (The Jumpoff), Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Gravel Pit, Triumph.... too many good tracks.

Michael Jackson - Absolutely great. Billy Jean, Beat It, Man in the Mirror, The Girl is Mine (ft. Paul McCartney), again just a great artist.

There are more, but I'm lazy :)
 
I agree with Blackfield and Porcupine Tree comments, except PT aren't metal.

I recommend you listen to Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, or Led Zeppelin if you want to get into rock/metal kind of music. Red Hot Chili Peppers maybe if you like catchy stuff.

Modern rock would be stuff like Muse, or Nirvana, things like that that everyone knows. Radiohead are good, but they are difficult to get into.

Complex music is hard to get into, I like the whole prog thing, if you want to try listen to Dream Theater or Opeth, or Pain or Salvation.

You can also explore classical or jazz... I don't know much jazz and classical I'd suggest things like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninov, etc.
 
Altmer said:
Complex music is hard to get into, I like the whole prog thing, if you want to try listen to Dream Theater or Opeth, or Pain or Salvation.
Click to expand...
DT, PT, PoS, etc. are not hard to get into at all, and I would recommend listening to them to start. They are mainstream prog for a reason, and shouldn't turn you away for being too out there because they really aren't. Maybe for DT, Images and Words would be a good place to start, PT one of their last 3 doesn't really matter, and Pain of Salvation probably The Perfect Element Part 1. Once those bands help you get into better music though, you may get a bit bored with them.
 
When getting into music, like alot of people have said, I think it's a good idea to start with some nice, accesable music that's just easy on the ears. For me, when I started to get into music, alot of my favorite songs and artists today, I would have thought were terrible back then, just because I didn't really know what I was listening to.

I'll list a few of my favorite artists from each genre that haven't been mentioned yet, or haven't been mentioned enough, and a good album or two for each

Classic(ish) rock:
The Beach Boys- Pet Sounds
The Police- Every Breath You Take
The Who- Who's Next?. Tommy
Queen- A Night at the Opera, Greatest Hits
The Doors- The Doors
Guns and Roses- Appetite for Destruction

Newer Rock:
The Strokes- First Impressions of Earth
The White Stripes- Elephant
Dispatch- Bang Bang
Modest Mouse- Good News for People who Love Bad News
Smashing Pumpkins- Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Weezer- Pinkerton, The Blue Album
Red Hot Chile Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Radiohead- OK Computer
Joe Satriani- Surfing with the Alien
The Mars Volta- Deloused in the Comatorium


Punk / Alternative / Metal:
Blink-182- Enema of the State
The Ramones- Greatest Hits
System of a Down- Toxicity, Mesmerize
Black Flag- Everything Went Black
Metallica- Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All
Iron Maiden- The Number of the Beast
Rage Against the Machine- Rage Against the Machine
The Clash- London Calling
Nirvana- Nevermind, In Utero

Reggae / Ska(ish stuff):
Bob Marley- Exodus, Greatest Hits
UB40- Greatest Hits
Reel Big Fish- Turn the Radio Off!
Catch 22- Keasbey Nights
Streetlight Manifesto- Everything Goes Numb
Sublime- 40oz to Freedom

Rap / Hip Hop:
Nas- Illmatic
Black Star- Mos Def and Taleb Kwali are Black Star
Atmosphere-Seven's Travels
Mos Def- Black on Both Sides
Aesop Rock- No real best overall album (imo), just some good songs
Jedi Mind Tricks- Visions of Gandhi, Violent by Design

Other (softer stuff):
Norah Jones- Come Away with Me
Simon & Garfunkel- Greatest Hits

In each genre I tried to choose the most accessable artists for getting into the genre. They're pretty much all good representations of what else you'll find if you delve deeper into the genre. It would be a good idea to download maybe one or two songs from a genre or artist that interests you, and if you like what you hear, just go wild with that artist or genre
 
Rap
- Jedi Mind Tricks
- Kanye West
- Lupe Fiasco
- Outkast
- Biggie Smalls
- Immortal Technique
- Dead Prez
- Del
 
My taste in music is mostly relegated to the nonverbal. Unfortunetely there are nearly zero good recreations of in-game music, save a few tracks from Chrono Trigger (Magus Battle ftw.) Remixes sometimes hit the mark but not often.

I'm also a fan of classical music. It is soothing and enjoyable, and you really get into the music and not the lyrics. For this reason I can really enjoy the background melody of rap tracks, even though they're *&%&ing the music up with BiatchsNagaHoDownMoFoGunRapDrugsIMAGangsta.
 
here's a list of pretty accessible stuff. I'll list any albums that a first time listener might enjoy most.

Dream Theater
progressive metal
recommended albums: Scenes from a Memory, Images and Words

Pain of Salvation
progressive metal
recommended albums: Remedy Lane

Porcupine Tree
progressive rock
recommended albums: Deadwing, In Absentia

Kaddisfly
progressive rock/alternative rock
recommended albums: Set Sail the Prairie

I'd really recommend this band. check them out on youtube or something if you were at all curious... good lyrics and the music is very catchy.

Muse
progressive rock
recommended albums: Black Holes and Revelations

Symphony X
progressive metal/power metal
recommended albums: The Divine Wings of Tragedy, The Odyssey

Rush
progressive rock
recommended albums: 2112, Moving Pictures

Sonata Arctica
power metal
recommended albums: Reckoning Night

awesome, catchy music. very easy to enjoy.

Iron Maiden
heavy metal
recommended albums: Powerslave

pretty much a great starting point for anyone interested in metal. Iron Maiden may not be my favorite band anymore, but they are still awesome. highly recommended.

Metallica
thrash metal
recommended albums: Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets... don't even bother with their new shit; it's really fucking terrible

same as Iron Maiden

Blind Guardian
power metal
recommended albums: Nightfall in Middle-Earth, A Twist in the Myth

one of the really awesome old power metal bands


other bands that I dislike but are good introductions to music: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, The Beatles.
 
basics of new rock i think, bold are my faves and easy to get into imo (except sonic youth...).

-radiohead: the bends, ok computer
-rhcp: blood sugar sex magic
-nirvana: in utero,nevermind
-tool: opiate
-blur: parklife
-pixies: Doolittle
-smashing pumkins: melancollie and the infinite sadness
-muse: origin of symmetry
-sonic youth: sister, daydream nation
-white stripes: Elephant
-Joy Division: Closer

WHICH is all based off of: (here Im recommending (a) quintessential song(s), because I'm not cool enoough to recommend an album for these guys)
-David Bowie: Queen Bitch, Ziggy Stardust
-Beatles: [oh god come on] helter Skelter, I wanna hold your hand, blackbird etc etc
-Rolling Stones: Jumping Jack flash, honky tonk woman
-Michea Jackson: Thriller, Bad
-Queen: Dont stop me now, Bicycle
-Jimi Hendrix: Foxy Lady, Voodoo Child (slight return)
-Led Zepplin: Black Dog, Immigrant Song
-Velvet Underground: (anything off the 1st ST album)

THat's whati know best, rock music

Here's some off genre extra credit to youtube

M.I.A.
Spank Rock
Justice
Atmosphere
Bonde do Role
Chick Corea
Dr Octagon
Jedi Minds Tricks
Gorillaz (surprised they havent been mentioned yet, really popular Blur side project, very accessible fun shit)
yeah yeah yeahs
Nick Cave



SURGO YOU SHOULD ADD THE SONG PAPER BAG UNLESS YOU HELLA HATE IT FOR SOME REASON I ALSO LIKE SPACE DOG
 
TORI AMOS has formed the soundtrack to my life. Some of my favorite songs of hers include:
A Sorta Fairytale
Another Girl's Paradise
Baker Baker
China
Cloud on my Tongue
Crucify
Hotel
Jackie's Strength
Liquid Diamonds
Little Earthquakes
Mother
Northern Lad
Playboy Mommy
Silent All These Years
Tear In Your Hand
Winter
Yes, Anastasia

Seriously, check her out. Now.
 
Surgo said:
TORI AMOS has formed the soundtrack to my life. Some of my favorite songs of hers include:
A Sorta Fairytale
Another Girl's Paradise
Baker Baker
China
Cloud on my Tongue
Crucify
Hotel
Jackie's Strength
Liquid Diamonds
Little Earthquakes
Mother
Northern Lad
Playboy Mommy
Silent All These Years
Tear In Your Hand
Winter
Yes, Anastasia

Seriously, check her out. Now.
Click to expand...

No love for Jamaica Inn or The Power of Orange Knickers? ;(

If you think you're more into classical stuff, I'd recommend Rachel's or Clogs. They're easy to listen to because they fuse the genre with more modern music, so it's not as orchestrated as, say Vivaldi or other classical composers.
 
drudkh said:
DT, PT, PoS, etc. are not hard to get into at all, and I would recommend listening to them to start. They are mainstream prog for a reason, and shouldn't turn you away for being too out there because they really aren't. Maybe for DT, Images and Words would be a good place to start, PT one of their last 3 doesn't really matter, and Pain of Salvation probably The Perfect Element Part 1. Once those bands help you get into better music though, you may get a bit bored with them.
Click to expand...

Yeah if you want to start with prog, but prog is one of the hardest genres to get into.
 
I am kind of in the same boat as you, having only slight knowledge of music, but bands that I've come to like...

Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality)
Pink Floyd (The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, Animals)
Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, IV, Houses of the Holy, Presence)
Metallica (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, Black)
Aerosmith (Aerosmith, Toys in The Attic, Pump, Get a Grip)
Guns n' Roses (Appetite For Destruction)
Blues Traveler (Four)
Nirvana (Nevermind, In Utero)


This isn't any real special insight, but these are some of the bands that I like a lot, and are generally good bands. The albums that I like the most are bolded.
 
Why does no one lisen to Ska?

Reel Big Fish
Less Than Jake
Streetlight Manifesto
The Aquabats

Are just of few Ska bands that rock.
 
There was a thread with good album recommends.. you may want to browse back to find it.
 
You definitely have to try Kelly Clarkson out! I got into music for the first time since I heard leaked mp3s of her latest album My December! (yeah, I just started about 4 months ago) She's really awesome.
 
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