^ Good suggestions sir :thumb:

Get hold of anything by anyone Jedey just mentioned, and it might be worth giving any of these a try too;

Kelly Willis
Rosanne Cash
Allison Moorer
Giant Sand

Best Starter Flaming Lips Album
 

I caught a bit of The Flaming Lips when I was at Bonnaroo and was pretty blown away by them. I'm not too familiar with them, what is the best album to start off with?

tough call!

The Soft Bulletin is a very popular one, i think that's the album most would suggest.

but Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots my favorite, i think it's a great place to start. things get crazier the further back you go, so don't expect it to all be so melodic :)

another good one, maybe a more realistic approximation of their style, is Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. some really great stuff on there.

i have their full discography including (almost) all singles, but i can't say i've listened to half of it yet! i'm just a bit compulsive about collecting...

My favourite is In A Priest Driven Ambulance... however, I'd recommend either Clouds Taste Metallic or The Soft Bulletin to begin with.

A quest for good music
 

Hello all,

I have been on a long time quest for music groups that have a similar sound to system of a down. I'm talking bands that incorporate things like foreign sounding riffs, a variety of non-rock instruments, use of odd time signatures and preferably vocals without much screaming. My all time favorite system song is "Question!" off mezmerize and I have been yet to find anything that compares to it's awesomeness.

I've read all over the web and have found nothing but mainstream bands like korn, bullet for my valentine, avenged sevenfold and such. While I LOVE all those bands....I need something different. I'm even quite open to unsigned myspace bands.

Anyway, if you have any recommendations, fill me in if you would!

Thanks

Mike

If you like System of a Down, then you should have a listen to Dog Fashion Disco, particularly the songs The Acid Memoirs and Rapist Eyes...

AAARGH you beat me to it! I second this recommendation. Very few metal bands can be as hyperactive as SOAD, but Dog Fashion Disco is one of them. The vocals can get a little more extreme sometimes, but if you can handle Serj's early ramblings and growls you can handle this. :D

I just thought of another pretty similar to SoaD: Pin-Up Went Down. Not as similar to them as Dog Fashion Disco, since it uses female vocals and elements of gothic metal more, but definitely as manic. ^_^

For SOAD: Protest The Hero maybe, but they have quite a bit of screaming. Maybe try The Dillinger Escape Plan's Irony Is A Dead Scene with Mike Patton. Both of those are pretty hyperactive and use odd time signatures.

woah! I'm enlightened! Thanks for the recommendations:-) I think that they did the trick!