Music Banter - Trying to "Get back Into" Music - Suggestions for approaches and things to listen to.

High all, quick introduction.

So I'm coming on 33 (Wow........ goes so quick) I was......I wouldn't say "obsessively“ into music when I was younger, I wasn't one of those guys who plays 8 instruments and is into every genre, or one of those guys who has a massive vinyl collection and knows every release ever.

Still I was into it, I played bass and guitar, most of my friends were well into music in some way, spent the days you know........ just knocking about smoking, drinking with my mates, always with some tunes on. My music tastes and what I listened to kept expanding all the time.

But after I went to uni, I kind of tried to distance myself from my old crew, my life had gone well off the rails, I put my head down and worked hard. I didn't really get any music introduced to me by anyone, and I gradually distanced myself from it. Nowerdays I mostly listen to podcasts and stuff, I really rarely actually listen to music.

I kind of feel I should remedy this, I've found nowerdays when people ask what bands I like I kinda feel embaressed, I've forgotten the names of half the stuff I used to listen to and I don't really think I've listened to anything new in ages. When I do listen to stuff its mostly just a playlist and I never "absorb it" like you hear a new tune............ and then its gone, you never knew who it was by or what it was....

So I'm trying to rectify this, trying to make an effort to expand my musical tastes and knowledge. See what happens. So I'm looking really for a couple of things

1) Approaches - Places to look for new music, ways of listening to music (for example maybe stopping after a song you like and looking into the artist) or recommending listening to whole albums rather than just isolated songs

2) Specific bands. I should list below what I like.

Rock/Metal
- Really like that sleaze 80s hair metal vibe, Guns and Roses Motley Crue stuff, and in its more modern pisstake Steel Panther. I got a soft spot for what I guess I'd call "Bill and Ted Music" that gnarly guitar sound.
- Also really like a more I guess "classic" sound Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Ocean Color Scene maybe.
- I can dig the odd bit of prog..... I rarely find I like full albums though, it all gets a bit.......... excessive, so I like the odd song from Dream Theatre.
- Thrash Metal in the Megadeth Slayer Metallica mold is fine.
- I'm not really into anything ”heavier" that death metal where the vocals are all deep throated roars aren't really for me.
- Though I do sort of like the power metal vibe for all its cheesiness, Dragonforce/Helloween.
- Big into Rage Against the Machine, rap-metal, funk/metal is cool. But never got on with their cousins Limp Bizkit, Korn, that sort of stuff.

Rap
I don't know as much about rap as I do about rock.
I like Dr Dre and his whole sort of sound, just classic West Coast vibes I guess.
I like the odd bit of really aggressive Gangster Rap like M.O.P or Jedi Mind Tricks, I think with me I like the backing track and the general flow.
I like Immortal Technique and political styling

Funk
As a bassist I love funk but theres kind of a specific sounds I like. So I love Tower of Power, one of my favorite bands, I really dig that "Big Band" feel, with trumpets and saxes, and quite a high moving tempo. I've never got on board with more classic "Funk" like Parliament, Funkadelic, dunno why but it just doesn't do it for me. Funky, souly, groovy I like.

Jazz
Know nothing about Jazz, would be interested in learning more, I like Sax/trumpet solos a lot if that helps, I just kind of dig horn sections.

Classical Music
Again I think classical music is beautiful but I know next to nothing about it.

Er I guess thats all for now. I think I'll just leave this here and let the conversation develop, thanks a lot.