I can understand not liking Savatage but Victims of Deception is classic thrash. :(

Slightly embarassing, but I guess the most influential for me must've been The Beatles, Paul McCartney (with or without Wings), U2, ABBA, Pink Floyd (particularly The Wall) and a little Johnny Cash .. This is most of the music I started listening to when I was a kid, music owned by my older siblings and parents.

When I became a teenager, I was quite embarassed about that and rebelled against it by getting more into punk and metal, but now that I'm older, I'm even more embarassed by the bands I listened to then, so .. there you go.

Pink Floyd is easily my biggest influence. Not only is Gilmour the reason I play the guitar, but when I heard Wish You Were Here (the album) for the first time, it more or less changed my life. I was going through a lot at that time, and probably partly because of all that, it was a really ground-breaking experience for me. I didn't know music could be as good as that until I heard that record. Floyd is probably the biggest reason why I'm involved with music.

Music in general has influenced my life a great deal, but if I had to pick one artist, it'd definitely be Staind. A friend of mine got me into them when I was 15 (I was a late bloomer, haha) and it just felt like the music was made for me. I still listen to them all the time.

hah its kind of lame, but when i was younger (11 or 12) my friend gave me a Linkin Park CD to listen to. while it's not really my cup of tea anymore, i really liked them after hearing them for the first time. they kind of brought me into the rock/metal genres, so in that way they were pretty influential for me.

Probably the most influential for me were Van Halen and Queen. The first time I heard Brian May play guitar, I really got interested in rock/metal. I heard EVH shortly after.

U2 ... been a favorite for a long time and I have been inspired by their depth of material and ability to keep challenging themselves. Love Edge's guitar playing too ...

For me it was Alice Cooper. His music is timeless, his style unique, his shows are over the top and he's still down to earth and has a 2 handycap! LOL I'm Eighteen is still my favorite song to this day. It's a timeless song, that no matter how old I get, still is relavant to my life. Welcome to My Nightmare is, IMO, the greatest album ever written. He is a great role model for kids. What more can you say?

Look at all the bands out there today who owe tribute back to him, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Mudvayne, and any other band that put on some makeup, stepped out there, and scared the crap outta society!

The Veils and Led Zeppelin

The Veils because they make such powerful music and because the day I listened to "Vicious Traditions" for the first time, I fell in love with music. And there are some pretty emotional memories connected to a lot of songs by Led Zeppelin, especially to "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".

I'd have to say Tool because they sort of took me out of my 12 year old Green Day/ The Killers/ Linkin Park sort of mindset and introduced me to more metal and grittier music which I practically live on now. They also affected the way I look at music and art in general. I'm into more "cosmic" art and stuff now too like Alex Grey who designed a lot of Tools artwork.
I have to admit I still have a soft spot in my heart for Green Day because they helped me through grade 6-7 (and somewhat 8) which were some of the hardest years of my 15 year old life.

Tool = :thumb:
Green Day = nooooooooooo

I like to think of green day as that crappy drumkit you keep just because it started you on to becoming an amazing drummer.
:P
But yeah they aren't my cup of tea at all anymore.
Save for a couple songs.

Tool, Neurosis and Fall of Efrafa have been the three most influential in my life.. when I was 14, 16 and 18.

I'd have to say Alice in Chains, because they got me interested in heavier music. Before then, I listened to the blues and jazz. When I first heard them, I was blown away. I investigated the rest of their work, as well as thrash and 'classic rock'.

My top 5 rock bands (a broad category) are currently Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Metallica, Melvins, and Blue Oyster Cult.

Metallica, and Jimi Hendrix.

They make me listen to music 60% of the day.

hi there, new to this forum and thought this would be a good place for my first post. i have to say that nirvana is easily the most influential band in my life. in utero, their best album, was the first album i ever bought when i was 14 and they have remained my number 1 band to this day. their music still is just as great today as it was back then. Kurt Cobain was a genious. i was big into punk music in high school and since then i've gone over to anything metal but nirvana still remains at the top. here are my top five.

Nirvana
System of a Down
NoFx
Devildriver
Pantera
and I'll throw slipknot in there as they were one of my favorite bands for the longest time other then their new album blows.

What's with all the Slipknot fans recently?

Modest Mouse - when I first heard "This Is A Long Drive" and "Lonesome Crowded West" in 10th grade, it finally made me realize what an elitist loser I was. I was raised on lots of stuff from the '60s and '70s and used to be one of those people that claimed good music died in recent decades.

Modest Mouse became my first can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of musical love. I was obsessed for a long time and they are still one of my favorite bands, and they were the first concert I ever went to. They got me into lyrics big time, and totally changed my "good music is dead" theory I had going for so long. Thank god.

Their moms won't let them live in the basement anymore.

i don't see why so many people hate slipknot so much. their new album blows big time but their first 2 were pretty good. their last one started to go a little too mainstream for me but still not too bad. mind you, it's pretty hard to defend a band after putting out all hope is gone. i don't even want to get started on that album. joey jordison is still one of my favorite drummers.

I think you're supposed to give some kind of reasoning...

He's a spammer

mine would probably be
The Breathing Process
Rising From The Ashes
or The Contortionist

Just Rock/Metal? Then probably Mastodon, Black Sabbath, and Verdict of Vengeance. Oh, the biggest would probably be Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr. Grew up on them.

When I was in elementary school it was Green Day, who I still like. Them and the Offspring (though I only knew two songs).

Then I'd have to say Staind. When I was 16 or so and just got a computer, I was into whatever ****ty mainstream rap was popular. I was going to buy that St. Lunatics album, but I chose Staind instead because of It's Been A While. That started my own growth beyond what my brother and friends listened to or what was on MuchMusic.

And Slipknot, but it's a crime to mention them here I guess. Should be fun.

You chose Staind over Rap? Bad move.

Er, I chose Staind over St. Lunatics, yes. Not over rap.

I'm going to go with Black Sabbath - because, they've influenced the entire metal world, basically. Also, because everyone was very talented.

Death also held a huge influence, because of Chuck's story.

Honestly it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium that affected my life the most. I was always really into music and I always had a passion for it...but when I heard Stadium it changed my whole view on music in general and actually made me pick up the guitar and start playing myself. So definitly I'd say it's the Chili Peppers....old and new...love it all.

most of the slipknot hate is image related and has absolutely nothing to do with the music at all.

i'm no fan of the band, but IOWA was in many ways a good piece of work particularly in the rhythmic department. Also, their singer is one of the best, most diverse screamers i've ever heard.

but yeah. the blanket hate that slipknot receive is unrelated to the album music, which most people who talk bad of them have never even listened to so much as a second of.

but then, slipknot's image is so repulsively detestable and abhorrent and their fanbase is so unbelievably sad-a$s that it almost justifies hating the band and their music...just 'cause.

I am not a fan at all (not because of what they are seen to represent BTW) but I do think that 'Spit It Out' is a phenomenal track. Very successful Metal bands that have a predominantly young teen audience are frowned upon by an older generation who just were'nt a part of that. Not all of course but some bands get a bad wrap because of this. Many people who grew up on Slipknot may well diversify and be into less mainstream music now that they are older and that can only be a good thing.

I've got to go with Serj Tankian/SOAD, simply because they were the first rock/metal (whatever you want to call them) band that I ever liked, and they're truly the reason that I'm into metal today.

Wow, I was finally going to post in this thread and you had to have the same band. ****.

I heard Toxicity and got into metal. The rest is history.

I saw them at Mayhem with DragonForce and Disturbed, and their fanbase is so...bad. I can't exactly explain it, but the vast majority of people there shop at Hot Topic for everything, drink till they puke on their shirts, and mosh like complete a-holes. The performance was good, but the whole crowd experience was horrible.

Setting that aside, my most influential person is actually Weird Al. Yeah I know....I heard like every song when I was in 4th grade then started listening to the bands he parodied. He is very talented.

Agreed. I actually found a lot of music via Weird Al.

I'm going to say two artists.
The first is Mozart. As a pianist, learning his classical works influenced me as a musician.
The second would have to be Tool. Don't hate me, I'm not a crazy fangirl who thinks they are the gods of music or whatever, they just quite simply influenced me in terms of getting more seriously into music. They are also the reason I found my current bandmates. And boyfriend.

Gotcha :)

for me the bands that changed my life is Rob Zombie, Metallica, ACDC, Boston, Rush, and of corse Black Sabbath

In my case the dislike is justified. A lot of my friends in high school were Slipknot 'maggots'. They didn't just listen to the music... they would also etch the lyrics in desks and walk around in those stupid Slipknot shoes.

I'll concede that Joey Jordison is a competent drummer (though quite overrated) and Corey Taylor isn't a bad vocalist. Stone Sour - Bother is a good track.

john petrucci even though he makes me want to break all my guitars