Sadly, it was only months later, but mine would be Frank Zappa. In the late eighties, during his final tour, I was offered a ticket to go see him. I said “thanks but no thanks”, thinking his music was unlistenable garbage.
Two months later, I listened to Joe’s Garage (on acid, of course), then moved on to Apostrophe, Them or Us, and 40 others. In the 15 years since, he has been my alltime favorite artist. My entire music collection is about 9 gigs of mp3 files, and 5 gigs are Zappa. I truly love about 30 of his albums, and another 20 I like a lot.
I still can’t believe I passed on that concert. Sure, it wasn’t his best, but it was the only chance I ever had to see him live.
Tom Petty. Used to H.A.T.E!!! him… (Alternative/New Wave/Punk snob that I was) and now - I can’t think of a Tom Petty song I don’t absolutely love.
Van Halen. Their shit is brilliant. (again, refer to the punk snob bit - it really cramped my style!) “Ain’t Talkin’ About Love” is now one of my favorite songs that gets radio play.
Also, hair metal is pretty underrated. Please see “punk snob” explanation above.
Heh, I heard mp3s a while back of a lecture Zappa (accompanied by George Duke and Captain Beefheart) gave at Syracuse University in 1975. One of the students asked a question to the effect of, “I watched 200 Motels while smoking a big fatty, and it did nothing for me! I did the same for Yellow Submarine, and I was really diggin’ it!” Zappa’s response was something like, “Yeah, because that was a Beatles movie. Lay off the drugs next time and maybe you’ll understand my movie.”
As for the subject of the thread, I wasn’t into Nirvana in the early '90s when they were popular, but now I enjoy some of their songs. Then again, I was born in 1984, so maybe I was just too young at the time to get it.
Morrisey can still drive me nucking futz but the song “How Soon is Now?” is just written about my life: imcredibly shy and a total wallflower.
When** Crowded House** came out I was like Jeez its just Split Enz (whom I really loved and refused to forgive for spliting literally) But now I adore "Don’t Dream its Over"
Being an overweight, shy, mousy teenager I couldn’t forgive Queen for Fat-bottomed Girls that I ceased to listen to them until about 5 years ago… now their later stuff makes me melt and frequently cry, 'specially Innuendo.
Tom Waits - I even heard him early on, during his SNL appearance in the mid-1970s, but never was able to make the leap full-on until Franks Wild Years came out. However, I should also add that I’ve found everything since Mule Variations a little harder to get into, barring maybe the odd soundtrack appearance.
Bob Dylan - My road to Damascus experience was Blood On The Tracks, six years after it came out. His vocal style wasn’t something I could appreciate at first, but now I can.
Van Morrison’s post-seventies stuff - Putting together a homemade best-of on MiniDisc changed my mind. There are definitely some overlooked gems in there, but again, I should also add that I still think his best album since 1974 is The Philosopher’s Stone anthology of unreleased material (issued in the late 1990s), simply because it reminded me why I liked him in the first place. I’d say the best original full-length album besides that is Back On Top.
It took you *15 years * to realize the greatness that is AC/DC?!? :eek: They’re the only band to have perfected the the mix of hard rock/ blues. Now go sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done. GO!
My bands were Meatloaf (well, not really a band I guess), Queen, B-52’s and CCR. Most likely because they didn’t have speed-drums and guitar solos that would melt a fret board.
David Bowie. I had a roommate in college that used to play “The Laughing Gnome” over and over again. It took a few years to get over that and be able to listen to him again.
Small Faces
2) Pretty Things… Both of these English bands have been around since
the '60’s and both were overshadowed by the
invasion hitmakers,consequently,they didn’t receive
very much West Coast airplay. Both bands have
exciting catalogs.
Fairport Convention
Sandy Denny era: Fantastic vocals and musicianship.
English Folk/Rock at it's best!
Jethro Tull I’m so ashamed. In high school, a friend told me they were his favortie band, and I mocked him for the name, never having heard the music. It wasn’t till late in college when I borrowed a friends CDs and got hooked.
I have to avoid **Jethro Tull ** in all forms when **Metallica ** got screwed out of Album of the Year. No, wasn’t JT’s fault, but bitterness sometimes is irrational.
I’ll go out on a REALLY far limb and say the Bee Gees. I didn’t really listen to them in the sixties or early seventies because I was so young. Then when disco hit big when I was in high school, they were, of course, evil incarnate, and therefore, sucked like a black hole.
Flash forward to present day, and, surprise, I actually quite like them, even (most of) the disco stuff. They actually had pretty good melodies, and all the guys were great singers, and could harmonize like nobody’s business. I do still cringe a bit when they throw in the random falsetto squeals in songs like “Tragedy”.
Overall,the production values were excellent, and I rarely turn them off when I hear them on the radio.
i was in london in april, walking down the portobello market and **‘Penny Lane’ ** was coming out of a little cafe. It sounded so nice, especially considering the location I was in. So when I got home I checked out most of the Beatles albums. Until then I hadn’t heard a whole album all the way thru. Some of it was good, and some of it is real crap. But I like some of it a lot. I’m only 44, i was more of a Rolling Stones guy.
