What bands/albums ripped your head off first listen ?

[Bryant]

Seven bands really just made my mouth hang wide open at first listen. I am curious what bands/albums/songs did this for you. This is what really ripped my head off in chronological order.....

Boston - don't remember what song.... as I was only a boy, but that band is what made me a guitarist !! To this day, Schultz still has one of the most awesome tones there is. It also gave me the production ear from an early age. They were so far ahead of EVERYONE else production wise.

AC/DC - "You SHook Me All Night Long"..... see the trend here ? Great guitar tone and production. John "Mutt" Lange also produced a whopper with this release.

Accept - "Metal Heart." Although I was already a fan and owned "Balls to the Wall," this was far superior. Wolf's guitar tone and the almighty Dieter Dirks production absolutely floored me. Udo also went to a new level on the vocals.

Metallica - "Master of Puppets." I had already been exposed to heavier stuff like Grim reaper and even some thrash, but I had never heard anyone make drums, guitar and vocals sound so fucking menacing. They were amazing !!

Dream Theater - "Images and Words." My intro to prog metal. "Pull Me Under" was the first song I heard on MTV and it was great, but "Metropolis" absolutely floored me after buying the CD.

Angel Dust - "Bleed." To this day, that song is a top 20 favorite of mine. To hear them play that live was a true treat. I was absolutely crazy and so was about 500 other people at PPII.

Tad Morose - "Ethereal Soul." Tad Morose kicked my ass when I heard this song. Such power and grace mixed into one.



Bryant

 

[Wyvern]

Great thread Bryant! I have many I can quote right off my mind that kicked me so hard that up to this day I'm still hooked on them.

Iron Maiden - 'Flight Of Icarus': the one that turn me into metal. I saw first on MTV (back in the good days of it) and the rest is history

Alice Cooper - I'm Eighteen: the angst and power of that song got me everytime I listen to it, even if I'm over double that age.

Helloween - A Tale That Wasn't Right: I was sitting alone in my parents bedroom playing the vinyl on the turntable. When this song came I was so struck by it I become unconditional to the band.

Judas Priest - 'Nightcrawler': the whole "Painkiller" album was a revelation the Priest like never before, also one of my first CDs, and thus listening to it sitting in ther floor (again alone in my parents bedroom) the song came and sweept me away forever.

Motorhead - 'Stay Clean': at the time when I wasn't into them (too extreme for me) I do remember listen to this one on the "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith" tape and got impresed by the bass solo. Years afterwards being one of the most important and vital bands for me that song keeps making me shiver.

Thin Lizzy - 'Emerald': my friend Darren introduced me to the band (and many others) and "Jailbreak" was the first album. He told me that if I didn't like that one don't even bother with the rest, I was passing pretty much interested throughout the album until I hit the last one. Up to this day it remains like of the best songs ever in metal/rock history, I doubt anyone can top that guitar fire.

Manticora - 'Filaments Of Armageddon'

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Jeeze where to start.....

The Beatles - Roll Over Bethoven, White Album, Revolver
Jimi Hendrix - Vodoo Chile
Deep Purple - Highway Star
Boston - The whole debut album
Queen - We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions
Kiss - All of Alive
Iron Maiden - Wrathchild
Thin Lizzy - Thunder & Lightning
Blue Murder - ALL of it
Accept - Breaker
Saxon - 747
Def Leppard - Rock Brigade
AC/DC - Riff Raff, Sin City
Frak Zappa - Broken Hearts Are For Assholes
Van Halen - Eruption/You Really Got Me
Freak Kitchen - My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Momma (FZ cover)
Symphony X - Damnation Game
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Loudness - Tusk of Jaguar, Crazy Doctor
Steve Vai - The Attitude Song, Call It Sleep
Joe Satriani - All of the Surfing With the Alien lp
......I'm sure there is more.......

J-Dubya

 

[carnut]

There's so many, it mostly also are my favorit metal songs:

AC/DC : Whole lotta Rosie
Black Sabbath : Paranoid
Deep Purple : Smoke ot Water
Rush : Temples of Syrinx
Metallica : Whiplash
Accept : Fast as a Shark
Savatage : Sirens
Queensryche : Queen of the Reich
Loudness : Street Woman
DRI : Who am I
Znöwhite : Do or Die
Dream Theater : Pull me Under
Slayer : Angel of Death
Exodus : Raze
Benedictum : Wicca

 

[SickBoy]

- I agree on Boston, Bryant! For a very long time the only song of theirs I knew was of course More Than A Feeling, but the whole debut album instantly won me over, what a masterpiece!

- Lost Horizon's debut definitely left me jaw dropped

- Judas Priest "Painkiller", especially A Touch Of Evil

- Master of Puppets and TNOTB from my formative years as a metalhead, among the first metal albums I've heard

- Slayer "Reign In Blood"

- Death - can't remember what was it I heard first, I suppose it was "Leprosy". The best thing of all is that my jaw dropped with each successive release...

- Tiamat "Wildhoney"

- Amorphis "Tales From The Thousand Lakes", same as the album above, has an unbeatable atmosphere

- Transatlantic "SMTPe" - I thought it was gonna be just another all-star wankery, but it turned out to be one of my fav albums ever, so emotional and melodical...

- DoomSword "Resound The Horn", what a mighty album!

- Black Sabbath "Heaven and Hell" - it ain't difficult to be swept away by a such monster, eh?

- Dream Theater "Images And Words", after listening to this I instantly became a die-hard fan, even turned many people on them, but got seriously fed up with them during the latest three releases period... But this is a real gem!

- ACDC's "Highway To Hell" is my fav album of theirs to this day, with Touch Too Much being my fav song of theirs.

- Deep Purple "Machine Head" - I jammed to this album more times than I can remember and I learned a lot from the Master in Black by doing that...

I could go on for ages like this so I better stop

 

[SoundMaster]

- - Tiamat "Wildhoney"

- Amorphis "Tales From The Thousand Lakes",

 

[Wheezer]

There are so many but rather than one song, I'm more album oriented.

Queensryche - Ep
KISS - Alive II
Led Zep - IV
Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
Alice Cooper - Love it to Death
Rush - 2112
Fates Warning - No Exit
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Vanden Plas - Beyond Daylight

That's prolly about it as far as head ripping offedness. There are a lot of other really great albums and songs. There's a few more that took some listens before they became great in my ears.

 

[Wyvern]

There are so many but rather than one song, I'm more album oriented.

Rush - 2112
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

Agree on those two. Specially "2112", at the time I bought HAH it took me a bit more to digest it in its enterity, but "2112" blown me away immediately.

NP: Horcas - 'Ser Uno Mismo'

 

[baldyboy]

metallica-master of puppets
def leppard-on through the night
machine head-burn my eyes
life of agony-river runs red
pantera-a vulger display of power
testament-practise what you preach
megadeth-rust in peace

loads more.these are the ones that spring to mind immediatly

 

[Wyvern]

Coroner.

I bought my first Coroner albums because:

1. They were dirt cheap at the time
2. A friend talked about the band

which means I had the slightest idea about them when I got them. I do remember tho' I was coming home telling to myself you moron, you wouldn't like that stuff, why did you bought them? all the way.

The best part is not only I love them both ("Punishment For Decadence" and "Mental Vortex") instantly, I became a huge fan of the band and spent years tracking the rest of the albums until I finished the collection.

Talk about a blind purchase which becomes love at first listening! (if I can only make that with a woman )

NP: Coroner - 'Nosferatu'

 

[Priest of Evil]

Heavy metal to thrash:
Saxon - Denim & Leather
Venom - Welcome to Hell
Dio - Holy Diver/last in Line
Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Celtic Frost - Emperors Return
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Accept - Metal Heart
Slayer - Show No Mercy/Hell Awaits
Sacred Reich - Ignorance
Megadeth - So Far, So Good
Metal Church - MC
Metallica - Kill/Ride
S.O.D. - speak english or die
Sabbat - Dreamweaver
Holy Moses - Finnished with the Dogs
Warlock - Triumph & Agony
Just generally blowing my mind was:
W.A.S.P.
Van Halen
Iron Maiden
Ozzy O.
Kreator
Destruction
They're just a few of the top of my head, its hard to remember those days clearly, lots of hard drinking and headbanging. Alot of Death Metal and crossover stuff blew my mind too but I didnt find it appropriate to list here.

 

[Dän]

Old school wise i would go with mercyful fates Melissa as it was the first of many MF purchases, their lyrical themes, along with the production of the album and awesome riffs blew my mind at the time.

Ill also be lame and say Opeth, they were the first death metal band that i had heard, and their 10+ minute songs at the time was something that i had never encountered before

 

[rokk]

KISS - Detroit Rock City... heard it at a friends house and I was hooked for life

Rush - 2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx... totally blew me away with its complexity and storyline.

Nazareth - Hair of the Dog... they repeated "Son of a Bitch" over and over, it was so dangerous at the time.

DIO - Holy Diver... again heard it at another friends house first it was playing as I walked into the house and I was mesmerized. I thought what the hell is this? This is amazing!

Ozzy - Over the Mountain... Blizzard was good but when Diary came out I realized that Ozzy had moved so far beyond Sabbath and then later realizing that it was mostly from Randy's contribution. RIP

and other honorable mentions

Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
Scorpions - Blackout
Judas Priest - Breakin' the Law and Screaming for Vengence
Motley Crue - Live Wire

and more but I think if I list more it may dilute the ones already listed.

 

[Assault_Attack]

Montrose - S/T
Van Halen - S/T
Ark - Burn The Sun (w/Jorn)

note: The 1st time I heard "Ain't Talkin Bout Love" on the radio the DJ said
" I don't think anybody would mind if I play that song again" & he did!

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I GREW UP ON:

Sabbath - Heaven and Hell, Sabotage
Priest - British Steel
BOC - Cultosaurus Erectus
Styx - Grand Illusion
Ozzy - Blizzard/Diary
Iron Maiden - Killers
Savatage - Dungeons are Calling
Queensryche - EP
Metallica - Kill em All
Fates Warning - Spectre Within
Warlord - Deliver us from Evil
Demon - Unexpected Guest
Alcatrazz - No Parole

MORE RECENTLY:

Cage - Darker than Black
Therion - Theli
Ayreon/Arjen - Electric Castle
Orphaned Land - Mabool
Wuthering Heights - Far From a Madding Crowd
Rage - Soundchaser (back catalogue is HEAVEN!)
Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra
BENEDICTUM BENEDICTUM BENEDICTUM

 

[SoundMaster]

Very few - and I stress few - bands/albums have knocked me over upon first listen. In fact, to this day, there are really only 4 albums that I immediately loved upon first listen:

Maiden - Beast
Metallica - Puppets
Anthrax - Among the Living (although I really don't like care for this too much anymore and probably have listened to it more than 3x in the last 15 years)
Glenn Hughes - Soul Mover

And that's it! Everything else just takes time to sink in.

 

[rokk]

I GREW UP ON:

When did you grow up?

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

When did you grow up?

ahem....

 

[Wyvern]

Growing up hurts

 

[Death Animal]

Iron Maiden-Life after death.
(I have say this many time but stlil best album I have and the first metal album I had.)

Kreator-Enemy of God. (I did check this few week ago)
Wasp-Wasp.
Bruce-Accident of Birth
Mokoma-Tämän maailman ruhtinaan hovi.
Savatage-Hall of the mountain king

That what I remember right now.