What musician(s) from our young days did you not try until much later in life but impressed the hell out of you when you finally did?
Posted by heresmytwopence@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 233 comments
Two immediately come to mind for me and they couldn't be more different: The first is Phish. I grew up in their home territory and avoided them because the classmates who were obsessed with them weren't my kind of people. I started listening to them in the 2010s and went to my first show in 2019. I even met some fellow concertgoers on Reddit and they invited my wife and me over for a pre-show party.
The second and more recent one is Björk. Though her eccentricity is undeniable, I never gave her a chance because I somehow believed she was a self-parodying Yoko Ono-type musician. YouTube randomly served me up a video of her performing Human Behaviour on Conan O'Brien in 1993 and I was blown away. What a treasure.
IAMFRAGEN@reddit
Desth
Tremor_Sense@reddit
My brother was learning guitar in mid 90's. He was obsessed with Tool and Rage Against the Machine. Had Tom Morello's pedal and everything.
It was a long time before I could here songs from either band and not think of my brother butchering the songs.
Anyway, Rage especially, is pretty good shit.
Herky_T_Hawk@reddit
I love the musicianship with Rage. Then they dropped Zach and got paired with one of the greatest rock singers of all time and Audioslave happened.
PORTOGAZI@reddit
I don't think they "Dropped" Zach, the band split and the rest of them joined Cornell.
AdvancedMastodon@reddit
I always thought it was just a side project gig like Prophets of Rage. The essence of the band continued on and it wasn't really extinguished. As opposed to the band actually dying to become something else or resurrected into some hideous abomination like Linkin Park. The core of it persisted the whole time.
PORTOGAZI@reddit
I thought I was the only one with that level of disdain for LP. Literally the corniest band of all time when you know RATM existed.
AdvancedMastodon@reddit
I just find the band without Chester, having brought on the new singer, is like the bugs in Men in Black wearing a skin suit.
kyarilora@reddit
Radiohead. I knew of them in the 90s but never got into them. Now they are one of my favorite bands of all time. I feel like I was extremely late to a party but I'm still having a good time.
aqiwpdhe@reddit
Radiohead makes music for people who have trouble asking for ketchup at McDonald’s.
ciccacicca@reddit
All these years later! Turns out my high school crush who had “I want a perfect body I want a perfect soul” written on a piece of loose leaf in her bedroom was super deep!
kyarilora@reddit
Haha I thought Radiohead was just for stoners and it turns out I was right. I was late to 2 parties.
ciccacicca@reddit
Just think of the mix tapes you coulda made… on weed.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
Fartweaver@reddit
This is one of my favourite B&B gags
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Stewart was a big reason I had no interest in them. 😂
Fartweaver@reddit
The Melvins. SO good.
USUgoody@reddit
The Cure
Adorable-Award-2975@reddit
I’d say Deftones and The Verve. I just wrote off Deftones at the time as another nu-metal band and never paid them any mind. Turns out I like their music and it’s got lots of almost shoe gaze elements to it. And the Verve I mostly thought of was just a one hit wonder here in the US, but when I actually dove into their catalog, I think they’re a great band.
291000610478021@reddit
I LOVED the deftones in the early 2000s. Went to see them live around 2006 and Chino sounded awful. Wrote them off
Saw them again last year when they toured with System of a Down. Pure redemption. One of the best shows I've been to
Toothbras@reddit
I’ve been to about 200 shows and the Anderson’s at Alpine Valley is the worst. And I love their music. Chino was so hammered he fell off the stage la few songs into their set and the show stopped. I’d see them again but we didn’t get a refund or anything, it was total BS
humble_cyrus@reddit
I worked at a coffee shop in mid town Sacramento in the 90's. Chino and some of the band mates would come in and kick it. Cool dude. A fellow barista, (Justin?) Knew the girl on the cover of, "Around the fur." Parties, underground shows with half ass instruments, F*ck, I miss the 90's. 😔
Wooden_Lettuce_843@reddit
I saw Deftones about 13-14 years ago in Nashville. I wasn't ever into them either until a buddy had me give them a shot. I agree with the touch of shoe gaze in there. They sounded great and I find myself continue to be pleasantly surprised when I hear their old songs that I had never thought twice about in the past.
Adorable-Award-2975@reddit
Never seen them live, I’ll have to get to a show.
tellerwoes@reddit
my 14 year old nephew tried to introduce me to the deftones about a year ago lol, they are big in his age group i guess
lost_horizons@reddit
Yeah I’ve recently gotten a bit into the Verve, they have some impressive music.
Long-Screen-4745@reddit
Eminem, I wrote him off as another Kid Rock.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
Prince.
Yeah I knew the music of his that made it on the radio and he was the punch line of so many jokes in the 90s that I never really took him seriously until just before he died. In the last few years I’ve gone back through the majority of his catalog and I have declared myself a gigantic fan of Prince.
All that music he made when he was the artist formally known as Prince/love sign is really good shit and I feel like a lot of people wrote it off because of the controversy that went with it
HelpImOverthinking@reddit
His look used to creep me out so much as a kid, but now I can at least appreciate the talent.
Pezhead82@reddit
When when I was a little kid I would CRY when he came on TV, because I guess it was just too much. Now one of my absolute favorite musicians.
HelpImOverthinking@reddit
Aww! I just remember wondering why women found him sexy.
tacotruck@reddit
People forget that that there was a huge backlash in the 90s against the androgynous pop that Prince epitomized in the 80s, and Prince became deeply unpopular for a while. It took until the 2000s for that to end so people could go back to acknowledging that Prince was the GOAT.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
What’s funny to me is that it would have been incredibly unpopular to say you were a Prince fan, at least among anyone I knew, in Highschool. Now I am finally hearing tons of other people our age professing their love for Prince.
BrazilianMerkin@reddit
A long time ago I read Miles Davis’s autobiography, and in it he called Prince a genius and one of the most talented musicians he’s ever heard or known. Must have been the late 90s when I read his book, and it gave me a renewed interest and appreciation for Prince who I had liked but assumed was more of a pop star (I loved several albums though like Prince, 1999, Purple Rain, and Batman soundtrack).
Then I started reading about how he plays every instrument, most of which he is incredible at playing, and wrote so many hugely popular songs for so many other artists. He was a musical savant in both performance and composition.
The man was so far ahead of his time, a true genius. Many of us, myself included, may not have noticed/appreciated immediately because we were distracted by his image. I really wish I could go back in time to see more performances. He was exceptional live. And I hear he also made delicious pancakes
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
Listen to “Life o the Party” - he cracks a few jokes in the lyrics about the shit people say about him
NotSoLittleTeapot@reddit
His tribute of "my guitar gently weeps" is phenomenal. Incredible solo.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
That’s an incredible performance
One of my favorites is Purple Rain at the Super Bowl and it starts fucking raining when he starts the song
strippersandcocaine@reddit
There’s a doc (I think it’s on YouTube) about his halftime performance, absolutely worth the watch!
Can you make it rain harder?
Just incredible.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
Seen it and honestly my favorite part about the whole thing is that he had not performed purple rain in concert since the 90s. He had stopped performing it because he was sick of it and sick of audiences expecting him to perform it. So when he broke that out for the first time in over a decade and the drama of it raining while he was doing it, it’s just fucking unreal how cool that was
MydniteSon@reddit
Yup. Still think it was the greatest Super Bowl half-time performance of all time.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
LOL, me biting my tongue when my kids were like OMG KENDRICK LAMAR WAS THE BEST HALFTIME SHOW EVAR
Like, guys. It was OK.
Userdataunavailable@reddit
He was so talented and an amazing guitarist. I have also gotten into him more and more.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
not to mention all the side projects like Morris Day and the Time, and all the music he wrote and produced for so many people
MydniteSon@reddit
When I was in college, I had a fraternity brother who was a HUGE Prince fan. I didn't care for him. However, I was always heavy into blues and classic rock. One day, he played some unreleased stuff from Prince. It was Prince playing blues and I was absolutely floored by how good it was. It was then I realized ho incredibly talented the dude was.
Just watch him play the guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps for the RnR Hall of Fame induction of George Harrison. Apparently Prince never rehearsed that solo. And just watched the reaction of the rest of the musicians on stage...their jaws are on the floor.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
I love that performance because you can see Petty and the other guys on stage just be like oh damn he is shredding it, play another chorus and let him go!
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Prince was amazing. I was no-skipping his albums in my early teens. You can be listening to a seemingly chill song (e.g. The Morning Papers) and he'll just start wailing on that guitar.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
I couldn’t agree more. Last summer I started listening to the album musicology and that really blew me away
CheesyRomantic@reddit
The Grateful Dead
I remember (late 80s early 90s) wanting to give them a listen because of some TV show. But back then I didn't work and couldn't ask my family for money to buy cassettes just to see if I would like music.
I didn't know how to explore music besides listening to radio which wasn't the same back then.
I kinda forgot about them until John Mayer joined Dead & Co. And even then, I only had the brainspan to start listening to new music after my babies were a little older and I becane a stay at home mom.
I have to say.... I am sad I missed out on so many years of both The Dead and Dead & Co. Listening to them.... its an experience every time 💜
Lowspark1013@reddit
The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began.
Never too late to become a fan of the Dead. The best part is that you have the rest of your life to explore a vast amount of music they created. I go through phases where I listen to them a lot or a little. But it is never far away.
I suggest reading Electric Koolaid Acid Test. A great book, and gives a lot of insight into their early years and the surrounding culture.
KeyWeek446@reddit
Ken Kesey
Pezhead82@reddit
My brother left my mom’s original copy of EKAT on a plane by mistake. I hope it found a good home!
CheesyRomantic@reddit
Thank you so much ✌️💜🎶
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
I owned Skeletons In The Closet (greatest hits) as a teen but have also been diving deeper into their catalog in more recent years.
CheesyRomantic@reddit
💜 this post just inspired me to put some Dead & Co music on as I attempt to clean my home.
CarolinaHeinz@reddit
You may already be aware, but ReListen has 2,000ish shows each of the Dead and Phish on em plus tons of others. You can sort by rating, venue, year, etc all for free thanks to the tapers and archivists. Happy listening!
Silly_Sherbet5543@reddit
Faith No More. I loved Epic as a kid, but didn’t know any of their other stuff until my 30s. I’ve been obsessed ever since
Pezhead82@reddit
WEEN I don’t think I even heard them in high school - we ere listening to Allmam Brothers, the Dead, 90s hip hop and R&B and then when I first became aware of them I dismissed them as weird dad rock. I caught them live at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with my ex who was a huge fan and we had a fun few years catching live shows. Truly underrated band for the musicality across so many genres and irrevance, cool vibe and chill core fan base So glad I saw them live before the Deaner had to take a break from touring.
FacePalmTheater@reddit
Billy Joel. Never hated his stuff, just never really interested me. Then recently I heard Still Rock and Roll to Me, and I got on a bit of a Billy Joel kick.
Pezhead82@reddit
If you get a chance to see him live, please do it!
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
The Stranger is my favorite album. Listened to it front to back for the first time about 3 years ago.
Scissorsguadalupe@reddit
Fleetwood Mac for sure
HMTMKMKM95@reddit
Grade 8 me, along with my classmates ragged on our teacher for liking them. I was dumb. About a grwat many things.
YogurtclosetDull2380@reddit
I've been listening to a lot of Primus and they did some great covers throughout the years. They got me listening to a bunch of Peter Gabriel and The a Residents lately and I'm loving it.
Lowspark1013@reddit
Late comer to Primus myself the last couple of years. I'm really not sure why it didn't take in the early 90s. I have loved Claypool ever since his first Frog Brigade days. Saw them again a couple years ago and it sent me deep down a Primus rabbit hole. Now I'm looking forward to seeing both bands in one show this summer!
Pezhead82@reddit
Primus sucks!
YogurtclosetDull2380@reddit
I've been a fan since Bill & Ted and kinda quit em after Antopop. Big mistake. Finally got around to seeing them on their summer 24 tour and yeah, it's basically been all I've consumed ever since.
Serrajuana@reddit
I was never interested in them before seeing them live at Sessanta with A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. I was blown away by just how fun that was. Still... Primus sucks!
Alternative-Light514@reddit
Archive, UNKLE, Massive Attack
jcstrat@reddit
Massive Attack, yes! I recently gave them an honest listen and was blown away.
Alternative-Light514@reddit
Yeah I somehow missed the trip hop/downtempo/Bristol sound era back then. I knew some of the songs from films and other media, but never took it any further than that. Maybe I just found it when I needed to, but it’s totally my speed these days.
If you’re new to the genre, definitely check out Archive - Londinium. Absolutely phenomenal album from start to finish
jcstrat@reddit
I definitely will. Thanks!
Alternative-Light514@reddit
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5enFP-g86aWq1Aa7opE0iNAMFZqIFX1Q&si=xdJerQzX7YMTvdky
Userdataunavailable@reddit
Teardrop has been on my Playlist for ages, love them.
maidenofmp@reddit
Depeche Mode.
Emannuelle-in-space@reddit
I got to open for them on tour once. I’d never listened to them before, but by the end of the tour, they were my bandmates’ favorite band.
Adrasteia-One@reddit
This is who I am discovering right now, too. Great stuff! I haven't heard Ultra yet, but that's my next one.
GarminTamzarian@reddit
I always kinda liked them, though my metalhead friends referred to them as "Depeche Commode".
EBMille4@reddit
$20 says they listened to DM on the down low
lakatos_intolerant@reddit
My mom has always loved Depeche Mode so that was passed down to me at a young age. I will always appreciate them.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
Good answer.
Emannuelle-in-space@reddit
Sonic youth
TyeMoreBinding@reddit
REM. My older sibling loved them, but they were a bit ahead of my time. And by the time I got older, I was way too cool for anything that was on MTV.
What I realized later is that I wasn’t mature enough to understand, let along appreciate, the depth of their catalog.
Nightswimming. Hits a little different at our current age…
TiEmEnTi@reddit
One of the whitest r/WhiteAmericanXennials comment threads I've seen to date
bytheoceansedge@reddit
Be the change you want to see. Post non-white artists you got into late.
For my own 2c, I was in my 30s before I appreciated Straight Outta Compton. I'm still not into most hippopotamus but that album is a banger.
the__ghola__hayt@reddit
I reserve that title for the quarterly "peaches come in a can" or whatever post. yOU cAn tEll wHO iS a rEaL xEnNiAL hurr hurr
CarolinaHeinz@reddit
Tool. I didn’t understand it in HS. Danny Carey is arguably one of the greatest rock drummers of all time.
El_Dudereno@reddit
Yes! I felt they were too melancholy in HS. I got turned on through short videos featuring Danny. Pneuma is heavily in my rotation now.
CarolinaHeinz@reddit
Lots of rumors they will play the Sphere. If they do I’ll be there!
EBMille4@reddit
Steve Winwood. Thanks it’s always sunny in Philadelphia!
HelpImOverthinking@reddit
I never saw it's always sunny, but I was a fan of Steve Winwood when I was a kid because my parents liked him. If you listen to Back in the High Life, that's James Taylor on backup vocals.
Lowspark1013@reddit
Traffic is lit. I like their stuff better covered by Widespread Panic, but credit to the source of great tunes.
EBMille4@reddit
Will check them out, thanks for the suggestion!
GarminTamzarian@reddit
This is the first thing that pops in my head when I think of Steve Winwood:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AUP5rf5X2Kc
And this is the second thing I think of:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=myVVDJvQvOw
EBMille4@reddit
Ha!!! I had NOT seen the Slip Nutz before!
And Eric Prydz Call on Me is still in regular rotation in my house 👍
GarminTamzarian@reddit
The Slip Nutz are music legends!
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Spencer Davis Group-era Winwood or solo career? I'm not familiar with the show.
BillyDMountain@reddit
All of it along with Traffic but they largely fixate on his solo stuff.
EBMille4@reddit
When Dennis tries to make the spin instructor put Steve Winwood on, I almost lost it
Imnotonthelist@reddit
That’s for you, bumble bee 🐝
BillyDMountain@reddit
My favourite bit is the quick cut to the spin class hearing 80's Steve Winwood and one woman looks pretty into it. I love good acting by extras like that. Some stuff I re watch a lot after a while I start focusing on the background actors.
EBMille4@reddit
They focus on his solo career, which got me listening at first. I had no idea about Spencer Davis Group (aside from the song Gimme Some Lovin from movies, but I didn’t know that was a TEENAGE Winwood belting out the vocals) let alone Traffic or Blind Faith until Apple Music started suggesting them in my weekly playlists 👍
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Wow, sounds like they really like him. Reminds me of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel's obsession with Rush in I Love You, Man.
EBMille4@reddit
Slapping the baaaaaaass slapping the baaaaaaass
HelpImOverthinking@reddit
I was never into the grunge scene that much when I was in my teens but now I really like foo fighters, soundgarden, alice in chains, etc. etc. (still not a big nirvana fan though)
nocountryforolddick@reddit
Dropkicks Murphy and well, I do love that music now.
S_A_R_K@reddit
Same
PlagueDrWily@reddit
Was just talking about this on another sub - for me it’s Genesis. I’m still not big on the radio-friendly era but a friend lended me his copy of Foxtrot nearly 20 years ago and it blew my mind. Despite loving that album, it was only a few years ago I started digging into the rest of their 70s stuff and they’ve become a bit of a musical obsession as of late.
Another one is Jeff Buckley - I was aware of him back in the day, but funny enough, my kids are huge fans and I started listening to him by osmosis.
S_A_R_K@reddit
DjQball@reddit
I loved a lot of classic rock but never gave Dire Straits a chance until the last ten years or so.
Now I can’t get enough.
S_A_R_K@reddit
Creole
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Same here, brother. Mark Knopfler is a guitar god.
PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit
The "for grownups" singers that I dismissed as too boring as a kid and teen. Bonnie Raitt. Natalie Merchant. Phil Collins. Don Henley.
Agent17@reddit
Sisters of mercy
pettyvillainy@reddit
Dunno if this counts as 'young days,' but; Portishead came out when I was fifteen, and I didn't discover them until they'd already been broken up for ten years. One of my favorite bands.
DriblyRedwyne@reddit
Stereolab
VincentMac1984@reddit
The Talking Heads and Bruce Springsteen
Miami_Mice2087@reddit
i didn't like nirvana until like 2010. I like 90s rap and r&b way more than I did then. I became a HUGE green day fan around 2005, which isn't really out of date, but my friends were into them in Dookie era (middle school).
291000610478021@reddit
I was really into classic rock, metal and nu metal. I discovered 90s rap when I married my husband in 2009
Biggie, Mobb Deep, Nas, wu-tang, Tribe called Quest...... love it all.
the__ghola__hayt@reddit
Kinda the opposite for me. Growing up, it was all classic/neo soul, R&B, hip hop, and gospel. Wouldn't touch anything rock until I was finally convinced to give it a chance in college.
PORTOGAZI@reddit
You literally listed my top 4. illmatic, the infamous, 36 chambers and Midnight Marauders. In 2015 I was in a band and got to play Riot Fest with Wu-Tang, we hung out with GZA and Raekwon in the artist tent which was an out of body experience given how much we played them in highschool.
jfrii@reddit
Same here!
I was an idm kid in the 90s after going through my grunge phase. 90s rap didn't happen for me really until the late 2000s.
DrenAss@reddit
Same! My husband was into 90s rap but I was a punk. I discovered it for myself much later and it's amazing.
Vintage-Injun@reddit
I rediscovered The Cure. I don't know why I avoided their music so much in the 90s, but mainly because I was into heavy metal, hard rock, and grunge. I have been binging their music so much lately, I have fallen in love with their style.
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
My first college roommate would come in shitfaced at 3am any night of the week, throw on The Cure full blast and proceed to pass out. That negative association lives on 28 years later.
Vintage-Injun@reddit
Ah I get it, sorry bro.😎
CravinMohead13@reddit
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
I'm still Team Sammy but I no longer have to choose.
Bushwazi@reddit
As in: you side with Sammy in the split or as in: you take the Sammy era over the Dave era?
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
Bushwazi@reddit
I side with Sammy in the split but I enthusiastically would pick the Dave era over Sammy's. So that is why not both, for me at least
toomanyusesforaname@reddit
Maturity is realizing that David Lee Roth is actually kind of a good lyricist. He's no Joni Mitchel, but there's a whimsy and playful experimentation in his lyrics that I didn't appreciate when I was younger and assumed he was just singing about T&A.
pug_fugly_moe@reddit
But the drumming got way better.
BijouWilliams@reddit
...it's hypnotic
EBMille4@reddit
Alllll Dave. Alllll night!
Dazzling-Emu-6054@reddit
For me it’s gotta be Talking Heads. Not my bag back in the day; totally love them now.
username__0000@reddit
I was not a huge the cure fan. I liked a few of their songs but didn’t really go past the hits.
I was missing out. Love them.
Same for the pixies.
I knew of them because I was a huge Nirvana fan and Kurt would mention them a bunch in interviews. But damn, shoulda bought an album quicker.
Icaruskillswitch@reddit
Justin Bieber. Yes I fucking know.
Seven22am@reddit
Two things.
One, I was wrong about grunge in general and Pearl Jam in particular. I just didn’t want to like them because the dudes in cargo shorts with backwards caps liked them and… well, you know. I repent. Pearl Jam is/was good stuff.
Two, yacht rock is amazing.
Into-the-stream@reddit
I went on the same journey with the tragically hip. They were (and still are) absolutely huge in Canada, so of course I didn’t listen to them because I was an ass and thought “common” and “cool” were two different things.
Just started getting into their catalogue maybe a year ago. Wish I hadn’t had my head up my ass for so many years.
strippersandcocaine@reddit
Hell yeah yacht rock is amazing! And I’ve recently discovered yacht rock/emd mixes - big fan.
Boomhower113@reddit
I liked Pearl Jam when we were young. But, I’ve recently gotten back into them and absolutely love them now.
“Black” might be one of the best songs ever written. Eddie is just a guy filleting himself open over losing that woman.
Very different attitude for that time after the 80’s hair band I-get-all-the-chicks era.
Aware_Policy_9174@reddit
I wasted so much time disliking things just because they were popular. I thought I was too cool for anything mainstream.
Similarly all the soft rock/ smooth jazz from the 80’s I grew up with. I dismissed Sade for a long time because I just thought it was more easy listening.
ZaphodBeeblebrahx@reddit
My old man introduced me to Steely Dan as a child and I’ve been a lifelong fan. It’s hard to express how awesome their music is
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
I don't think there were many 13-year-olds intentionally listening to Supertramp in 1992, but that's how I got into them too.
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
I did listen to Pearl Jam back in the day, but my appreciation for Alice In Chains is much more recent.
GarminTamzarian@reddit
Never was a huge PJ fan, but Ten is an absolute classic. I've always loved grunge, though, and AiC is definitely the best of the lot IMO.
Jerry's debut solo album is also really good, as is Layne's side project Mad Season.
gooch_norris_@reddit
XTC are phenomenal and I didn’t really dive into them until like the 2010s. Felt like I had been missing out on something I didn’t even know about
zoosha2curtaincall@reddit
I find XTC’s individual albums to be hit or miss, but their greatest hits Upsy Daisy Assortment is 19 songs and literally all bangers. Great place for someone new to start.
gooch_norris_@reddit
I agree and disagree- I usually don’t listen to the full albums but am glad I experienced them in full at least once, especially ones like skylarking and apple venus
zoosha2curtaincall@reddit
Oh yeah, there's plenty of great stuff not on the greatest hits collection. I just want to convey to people that there's an easy way to get into a lot of fantastic XTC songs.
toomanyusesforaname@reddit
A lot of that post punk / new wave world got lost in the shuffle by the late 80s. Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Pretenders, Blondie, etc. These are not obscure artists by any means, but I don't think their lasting impact is commensurate with the volume of genius output from circa 78 to 85.
wafair@reddit
Roxy Music. Always kind of knew them, but never paid much attention. About 10 years ago I started listening to them and got really into them. Bryan Ferry is like a punk rock James Bond
astr0bu0y@reddit
Not entirely this generation but Rush. Glad they are touring again
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Rush has mainly been a last 5 years thing for me too. Always knew they were there, but truly appreciate them now.
Appropriate-Neck-585@reddit
Billy Joel.
CottageGrove81@reddit
RATM mostly.
A newer band I ignored in my 20's, MCR, is growing on me since my 14 year-old is now listening to them.
Paper_Street_Soap@reddit
The Smiths. Personal politics aside, Morrissey was an amazing singer/songwriter.
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
That's one group I definitely know absolutely nothing about.
gooch_norris_@reddit
If you like gloomy jangly British pop you’ll love them
https://youtu.be/siO6dkqidc4?si=NV5TdMYjBCYJfzZL
https://youtu.be/OYYZFx7_DS8?si=9qeXkiQlYd-96Q8C
https://youtu.be/3Mr0pDNVms0?si=e-VcKKVT3aABvc2I
JoeMomma755@reddit
When I was a kid, my dad always said Prince was A ‘fruit loop’ and never let me listen to him.
He was so wrong………
Blackbird136@reddit
Which Björk album would you recommend to start with?
SixAlarmFire@reddit
Debut!
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
Really tough question. I like Post (1995) and Homogenic (1997) about equally, but if you're not familiar with Human Behaviour from 1993's Debut, I'd say it's imperative to start there before hitting a full album.
Blackbird136@reddit
Thank you.
sarindong@reddit
third eye blind is *EXCEPTIONAL*. i thought they were just some catchy pop shit when they came out and heard them in high school, but i rediscovered them in my early 30s and just.... wow. tbf, i did a lot of drugs in my 20s and so when i rediscovered them i got a lot of what they were talking about.
Calm_Pear_9552@reddit
Metallica.
SixAlarmFire@reddit
Their first albums are so good!!!
toomanyusesforaname@reddit
George Michael. I always had a soft spot for Freedom 90, but nothing else from that album or Faith did much for me. I'd heard the singles, of course - I Want Your Sex, Catherine Figure, etc. - but I thought of myself as a bit of a rock/metal head and always just sort of lumped him in with the pop world. When I was much older, I listened to the entire Faith album in earnest and was blown away. Every track is amazing. He was truly a gifted songwriter
gooch_norris_@reddit
Great production on all his stuff too, wham included. Lots of sounds lots of textures
MydniteSon@reddit
I didn't like George Michael either. What actually softened my dislike of him was the Freddie Mercury tribute concert. He sang 'Somebody to Love' with Queen. Great performance. Then over time I started listening to more.
A lot of times, after someone dies, you find out what a shit-stain they were. It was the opposite with George Michael. Stories started coming out about what a really great dude he was. Kind, generous. And really did a lot of it anonymously. When he wasn't touring or doing music, he would spend a lot of time volunteering at soup kitchens. He wouldn't let anyone take pictures of him there; he didn't want anyone to know he was there.
For example, George Michael wrote 'Careless Whisper' when was like 17 (That saxophone still gets stuck in my head for three months every time I hear the song). Later on, he changed the publishing rights to include Andrew Ridgely as a co-writer of the song and to get royalties off of the song. He did that as a 'Thank You' for getting him into the music industry.
sarindong@reddit
i always thought phish was helllllla lame when i was in high school and later. but then i got into their album farmhouse a handful of years ago and its legitimately so, so good. bug is so, so good
flamingknifepenis@reddit
I slept on the Deftones until a few years ago. I hated “Change” when it came out (really, I hated how it was fucking everywhere), so I completely ignored them in any context and thought they were basically Limp Bizkit for horny sad boys.
To be fair, they kind of are, but they’re also so much more than that and I’ve loved digging into their catalog.
On the opposite end of the spectrum: The Doobie Brothers. My dad was a huge fan (especially pre-MM), so their music was always just “songs that he turned up really loud when they came on the radio.” Many years later “Long Train Running” came on the radio in my car with much better speakers, and I actually paid attention and was floored at how good it was. Now I listen to them by choice, but apparently I’m my father’s child because I do prefer Tom Johnson.
Mr_Sandmarine_Man@reddit
Here's an odd one. Billy Idol. By way of his interview with Billy Corgan on The Magnificent Others.
I always thought of Idol as a record label manufacturer punk clone.
Somewhere I lost the plot that he started Generation X, had roots in punk and new wave, and rose up from there. Then finding out he's really intelligent and was so forward thinking for his time. Now I'm listening to the whole catalogue and loving every second of it.
Primary-Strawberry-5@reddit
I was one of those Phishphreaks as a young adult (grew up in Vermont) but mostly grew out of the jam-band thing when I started getting more into punk rock
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
New Hampshire here.
Primary-Strawberry-5@reddit
Sorry for crossing into your state to buy cheaper beer and cigarettes when I was 21
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
That's funny. My friends and I would go to Maine to buy liquor because the NH state liquor store hours sucked.
Primary-Strawberry-5@reddit
I worked 2nd and 3rd shift jobs back then so a 9am run to West Leb wasn’t unheard of
Omegatard@reddit
Queens of the Stone Age, Blind Mellon, and FuManChu
ohio2az@reddit
I HATED Rush and would immediately change the channel when I was a kid. Geddy's voice made my skin crawl. In my early 20s I actually got into their non radio singles and they became ine of my favorite bands.
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
https://i.redd.it/wg3lye7wmdug1.gif
Longinquity@reddit
Phish. I didn't start listening to their music until my late 20s. Also, Love and Rockets. Other than So Alive, their catalog was unknown to me until last year.
oh_its_him_again@reddit
Deep dive into the Talking Heads back in my 30s. Whoa. Truly an all time fav to this day.
Basic-Pair8908@reddit
Mine was rock and metal, then i discovered skiffle, really got into lonnie donnigan
BlueFalcon02@reddit
Several emo bands.
myevillaugh@reddit
Rage Against the Machine. I was too young to get it as a teenager.
Alternative-Light514@reddit
I’ll just say that Toto hits different in your 40’s
StormyStenafie@reddit
Tori Amos more and more.
idio242@reddit
Phish as well. Walked into Fenway park in 2009 and was amazed. Headed to the sphere next weekend.
Listened to a lot of alt rock and German industrial music as a kid. And still do!
16 year old me would be horrified, though.
heresmytwopence@reddit (OP)
My first Phish show was at Fenway too.
lakatos_intolerant@reddit
Talking Heads, though technically they were wrapping up as a band when I was still a toddler.
psyclopsus@reddit
Not myself, but it seems a LOT of my cohort are very late to the party on Tool. In high school I was the weird one because I liked the band that made songs about prison rape, hookers with penises, and shit, blood, & cum on my hands. 15-20 years later all the previously cool kids had Ænema eyeball and Alex Grey style tattoos and were just hearing about the Fibonacci sequence
8last@reddit
The entire genre of midwest emo. Just didn't like it back then, love it now.
CrashTestVictim@reddit
Peter Gabriel always seemed kinda goofy because of the Sledgehammer video. And then I rediscovered him (and Genesis) during covid lockdown. I've since seen him live during the io tour. I think the songs have a different meaning to me now that I'm older.
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
Massive Attack. I was not into the Trip Hop scene as a teen, I was too into the more upbeat Indie / Britpop era that was everywhere at the time. As I’ve grown older I have developed an appreciation for deep atmospheric bass sounds and Massive Attack are the masters.
unethicalposter@reddit
All my growing up years I was told black Sabbath without Ozzy sucked and I foolishly believed that lie. Turns out dio and Tony Martin Sabbath were fantastic.
The_3_Rs@reddit
I liked Slipknot a bit bc my friends used to listen but now I love them and listen to them often to help me with my perimenopausal rage
ciccacicca@reddit
The folly of youthful not listening to music because kids you didn’t like listened to it!
humanist-misanthrope@reddit
Slayer, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake are bands I didn’t listen to until I was in my 30s, which was a decade or more after all of them started out. Luckily I’ve seen all three live as well. Getting a black as a 39 yo at my one and only Slayer concert made it even more memorable.
Sum41 was a band I also didn’t listen to until they had 3 or 4 albums out and I really liked their style.
masakanova@reddit
Alanis Morissette
I pushed her off as some alt-rock girls girl… now as an adult and father of a girl (and boy) her self-reflection and honesty is refreshing.
perdy_mama@reddit
Phish, The Talking Heads and Ani DiFranco
Far-Pie-6226@reddit
Ryan Adams and all the stuff he was associated with. I'm pretty sure the only reason I didn't listen to him was because his name sounded too much like Bryan Adams, which I now listen to as well, lol.
In my mid-20s I was fully into the early Alt Country stuff like Gram Parsons, New Riders, etc and never knew about Ryan Adams until I was 40.
Spare-Good-5372@reddit
Tool
ConclusionFlat1843@reddit
For some weird reason (maybe it's common) I tend to find a new appreciation for artists after they die. David Bowie, Sinead O'Connor, Tom Petty. I mean I always knew they were good, but after they died I listened to a broader catalog of their work and they were far more amazing than I realized.
EastTXJosh@reddit
Like you, I was late coming to enjoy both Phish and Bjork. In high school, I had a friend that tried unsuccessfully to get me into Phish. This was right around the time that Billy Breathes dropped and "Free" was getting a ton of radio airplay. I loved "Free" but was disappointed that Phish's other stuff didn't sound like it. It was until my 30's that I really began to apprecite Phish.
Similarly, I had some friends in college try to turn me onto Bjork, but I was reluctant. I've only recently come around to Bjork in the past 5 or 6 years.
Probably the biggest one for me is Morrissey/The Smiths. I've been aware of Morrissey since the 80's, but wasn't until college that I did my first deep dive into his catalog. He became my second favorite musical artist (and The Smiths my second favorite band) almost instantly.
GarminTamzarian@reddit
I recently heard "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" and "How Soon is Now" for the first time. While I'm only lukewarm on Morrissey's vocals, Johnny Marr's musical arrangements are what I'm really blown away by.
hamburgler26@reddit
I'm in a similar boat. I definitely recognize Morrissey's vocal talent but it just isn't really my thing, but Marr's work is so good I can look past it and it does work well with the music.
PM_ME_YOUR_DOGE_PICS@reddit
I've always loved new wave but I've been deep diving into the genre lately and I'm so impressed, and there's so much more to explore!
jcstrat@reddit
Right there with you. Missing Persons is my current obsession.
iknowiknowwhereiam@reddit
Nine inch nails were always around and I thought they were good but just not my jam, now I can't get enough
TheAngerMonkey@reddit
I remember NIN being OMG SO SCANDALOUS for a rock band when I was in high school and now Trent Reznor is cool rock dad who scores movies.
Which is not a dig, NIN is great (and get that bag, Trent) but it's weird how the musical Overton window shifted.
jcstrat@reddit
It’s been a wild ride, from someone who was a huge fan from the start.
maidenofmp@reddit
Never in my early teens TDS obsession would I ever have fathomed Trent attaining near-EGOT status or releasing a new album (soundtrack) bankrolled by Disney.
I caught NIN on tour earlier this year. 1994 me was beside herself.
iknowiknowwhereiam@reddit
Closer is still scandalous!
TheAngerMonkey@reddit
Not in a world where WAP was the bop of the summer 5 years ago...
iknowiknowwhereiam@reddit
fair
lankyleper@reddit
I was pretty obsessed as a teenager, then I moved to other genres for about 20 years. I started listening to everything I missed in those interim years, and now I'm obsessed again.
pug_fugly_moe@reddit
King Crimson, Jason Becker, Ulver, Art Blakey, Emperor, Enslaved, Hal Blaine
SenorNeiltz@reddit
Probably REM.
I always appreciated the radio hits, never listened to full albums until recently.
applesauce_pants@reddit
Queens of the Stone Age
lankyleper@reddit
Portishead, MGMT, TV on the Radio.
MydniteSon@reddit
Soul Asylum. When they were popular in the early-mid 90s I did not care for their music. 'Somebody to Shove' was a song I liked...but maybe it was the overplay of 'Runaway Train'. Didn't think about them much since then, but then I remember seeing Clerks II in the theater with my friends. And then when they ended with 'Misery' (A song I was lukewarm to back in the day) it really slapped me hard in the Nostalgia. I went back and listened to some of their catalogue and I realized those guys were really really good.
The Smiths - Tried getting into them when I was younger. Didn't care for them. Found them too 'whiney'. Once I hit my early 30s I started listening to them. Really impressed by Johnny Marr's guitar work. Appreciate the cynical lyrics.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Again, not that I disliked him. But never really listened much until probably my late 30s. Took a deep dive into his catalogue and really like him.
Epicardiectomist@reddit
Phil Collins
I loathed that song "Another Day in Paradise" (and I still do) but I threw away the rest of his work because of it.
No Jacket Required is a fucking banger of an album.
Goblin_Eye_Poker@reddit
Just last year my cousin finally convinced me to listen to Buckethead. Wish I hadn't waited so long
x7leafcloverx@reddit
Jeff Buckley. For all intents and purposes he should have been something I listened to but he was just never introduced to me until the last few years. Such a shame we’ll never get more from him because he was truly something special.
LetsGoToMichigan@reddit
I ignored My Bloody Valentine out of ignorance because their name made them sound (to me) like a 90s cringe emo/punk band (eg My Chemical Romance) and I didn’t even realize my mistake until deep into my 40s
yodellingllama_@reddit
I had almost the exact same experience.
_jjkase@reddit
Black Crows. I just kinda missed them the first time around.
I didn't dislike them or anything, just didn't pay attention.
They were probably in my top 10 most listened for last year
No9No9No9No9@reddit
Deep diving into Patti Smith's catalog and poetry a few years ago made me feel like I wasted my teen punk years. Horses, the song especially, would have saved 16yo me. She is singular and brilliant, but not for everyone.
HermioneMarch@reddit
Agree. I honestly didn’t know her at all growing up. But kept seeing her name in influencers of my favorite 90s artists. So I checked her out and… mind blown.
nocrisistoday@reddit
I wrote Silverchair off as a bad Nirvana impression—how wrong I was. Now I recognize Daniel Johns for the genius he is.
classyrock@reddit
Jamiroquai! I saw the Virtual Insanity music video in my 20’s (near the end of the music video era).
My friends were like, “you don’t know this guy? He’s old news”, while I was like, “WHAT!?! You guys knew about this???? Wait — IS THE COUCH BLEEDING?”
Lensgoggler@reddit
PJ Harvey! I went to art uni without ever listening to her. How on earth, I have no idea, I listened to much more artsy stuff...
MlsterFlster@reddit
I was late to The Foo Fighters. When their first album dropped I thought it was just someone cashing in after Nirvana. Years later I heard The Pretender on the radio. That made me take a closer look.