First Time a Favorite

How did you feel the first time you ever heard the band that would inevitably become your favorite? Was it love at first listen, or did it take a little time? Did the obsession grow immediately, or was the immersion slow, building with each new album purchased and concert experienced?

I think it's easy to become complacent after awhile. Sometimes we forget just how important a favorite anything is to us; be it a band, meal or vacation spot. We tend to take these favorites for granted as they become part of our being - but do others know these secrets?

For instance, I'm not really sure my husband truly understands why I never - ever - want to meet or interview Aerosmith. For a longtime, that was my biggest career goal: interview Aerosmith. Now, I'd rather just keep a distance. I want to remember them as a true first love: a favorite band obsession. In my mind, I think it's better for everyone involved if they remain as special to me now and in the future as they were to me when I was just 15, sitting on my bedroom floor while reading Metal Edge. Having a real life experience with this band would completely and utterly change all my memories - and I can't risk that.

We might find new bands, foods or vacation spots we adore - but there will always be a space for the single favorite. It's a special feeling that is hard to quantify with words, but I'm pretty sure every band is looking to stir that emotion among the masses. It's the special few that actually make it happen.

Comments

[aXe mAn]

I honestly couldn't tell you who my "favorite" band is right now.....I don't even know if I really have a paritcular "favorite" anymore...It just changes so much I can't pick a favorite...there are so many bands that I love!

[crued]

i remember sitting in my gf at the time basement>back in 80> seeing nikki sixx's legs on fire... i was mezmerized i was hooked for life...fast foward 30 years...still hooked

[crued]

flashback:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjh562Kwul4

[NikkeSixx]

I still remember the day when I was 11, I sat in my chair in front of the TV watching some channel and all of a sudden a commercial for a Tv program airs where they wanted the wievers to vote the best W.A.S.P. video ( I Wanna Be Somebody or Wild Child) and they showed clips of them both. I remember just sitting there staring with my eyes open wide and thinking what the hell was that?! 5 years later they are still my favorite band =D

[al rose]

i was 4 the first time i saw KISS...it was the "i love it loud video" for five years i thought KISS were superheroes! I dont think i can ever meet paul stanley because if he was a jerk it would ruin 26 years of being a fan.

[Glenn]

In the summer of '77 my older brother used his paper route money to buy Destroyer by KISS.He told me stories about a demon that spit blood and breathes fire, needless to say by the time the last note of Detroit Rock City rang out that little boys life was changed completely

[kari]

My all time favorite band is Van Halen.I listened to them growing up here and there, however it wasn't until I saw them live for the first time in 1995 and Sammy did Eagle's Fly during his solo momentthat I literally just FLIPPED OUT! That was it, I was a Hagar fan from that point on. that one concert opened my eyes to an entire part of my life that forever changed me. I remember the feeling, the arena, the goosebumps, the tears....DAMN, SAM'S THE MAN!
On another note, when I was in Junior high Poison was probably my favorite. yes, I don't know what it was but Bret Michaels was probably the 2nd love of my life (1st was Elvis, sorry Bret). I remember buying Open Up with my own money that I saved with my allowance and this band just rocked my world. they still do, I have to be honest. As much as ROL has made me lose respect for Bret, at the same time every time I meet him that little 12 year old comes back every time and I get star struck and blush. Every time I see them live I still get so excited just like that 14 year old when I saw them live for the first time. Those special moments NEVER go away! that's what life is all about I think. For us die hard music fans, we all GET what those moments are all about!

[Michael]

I'm only 16, so I never experienced the commercial climax of any of my favorite Glam Metal bands, but I remember the first Glam band that really turned me on to the genre was Poison. Then, after reading a lot of blogs and other stuff, I learned how important Motley Crue is in that genre, so I thought to myself that I owed it to Metal to buy some Crue music. So I was at an HMV in Montreal with some friends and I saw Red, White & Crue on the shelf and thought that I needed to buy it. Ironically, I also bought Nirvana's self-titled album at the same time. Little did I know at the time how wrong that was, haha! Well this was back in March of '08 I think, and I remember ripping it onto my iTunes and listening to the album on my bus for the first time. The funniest thing is that I didn't really care for them after the first listen. The only Motley song I knew before having bought the album was Dr. Feelgood, and the only songs I liked was that and Sick Love Song. As I kept listening to them, I started liking a few more, and a few more, until I liked all of them. Now they're my favorite band by far and I can't imagine a world without them. Funny, hunh? They've influenced my view on life, my writing for my band, and even the way I dress. I always look to buy the size "Small" now haha! Since then, I've bought EVERY single album (even the discontinued EPs), have every song ever recorded, even the demos, bought a shitload of Motley merch and have seen them twice in the past six months, each time driving at least 3 hours. Ah, the Motley!

[Nellie]

Wow, you're post really made me remember just WHY I have the connection with all the music I listen to. I was coerced into 60s music, all laid back hippie-dippy stuff by my parents, and I still have got a huge connection with the psychedelic era's music, plus bob marley's stuff from my dad. My cousin started to dabble in guitar, and WHAM did I find myself down in the metal. I've formed such bonds with the creative energy of my hard rocking-gods - the crue, zeppelin, priest - that even though I went through a total "no one understands me, I might as well listen to grunge phase" I can't stop rocking out every time I hear the call of those metal gods (...pretty as they were!!!)!!!!!!

thanks Allyson!!

[Mike]

I picked up Appetite for Destruction the month it was released because Nikki Sixx said in an interview they were one of his favorite new bands. Nobody in my school knew about them, but to my ears it was awesome.I was an instant diehard! Only they had no media exposure yet, no videos, magazines ...nothing. All I had was that album.They were "my" band.Then about a year later I was blown away to hear "Sweet Child" on the radio... they weren't "my" band anymore! But to this day I'm still a diehard and will probably always buy anything Gn'R related.

By the way... Duff's new album "Sick" is killer!

[Lucifer]

I remember first listening to Motley Crue...
My brother had left his ipod playing in a hotel room in San Francisco, and I put the headphones in to see what he had been listening to, and out blasted dr.Feelgood.
After that, no other band has been anywhere near as awesome as the crue are...
Still remember that first listen:)

[Nellie]

yeah the first GN'R song i really must have listened to was Rocket Queen. i just remember starting that track and hearing that first hit of the drums and the slinky sexy guitar and I still get chills cause I remember just how much it impacted me then. still does :D

[CK]

Great topic. It was 1984 and all my friends loved VH (not that I didn't) but, I wanted to be different! A good friend of mine took me to the old Putt Putt Golf over by Forest Park Mall (when it was safe). They always played music over the speakers and that night WTUE was playing Out of the Cellar in it's entirety! I was hooked and traded 1984 to my buddy for his Out of the Cellar tape ( I had an extra 1984 don't worry!). Ever since I have been a faithful RATT Bastard!!! RIP Robbin Crosby!!!

[Eeuwe]

I think my first love with glam metal was with Cinderella, I just knew who Mötley Crüe were, but I wasn't really into glam metal mostly 'cause I've listended (still listen) to Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep etc. I still know how it was, I was with a friend of mine in their house where they played Gypsy Road from Cinderella, I really was in love, first I thought it was a hard rocking band with a bluesy sound, after that I founded out that it was an amazing glam metal band. Cinderella will never go away for me, even how many great glam metal bands there were back in the days!