Bands you felt that you discovered

[Guardian of Takhisis]

Wanted to start a thread asking the question if there's every been a band that you felt that you sortof discovered. For example you started listening to them way before they hit mainstream or reasonably close to mainstream. I'll give a few examples of bands I felt I kindof discovered to give you an idea.

The first band is this band

Spoiler

Lacuna Coil
[YOUTUBE]n9N8-qWzyuw[/YOUTUBE]

I first heard this band on the Identity Five album released by Century Media back in '00. When I visited a friend in Virginia a few years later I picked two of their albums. I started listening to the albums almost non-stop but when I asked around no one had heard of them. I found the album "In a Reverie" at a Hot Topic at my mall. Almost two years later I heard that they were playing the Ozzfest 2004 tour. I was ecstatic. I was unable to make it to see them but it still felt good to know that they were playing here in the US. Now when I ask if people have heard of Lacuna Coil they say of course they have but it was kindof cool thinking that I was early on them.

Another band is this one.

Spoiler

Three Doors Down
[YOUTUBE]RLd4WWM31ZE[/YOUTUBE]

I had a little help on this one. A person I was talking to on the internet told me about them so I went out and picked up the CD. I really enjoyed the CD but hadn't heard them that much on the radio. I think it was a couple months later that I finally saw the video for Kryponite on MTV (or maybe VH1). Then they were part of a concert summer series at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and they were one of the best performances and now everybody knew who they were and they were all over the radio.

The last band is this one.

Spoiler

Savage Garden
[YOUTUBE]HCm6gRHINqA[/YOUTUBE]

This is another one that I had a little bit of help with. Some one told me about them and made me a taped copy of their first Cd. I listened to it all summer but when I got back home no one was playing it and not to many people were listening to it. They released "I Want You" on the radio and as a video but it didn't really take off. Soon they released "Truly Madly Deeply" and that one was played constantly. Even made it to number one on one of VH1's top ten countdowns. I like every song off that album but my favorite would have to be the one that I posted the video for.

Well now it's your turn. Let me know about any artist you felt you did the same for.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Arctic Monkeys

A few ago in the UK, The Arctic Monkeys were the best that everyone loved, even people who didnt normally like that kind of stripped-down indie music. I was not one of these people. I liked a few of there songs, but didnt buy the album, it just wasnt reallllly my thing, bar a couple of tracks "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" is still a great track!

However, I knew about these guys about a full year before pretty much anyone else. My friend, who promotes gigs around the North West gave me a link to a website and told me that this band was going to be the next big thing. It was a site made by one of the guys in Arctic Monkeys, and had nothing on it but MP3s of several of their demos, including "When The Sun Goes Down", although at that time it was still called "Scummy" in reference to the "scummy man" mentioned in the song.

I wasn't that impressed, but was pleased when the band became a big success. It was nice to know that I had found out about the next big thing before alot of other people.

Another example is probably Alter Bridge

I was a major Creed fan, but not many people in the UK are. I was devastated when they split up but ordered the debut release of Alter Bridge on the day it came out, and loved it. It was great to hear the guys from Creed doing their thing again. That album did moderately well in the UK and I saw them play above the students union in Manchester in a small room. Then there 2nd album led to them getting a bit more success, and now they have just announced another UK tour, but this time they will be headling the MEN Arena, one of the biggest indoor arenas in Europe, having become a very well known band around the UK, and alot of my friends are now fans, telling me about this great new band. I am like "mate, I have been a fan for about 6 years!".

I am sure there are others, and I will post more if I remember any

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

City and Colour

I've mentioned this guy/band a few times on the forums and he still feels like MY discovery. His voice is just outstanding and when coupled with the lyrics it feels like there is someone out there that I connect with which is a hard thing to come by. The fact he's also a big fan of my favourite authour Kurt Vonnegut and wrote a few songs based on/inspired by several of his short stories is another reason why I feel a connection with him and his music.

Hell is For Heroes

Although they never seemed to fulfill the potential of their first album, The Neon Handshake, it is still one of the few albums I can put on shuffle and be content with whatever song comes on. A very rare feat. Most of my friends were into Lost Prophets and Cooper Temple Cause around the same time but I stuck with HIFH and got some of my friends into them too.

Nice thread idea!

 

[Lugar]

I love Hell is for Heroes and also feel they didn't live up to their full potential.

But back to the original question :-

311 - truly brilliant band that I have managed to get friends into. The albums Homebrew and Transistor are epic with out any filler. It's just a pity they don't know where Wales is.

Hundred Reasons - another band which never topped their first album. I was lucky to get home drunk one night and flicked through the music channels when I heard their cover of "What Time is Now" and was instantly hooked

Days of the New - first heard on a free magazine disc with my last choice, the song was Touch, Peel, Stand. Hauntingly beautiful lyrics and voice. If Travis had been able to beat his addictions earlier they would have been huge (listen to Die Born for example)

Jack off Jill - same CD as the last choice an OK band but I still feel a little pride when I play them to someone who likes them.

Loads more but these are the first four I can think of.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Hard-Fi

Over here Lifestyle Sports put out an advert, and the song on the advert was the main reason for liking it. Everyone would sing it or hum it when the ad came on, yet nobody knew who the band that sang it was and nobody knew the name of the song because it left out the song title in the chorus on the advert. I however knew it was a band from London called Hard-Fi, and the song was called "Living For The Weekend". For months I burned CDs for people of their first album, must have made at least thirty copies for friends. People always ask me how I found them, and literally, I just randomly bought their album because I liked the cover-art before the lead single had been released.

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]tRYPhxhaSL8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[nightmare]

Element 80 & Flyleaf

Great bands from Texas. E80's lead guitarist is friends w\ me & my sister & they have gotten bigger & bigger over time. Flyleaf's lead singer Lacy went to my middle school & we have all known about her talent since then. She fucking rocks. Our little circle sees alot of shows & always turn people on to new music. These were 2 bands that made alot of cash selling records.

 

[Bish7]

Jimmy Eat World. Not on a big scale or anything, just that all my mates just started to listem to them after I found them.

 

[Con T.]

You know, something about this thread is practically demanding a Disney Hipster meme. I'll spare you the indignity.

Um... I think the term "big" is really subjective. Or the idea of going "mainstream", I suppose. I suppose if I had to have one person who I liked before it was cool to like that person, it'd have to be Jay-Z.

Hear me out. See, I won't pretend I heard mixtapes of the man from the underground, and said this would be the next big thing. No, that likely happened at the same time as anyone else: the first time I heard Reasonable Doubt. And of course, by anyone else, I mean the few who bought the album. It's sad; most people look at his prime somewhere between 1998 and upward, at least likely ending about 2002. The truth is, Reasonable Doubt was his absolute best work, and every consequent year, Jay Z just got lazier and lazier. I dare anyone to listen to either "Friend or Foe" or "D'Evils", and tell me that he created anything remotely touching that in his entire career. Jay-Z, really, has been living, critically, off the success of this album for years. Don't get me wrong, Jay-Z has always produced good to great work in his career. But the truth is, after Reasonable Doubt, his work slowly and slowly drifted into less greatness, with each passing year, until he reached damn near mediocrity. See, it's like a good Turkey Sandwich: Every second it stays out there in that damn sun, the turkey gets drier and drier. Sure, you'll eat it, and it will taste good, but where was that fucking orgasmic bite you just took?

That, to me, has always been Jay-Z. The more mainstream he got (I suppose the contradiction here is one could say Reasonable Doubt was mainstream), the more his skills diminished. That isn't to say he wasn't very good; he just never had a work that could even think to touch his debut album. I listened to it growing up, and I loved every moment of it. Slowly as his music drifted into more mainstream, it just didn't have that same greatness. By 1999, well, I'm not sure how to put this. So, I'll use the quotes of someone who gets paid to critique rap legend's productions.

Jay-Z's level of self-awareness is utterly in tune with his generation's; he's not an artist so much as a multimedia-savvy product manager, in tune with how the game is played.

I think that quote works exceptionally here. Less of an artist, more of a manager. And it's been that way ever since.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

You know, something about this thread is practically demanding a Disney Hipster meme. I'll spare you the indignity.

Um... I think the term "big" is really subjective. Or the idea of going "mainstream", I suppose. I suppose if I had to have one person who I liked before it was cool to like that person, it'd have to be Jay-Z.

Hear me out. See, I won't pretend I heard mixtapes of the man from the underground, and said this would be the next big thing. No, that likely happened at the same time as anyone else: the first time I heard Reasonable Doubt. And of course, by anyone else, I mean the few who bought the album. It's sad; most people look at his prime somewhere between 1998 and upward, at least likely ending about 2002. The truth is, Reasonable Doubt was his absolute best work, and every consequent year, Jay Z just got lazier and lazier. I dare anyone to listen to either "Friend or Foe" or "D'Evils", and tell me that he created anything remotely touching that in his entire career. Jay-Z, really, has been living, critically, off the success of this album for years. Don't get me wrong, Jay-Z has always produced good to great work in his career. But the truth is, after Reasonable Doubt, his work slowly and slowly drifted into less greatness, with each passing year, until he reached damn near mediocrity. See, it's like a good Turkey Sandwich: Every second it stays out there in that damn sun, the turkey gets drier and drier. Sure, you'll eat it, and it will taste good, but where was that fucking orgasmic bite you just took?

That, to me, has always been Jay-Z. The more mainstream he got (I suppose the contradiction here is one could say Reasonable Doubt was mainstream), the more his skills diminished. That isn't to say he wasn't very good; he just never had a work that could even think to touch his debut album. I listened to it growing up, and I loved every moment of it. Slowly as his music drifted into more mainstream, it just didn't have that same greatness. By 1999, well, I'm not sure how to put this. So, I'll use the quotes of someone who gets paid to critique rap legend's productions.



I think that quote works exceptionally here. Less of an artist, more of a manager. And it's been that way ever since.

Is this what you're getting at?

Focussing more on the discovery side than the making it big side, another band I've introduced people to is Tegan & Sara. Canadian twin lesbian sisters <--- shuffle the word order around however you please!

 

[gunvayne]

demon hunter - i discovered the band when i was looking for an article about the game "devil may cry" and after that i got hooked to their music especially when they released their 3rd album "the triptych" then fast forward to present day i'm now a certified "hunter" that made some of my friends into "hunters" as well.

 

[Captain Morgan Freeman]

Back in 2005 i bought the game Fahrenheit for the ps2. This game featured songs by the band "Theory of a Deadman". I thought their music was great and got their 2 albums "Gasoline" and "Theory of a Deadman". I played those two albums to death and used to bring them into work and play them there. I got more then a few customers asking about them and by the time their third album "Scars and Souveniers" came out i had a bunch of people at work letting me know. It was the first time i discovered a band and then spread the word to other people about them.
[YOUTUBE]-sKDd9uOW-0[/YOUTUBE]

The next one i found but i dont remember finding. I tend to keep a list on my phone of songs i hear on the radio and buy later. This song was on the list but i dont remember hearing it on the radio at all and its so obscure its hard to imagine a radio station in ireland playing it. Anyways their called "Alaska in Winter" and theyve really grown on me despite not being what i usually listen to.
[YOUTUBE]ljl88atG0t8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[RicoLen]

I don't know about about discovering the band, but I've always felt like I'm one of the few that really appreciate the Diablo Swing Orchestra. Avante Garde / Swing Metal band. Really way out there, but just incredible.

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]gsmAF9cVPm4[/YOUTUBE]

To a lesser degree, and slightly off topic I always felt like Pinkerton, Weezer's 2nd album was my own private gem that no one knew about but me. It was reinforced by the fact that for years after, Weezer didn't release a new album, like lack of sales just killed off Weezer, then the Green Album came out, and another and another and another and eventually I came to realize almost all of the Pinkerton fans felt the same way, like it was their own private album.