Something that doesn’t show in my blog is that I am a huge music fan. It probably doesn’t show because I don’t play any instruments or have any participation beyond the enjoyment of listening.

Because we have come to the end of 2012 and are now looking forward to what the New Year may bring us I thought it would be an interesting and nostalgic task to look back at my very own music experiences and time line from 1990 (my birth) up to the end of 2012. This will Include the most influential and loved bands (at the time I began listening to them), bands that represent specific musical genres I have touched upon and also list the music concerts/festivals I have attended.

It has been quite fascinating to look back at what types of music and bands I used to listen to that I would never give a second thought now, and also the few that have stood the test of time and continue to be regular indulgences.

So without further ado here is my time line:

RED = still regularly listen

BLUE = occasionally listen

GREEN = no longer listen

Pre-2001

I couldn’t be any more specific with this section as I have no references before this, I was only 11 and hadn’t began to build up my own music collection. I wasn’t a massive fan of any particular genre in these days, mainly my taste was dictated by the music my parents played in the car on cassette tape, or on the CD player in the house. The most notable artists in this year were:

• Robbie Williams
• The Police
• The Jam
• Crowded House

2001

I would class 2001 as my most shameful period of musical listening. I had the “Now that’s what I call music! 50” CD which included such artists as Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Steps & Jennifer Lopez and that was just on disc 1, I won’t even step into disc 2. It did have two good songs however; “Bohemian Like You” – The Dandy Warhols & Smooth Criminal – Alien Ant farm.

 For those of you ready to click off this post, I hope I can redeem it in the next few years.

2002-2005

This is the period that I started to gain some form of direction with my music taste, although it was still very much developing. Notable bands I listened to in this period:

• Rock Anthems (2004) – This was a free double CD that came with the Sunday newspaper and I played it whenever I was able, I still listen to many of the bands featured today, including; Motorhead, Saxon, Alice Cooper, Europe & Rainbow.
• Hard-Fi (2005)
• Iron Maiden – The most influential band to stay with me, my favourite band on CD probably up to 2011 and my favourite live band to date.
• Judas Preist

2006-2007

This was the cross-over period from leaving school and entering 6^th form college. Some of what I listened to was influenced by my peers, but a lot was also influenced by the radio. I remember this was the time period that I listened to mainstream radio a lot more than I previously had.

• Oasis (2006) – Radio influence
• Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006) – Radio influence
• Kaiser Chiefs (2006) – Radio influence
• Arctic Monkeys (2006 – Radio influence
• Linkin Park (2006) – Peers influence
• Papa Roach (2006 – Peers influence
• Slipknot (2006) – Peers influence
• Disturbed (2007) – Personal exploration
• Gary Moore (2007) – Personal exploration

 As you can see, the radio influenced bands didn’t really cut it compared to music listened to by my friends and found by myself.

2008

This was my second of the two years at 6^th form college and my musical taste really began to take a turn into a specific direction. I was becoming increasingly alienated with the pop music of the time and even bands like the Kaiser Chiefs & Arctic Monkeys which had been heavy plays the year before were becoming far less frequent.

• Genesis (mainly Peter Gabriel era)
• Scorpions
• Trivium
• UFO
• Dio
• Magnum
• Bob Catley – Lead singer of Magnum, who also produced some solo albums
• Kiss
• Running Wild

As you can see, this was the turning point in my musical direction. I had touched upon heavy metal bands in the past, such as Papa Roach, Disturbed & Slipknot, but up until now the majority had be modern bands. Now I was beginning to explore backwards, to Iron Maiden’s era – the 80’s.

2009

This year followed on from where 2008 left off. I went to my first music concert, Nickelback, which was part Christmas present to my Sister. From there, influenced by my new found genre of heavy metal, I went to the UK’s largest heavy metal festival “Download.” This was also the year I discovered another massive influential band, W.A.S.P. whom I decided to go to a concert on the off chance that I might like their music.

• W.A.S.P.
• Axel Rudi Pell

2010

One thing that my musical tastes did have in common up until this point was none really included electronic computerised music, that was to change when a friend introduced me to one song from Ronald Jenkees, an American keyboardist who plays everything by ear. This opened up a small crack where a few electronic pieces could slide through into my library, nothing of much consistency however.

• Ronald Jenkees
• XTC – Recommended to me by a friend’s dad when I went over on New Years 2010
• Dare – Quite an underrated band formed in the late 80’s. An original line-up member was the famous British Physicist Brian Cox.

2011

This year will be known to me as the year I discovered Gothic Rock music and I am still exploring this genre further, looking for more bands that can match up to the few listed below;

• The Sister’s of Mercy
• The Mission – An off-shoot of The Sisters of Mercy
• Fields of the Nephilim
• Type O Negative
• Kavinsky – Electro House/Pop (from the film Drive (2011)

2012

I think this year has been one of the most eclectic of all, I have tried to expand my range from only hard rock and heavy metal to encompass many genres. I have also spent some time searching for more unusual genres, music from other countries & old recognisable songs from my past.

• Praying Mantis – Heavy metal band from the 70’s
• The Church – Australian Progressive Rock
• Maybeshewill – Post-rock
• Caravan Palace – Electro Swing – brining back the best of 40’s music with a modern touch
• Kino – The most influentia ofl Soviet rock groups

List of concerts / Festivals

2009

Nickelback – London – O2 arena

Download Festival – Donington Park (Open Air)

Black Stone Cherry – London – HMV Hammersmith Apollo

Gary Moore – London – Shepherds Bush Empire

W.A.S.P. – London – Shepherds Bush Empire

Alice Cooper – London – HMV Hammersmith Apollo

2010

Nickelback – London – Wembley Arena

Europe – London – Shepherds Bush Empire

Airbourne – London – HMV Hammersmith Apollo

KISS – London – Wembley Arena

Michael Schenker Group – Shepherds Bush Empire

Sonisphere Festival – Knebworth (Open Air)

Helloween – London – HMV Forum

2011

Iron Maiden – London – O2 Arena

Blaze Bayley – London – Camden Underworld

Def Leppard / Motley Crue / Steel Panther – London – Wembley Arena

2012

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Knebworth (Open Air)

W.A.S.P – London – HMV Forum

Robbie Williams – London – O2 Arena

Skunk Anansie – London – O2 Academy Brixton

So there you have it, from 1990 (well ok 2001) to 2012 this is what I have been doing with myself in terms of musical listening. This list is a very reduced one and covers only a tiny proportion of all the bands I have and do listen to. I found it very interesting to look back and see the direction I have taken through different periods of my relatively short life thus far.

I felt that now was a good time to get this down in case I want to build a more extensive list in another 20 years time. I hope that it was interesting for you, the readers, and that maybe it has inspired you to take a look back to your routes.

If anyone has any recommendations they would like to throw forward in the comments then please feel free, even if it isn’t anything to do with what I already have listed. 2012 was a year more for exploration of other musical genres, so hopefully 2013 can carry on with that frame of mind.

Thank you for taking the time to read,

Tom out!