"Rush are an OLD band? But I've only just heard Tom Sawyer on the radio!"

[Crybaby Bunting]

So yeah we're currently going through end of year lists of who released the best album... who's the breakthrough artists etc. but they seem to be more based on how much you know about the current scene... which is changing so quickly it's hard to let artists sink in before hearing a brand new artist out of nowhere.

So what did you get into this year? and more importantly what band did you finally get round to listen to and find are completely awesome?

This year I've completely got into Rush, Rammstein, Smashing Pumpkins (the older Melon collie era stuff and before, the Zeigheist stuff was really easy to get into) and the Pixies. All bands who I've kinda liked beforehand but only listened to the odd song or two. Plus I've realised that I'm skipping over the best songs of Black Sabbath and NOFX discography.

I take it most people will like things less mainstream than these but before really listening to these artists I never "got" them... maybe it's because I've changed what I'm looking for in music... or maybe I've finally understood that Billy Corgan is meaning to be a melodic cunt.

[METALMAN]

Van Morrison

Leonard Cohen

Scott Walker

[Tarheels.]

I finally started to get into Nine Inch Nails, Elliott Smith and Neutral Milk Hotel are just a few. Lots of bands I just haven't had the time to really get deeply into. I'm working on getting more stuff by The Cure but not many stores around here have them so I might have to resort to downloading it.

[Turbo Yannis]

The Cure

[Big Tuna]

Dream Theater

Rush

Nirvana

Iron Maiden

pre-Black Album Metallica

[Hobo]

Loudon Wainwright III, John Cale & Randy Newman.

[Lowerdeck]

Metallica

Jimi Hendrix

Bruce Hornsby

Rush

Led Zeppelin

Pink Floyd

[ROC]

There's tons more than there were last year for damn sure.

My two favorite "discovery" genres have been post-punk and early 70s soul easily. I really enjoy The Slits and got huge on Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield as well (as Superfly is one of the best film soundtracks of all time easily).

Dug into some of Dylan's 60s output and it's pretty solid as well. Though, I couldn't get much into Bruce Springsteen for some reason, if I'm just going into the expected "great artists" that I've wanted to hear or at least get familiar with.

[Skummy]

As far as Bruce Springsteen goes, if you can't enjoy Nebraska, then give up hope of ever liking the man. That album is light-years ahead of anything else he's ever done.

I'm quite similar in that I've only got big into Dylan this year...obviously I've been aware of him my whole life, but he's one of those where you just "know" that he's good, and don't really go out of your way to find out for yourself, you just take it as read. My Mother always liked him, and plenty of my friends do, but I never heard him played all that much...so I had a pretty sizeable selection of his material, but I'd never just dived right in there and got into it myself, and I'm really glad I did now. I'm still not a fan of The Band, or his really early material, but his late '60s and much of his '70s work is fantastic, and "Love And Theft" is a hugely under-rated piece of work. I've even got his book "Tarantula", although that's mostly dreadful. Definitely got a lot more admiration for him as a songwriter too...there are still some I prefer, but he's grown on me.

Soul is another one for me...for years I've admitted that it's the main thing lacking in my music collection, and in my music tastes in general, the last Mrs. Skummy used to joke about the "soul shaped hole" in my musical knowledge, and it's really from her and her step-sister that I picked up any knowledge of the genre at all. It's odd, because I've been into blues, funk and gospel, and other genres that you think would give me an easy entry into soul music, but it just never happened. I still know very little about the genre at all, but I know that I prefer Stax to Motown by a country mile, and that Otis Reddings' version of "A Change Is Gonna Come" is one of the most fantastic pieces of music ever set to record.

Other than that I'm sure there are plenty of "older" bands that I've got into recently...I'm quite a fan of sixties garage and psychadelia, so there's always going to be some lost gem out there that I stumble across, but I can't think of any more "big name" acts I've only recently discovered a liking for, although I'm sure there are plenty.

[David Hassellhoff]

.I'm quite a fan of sixties garage and psychadelia, so there's always going to be some lost gem out there that I stumble across, but I can't think of any more "big name" acts I've only recently discovered a liking for, although I'm sure there are plenty.

Who says you only should mention big name acts?

[VerbalPuke]

Johnny Cash is probably the major one for me. For one reason or another I had initially found his music boring, but now actually quite enjoy him. I think it comes down to me not giving all of his music enough of a chance.

Another one would be Dead Can Dance, honestly I never knew that they predominately played world music. I always had thought they were something the spooky goth kids got into, which I guess is somewhat true, but I never had fully considered the true lineage of their band name.

[Farmer Reil]

Steve Earle, Eric Clapton, Megadeth and Magnum. Also Marillion, but they're a bit weird and I don't know if I like them yet, despite Fish being a bona fide legend.

[TheFireChrisCage]

Smashing Pumpkins earlier stuff

Brand New's earlier stuff

Radiohead

[gunnar hendershow]

I should have listened to Slum Village and Lootpack a long time ago. On a different front, I've recently been doing my best to hear more Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and Stevie Wonder.

[lari]

I have to say I didn't get into many new bands this year at all. I've been really conservative. There have been a few albums by bands I didn't hear anything from before, but it doesn't mean I really liked them.

I'd say there's been only two bands new to me that I really liked and who I got into just this year:

Sabbat: have been meaning to get into them for quite some time now - I've heard their first two albums sometime years ago, but now I just picked up History of a Time to Come on CD, their debut album from 1988. Definitely in my top ten thrash metal bands now.

Valley's Eve: got a good deal on Deception of Pain and absolutely loved it. It was released in 2002. Love the heavy crunch combined with the melodies and the powerful lead vocals. Catchy, aggressive... somewhat similar to Angel Dust in a way, but with less piano.