Thursday Thirteen #4

The 13 bands/artists who influenced me, my music, and my attitude the most (in no particular order):


1) Alice in Chains - My very first cd was Flies in a Jar, which was given to me at a young age, and I've listened to them ever since.

2) Evanescence - A band led by a girl who followed her dreams and actually achieved them, and I watched her grow up in the spotlight. It's inspiring. Amy Lee is the musician I have the most in common with.

3) Lacuna Coil - Another female led band, but from Italy, with style and attitude. A lot of my musical inspiration comes from listening to them.

4) Marilyn Manson - THE MOST BRILLIANT LYRICIST EVER! He's the Madonna of the goth rock world (forgive me for using that analogy), always cutting edge, always changing and not afraid to try something new. I don't care how weird he is, he's a god.

5) Korn - Though I'm a little disappointed with the latest album (it took me a while to adjust to the new sound), Korn is and always will be one of my favorite bands. Like Jonathan Davis, I had a hard childhood and found music to be the best therapy.

6) Tool - I've always liked music that was different from all the crap you hear on the radio. The first day I heard Tool, I fell in love with them and couldn't stop listening.

7) A Perfect Circle - Another one of Maynard James Keenan's projects (see Tool). Even today, I still can't stop listening to Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step.. too bad the band didn't make it as far as they should have. This is my meditation music.

8) Nightwish - Classical music is where my roots are, so when a friend introduced me to this Finnish opera metal band, a whole new world opened up for me. The old Nightwish (with Tarja Turunen) drove me to push my vocals to the next level, and beyond. I sang their songs day in and day out, and eventually got to the point where I now use them as part of a warmup for practices and shows. Without this inspiration, I would have never found my four-octave vocal range. Also, Tuomas Holopainen (keys and lead composer) is a hero of mine and inspires me to keep playing my keyboard, trying new things, and creating symphonies instead of just songs.

9) Coheed and Cambria - If you can get over Claudio's odd voice, C&C is amazing. I've spent hours contemplating the lyrics and the meanings behind them, and like the other bands, I love the originality of the music.

10) Breaking Benjamin - One of the few new mainstream bands I listen to. They're hard, melodic, and definitely have their stuff together. I often find myself singing their music while I'm at work.

11) Slipknot - Amazing, definitely amazing. As if the guitars, turntables, and samples aren't enough, they've got three solid drummers pushing the limit. That's right- three drummers, one band.

12) Metallica - It's Metallica.. Need I say more?

13) Dream Theater - THE MOST AMAZING BAND ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET. Also the most underrated. It's a friggin' shame that most people have never even heard of them.. they are by far the most talented group of musicians that has ever set foot on a stage. You don't know music until you've listened to Dream Theater.


This post was so hard to write. I had to cut great bands like Black Sabbath, Black Label Society, KISS, and so many others. I hate doing that.