If you're younger than 18

 

Growing up is about accepting responsibilities and the consequences of your actions. Anyone who thinks having fun and enjoying yourself is childish is doing life wrong 

I grew up on my parents' (largely my mom's) music, mainly Classic Rock with some New Age, Classical, and Jazz/Fusion thrown in.  The first band I really "discovered" on my own was Led Zeppelin, probably around age eleven.  My mom had "IV" on CD, but I soon craved more.  I collected their whole discography piece by piece, mostly by going out and buying CDs at my local Tower Records (remember those?).  Led Zeppelin primed me for a love of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.  I think Disturbed was the next band I really got into, followed by Ozzy-fronted Black Sabbath.  My tastes remained fairly narrow, though, till I was about eighteen, when I began to develop a fondness for Dio-fronted Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rainbow, and Deep Purple.

I did not discover Progressive Rock as such until I was fifteen or so, courtesy of a local radio show on a Classic Rock station.  The DJ played a broad spectrum of stuff--including music some would consider "Prog-Related" or not Progressive in any way--from throughout Rock history.  I had previously been exposed to Yes through "Fragile," Genesis through "Turn It On Again," ELP through "Trilogy" and "Pictures At An Exhibition," and Jethro Tull through "Original Masters."  I delved more deeply into each of these bands' catalogues in turn, and eventually found my way to Rush through "Moving Pictures."  I have since discovered and enjoyed many other classic and also Neo-Progressive bands, of which my favorite has unquestionably become Gentle Giant.

It wasn't until later that I started noticing some songs in rotation on Stone Trek (the radio show) by a band I'd never heard of called Porcupine Tree.  As it turns out, the songs were all cuts off "In Absentia."  I bought the album, listened to it, was blown away and instantly hooked.  That was my introduction to modern Progressive Rock, and my taste has expanded from there to include bands like Muse, The Mars Volta, Tool, retro-rockers Presto Ballet, and most recently Anathema.

I'm still discovering Progressive Metal.  I have a number of Dream Theater albums, but none has really grown on me the way "Foxtrot" or "In Absentia" did.  I'm afraid they never will.  Even though I love Progressive Rock, and I enjoy Metal, it just seems to not work for me most of the time.  Some exceptions include Queensrÿche ("Operation: Mindcrime" received heavy rotation in my car CD changer when I first bought it), Diablo Swing Orchestra (whose eclectic charm is undeniable), Guilt Machine (which I admit I bought because Chris Maitland was on it), Fates Warning (whose discography I still need to collect), and Blind Guardian (whose discography I also still need to collect).

So, to answer the original question: YES.  I was "one of those guys."

 

Also, first post on the forum.