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Out of all the music you listen to, which well-known musicians (either solo artists or groups) have you listened to, loved and have been following since their very first official release? (This does not include owning all CDs/vinyls/concert DVDs of a particular artist or group if you started listening to them after their 3rd album but now own them all.) Which artists have you known and enjoyed since they first came out and had some airplay? Are there any you knew about before they hit it big in the mainstream? Are there any you knew about even before they had a large underground and/or local following?

Exceptions will be made for artists who released their own works prior to being signed by a major label. The independant release doesn't have to count, although you get extra points if that's when you found them. And I'm really not interested in groups that are fantastic but whom no one else knows about. Not very well-known groups, ok. But completely obscure? Doesn't really apply to this thread.

I've got three. Well, 2 1/2. I've known Bare Naked Ladies and Tori Amos for as long as they've been around (and before they were played on the radio), and I've been following John Mayer since his first single ("No Such Thing"), which I first heard the acoustic version of at a friend's party, which was off his half-album that he released himself, "Inside Wants Out." But I only count that as a half because I heard that song just as "No Such Thing" started to get airplay on the radio (and shortly thereafter, get horrendously overplayed on the radio. Still a great song, though).

Black Eyed Peas. I saw them play at Lupo's in Providence to a crowd of 40-50 before they were well known. That was either '99 or 2000.

There's been dozens of bands I started following shortly after the release of their first album, and I was into them way before they were even heard on the radio, but most of them would be considered too obscure and "non-mainstream" for this thread . Franz Ferdinand, Gorillaz, MIA, and Arcade Fire are bands I liked right away that became popular with the masses.

Black Eyed Peas. I saw them play at Lupo's in Providence to a crowd of 40-50 before they were well known. That was either '99 or 2000.

Man, those guys will never sell out

As for me, I tend to be sort of a late adapter, so I haven't followed many bands from their big break. I followed the Strokes for a while after Is This It came out, kind of forgot about them for four years, and have recently rediscovered them with First Impressions of Earth, which is far better than it has any right to be. Recent bands I've been following since their first release include The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and The Servant.

Followed Sarah Slean from the release of her first indie album, saw Chantal Kreviazuk perform before she released her first album, and I think that's about it. There's a few other bands who I caught at the beginning but didn't really follow.

Coldplay- I picked up Parachutes on a chance when it came out and was blown away. Then I watched their slide into mass-market crapulence.

Well, I've been following Super 8-Bit Brothers for a while now, and they have yet to hit their break.

I've been following Mindless Self Indulgence, The Dresden Dolls, Venetian Snares, and Vast as well.

not big fans of but used to hang out with "Hollowpoint" and "Tessla" back in Stockton, well before their first albums came out.

actaully my experience extends to being part of the "Crew" for "Hollowpoint's" first "Demo Video".

Daft Punk seemed to manage it Da Funk and Around the World were the songs that were fairly well known, discovery and the most recent album have both been pretty good. Orbital, too, on the hackers soundtrack/everywhere with halcyon + on + on, went from strength to strength with their albums after that.

Deftones arguably got big with My Own Summer (Shove it) and though I personally consider Around the Fur to be their finest work the vast majority of people out there like White Pony better.

Carcass got progressively better, right u ptill Wake up and Smell the Carcass, as for when they got big, i'm not sure, but they're pretty much seen as avatars of the death metal gods.

Slayer have continued kicking ass through their heyday. Nile have the video for sacrifice unto sebek on scuzz occasionally, this is probably as big as they're going to get, and they are amazing currently. Latest album is their best, in my opinion.

The Scissor Sisters. I saw them in The Limelight back before Laura had even been released and they played an awesome gig. Since then they've had one of the biggest selling albums of recent years (in the UK atleast) and have scored several hits. Their cover of Comfortably Numb is pure class.

erm.. let me think..


A fellow called Patrick Wolf, he's yet to make it big but he's had two albums out and has just got a major record deal with a polydor subsiduary

Biffy clyro, Got their first album a few years ago thought it was amazing lost it, kind of forgot about them after that, then last year i discover they have three albums and sell out crowds. Saw them as one of the my first dates with my girlfriend.


Theres so much stuff in my music collection that never really got anywhere.. so i can't really count those.

Besides my brother's Christian Rock Band, who had two Nashville-released CDs?

I've followed ALABAMA since their first song hit the radio in 1980.

The closest thing that I've got is a band called Uverworld, but they've only released 3 singles so far, so I wouldn't call that an incredibly huge break. Especially since they're a Japanese band.

I've been listening to Korn and (flamebait) Linkin Park (/flamebait) since they first came out.