I got into Radiohead quite late, after they had released Kid A. I was an image-conscious high school student then (as opposed to an image-conscious undergrad ), and the band seemed to be most popular among sets I really couldn't stand, the prog dorks, the neo-hippies, etc. One of my friends, who fit neither of these ignorant stereotypes, asked what I thought of the band. I bullshitted an answer and decided to educate myself, so I downloaded a few numbers with interesting-sounding titles without any real context. The first one I heard was a song not many people know called "Bishop's Robes" that I feel is one of the most moving things they've ever written (though given its place in my story this may be a sentimental judgment). I was instantly hooked--that vocal melody was so eerie, so otherworldly, it was like Yorke was singing down to earth from another planet. They've since become one of my very favorite bands.

"Creep" came out and was a pretty big hit during my freshman year in college. While I liked the song, I never bought the album and pretty much wrote the band off as a one hit wonder. A couple years later, The Bends came out, and I still wasn't really wowed enough to buy a Radiohead album, despite the fact that I thought the video for "Just" was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. No, I really didn't get into Radiohead until OK Computer came out. I finally bought it after it started getting really good press and it quickly became one of my favorites. I've been a fan ever since.

I got into Radiohead through a friend of mine who was actually not that into them but lent me OK Computer as part of our little musical exchange we would do every fortnight or so (I think I lent him the vastly underrated Clearlake for posterity). This would've been just around the release of Kid A and the furore that surrounded that.

OK Computer was the finest thing I had ever heard. Up to that point, while I had heard a small portion of more experimental bands, most of my musical taste revolved around Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers and REM. Radiohead changed that perspective so utterly that after that, music overtook films in my life. I have no musical talent to speak of, but my life revolves around writing about and listening to music.

What I mostly remember is hearing what could be achieved both musically and emotionally on an album. REM's Automatic For The People had opened my eyes to this before but nothing prepared me for songs like 'Paranoid Android' or 'Karma Police' let alone the devastating, draining brilliance of 'Let Down' or 'Exit Music'.

I did not get on with Kid A to start with. The basic evolution went; First listen - Hated it, Second Listen - Hated It, Third Listen - Fell in love with it. But The Bends remains my absolute favourite as it has since that same friend introduced it to me. A brilliant, bruised classic of deep cutting emotion and beauty.

Radiohead was an experience that I can't fondly remember as I do with Belle and Sebastian's "If You're Feeling Sinister" but I still have a timid memory of it. I was a child and was obsessed with The Smashing Pumpkin's when Pablo Honey came out now I wasn't astounded by any means I was just a meer child so it became a forgotten memory. Now, when The Bends came out it passed by my Dad and he would never take it out of the player. He was in love with Radiohead and I just didn't understand it. Now in '96 I fell in love with a band called Belle and Sebastian when Tigermilk came out. So I never put it down until If You're Feeling Sinister came out then eventually it would grow to become my favorite album of all time until on a fateful day in '97 when my Dad had just got his reserved copy of OK Computer he was giddy like a schoolgirl, and I was just a kid in england wondering why he was so happy about this inventive music that didn't mean much to me. Now, the second my dad popped in this extraordinary disc I froze in silence. I didn't know what to say, I was left breathless.

I accidentally downloaded "Karma Police" on Limewire in 7th grade when looking for The Darkness or some poop. I was so amazed by the song that I bought all Radiohead's albums from The Bends to HTTT within a week or two.

I am going to date myself with this one. As a small child my parents were playing Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis, on the radio. I remember when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. The excitement at that time among the youth in our country was like electricity. The harmonies on I Want to Hold Your Hand were unlike anything I had ever heard. Within a week or so I had their first album and have purchased every one since. As I got older I recognized the new sounds they were putting out and was amazed that any band could have that many different melodies and songs in their collective creativity. That one night in front of the television captured me for good, not just on the Beatles, but on the great bands that followed.

My experience is very similar to markf’s. Started out listening to Top 40 radio on a tranny. The Beatles hit and it was like a jolt of electricity. Bought my first album (Sgt, Pepper on reel-to-reel tape, no less!), followed by Revolver.

But the event that changed my musical life occurred in 1968 when a new kid came to our school. He had long hair (very rare in my hometown at the time, especially for a 13 year-old) and spoke of bands I’d never heard of – Quicksilver Messenger Service, Cream, The Grateful Dead and, most of all, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

When I’d finally saved up enough money for a record player I went to buy my first LP, fully expecting it to be The White Album. In a bargain bin was a Bluesbreakers compilation. After much soul-searching I bought it and regretted it all the way home! I put it on and the first track was “Key to Love” from the “Bluesbreakers” album. Pretty good, I thought, and then along came the guitar solo, the first time I’d ever heard a guitar played with such savagery. 28 seconds of Clapton’s best.

WTF did I just hear? I played it twenty times before moving on to the next track, which featured Peter Green. I was totally hooked on white blues rock. The Beatles were unceremoniously dumped (we’ve since kissed and made up) and I bought every Mayall album I could get my hands on. This led me to psychedelia, blues, soul, funk, fusion, reggae, Zep, prog. etc. A neverending journey and this site has rekindled my interest in that journey after years in the musical wilderness.

My favorite band to this day is Modest Mouse.

When I was eight years old, my dad accidentally bought me "Lonesome Crowded West", mistaking Modest Mouse for another band (I can't recall which ). Anyway, my parents decided the album was inappropriate once they realized the mixup, and hid it in their closet. I snuck the album back later, and though I didn't really like it much, I listened to it ALOT.
Then "The Moon & Antarctica" was one of my first album purchases, I think the year after it came out.

I still wonder what dad would buy an eight year-old an album with the song title "Shit Luck" on the back cover.