You know how sometimes you really don't like a band or musician and then there is one song that makes everything fall into place? A friend of mine calls that leveling up. You know you should like them, but every time you listen to them you just don't get it. It's not because the band isn't good—it is because your ears aren't at a high enough level to understand the band yet. That is how Bob Dylan is for me. I know I should like him. I respect him. I understand the influence he has had. But I just never feel like listening to him. I keep him around on my iPod for the day when I level up and finally get it.
Let's name songs that ended up being the gateways into liking a band or musician. Maybe we hated them until that one song made us listen to them in a different way. Maybe we liked them already, but one song turning that liking into an obsession. My first one is "Fire On The Mountain" by the Grateful Dead. When I first listened to the Dead I hated them. But my friend's band (the awesomely named Donner Party) covered this song I thought it was great. I went and found that song and eventually found the album American Beauty and I have liked the Grateful Dead ever since.
What songs helped you level up to a band?
