The thread regarding Simon & Garfunkel albums reminded me that the first S&G album I heard was not a classic like Bookends but my older sister’s copy of The Graduate soundtrack. The Graduate is one strange listening experience, especially when you are a 12-year-old who hasn’t seen the movie. The first big surprise is that it does not contain the complete version of Mrs. Robinson, just a couple of short teasers. There’s also a super-sized “Scarborough Fair” which is basically the same track played twice, some jarringly out of place film music, and a handful of previously released album tracks. All in all, a rather unusual place to get my first real exposure to Simon & Garfunkel.

So I was wondering how many have also had less-than-representative introductions to well-known and/or beloved artists? Any Dylan fans who started off with Self Portrait? Or maybe your first Elvis album was one of his movie soundtracks (come to think of it, mine was Roustabout...)

Every fan of a specific artist has opinions about which album people should hear first. I'd like to hear some stories about times when that did not happen.

Although they weren't generally well reviewed on release, my introductions to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones were Presence, Animals and Black & Blue respectively.
They still rank up their as my favorites from each artist, but long time fans tend to choose different favorites.

I've said this before, but it fits the topic: my introduction to The Who came via the "Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea" album. I guess what makes that odd in the year 2007 is that those four songs on that album are about the only Who tracks left to have never made the transition to CD (unless they were on some obscure German or Japanese import that costs $100 on Ebay).

The first Rolling Stones album I ever bought was the one that came out when I was eighteen: "Dirty Work".

lou reed - metal machine music, i was already a massive velvets fan down to my dad.. ddn't hate it, just didnt really 'get it' at 12!

First Beatles album I ever bought was Yellow Submarine. I was 5 and I LOVED the movie! I remember really liking the instrumental tracks but the Beatles song choices were odd. There were a LOT more songs in the movie than were on the album and one of the songs on the record wasn't even IN the movie! It took me many years to find out why the album was put together the way it was.

I think my first Dylan was "Slow Train Coming" - not that I've ever bought much Dylan.

I would say Asia. Through my brother I learned to like Yes, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. When I heard that Asia would be featuring members
all three bands I couldn't wait to hear the record. Then I heard the record...what a let down. While it's a nice pop record, it certainly wasn't the art/prog-rock masterpiece I was expecting.

This qualifies as strange rather than bad-When I was around 15 or so, I bought on album on Kent records titled "Howlin Wolf". The cover featured an old moonshine jug with an X through it. There were no notes or credits. I bought the album because I had heard Wolf's name mentioned by the Stones, Yardbirds, and probably a few others.

I was completely blown away by the music. Up to that point, I had never
heard anything quite like it, having been weaned on Top 40 radio.It actually took me a few years to really appreciate how great that, the rest of Wolf's music, and much other blues was(and is).

Mine will send shudders down most backs but it is true. In 1978 I was into all of the prime stuff at the time... Rush, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Boston, Kansas, Triumph, Elton John and Paul McCartney, etc...

Well a friend of mine had been trying to get me to listen to the Beatles and for some reason I wouldn't. Then the Sgt Pepper movie came out and at 15 I liked it so I bought the 2lp set and liked it. Of course I borrowed his Red & Blue records and fell in love right then and there and went on to collect over 200+ records of theirs and all things solo. And that Sgt Pepper sdtk got traded in to a used store ASAP.

During my punk period in college, I worked my way backwards from Lou Reed to the Velvet Undergound. I got a cutout LP of White Light/White Heat, and after the immediacy of the title track, I was put off by the dense, noisy ramblings of songs like "The Gift" and "Sister Ray." It took a used copy of Loaded for me to "get" the Velvets. I have a much greater appreciation of them now.

My first Velvet Underground was a Japanese vinyl pressing of the banana album, which I bought solely because of the cover. I had never heard of the band before, but I knew Andy Warhol. I liked them right away. And I resisted the temptation to "peel slowly and see".

My introduction to most of the Beatles music came from seeing Beatlemania.