I only like bands that sound exactly like AC/DC, except with xylophones

Plus there's the whole industrial aspect of metal. Bands like Ministry and Rammestein (to use the more maintstream of the genre).

you have to be prepared for metal.
my advice to you is to check out some light, pop-metal stuff like converge and gorguts.

If you can handle that, then we can give you some other bands.

If you like "regular" rock, maybe it's an idea to start at Load or Reload for Metallica.
Or maybe start at the roots of metal, with Led Zeppelin, Deep purple an Black Sabbath.

But in the end, it'll be your decision.

done, done, and done... many times over, as you can imagine.

this was kind of a silly thread, but whatever. i enjoyed your responses.

i'm sorry but i'm going to have to object to this. soundgarden did have some metal elements early on but most of it was gone by the time they recorded superunknown. jesus christ pose or birth ritual would be good examples of SG playing metal. black hole sun is just chris cornell pulling a beatles impersonation (it's not bad per se. but it's not metal )

Yeah, I like metal, but I'm not crazy about Soundgarden

There are many different styles of metal, so it's difficult to recommend a certain band/style.

Hello. I would have posted this on your thread for why we should convince you that metal is better than other types of rock, but I fear it wouldn't have gotten read.

First off, the the musicianship I've found in metal bands tends to surpass that of bands in other types of rock. You've got Alexi Laiho, Roope Latvala, Jesper Stromblad, Zakk Wylde, Kerry King (although I don't like slayer at all, he's still a great musician), and a myriad of others on guitar. There are greats on every instrument in bands all across the board.

Metal also tends to have more energy than that of rock. It seems like most of the people that are truly passionate about music tend to be metalheads. There's sort of a connection between metalheads that you don't find in a lot of other types of music.

Diversity! I've yet to find another type of music with more subcategories and styles to explore. Everything from Thrash (Slayer, older Anthrax) to Epic Symphonic Death Metal Polka (Finntroll) - there's always something new.

Metal songs also tend to be more complex and interesting than in other rock styles. I've found that metal songs tend to have more changes, solos, and complete switches of style within one song than those of other genres.

The reason it was so imperative to me to send this message is that metal is the one thing that keeps me intellectually stimulated and musically motivated. It's an entire world unto itself, and I love introducing new people to this amazing style of music.

If you'd like to dabble into the depths of metal, here's a few of my personal favorites (BAND - album [song from that album]: description.):

CHILDREN OF BODOM - Follow the Reaper [Kissing the Shadows]: My favorite band. Finnish-style speed metal featuring a plethora of guitar and keyboard solos, soaring melodies, and amazing songwriting.

IN FLAMES - Whoracle [Gyroscope]: Swedish melodic death metal. Massive melodic riffs of colossal proportions! These guys write the most amazing riffs - just check out that song Gyroscope and you'll see what I mean.

NIGHTWISH - Once [Ghost Love Score]: Beautiful and sometimes haunting symphonic metal. Amazing orchestral arrangements accompany melodic guitar riffs, all topped off by gorgeously excecuted female vocals.

OPETH - Blackwater Park [The Drapery Falls]: Technical, flowing death metal that switches from brutal and dark death metal to flowing accoustic melodies and clean vocals. Amazing music, if you don't mind an average song length of 12+ minutes!

TOOL - Lateralus [Lateralus]: Dark and cerebral progressive metal. Amazing clean vocals and extremely atmospheric and mysterious. The lyrics are incredibly thought-provoking. The songs are very diverse and dabble in many different styles and ideas.

IRON MAIDEN - Poweslave [Aces High]: Classic metal! They helped start it all. Every song is packed with dual-guitar harmonies and passionate vocals.

SHADOWS FALL - The War Within [Enlightened by the Cold]: Straight-up, solid metal. Every song is filled to the brim with great riffs and catchy melodies.

LAMB OF GOD - Ashes of the Wake [Laid to Rest]: In-your-face metal with awesome riffs and tight songwriting.

Now a couple (or maybe all) of those bands are more up-front, mainstream (at least for metal) bands. There's tons and tons of different bands and subgenres out there, these ones just seemed like a good place to start.