I vaguely knew about them in either 2017 or early 2018, I remember watching the music video for Stupid For You and seeing the thumbnail of Awsten with his blue hair. I even bought their CD "Entertainment" at Warped Tour in June 2018, but I didn't really start listening to them until November 2018, when I realized they were going on tour with IDKHOW. I loved IDKHOW, wanted to see them live, and passively already listened to Waterparks, so I figured I'd just fully start listening to them before the date I planned on going to so I knew more of their music and could enjoy the concert even more (plus, Super Whatevr was also opening for them, and I'd seen them open for Sum 41 previously and enjoyed their music). I definitely jumped off the deep end once I started to dedicate time to listening to Entertainment. What an amazing album! By the time the show was coming up, I noticed the next date wasn't too far off in location from the first one, and they still had VIP available, so I decided to get a ticket for that date too. How crazy am I for buying VIP to meet a band within a month of getting into their music?? Well anyway, both shows were a BLAST. Meeting them was amazing, they were super sweet, plus getting to see IDKHOW live for the first time was amazing too. I often long for Entertainment tour, getting to see that set live again would be perfect.

The first time I ever came across them, it was because YouTube recommended to me their song Choke, back in late 2017. I like listening to music YouTube recommends to me if I have the time, that way if I like it, there's a new band for me to get into. So, with this song, I clicked on it, and instantly loved it. The sound and the vibe were amazing! I didn't really try to go beyond that song for a while, not until their EP released in 2018, but by then I was hooked. The timing of that album releasing, with them touring with Waterparks soon after, gave me the perfect time to get into both bands quickly. They probably have the least music released out of all of my favorite bands currently (with only the first EP, a Christmas EP, and their debut album), but with how nice they are in person and how intimate and fun their shows are, it's hard to not have them in my top three.

I've been listening to them since I was a kid, we had their "The Paramour Sessions" album on CD and it's one of my favorite albums. In 2017, they released the music video for their single, Crooked Teeth, and I remember my first thought being "Wait, they still make music??" I watched the video and was hella into it, so I kept an eye out for the album and bought it when it released. Later that year, they went on tour for it, and knew I had to go to one of the dates! I may have gotten carried away and also gotten VIP for the show, but it was my first time meeting a band, and with how long I'd been listening to them, I couldn't resist. They really set a high bar for future band meet 'n greets because of how kind and welcoming they were. They also had Falling In Reverse on the tour, and since I've loved I'm Not A Vampire since I was 13, I was excited to see them live too. That show is still one of my favorite shows that I've been to.

The first time I'd heard a System of a Down song was in high school during lunch, we were eating lunch under the stairs while someone had their bluetooth speaker playing a song off of "Toxicity" and I really liked it, so I shazamed it and listened to the whole album later on and knew immediately that I had to listen to more of their stuff. I bought the CD and listened to it daily, even months later when I was going to university, I was consistently listening to their albums while walking around campus or trying to sleep. I know I hopped on the SOAD train very late, but I'm glad I did at all. In 2018, when they announced their West Coast Tour, I remember calling my mom in pure EXCITEMENT over the fact that I'd be able to see them live! They don't tour very often so I had to definitely go to one of those dates before I missed my chance, especially considering they don't release music anymore (aside from the two songs last year for a special cause). I ended up getting to see them again this year for the same type of west coast tour and at least half the set was different from the first show so that was awesome!!

This is probably the newest edition to my top 10 favorite bands list. I first started listening to them at the beginning of 2019 when they were going on tour with Falling in Reverse, along with New Years Day and From Ashes To New, and since they were all similar genres from each other I decided to get an album from each opening act to get into all of them before the show. I got "The Silver Scream" since it was horror movie themed and that's my favorite movie genre. I didn't dive deep into their discography until September of this year though, as they were releasing more singles for their upcoming album and I loved all of them. I kept listening to the three singles, Hip To Be Scared, Assault & Batteries, and Rainy Day, but I was longing to hear more of the album and couldn't wait for release, so instead I went backwards and started checking out their albums before The Silver Scream. I now own most of them (either on CD or digitally) and had listened to them a bunch until "Welcome To Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2" released to fill the void I had for the album. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I could tell from the first single that I was going to love the album and I was right. It very quickly became one of my favorite albums and I listen to it frequently. Plus, I literally watched the movie "American Psycho" for the first time only a few days before they released the song for it, Hip To Be Scared. It was a perfect coincidence!

Similarly to Papa Roach, I grew up with us having "Hybrid Theory" on CD, and it's in my top 10 favorite albums. I remember when Chester passed away, I was at my orientation for university when I saw a post on facebook about it. My first thought was that it was one of those death hoax's I see online every once in a while, but when I looked it up on google it was confirmed and I couldn't focus on the rest of the orientation. That night, I listened to Hybrid Theory on repeat and laid in bed while everyone else was in the main room hanging out (for the orientation we were required to stay the night in the dorms and the dorm I was temporarily in had four rooms sharing one living room area in the middle). I love their music and I (among many others) wish he was still here.

Part of me feels bad having Evanescence so low on here. They used to be my favorite band before I fully discovered Fall Out Boy, but with all the experiences, plus some albums getting higher on my favorites than others, they just naturally fell down the list. I think it's partially due to me not getting to have the proper rock concert experience with them like I wanted when I first saw them (I saw them during Synthesis tour, it was very orchestral and beautiful, but not a rock show at all), so the bands I had great experiences with got higher up over time. I finally got to see them in that rock show element a week ago and it was AMAZING! They put on such an awesome concert, and besides all the overly drunk people around me causing problems, I had a great time. I think if I get more chances to see them live like that in the future, then the spark I used to have with them will reignite and I'll feel more similarly to how I did back in 2013. Until then, I still love them and their music dearly, but they're not quite in the top five. 

Making my top songs list for them reminded me of a memory from when I was a kid; Going Under was playing on the radio and I loved the song, but it was pouring outside the car as we were driving in the dark, so my mind was a bit creeped out by the song and I started doing that thing kids do where I imagined some weird humanlike monster sprinting alongside the car. I think about that every time I listen to the song xP

I've been listening to them for a few years now, but the thing that really set off my love for them was the show I went to for their Does This Look Infected? 15th anniversary tour. I only had two of their albums on CD at the time ("All Killer No Filler" and "Does This Look Infected?") and that album was my favorite of the two, so I figured why not go? I got VIP for the show and it included the ability to be in the GA pit while they were soundchecking and there were only three of us there. It was awkward standing there with all this empty space around me, but it was cool to be there with so few others, and Deryck played guitar next to us before fistbumping us and saying hi. The actual show was really fun, but the whole time I was worried about my things getting ruined (like the poster that came with the VIP stuff or the record I bought at their merch stand) so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've. After that show, I knew I had to see them again at some point without the worry of the stuff with me, so I saw them again for their Order In Decline / Chuck anniversary tour, and it was in my favorite venue so I had an absolutely amazing time! Plus I had all of their albums by then, and I was at the barricade right in the middle, so it was perfect!! I knew every song and had a wicked time :D

I've been a fan of the Jonas Brothers since their days on Disney Channel back in the mid 2000s. Camp Rock was my favorite movie, Joe Jonas was my favorite jo bro, and I was roleplaying "Jemi" (Joe Jonas x Demi Lovato) with people I found on Mileyworld. We had a chatzy group chat where most of us would rp as their children (including me) while two of them would rp Joe and Demi. 2000s Disney Channel is so nostalgic for me, listening to the albums of that era like their self-titled album, or reading the J-14 and Bop magazines I still have shoved in the back of a drawer for when I want to go back to the past. I even have a few VHS tapes where the show/movie was recorded with commercials, back in the mid 2000s, so I can have a mini time machine and go back to my childhood. I love the Jonas Brothers' current music too, and the first time I saw them live was at Wango Tango in 2019 (my first ever music festival was in 2015 and my first concert was in 2017 so I missed out on a lot of older shows for many bands) and I screamed SO loudly when they came on stage, it was as if the 10 year old in me broke out momentarily because of how long I've waited to experience that!

When it was officially announced that they were getting back together, I had multiple friends sending me screenshots and posts about it, and when Sucker premiered on YouTube, I was anxiously waiting for the video to go live and then I proceeded to listen to it 12 times in a row. I never gave up hope that they'd make music together again and I was ecstatic when they finally did!!