Back in the day, when I used an alarm clock, I found the ones that play music and slowly get louder worked best for me. I detest the traditional alarm clocks sounds. They frightened the heck out of me and who wants to wake up scared everyday??

Then, I discovered a CD/radio clock (back when we all had CDs). I'd put in a CD I liked and when the wake-up time came, the player started, but the sound was very soft and slowly got louder, allowing my mind and body time to gently come awake.