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Post by Captain Hygiene on Sept 13, 2007 12:06:23 GMT -5
How long does it take you to enjoy a typical album after you get it? I’m different from most of the people that I know in this respect – it often takes me a dozen or twenty listens to an album before I can tell if I really like it or not. It seems like I have to really become familiar with the songs before I can tell whether or not I like them. In fact, some of my favorite albums now are ones that I disliked initially, and only learned to like them over a very long period of time. There are exceptions, of course, but most of the time, this does not let me immediately recognize a great album as a “life-changing moment” or anything, and I kind of miss that feeling.
In contrast, most of the people I know seem to make very fast judgments about whether or not they like their music. They could even get several new albums every week, and decide then and there which ones were good and which were not. That would be a musical overload to me, and I think the difference is in how I listen to and appreciate music. I have a much smaller collection than most people, but I listen to each album much more often and on a deeper level (at least compared to certain people I know). There’s no way I could be a music critic, thinking this way. I could often go a couple of months without any new music simply because I am still listening to my older albums.
I’m just curious if anyone else is like this. Are you able to quickly accept many new albums, or do you need time to digest them before you can appreciate them?
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Post by Krista on Sept 13, 2007 12:10:05 GMT -5
It takes me a little while, too.
Since I have an iPod, it gets thrown in with the kabillion other songs on there, and sometimes doesn't even get a real listen until a month later. Either that, or I'll listen to about 3 songs I like A LOT from one album over and over, until I get tired of it. Then one day, the iPod will on shuffle or something, and I'll hear this song and realize it's really good, andthat I looked over before when I first got the album. It never fails.
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Post by StreetDreamer83 on Sept 13, 2007 12:14:04 GMT -5
A year for most albums with me. For the really great ones though, usually I can appreciate them right off the bat.
Matt
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Post by Father Mannix on Sept 13, 2007 12:40:45 GMT -5
For me it depends. There are certain albums that just click with me, and after say four or five listens the songs feel as familiar as if I'd been listening to them for years. Others take longer, much longer, for me to even form an opinion on.
Then there are records that have to grow on me - I don't like them at first, then maybe a year later I'll get a song stuck in my head and think "What is that from?" I dig out the record for the song, listen to the whole thing, and end up wondering how there was ever a time when I didn't like it.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 13, 2007 12:55:02 GMT -5
I find for me that it differs on the kind of music and what I want to get for it. I listen to a lot of guitar music since I play, and that stuff I usually know if I like or not right off the bat. My opinions may change later based on a new appreciation of what they're doing, but since I usually listen intently to a lot of technical stuff as well as just whether or not I like the music itself, I find that my attention is more focused.
With stuff that's more "atmosphere" (which, for me, includes most rock/pop stuff), it takes awhile for it to grow on me. But that's also because so much of rock/pop depends on familiarity or the "groove" (at least the stuff I end up liking). But since that has to become habitual, it takes longer. I also find that a lot of rock/pop sounds so similar after awhile (to me) that it takes a few hearings for particular songs to become distinctive. I can almost never remember a tune that I hear once on the radio. With a lot of instrumental guitar tunes, though, I can play back a good chunk of what I hear after one listen just because I've been trained to recognize changes, positions, phrases, etc. So something will always "stick" in a way that doesn't with music that I'm just "listening" to.
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Post by StreetDreamer83 on Sept 13, 2007 17:22:45 GMT -5
Just to add, I've found that a lot of the music that's taken me a while to "understand" and enjoy is among some of my favorite stuff. Usually for me, I'll find a certain characteristic a song has and it will really make me appreciate it. It's weird... but I'm weird.
Matt
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Sept 13, 2007 17:29:34 GMT -5
Depends for me. Some things leap out and grab me straight away. others can take ages. Then there's the changing of opinion over time, either liking or disliking something only to change my opinion at some point.
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Post by Phantom Engineer on Sept 13, 2007 19:10:29 GMT -5
I would also say it varies but often it doesn't take long. I love it when an album knocks me out right away.
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Post by Emperor Cupcake on Sept 13, 2007 23:50:13 GMT -5
It depends who it is, actually. Some bands, when I buy their stuff I just take to it immediately, while others take a while to grow on me. I was going to go more in depth on this topic, but it's time for me to go home to bed...
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Post by mightyjack on Sept 14, 2007 12:46:04 GMT -5
It's pretty quick for me. There are albums that have grown on me and I will pop in an older, failed CD just to see if anything has changed.
But I have so much music that I want to hear, or have just purchased, that I'd better like it quick or I'm off to the next thing.
A recent example was Rilo Kiley's newest one. There are a handful of songs I liked, only one I loved (the song, "15") but generally the music on the album hasn't clicked and I'm not going to waste my time trying to force it.
After about 4 or 5 listens I was off to the next ones, Damien Rice (Adored it) and Sparklehorse (great, but so damn mellow it's hard to listen to the whole album and not nod off) - Rilo has now become a distant, bad, memory that'll get some play in a few months just to see whats what.
Time is precious, I can't waste it. Touch me lyrically or blow me away with the melody or arrangment and I'll stick with you forever. But I'm not gonna fart around if it doesn't.
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Sept 14, 2007 16:23:06 GMT -5
I would also say it varies but often it doesn't take long. I love it when an album knocks me out right away. That's definitely the best thing. You can't beat an album that just floors you. The only ones to do that recently were Person Pitch by Panda Bear and Imagine Our Love by Lavender Diamond. |
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Post by Hugh Beaumont on Sept 14, 2007 19:39:49 GMT -5
It tends to take around two listens, or sometimes a few more, these days. I'm losing my musical sharpness, I think. It's always nice when it's an instant winner, of course. I just don't get too much of that anymore. It's certainly one of the best feelings in the world, when an album is just perfect to your ears right away. I'm pretty sure that Weezer's first album was the first time I encountered that phenomena. It's still the most significant musical milestone in my life.
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Post by Phantom Engineer on Sept 14, 2007 22:16:22 GMT -5
but generally the music on the album hasn't clicked and I'm not going to waste my time trying to force it. That sums it up pretty well. I don't think I'm as patient as Captain Hygiene. A dozen or twenty listenings? If an album hasn't grabbed me way before that then it's not likely to. |
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Sept 14, 2007 22:27:57 GMT -5
but generally the music on the album hasn't clicked and I'm not going to waste my time trying to force it. That sums it up pretty well. I don't think I'm as patient as Captain Hygiene. A dozen or twenty listenings? If an album hasn't grabbed me way before that then it's not likely to. Some of those albums now rank in my all time favorites, so I'd be missing out on a lot if I gave up, but I probably overstated it a little. Those aren't albums I find *painful* to listen to or something, they just aren't ones that I like a lot initially. Usually, I eventually just get a little bit stuck in my head and start listening to that bit, then work my way through the rest of the album. |
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Sept 15, 2007 22:59:07 GMT -5
I think there's often a difference between music you "consume" and music you learn to appreciate. We've all sort of gone through songs, albums, and bands that were kind of like background music for a certain part of life or some such. I have albums that I just can't listen to now because they're emotionally associated with some other part of my life.
But then there's music that's interesting *musically* as opposed to primarily emotionally, and that often takes time to absorb. A lot of my favorite John Coltrane bits, for example, I found unlistenable at first (A Love Supreme being a prime example). But after learning more about them and finding more after each listen (because something made me want to go back), it becomes more like a real work of art (as in something complex and greater than the initial "feel" of it) that's actually something I concentrate on.
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