Albums that took more than one listen to'get'

Sinfonia

The thread formerly known as:

Don't know how to phrase this title, and it would be really long winded, so just read the thread. :P

Situation:
Me: "Have you heard/Do you like <Album> by <Artist>?"
You: "Gave it a listen once, wasn't really into it"
Me: "omfg etc. give it another chance, it's brilliant"
You: <weeks later> "That album is brilliant"

You get the idea.

Essentially, I'm asking you to name albums that you have "double-recommended" (so to speak) as they are well worth a second chance.

Also, let me know if this thread is nonsense, because I'm a bit foggy atm

ValJester

Two Dancers-Wild Beasts
Bandwagonesque-Teenage Fanclub
Actor-St Vincent.

seachto7

The National - High Violet
Bon Iver - For Emma
Soundgarden - Down on the Upside
Sparrow and the Workshop - Crystals Falling

Sinfonia

ValJester wrote: »

Actor-St Vincent.

Me too!

Also, I forgot to put one in the OP.
I recently did this with Silent Alarm, which is what made me think of this thread.

jill_valentine

I've had For Emma... double-recommended to me, and I'm bloody glad I heeded it.

lordgoat

jill_valentine wrote: »

I've had For Emma... double-recommended to me, and I'm bloody glad I heeded it.

his new album is out in june, which will be interesting...

Gillington

Sinfonia wrote: »

Me too!

Also, I forgot to put one in the OP.
I recently did this with Silent Alarm, which is what made me think of this thread.

Shame on you!

Well at least you are in to Silent Alarm now.One of the greatest debut albums in the last 10 yrs.

Oh and on-topic,probably Fleet Foxes for me

ElaElaElano

Someone told me to listen to Menomena a while back and I had a quick youtube and wasn't taken aback, but then someone here (Jeff?) posted up the album in its entirety streaming so I gave it another shot, and they're now one of my favourite bands.

So, yeah, Mines by Menomena. Get on it!

osnola ibax

SAW 85-92, although in fairness he had only listened to snippets from itunes before making his mind up. Thanked me later for making him listen to whole album.

Had a similar experience with a friend of mine and Youth and Young Manhood.

And then there's Kid A, the ultimate double recommend album.

Scubadevils

Interesting to see this thread here tonight as only today I was thinking again about this very subject and had planned to start a thread but couldn't quite decide how to approach it! Why is it that you could buy an album today and on first listen possibly decide that its only ok or mediocre, yet on subsequent listens it grows and ultimately becomes something you love. What is it that changes in the brain in terms of how the various elements of the music being processed and becoming more familiar and at the same time more pleasurable?

I was looking this up earlier tonight to see if I could find anything on a google search but didn't find anything specific to this. I did however find some interesting material on wikipedia that drills deep into the subject of 'music & the brain'. Although it doesn't directly address my question, it does generate some interesting points in relation to how the brain processes music - one in particular in relation to how different parts of the brain process different elements of music - i.e. pitch, tonality and rhythm...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_the_brain

What do people here think? Why does a first listen potentially mean little but after several listens you pronounce the album to be amongst the greatest ever?

Sinfonia

Gillington wrote: »

Shame on you!

Well at least you are in to Silent Alarm now.One of the greatest debut albums in the last 10 yrs.

Ha, no it was me who recommended it

smacg

miracle fortress - five roses.

32_4_1

think tank. my favourite album ever since

Sinfonia

Scubadevils wrote: »

Interesting to see this thread here tonight as only today I was thinking again about this very subject and had planned to start a thread but couldn't quite decide how to approach it! Why is it that you could buy an album today and on first listen possibly decide that its only ok or mediocre, yet on subsequent listens it grows and ultimately becomes something you love. What is it that changes in the brain in terms of how the various elements of the music being processed and becoming more familiar and at the same time more pleasurable?

I was looking this up earlier tonight to see if I could find anything on a google search but didn't find anything specific to this. I did however find some interesting material on wikipedia that drills deep into the subject of 'music & the brain'. Although it doesn't directly address my question, it does generate some interesting points in relation to how the brain processes music - one in particular in relation to how different parts of the brain process different elements of music - i.e. pitch, tonality and rhythm...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_the_brain

What do people here think? Why does a first listen potentially mean little but after several listens you pronounce the album to be amongst the greatest ever?

Well I think (like anything else really) repeated exposure to something can develop a greater understanding of it, which may improve its effect on you. There's also the question of familiarity: people seem to be more comfortable with patterns that they recognise (whether they know it or not) - the most widely consumed music tends to be very 'unoriginal', I mean a homophonic song with a I-IV-V chord progression (or I-V-vi-IV, see every song ever :P) and a 4/4 metre will be more popular than a densely-layered atonal piece with frequent changes between various irregular metres etc. Even songs will be more popular than instrumental music as people are prone to identify with the human element of the voice, and, regardless of how badly, anybody can sing.
Overexposure on the other hand could effectively ruin a piece of music for you too I suppose..

Scubadevils

Sinfonia wrote: »

Well I think (like anything else really) repeated exposure to something can develop a greater understanding of it, which may improve its effect on you. There's also the question of familiarity: people seem to be more comfortable with patterns that they recognise (whether they know it or not) - the most widely consumed music tends to be very 'unoriginal', I mean a homophonic song with a I-IV-V chord progression (or I-V-vi-IV, see every song ever :P) and a 4/4 metre will be more popular than a densely-layered atonal piece with frequent changes between various irregular metres etc. Even songs will be more popular than instrumental music as people are prone to identify with the human element of the voice, and, regardless of how badly, anybody can sing.
Overexposure on the other hand could effectively ruin a piece of music for you too I suppose..

Yeah I was thinking on the familiarity alright, makes sense to assume that something new will be to an extent 'present' while you are listening, especially if its something quite different... whereas when you become familiar with it it will have a sense of past, present & future in that you have a previous knowledge of it, you are currently listening plus you know what's going to happen next (maybe not even consciously), if you know what I mean! As this increases, so does your level of either liking or disliking.

Another interesting website actually that I found on the brain and music yesterday...

http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

Sorry, kinda dragging this off topic :pac:

Sinfonia

I actually bought this book Rhythm, Music and the Brain a couple of years ago at an SMI conference, but it was pretty science heavy, so I shelved it. Might give it another try!

Scubadevils

Sinfonia wrote: »

I actually bought this book Rhythm, Music and the Brain a couple of years ago at an SMI conference, but it was pretty science heavy, so I shelved it. Might give it another try!

I bought one called 'This is your brain on music' but got bored, too many studies around accidents and how music helped people - not that I'm not interested in that side but it seemed to go on too much... must go back to it again and give it another shot.

I do like the look of this one though - 'Sweet Anticipation'

seniorolaighin

James Blake - James Blake

Oh_Noes

Mansun- Six

And OK Computer by Radiohead takes about 20 listens before you get to realise that there's no filler and every single track is fantastic.

Scubadevils

Scubadevils wrote: »

I bought one called 'This is your brain on music' but got bored, too many studies around accidents and how music helped people - not that I'm not interested in that side but it seemed to go on too much... must go back to it again and give it another shot.

I do like the look of this one though - 'Sweet Anticipation'

Correction to the above, I had meant to get 'This is your brain on music' but got 'Musicophilia' instead... which had all the tales of accidents etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0330418386/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301845534&sr=1-1

AhSureTisGrand

Every Radiohead album from OK Computer onwards
Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
Is This It? by The Strokes (I know this seems an odd choice but it left me bored at first)
Screamadelica by Primal Scream
Pinkerton by Weezer
Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
Man Alive by Everything Everything

Kid V

seniorolaighin wrote: »

James Blake - James Blake

Headphones definitely help!

Also....

Burial - 'Untrue'
Spiritualized - 'Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space'
Portishead - 'Third'
Panda Bear - 'Person Pitch'
Flying Lotus - 'Los Angeles'
Grizzly Bear - 'Yellow House'


Very rewarding albums that i'm glad i persevered through repeated listens to get into.

quarryman

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Absolutely hated it first time I heard it.

lordgoat

quarryman wrote: »

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Absolutely hated it first time I heard it.

It's some album though! Gonna listen to that tomorrow, nice!

pappyodaniel

Paul Simon - Graceland
Radiohead - Kid A (of course)
Beatles - White Album
Stone Roses - Second Coming
The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society

JimsAlterEgo

mercury rev - deserters songs

nobby grande

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica

MGMT - Congratulations

Radiohead - OK computer

bryaner

Sound of the Underground Girls Aloud..:D

Jim

I thought Belle & Sebastian was the worst kind of **** the first time I listened to them.

I was a pretty retarded kid.

smokedeels

Last year it was "Before Today" by Aerial Pink - I knew there was something in it, like when I first heard it, it just sounded like a mix tape of cheesy new wave music, and I guess it is, but it's got a charm that I knew was there even if it wasn't initially getting through to me, I love it now.

seniorolaighin wrote: »

James Blake - James Blake

I got one of his EPs after I read some great reviews but... I don't know, I understand it's meant to be minimal, but there's just not enough going on with the music for me to enjoy it and his vocals wreck my head too.

And the tracks I liked (i.e Klavierwerke) sounded like a less fleshed out version of some of the Mount Kimbie stuff I was enjoying at the time, so I thought, why bother?

sink

Probably the most extreme one for me was Weezers Pinkerton. I can remember getting caught up in the media hype of hating the album. I thought Weezer had betrayed their fans and swore never to listen to them again. It was around a year later when I really started to notice how good the album was, it kind of hit a raw nerve of being an awkward sexually frustrated teenager. Now it's one of my favourite albums of all time. Pity the got blasted for it at the time, it might have pushed them into their pop rock coma.

mehfesto

Kid A and For Emma for me too. Other than that:

Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Lullabies to Paralyze - QOTSA
Return To Cookie Mountain - TV On The Radio
This is the Second Album From a Band Called Adebisi Shank - Adebisi Shank

osnola ibax

Kid V wrote: »

Headphones definitely help!

Also....

Burial - 'Untrue'
Spiritualized - 'Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space'
Portishead - 'Third'
Panda Bear - 'Person Pitch'
Flying Lotus - 'Los Angeles'
Grizzly Bear - 'Yellow House'


Very rewarding albums that i'm glad i persevered through repeated listens to get into.

Portishead 3 was too difficult for me even and I like my difficult music. Tough going that one, must check it out again.

Scubadevils

Kid V wrote: »

Headphones definitely help!

Also....

Burial - 'Untrue'
Spiritualized - 'Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space'
Portishead - 'Third'
Panda Bear - 'Person Pitch'
Flying Lotus - 'Los Angeles'
Grizzly Bear - 'Yellow House'


Very rewarding albums that i'm glad i persevered through repeated listens to get into.

Yeah agreed on Flying Lotus, found the same with his latest one too - actually stopped it half way through, love it now though.

I must go back to 'Untrue', listened probably 2 or 3 times but just didn't happen for me - couldn't get past the vocals, love his first album though.

Kid A as has been mentioned took a bit for me, I was never a Radiohead fan anyway but a couple of people suggested a while back that I take a stab at Kid A, love it now.

G.K.

R.E.M. - 'Reveal'

mark86

too many. but if there's an album i have failed to 'get' after 3 listens max or thereabouts well i don't believe in a 'grower' - wouldn't force anything on anyone, let alone myself

Can'tseeme

Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation and 22 Dreams

Couldn't understand the hype around both albums at first. Thought they were pretty boring besides one or two tracks. Put them away for a while and went back a few months later and it started to sink in. Love them now.:)

Exile in Main St. -The Stones

Couldn't get into it and that has grown on me somethinig shockin over the last few years. Bought the album years ago and like about 4 or 5 tracks. Now I don't think there's a bad track on it. Up there in my top 5 albums of all time.

Can'tseeme

mark86 wrote: »

too many. but if there's an album i have failed to 'get' after 3 listens max or thereabouts well i don't believe in a 'grower' - wouldn't force anything on anyone, let alone myself

You're best to leave it and go back a few months later. I've done that with quite a few albums. Sometimes the hype around an album nearly puts you off as the expectation is too high.

lordgoat

Can'tseeme wrote: »

Your best to leave it and go back a few months later. I've done that with quite a few albums. Sometimes the hype around an album nearly puts you off as the expectation is too high.

Agree completely with this. As PE said don't believe the hype

wandatowell

One album I hated when I first got it was OK Computer by Radiohead. Couldnt stand it. What had happened to my Radiohead I was asking myself. But the question I should have been asking was "wtf just happened to music"

Well by christ a few hours later I was hooked. Still am. Without a doubt my favorite release of the past 15 years

rcaz

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Christian Fennesz - Endless Summer
Iannis Xenakis - well a lot of his stuff, I've got a few CDs of different collections, all pretty difficult. I started with Metastasis and Rebonds
Gyorgi Ligeti - also a lot of his stuff, I started with Atmospheres and his string quartets
Autechre - Confield, Draft 7:30, Quarisitice
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica

A few that spring to mind immediately... All things that I didn't expect (because of what I'd heard) to jump right into and love, and took a lot of listening to get into, but completely opened me up to different ways of thinking and different things to expect from music.

For me, forcing new and different things on myself is a really important part of listening to music.

me-skywalker

A Momentary Lapse of Reason, because took me twice to realise he was actually serious!

komodosp

Pretty much every Radiohead album other than Pablo Honey
The Dandy Warhols Come Down
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Mogwai - Come On Die Young

Have to agree, the headphones are a definite help there.

InTheTrees

Every Bell X1 album I've ever heard I've thought meh at first.

Scubadevils

El Pr0n wrote: »

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Christian Fennesz - Endless Summer
Iannis Xenakis - well a lot of his stuff, I've got a few CDs of different collections, all pretty difficult. I started with Metastasis and Rebonds
Gyorgi Ligeti - also a lot of his stuff, I started with Atmospheres and his string quartets
Autechre - Confield, Draft 7:30, Quarisitice
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica

A few that spring to mind immediately... All things that I didn't expect (because of what I'd heard) to jump right into and love, and took a lot of listening to get into, but completely opened me up to different ways of thinking and different things to expect from music.

For me, forcing new and different things on myself is a really important part of listening to music.

Now there's an album I've to still go back for another attempt.

Kid V

osnola ivax wrote: »

Portishead 3 was too difficult for me even and I like my difficult music. Tough going that one, must check it out again.

It took me ages. If i didn't like 'Machine Gun' and 'The Rip' so much i probably wouldn't have bothered. Its one of my favorite records of all time now so i'm glad i kept at it.

Scubadevils wrote: »

Yeah agreed on Flying Lotus, found the same with his latest one too - actually stopped it half way through, love it now though.

I must go back to 'Untrue', listened probably 2 or 3 times but just didn't happen for me - couldn't get past the vocals, love his first album though.

Kid A as has been mentioned took a bit for me, I was never a Radiohead fan anyway but a couple of people suggested a while back that I take a stab at Kid A, love it now.

Radiohead are the reason i'm into lots of different kinds of music. I got The Bends and straight away i knew they were my favorite band. I gradually grew into the rest of their albums one at a time. I learnt to be quite patient and attentive whilst exploring their influences. I now NEVER judged an album on 1st or even 2nd listen because i know from experience all the good stuff takes a while to get into.

IamtheWalrus

Takes me a minimum 10 listens to get nost albums. Albums that require less usually don't get played much.

osnola ibax

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Takes me a minimum 10 listens to get nost albums. Albums that require less usually don't get played much.

Yeah, for me the likes of Vampire Weekend, Mumford and Sons, and Artic Monkeys, whilst of a good quality, are almost instantly likable and just don't stay the distance. Would compare it to radio pop music really

osnola ibax

@ Kid V re. Portishead. I loved the Rip and the first song but found some of the melodies (or lack thereof) and instrumentation really jarring and grating. The female vocal at times is frightening. Really admire them for daring to do it though, ill make it a mission to go back to it. Do they have anything else planned do you know?

rcaz

Scubadevils wrote: »

Now there's an album I've to still go back for another attempt.

It was a mistake to have that as my first Autechre album... But after hearing Incunabula and Amber, it's way more of a progression from those, and compared to Confield and all, way more accessible. Still weird as **** though

Kid V

osnola ivax wrote: »

@ Kid V re. Portishead. I loved the Rip and the first song but found some of the melodies (or lack thereof) and instrumentation really jarring and grating. The female vocal at times is frightening. Really admire them for daring to do it though, ill make it a mission to go back to it. Do they have anything else planned do you know?

Its just so surprising. 'Silence' ends suddenly, the ukelele on 'Deep Water', the groaning, struggling horns on 'Magic Door', the merciless beat on 'Machine Gun'. Its just a mad album really and Beth is one of my favorite vocalists ever

They're doing a few festivals this summer and they're also curating ATP. No irish dates yet unfortunately.

Hopefully they'll be straight back into the studio after their tour. 3 albums in 18 years isn't very prolific!

They released this as a charity single for Amnesty International sometime in 2009 and its their latest release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5hpnLIswbQ