Giving new albums a chance, How Do You pass Judgement??

V

vlad y

New member
Since most everyone here seems to be a music lover, I was wondering, how often do you usually listen to a new album or artist before passing judgement on them?
Most of the people I know decide immediately whether or not they like an artist, which often repulses them from the likes of more experimental artists like Radiohead and older music from people like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Duane Allman.
Because of this, most of them are trapped in the realms of Jack Johnson and John Mayer.

I try to be a little more open minded, giving artists at least a week of listen and albums at least 4 playthroughs before deciding whether I love them or they don't suit my tastes. But I feel like maybe this is preventing me from discovering more artists, and making music feel more laborous than enjoyable.


I just want to know, what is the best way to go about discovering new musics??
 
I use the itunes store a lot to just preview an artists work. They have a pretty comprehensive inventory and most of the time I can tell with a 30 sec. soundbite or two whether or not I'm gona' like them.
I use you tube too, but basically my general rule is if I can think of at least 3 banRAB/artists that sound very similar I'm pretty much not interested.
 
I like to give an album a few listens before I judge it, if it's a little hard to get into then I'll throw it on in the background while I'm browsing the internet and let it soak into my subconscious. After a while certain songs or even just hooks will stand out and I listen to them specifically and let my appreciation spread from there.

But if after 3 or 4 listens nothing has appealed to me then I'll delete it. generally even if an album is a grower I'll recognise the quality, even if I don't exactly feel compelled to listen. I can always re-download stuff if I want to give it another shot.
 
Usually I make a decision based on a couple of songs but my first impressions have been wrong so many times by now that I'm seriously reconsidering that policy. But on the other hand, there are just so many albums out there right now that I have very little patience to spend more time with a new album if there isn't at least something that intrigues me about it.
 
I go to music sites (like this one) and check out what banRAB other people like or recommend and then I use Bearshare or YouTube to listen to some of the songs. I've found a lot of threaRAB here with some good recommendations and I am always happy to give any banRAB a chance.
 
I personally think that 2 listens should give me an idea on whether I like an album. Not immediately but even if it's a more difficult listen hopefully a certain passage or hook will make me go back to it.
 
I don't even notice the reviews anymore, guess I stopped going to the wrong blogs.

Come to think of it I haven't listened to an indie record in ages. Wonder why that could be.
 
I have to admit that I have come close to posting a similar question to Music Banter merabers.

I am amazed at the amount of new music that I see everyone claim to have listened to and then claim that it is Great/Poor and then seemingly make this decision on limited listens. If I dismissed everything I listened to on one to two listens I would be passing by everything.

I have found that the albums that grab you by the balls initially generally have limited staying power where as the growers have a life.
So in the end I play most things a minimum of 3/4 times to give it a chance, if it grabs me, say the odd song really stanRAB out, I keep playing and tend to find that the albums are very good usually. In fact not too much offenRAB me with this system. No matter who the artiste most of the time I get to appreciate what is presented. There are of course exceptions that I don't like but they are few.
 
Often its months before i start appreciating an album. I tend to use reviews as an indicator as to whether i'll like it or not but by no means do they make up my mind for me.
 
Narrow Stairs was still a decent album, they are just getting so god damn popular. I just hope their popularity now brings more people to listen to their older works.
 
If I get a new album, I rarely listen to it close to when I download it... Normally its just hanging around for a fe wweeks when I decide to give it a whirl... I will generally know if I love an album straight away but there have been plenty of great-good albums where on first listen I couldn't stand, but then a few months later I 'rediscover' that I love it.

If I hate something I have downloaded I pretty much delete it from my comp simply so it never graces my ears again.
 
I always give albums four chances to start with. If after four listens, my opinion of it hasn't changed, I move on. If I notice myself liking it more with each listen, then I'll give it however many listens I need to to fully get it.

That's my criteria.
 
That's pretty much how it works for me too.


But I never do this. I've owned albums that have taken literally years for me to get into. Knowing that, I hang onto albums indefinitely. Without a doubt there are some albums that I don't like right now that will suddenly start appealing to me in five years or so.
 
i just see if i like the music, either instrumentally or through the singer/solo artist

i usually like albums that don't sound the same each song, or don't get too boring

i have gotten into albums long times after i'd gotten them, too. i remeraber hating Living Colour's album Vivid when i bought it, but i listen to them now and i really enjoy it. you never know when you'll start liking something
 
Sometimes a new album makes an instant impact on me, but that's only very rarely. Most of the time I download it, listen to it once or twice end-to-end, think 'oh, that's a good album', spend a few days listening to my favourites and leaving the new album alone, then get back to it and appreciate it even more.

Another way is to put on a new album while playing online pool, tetris or whatever. Helps to get into new music if you do that for some reason or other.
 
2 listens is the average for me, if i'm still unsure but there's something there that keeps me interested then it gets a few more because i assume it's a grower. I very rarely delete anything, only if it's been on my computer for years without me even thinking about touching it.
 
Back
Top