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How many listens do you give an album before you move on?

post #1 of 25
12/15/09 at 10:39pm
Thread Starter 
I realize it varies. There have been albums I’ve grown to love, but didn’t like at first. But then on the other hand, life is too short to listen to bad tunes. How many listens do you usually give before losing interest or writing it off?
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post #2 of 25
12/15/09 at 11:00pm
I think it depends on my emotionall state ~ sorry!! I know that's a girly thing to say, but generally that's the way it is for me.

When I buy a vinyl LP, I'll prepare myself to listen to the whole album; side A, then side B with a fresh coffee and the mobile phone turned off. I put more work into 'getting into' an album. Not so with CDs. Even less with internet MP3 type music.

These days, flicking through Spotify/Myspace/Itunes, I don't even listen to the whole song (some don't even let you before ramming commercials in). There were some albums that were presents to me - Rufus Wainwright for example. I listened to the album once in its entirety and took a complete dislike to his vocal operatics, bordering on hysterical pretention. Equally, inconsequential vocalists like Lori Carson - her work slowly grows on me and I find myself listening to her average voice and beautiful music more often than I'd dare admit.

Then there are new 'hyped albums', "highly anticipated", such as the Cowboys Junkies' re-recording of the Trinity Sessions. I barely coped with listening to the whole album straight through, my heart sinking closer down down to the concrete floor.

Thinking about it now, I should really prune my albums and flog off all these albums I don't listen to
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post #3 of 25
12/15/09 at 11:08pm
1-2. If an album doesn't interest you in any way after the first listen, it probably won't in the future. Even when there is an album that I don't really like the first time through, I can tell whether there is something interesting/worth getting to know better.

Albums that grow on you have to start with a seed.
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post #4 of 25
12/15/09 at 11:16pm
If I can identify right away why I don't like something, I generally don't keep relistening to it. But if it's more a case of just not being used to it, of it having new sounds, unfamiliar ideas, etc. I'll try a few more times until either I can identify why I don't like it, or else start liking it.
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post #5 of 25
12/15/09 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by userlander View Post
If I can identify right away why I don't like something, I generally don't keep relistening to it. But if it's more a case of just not being used to it, of it having new sounds, unfamiliar ideas, etc. I'll try a few more times until either I can identify why I don't like it, or else start liking it.
This describes me too. Unless it turns me off immediately, it usually grows on me. Sometimes 5 or 6 listens turns good into wow.
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post #6 of 25
12/15/09 at 11:26pm
It depends on whether or not I've listened to the artists work before or not. If I've liked a song or album by the artist in the past I will usually put a little more time into listening to an album if it didn't catch me right away. If its an artist I've never listened to before and just came across the music and I don't really get into I usually don't give it as much time. On average if i'm not really into an album from the start I'll try to give it 3 or 4 listens.
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post #7 of 25
12/16/09 at 12:22am
Some types of music like jazz can be quite complex and unless you are a musician, it may take 5 or more listens to understand and get into.

I almost find that the quicker I like something the quicker I tire of it as well. Perhaps because it is too simplistic? And vice versa for the more challenging music.
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post #8 of 25
12/16/09 at 12:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by userlander View Post
If I can identify right away why I don't like something, I generally don't keep relistening to it. But if it's more a case of just not being used to it, of it having new sounds, unfamiliar ideas, etc. I'll try a few more times until either I can identify why I don't like it, or else start liking it.
Same here.
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post #9 of 25
12/16/09 at 1:49am
If it's a new release by a band/singer that I've previously liked I'll give it three tries. If it's by a band/singer I don't usually like but my friends recommend it, I'll give it one listen. I want to like Victor by Alex Lifeson but I cannot.
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post #10 of 25
12/16/09 at 2:00am
if i dont like it the first time through, i generally give it 2 more spins. Some albums I realize have this "3 spins your in" thing to them (for me at least). For a recent example Pearl Jam Back Spacer, the first time i listened through it I really didn't like it much, so I played it again, that time I started to get into a few songs by the end of the 3rd listen I felt like "i got it" and ended up really diggin the album. If it's gunna end up being an album I'm not into what so ever I usually lose interest partway through the 2nd spin and put somethin else on.
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post #11 of 25
12/16/09 at 2:05am
I listen to it as background music. It sometimes click after a while, it sometimes doesn't. Either way, it's all good
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post #12 of 25
12/16/09 at 3:13am
Back in the early 80's I was on a extremely tight budget (read allowance) and could only afford an LP, maybe two, each month or so. And for those of you who don't know, this was before the Internet existed. So there was no such thing as going to Amazon (or wherever) to listen to, and sample, a given recording before purchase.

The small record stores that were in my neighborhood would pop open a few new releases, but definitely not all. So oftentimes, the only place I heard any of the songs on a given record was on the radio. IF there was a hit song I liked, I might take the chance and buy the LP.

Generally, there was only one or two good songs and the rest would suck. Imagine spending a month's worth of allownce on a record (or two) and having the majority of it being very disappointing.

In those days, I would give each record four or five listens, hoping and praying that the songs would grow on me. They usually didn't.

Nowadays, I generally don't buy stuff that I haven't already skimmed through somewhere and know that I'll probably like. Unless, of course, the release is from some of my favorite artists, in which case the buy is almost automatic.

Long story short, I think how often someone listens to a recording before setting it in the "toss" pile depends largely on two things: Disposable income and the amount of music in their existing collection.
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post #13 of 25
12/16/09 at 3:26am
I'll give an album as many listens as it wants before it moves on.
I'll generally pass a judgement within the first 5 minutes, and then again at the end of the album on the first listening.
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post #14 of 25
12/16/09 at 4:26am
I just upgrade my gear until it sounds good.

No, seriously, I'll spin an album at least six times. If it's a CD I got used for cheap maybe less. When I buy vinyl I listen to samples first, and if it's expensive vinyl $40+ it's always from an artist I know or it's an album I might already own on zeros and ones.
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post #15 of 25
12/16/09 at 4:27am
Three spins or three drinks, which ever comes first.
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