[Rockwell75]

Mine is certainly one of the higher ones and it doesn’t hurt that I’m a reviewer

BUT the king of likes to post ratio has gotta be Jason of Schiit Audio. He also has far more posts than me which makes it even more impressive!

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Merry Christmas to all my Watercooler friends.
May you all enjoy a safe, happy and peaceful holiday season.
Appreciate what you have and remember that our hobby is primarily for music.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

@Rockwell75 Just seeing that made me reach my own milestone: 2,500 comments.

drftr

We need more! We have a goal - 3000 pages by the New Year.
More than 50 pages left. That's about 10 pages a day)

 

[drftr]

Anyone out there with a, say, top 3 favourite album that nobody likes but you?

One of my all-time favourites is Joe Jackson's Body And Soul, and depending on the day of the week you ask I'll rate it as my number 1, 2, or 3. Now my biggest hobby and for me the way to learn about music that I must have missed is collecting favourite album lists from pop, rock, jazz, and classical music critics. This can be all-time lists or annual lists, and I have a massive spreadsheet where I tally all those entries. Then, when I'm ready for a new deep-dive I'll sort the list for the number of entries and start with those albums that pros (that have heard probably ten thousands of albums) consider their very best. No guarantee that I like them but this approach has been extremely fruitful, especially when getting to know new genres. I also like the fact that this way I found a lot of underground stuff that was considered extremely good for only a short time but was soon after totally forgotten by history.

It's no coincidence that what I call my Essential Music List has a huge overlap with what are considered music critics' best received albums. But there is one album that absolutely nobody seems to like, and it's the only album that I absolutely adored the first time I heard it. That has never happened since 1985/86 or so. Maybe it's because the album is a mix of popular music, jazz, world, and classical music, and on top of that a mix of serious music to sit down for with dance tracks in addition to that, as such a mix may be hard to swallow for genre-based reviewers, but chances are they simply find it crap.

But for me it's the best crap ever.



I'm interested to learn if you have a similar favourite album that seems to be made just for you.

drftr

 

[blotmouse]

Anyone out there with a, say, top 3 favourite album that nobody likes but you?

One of my all-time favourites is Joe Jackson's Body And Soul, and depending on the day of the week you ask I'll rate it as my number 1, 2, or 3. Now my biggest hobby and for me the way to learn about music that I must have missed is collecting favourite album lists from pop, rock, jazz, and classical music critics. This can be all-time lists or annual lists, and I have a massive spreadsheet where I tally all those entries. Then, when I'm ready for a new deep-dive I'll sort the list for the number of entries and start with those albums that pros (that have heard probably ten thousands of albums) consider their very best. No guarantee that I like them but this approach has been extremely fruitful, especially when getting to know new genres. I also like the fact that this way I found a lot of underground stuff that was considered extremely good for only a short time but was soon after totally forgotten by history.

It's no coincidence that what I call my Essential Music List has a huge overlap with what are considered music critics' best received albums. But there is one album that absolutely nobody seems to like, and it's the only album that I absolutely adored the first time I heard it. That has never happened since 1985/86 or so. Maybe it's because the album is a mix of popular music, jazz, world, and classical music, and on top of that a mix of serious music to sit down for with dance tracks in addition to that, as such a mix may be hard to swallow for genre-based reviewers, but chances are they simply find it crap.

But for me it's the best crap ever.



I'm interested to learn if you have a similar favourite album that seems to be made just for you.

drftr

I’m the Man and Look Sharp are seminal releases for me. Love that you love JJ.

 

[drftr]

I’m the Man and Look Sharp are seminal releases for me. Love that you love JJ.

He's different! Not sure if I ever shared here but there was this one tour that I happened to visit on which he had put seats in the concert hall where you'd normally stand, dance, stagedive, pogo, whatever, but he had decided that this tour was about sitting down and listen to his music in a serious way. Fans being fans some quietly started dancing in the isles after a few tracks and he stopped the show in the middle of the song to tell them dancing was not allowed and we ought to just listen to what he had created in a different way, period. Fine. Show goes on, but after another few tracks he found people dancing yet again. He stopped the show, packed his bags, and left! Such a fine line between being an artist and an a##hole. Loved it.

EDIT: For those that don't know, after this tour he recorded a beautiful album called Big World that was recorded with a live audience but they were seated and had to keep completely silent. He loved playing live and wanted to capture the feeling of what playing live did to the band inspiration-wise, but without the audience being heard. For sure an interesting way to record a studio album you've got to give him that.

drftr

 

[wolfstar76]

He's different! Not sure if I ever shared here but there was this one tour that I happened to visit on which he had put seats in the concert hall where you'd normally stand, dance, stagedive, pogo, whatever, but he had decided that this tour was about sitting down and listen to his music in a serious way. Fans being fans some quietly started dancing in the isles after a few tracks and he stopped the show in the middle of the song to tell them dancing was not allowed and we ought to just listen to what he had created in a different way, period. Fine. Show goes on, but after another few tracks he found people dancing yet again. He stopped the show, packed his bags, and left! Such a fine line between being an artist and an a##hole. Loved it.

EDIT: For those that don't know, after this tour he recorded a beautiful album called Big World that was recorded with a live audience but they were seated and had to keep completely silent. He loved playing live and wanted to capture the feeling of what playing live did to the band inspiration-wise, but without the audience being heard. For sure an interesting way to record a studio album you've got to give him that.

drftr

I don't even know there is a line between an artists and an a##hole. Just kidding, but if the artist is good enough, people usually have higher tolerance.

 

[Ojisan]

Season's Greetings - Merry Christmas everyone!
Wishing all a warm and peaceful holiday.

What Christmas music do you like to listen with your gear?

I'm enjoying 2 pieces with LP6 Ti 7AE + Brise Yatano 8-wire + FAudio Mezzo

 

[Rockwell75]

All hail the king!

 

[aaf evo]

 

[mark88888]

Anyone out there with a, say, top 3 favourite album that nobody likes but you?

Nice I will check it out. I offer Joni Mitchell's "For the Roses". It's a wide stretch to say no one likes it but me... but when her best albums are discussed it's usually Blue, or Court and Spark, or something else. Like, here it is, down at #7, with a grudging write-up.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/aug/15/joni-mitchells-albums-ranked

But I think it's her best, and by a pretty wide margin. Virtuoso playing, exquisite and complicated melody lines, deep and perfect lyrics, prime voice. And flat-out catchy. Every song on the album is great, but here's one.

 

[Auricon]

Classic Carpenters. Merry Christmas to y'all and your loved ones!



MEOW!

 

[main character]

Classics!

This Christmas(Hang All The Mistletoes)-Macy Gray


Winter Wonderland - Louis Armstrong


But I hear (and like)


All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

Everywhere!!

We went to nearby light exhibition and a local songwriter/singer was singing this with her piano.

 

[wolfstar76]

Rock cover of the "Last Christmas":

 

[drftr]

Nice I will check it out. I offer Joni Mitchell's "For the Roses". It's a wide stretch to say no one likes it but me... but when her best albums are discussed it's usually Blue, or Court and Spark, or something else. Like, here it is, down at #7, with a grudging write-up.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/aug/15/joni-mitchells-albums-ranked

But I think it's her best, and by a pretty wide margin. Virtuoso playing, exquisite and complicated melody lines, deep and perfect lyrics, prime voice. And flat-out catchy. Every song on the album is great, but here's one.

Added to the list. Definitely flying under the radar that one. On my main tally list I have:

23x Blue
8x Court And Spark
5x The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
3x Hejira
2x For The Roses

For reference: 8x would most likely make it in or near an ultimate album top 100 entry according to critics, while 23x is probably within the top 20 or 25. I'm only familiar with the first 3 and like them a lot.

drftr