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Your hastiest album review:

Apr 21, 2007 at 4:44 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 23
kwitel

kwitel

Headphoneus Supremus
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Hope that title made sense...
Interested in hearing about albums that you were confident in not liking through the initial couple of listens and now ironically, they have become your favorites.

The new NIN-"Year Zero"-(which I was convinced I would not like after the first couple of listens), whacked me in the head this morning and ive been humming a variety of its songs since.

Other notables:

The Mars Volta-"De-Loused in the Comatorium" (sounded like incomprehensible noise on the first couple of listens)

LCD Soundsystem-"Self-Titled" (flat out annoyed me for months-love it now)

The Dillinger Escape Plan-"Miss Machine" (initially just too much going on-one day it just revealed itself, kinda like the matirx
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)

Sade-I know, who wouldnt like Sade? My first girlfriend forced it on me for months when I was 19 and at the time I just wasnt hearing it. It ended up becoming a turning point for me; although not the same genre as Trip Hop it made me more accepting of female singers-which led to Massive Attack, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps and a host of others.

Lastly, I never thought I could get into Romantic Period Classical. Seeing Shostakovich's 5th Symphony at Carnegie Hall changed everything.
 
Apr 21, 2007 at 5:06 PM Post #2 of 23
I felt about the same way with "De-Loused". At my first listen, it sounded completely crazy and unfocused. Now I listen to it at least once a week.

The most recent CD I felt that way about was 10,000 Days by Tool. I hated that CD on the first listen. Looking back, I'm not sure why. Not what I was expecting I guess.

Dream Theater's Images and Words also took a little time for it to grow on me. My first DT album was Train of Thought, and I guess I was expecting that same hard sound in an album made over 10 years earlier. I actually sold it, but rebought it a few months later and loved it.

Kid A was my first Radiohead album (borrowed/stolen from my sister who hated it), and I found it extremely difficult to listen to at first. It was so different from everything else I had heard of at that time. It was the album that changed my perception of music. Before this album, I had less than 20 CDs, now I have close to 200, and still growing.
 
Apr 21, 2007 at 6:53 PM Post #3 of 23
Most recently, Aghora's Formless - which I thought was a pretty great album at first, but after a week or so realized that it actually isn't that great at all.

I also really, really, really, really hated Psyopus the first time I heard Ideas of Reference. Nowadays, I sort of like them.

Then there was Gorguts' Obscura. The first time I listened to that album I thought it was awful... and the second time I listened to it I thought it was awesome :O

edit: Oh yeah, ****** the Facts is another band I really didn't like at first, but now am totally in love with.
 
Apr 21, 2007 at 8:01 PM Post #4 of 23
This is difficult, because I usually don't end up liking albums that I initially hate (most recent example: Bloc Party - Weekend in the City).

But, I can think of a particular exception:

Jeff Buckley - Grace

I was into Radiohead at the time and wanted similar music to tide me over during the wait after OK Computer. The endless comparisons of Jeff Buckley to Thom Yorke (and vice-versa) prompted me to check out Jeff Buckley's stuff. Upon first listen, it sounded thin and under-produced, and Buckley's vibrato and singing style sounded untrained, over-the-top, and diva-ish.

Then, I read up about Jeff Buckley and listened to the songs while digging into the lyrics at the same time. Whoa... It occurred to me that this guy was singing from his heart; that he meant the words he was singing and didn't care if he came across as vulnerable. The mix seemed a lot better--I realized that I could hear practically every instrument and that the dynamic range was more substantial than contemporary releases.

So, I loved it.
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Apr 21, 2007 at 8:03 PM Post #5 of 23
Recently, Jean-Michel Jarres new album Teo&Tea. I thought it was awful generic dance music on the first few listens.

Mike Oldfields Amarok, Frank Zappas Hot Rats, Captain Beefhearts Trout Mask Replica can all sound utterly cocophonic to the uninitiated, but all 3 are utter masterpieces.
 
Apr 21, 2007 at 8:37 PM Post #7 of 23
Apr 21, 2007 at 9:13 PM Post #8 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by virometal /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Good idear for a thread. I hate everything first listen, then fall in love with everything after that. Some of my total recent reverses of mainstream albums, complete with head-fi documentation of my initial contempt:

"Weekend in the City" - Bloc Party

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpo...5&postcount=27

"The Eraser" - Thom Yorke

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpo...postcount=3429



Big radiohead fan yet I keep overlooking "The Eraser".
Thanx for reminding me, im gonna pick it up this weekend.
 
Apr 22, 2007 at 4:22 AM Post #9 of 23
most recent for me would be Sam's Town by The Killers. i bought it the first day or release, listened to it, and promptly threw it in the CD bin where it sat for months. i think i was being too harsh on it, making mental comparisons with Hot Fuss and not giving it a chance.

months later i went rummaging through the CD bin, looking for something to listen to and give Sam's Town another chance, and totally changed my mind. i think it's a great album, the songs are all loosely related and form a concept. as a whole i think it's better than Hot Fuss, which has some amazing songs but also has a fair share of fillers. Sam's Town is strong from start to finish.

also, me being the huge Cure fan that i am... i remember not liking The Top when i first heard it (wow, that was eons ago, when i was in JHS), but now i give it much higher praise. same goes for Wild Mood Swings. both are well known in Cure circles as the band's lesser efforts; granted they ain't no Disintegration or Porography, but they're still very good albums.

oh, and me being the huge New Order fan that i am... i hated Movement when i first heard it as well; i was thinking "who were they kidding!?" but now it's my favourite New Order album, it's an amazing audio document for a band transitioning from one phase to another.
 
Apr 22, 2007 at 2:26 PM Post #10 of 23
Kyuss - I was used to 90's cheese metal or whatever $#!TE I was listening to at the time so when I heard Kyuss, I thought it was slow and boring, wow I was an idiot. Kyuss certainly grew on me and now has a comfortable spot near the top of my all-time favorite list.
 
Apr 22, 2007 at 2:35 PM Post #11 of 23
Liars - Drum's Not Dead. Pure noise on first listen but this one slowly reveals itself as well. The included DVD with several different visual artists each producing a video for the entire album really ties things together.
 
Apr 22, 2007 at 2:53 PM Post #12 of 23
this is an AWESOME thread. i have had this thing happen to me so many times. i'll list two that i consider lifelong faves.

'the lion and the cobra' by sinead oconnor, her first. came out when i was in high school and i didn't like it at all.

'mr bungle' self titled first record is a work of disturbing art. as is their third... still don't like the second.

i find it interesting how the albums i like instantly don't last long with me. the ones that require 'burn in' time will stck with me.
 
Apr 22, 2007 at 8:11 PM Post #13 of 23
How about the reverse?

I loved "Stadium Arcadium" when I first bought it, but fell out of love in a matter of days. Now I can hardly stand it.

Same thing happenned last summer with the kaiser chiefs. Some music doesn't age well.
 
Apr 22, 2007 at 8:32 PM Post #14 of 23
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues in Aspic, that one certainly took a while.

The Mars Volta - Amputechture, I would have given up on it but as I loved De-loused and Frances I knew it would be worth persevering with (still not my favourite though)

Howling Bells

More recently, Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet; I loved the previous 2 releases, but this took much longer for me to get into (about 12-15 plays). At the moment, I prefer it to Deadwing and In Absentia as the whole album works as a single piece.

I generally find that an album I like immediately does not have the staying power of one which took me a while to fully appreciate.
 
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