Just give it a chance! (How quickly do you judge music)

I tend to make pretty quick judgements on albums/songs and, to a lesser extent, bands. If an album doesn't do anything for me the first time around I'm very unlikely to go back and give it another chance to see if it will grow on me. At its most extreme a single song can make me decide against listening to an album. Very occasionally if I do go back I can change my mind but generally my first opinion tends to stick. I don't tend to be as strict with bands, if an album is significantly different from their other output I'm happy to add that album to my playlist.

So I'm wondering, is my method of judging music a harsh outlier? Do most people here give albums/songs/bands multiple playthroughs to see if they grow on you? Or are you a "one chance and that's it" type of person when it comes to music?

It depends what it is. I'm really strongly swayed by reviews, so if it's something that's picking up really good scores everywhere then I'll make extra effort to get something out of it. It doesn't always work, but usually I'll see what all the fuss is about after two or three spins

A vocalist can make or break an artist for me though. Too many times recently I've tried to get into something and the singer is just not to my taste at all. Wet Leg and Black Country, New Road are two recent examples of this.

I used to give things a chance. Buying an album meant you had to listen to everything as you'd just spent a decent amount of money.

Nowadays though? I have almost all music available whenever I want it. If something doesn't grab my attention quickly, then there's a billion other things I can listen to.

Some of my favourite albums now were ones I didn’t get upon first listen(s). I now find myself acknowledging the fact that an early listen may need repeated attempts before deciding if its for me or not.

My first example of this was “Ten” by Pearl Jam. Couldn’t get into it at all after a few listens when I got it around launch. But I persevered and now love it.

Tool’s “10,000 Days” and “Fear Inoculum” albums were consigned to only ever getting the odd tune played as part of a random playlist. However since seeing them live a few weeks ago I’ve barely stopped listening to them and really enjoy the whole album.

I only listen to music I liked when I was 14.

Most music I listen to is stuff I already know about, I'd say. Gone are the days of my 20s where I'd always be seeking out new music, going to gigs all the time, and buying loads of albums. I can't remember the last album I bought, either CD or digitally. There's so much free music out there now that I don't need to. But I think when I do find new music, I'm probably less inclined that I used to be to 'stick with it', especially if I haven't actually paid for (nothing illegal, I mean like YouTube or something).

A while ago someone linked to something on here by Stormzy - it was awful, so I've instantly dismissed his music. Might be a bit rash, but what's the point, when there's so much other music out there. Unless something grabs me straight away, I'm unlikely to listen to it again or even try to get it to grow on me. Only time I'd do that is if I've bought something, and I'd typically only do that with bands I know I like, and as I said that doesn't really happen these days.

Back in the 90s/early 00s when I was buying new Indie/rock albums pretty much every week I did have to give myself a few listens to connect to some albums.

Stereophonics (for example) were nowhere near one of my favourite bands, but I ended up listening to Performance and Cocktails loads of times. Didn't like it at first.

Just talking about this makes me miss that time period. The quality & quantity of decent bands back then was ridiculously high. Glad I was at the perfect age during that era.

If it's a band I like, I will give new music by them quite a few listens.

Some music takes awhile to grow on you. In fact, I find the stuff that takes awhile to click ends up being my favourite music.

I've less patience these days. Even on an Artist I like, if an album doesn't grab my fancy, i'll just go back to their older stuff. What I quite often do with new albums of Artists I like is give it a listen, and if any songs jump out I'll add them to my playlist, the rest....then I'll just leave it.

Modest Mouse's last 2 albums a prime example. I know the first 4 or 5 albums like the back of my hand, the good and bad. The most recent two? I know about 2 or 3 songs off each, the ones that were good when I started.

I have patience with most things but I do have some instant turn-offs:
New artists who act like they know what the 80s were like.
A pretentious fragile vocal that cracks all over the place, because it's just SO goddamned honest.
Ukulele.

rinks wrote:I have patience with most things but I do have some instant turn-offs:
New artists who act like they know what the 80s were like.
A pretentious fragile vocal that cracks all over the place, because it's just SO goddamned honest.
Ukulele.

I would press play, but my blood pressure medication is already struggling.

When i first listened to Radiohead i thought 'this is gooseberry fool'

Years later, i listened to Radiohead again and thought 'this is still gooseberry fool'

more heat than light wrote:A vocalist can make or break an artist for me though. Too many times recently I've tried to get into something and the singer is just not to my taste at all. Wet Leg and Black Country, New Road are two recent examples of this.

That is the single most common reason I dislike a song/band these days, even if its a genre of music I really like, if the vocals annoy me then I probably won't give it a second chance.

Also almost as bad is I'll hear one song, really like it and buy the album only to discover that nothing else on it isn't anywhere near as good.

Vermilion wrote:When i first listened to Radiohead i thought 'this is gooseberry fool'

Years later, i listened to Radiohead again and thought 'this is still gooseberry fool'

When I was at school, one of the cool older kids told me that I’d love Prince by the time I got to the sixth form, implying that my tastes just weren’t sophisticated enough yet. Needless to say, he was wrong. And I never made it to the sixth form.

If it's a band I know I like, I'll give it more of a chance. If it's something unknown to me, it's gonna have to make a good impression on me almost immediately.

rinks wrote:
Vermilion wrote:When i first listened to Radiohead i thought 'this is gooseberry fool'

Years later, i listened to Radiohead again and thought 'this is still gooseberry fool'

When I was at school, one of the cool older kids told me that I’d love Prince by the time I got to the sixth form, implying that my tastes just weren’t sophisticated enough yet. Needless to say, he was wrong. And I never made it to the sixth form.

The fact that he considered Prince's music to be sophisticated says quite a lot about him.

Prince was awesome what the strawberry float dudes?

more heat than light wrote:Prince was awesome what the strawberry float dudes?

Tbh, his output was pretty hit and miss.

more heat than light wrote:Prince was awesome what the strawberry float dudes?

I don’t doubt his brilliance. He was clearly immensely talented, and a great songwriter. Just didn’t click with me.

Just give it a chance! (How quickly do you judge music)

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