Albums you had to grow into

[Driver3]

I appreciate anything by Bowie now WAY more than when it was originally out...

 

[Holy smokes]

Beatles ear il y stuff

 

[SuprHtr]

The Melvins - "Colossus of Destiny"
Massacre - "Killing Time"

Neither one is easy listening but I was able to appreciate them after many attempts.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Springsteen, as a whole. Had the usual recoilings from his yowlings about cars and factories, and more cars, and mindless patriotism. My NYC-area and NJ college buds raved about him, so I was primed to snark their cult. Then, one Christmas Break, while I was in our off-campus house in Buffalo by myself, I put on The River to have ammo to tease them with when they returned. About 2 minutes in I thought, "Okay, I've been very, very wrong. About them, and about Springsteen." Granted, his bombastic stuff still bores and irritates me. But so much of it is so freakin' good. He's one of our greatest story-tellers. And many songs are exquisitely done.

Dylan's Street Legal. After Blood on the Tracks and Desire, c'mon, Bob, what'd you do to your voice, and what's all this Vegas-goop via the backing band, and why such lousy production? I felt almost betrayed that Bob was betraying his greatness with such whiny slop. Then I realized that lines and verses and whole songs from it were running through my head. That I was seeing the songs in my imagination as little movies. Sometimes prompted by daily events/the news, sometimes just because. And that "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" is easily among Dylan's greatest-ever songs. Began to listen to it more carefully, and it became one of my favorite Dylan albums. Seeing him twice on that year's tour really drove that home. The Binghamton, NY, one, particularly (my first Dylan show) is indelible.

Dylan's Shot of Love album. Uneasy with Dylan's born-again phase generally, this one seemed like junky trash. Studio clippings. Warm-up messes. But it too really grew on me. Its raw sound really fits its lyrics' honesties--even though "Lenny Bruce" remains wasted time, and some outtakes shoulda been on there. And the more I played electric guitars, the more I enjoyed that garage-punk quality.

 

[NewTimerJH]

While I understand that probably only two people, including me, have listened to this album on this site, it bears mention. The first time I heard it I was sort of lost, bored and shocked. There’s so much nuance and so many layers to each song. The rhythms are entrancing. It took me probably 15 listens before I decided I liked the album, and now it’s in my top 3 favorite Radiohead albums.

No catchy riffs or melodies, just pure rhythmic atmosphere layered with guitar parts that you didn’t know were guitar parts. Pure art, if not slightly indulgent.

 

[boris bubbanov]

I don't want to name any albums per se. I just want to say, a lot of the albums that seem essential when you hear them the first and second time, lose their zest over time. It is perfectly reasonable to find that some obscure album that nobody here has a high opinion of (or maybe knows about at all) can end up continuing to be fulfilling and satisfying even as better known albums get tired - you get burned out on 'em because they're too accessible.

So, I really agree with what NewTimerJH is saying. But I am not gonna rush out to get his favorite and I wouldn't suggest he rush to get in touch with the stuff I am obsessing over either.

So, what is the purpose of my post? Don't give up too easily on the records you have bought that haven't clicked yet.

 

[24 track]

David Gilmour always stated he wished he had heard Dark side for the first time on the day of release, well I was that guy , I skipped class to go buy it I threw on a set of head phones and really wanted to like it , but my first impression was it was a cop out to commercialism . Then I scoped into the technical and engineering parts of the album I fell ass over tea kettle for it. The silences were louder than the music and had more AIR than anything recorded till then .
The only other album that came close was Avalon by Roxy Music.

another album i had to get moved to like it was Fly like an eagle , Steve Miller, and one I could not connect with was Machine head , Deep purple I tried and failed so I gave the album away

I was a huge PF fan for all their Gilmour era albums but DSOTM took a massive step forward , technically

 

[boris bubbanov]

David Gilmour always stated he wished he had heard Dark side for the first time on the day of release, well I was that guy , I skipped class to go buy it I threw on a set of head phones and really wanted to like it , but my first impression was it was a cop out to commercialism . Then I scoped into the technical and engineering parts of the album I fell ass over tea kettle for it. The silences were louder than the music and had more AIR than anything recorded till then .
The only other album that came close was Avalon by Roxy Music.

another album i had to get moved to like it was Fly like an eagle , Steve Miller, and one I could not connect with was Machine head , Deep purple I tried and failed so I gave the album away

I was a huge PF fan for all their Gilmour era albums but DSOTM took a massive step forward , technically

Huh.

Avalon is clearly the best LP that Roxy Music ever released. But I've been listening to the other ones, and to some Brian Ferry solo stuff, because I felt I was experiencing diminishing returns listening to Avalon too often. I bought it right away and listened to it quite often.

Maybe I don't really hear it anymore. It used to give me goosebumps often. Not so much anymore.

By comparison, there's a song called "Party Fears Two" by the Associates (the late Alan Rankine, the late Billy MacKenzie). I listen to this cut all the time, and it still stops me in my tracks.

 

[24 track]

Huh.

Avalon is clearly the best LP that Roxy Music ever released. But I've been listening to the other ones, and to some Brian Ferry solo stuff, because I felt I was experiencing diminishing returns listening to Avalon too often. I bought it right away and listened to it quite often.

Maybe I don't really hear it anymore. It used to give me goosebumps often. Not so much anymore.

By comparison, there's a song called "Party Fears Two" by the Associates (the late Alan Rankine, the late Billy MacKenzie). I listen to this cut all the time, and it still stops me in my tracks.

on Avalon RM used a device called a lexicon 244 and a Sonic Hologram, if you put on really great headphones you can hear that the instruments are placed in the audio field, not just left and right but placed , like Manzanara's guitar is 6 feet to the left , and the drums are placed at specific intervals with in that field, around you. A technological brilliant album. For live I liked the very short album of RM called the High road with a live version of John Lennon's Jealous Guy

 

[Chester P Squier]

Led Zeppelin 1. I had seen Jimmy Page with the Yardbirds shortly before the album was released, 1968 or 69 I think. I didn’t know what to make of Robert Plant’s singing; it was so over-the-top back then, but the more I listened the better I liked the album as a whole.

Ok to each his own for sure.
But I cannot imagine having grow into Zep 1.

To answer Tarkus60's question, it's Robert Plant's singing, as noted by pippoman. Plant initially struck me as being a real screaming mimi! If you were used to Keith Relf's voice in the Yardbirds, then heard Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin (who wisely chose not to call themselves The New Yardbirds), you would know what I mean.

 

[Tarkus60]

To answer Tarkus60's question, it's Robert Plant's singing, as noted by pippoman. Plant initially struck me as being a real screaming mimi! If you were used to Keith Relf's voice in the Yardbirds, then heard Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin (who wisely chose not to call themselves The New Yardbirds), you would know what I mean.

I get what you are saying. With my age I backtracked from Zeppelin to the Yardbirds.

 

[regularslinky]

Almost every Tom Waits album.

My first exposure to TW was around 2000. Somebody online named his cover of "Somewhere" from West Side Story as the song they wanted played at their funeral, so I bought the album - Blue Valentine, recorded in 1978.

It took a while to get a handle on Blue Valentine, but I grew to like it so I bought the most recent album TW had released at that time - Mule Variations - a completely different style of music and performance. It took a while, but I grew to love Mule Variations even more. So I bought Closing Time, his first record, and Bone Machine from 1992. Again, completely different. Closing Time was full of jazzy crooner tunes, Bone Machine was weird folk-industrial noise.

Looking back, Waits really changed the way I listened to music. His music is rarely appealing at first listen. You have to let it soak in.

 

[boris bubbanov]

To answer Tarkus60's question, it's Robert Plant's singing, as noted by pippoman. Plant initially struck me as being a real screaming mimi! If you were used to Keith Relf's voice in the Yardbirds, then heard Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin (who wisely chose not to call themselves The New Yardbirds), you would know what I mean.

I think everyone was expecting Led Zeppelin to be Yardbirds II. But that's like expecting C S & N to be Buffalo Springfield II. Expecting Wings to be Beatles II. But I was expecting it to be different, because basically everything but Page has been thrown out.

Never once did I listen to these LZ songs and ask myself "how would this sound with Keith?" And I really admired Relf.