Albums That Took Awhile to Sink In
Submitted by JohnnyW on Wed, 05/02/2001 - 06:01
Tags:
- Talking Heads/Remain in Light
- DJ Shadow/Endtroducing
- Love/Forever Changes
- Pink Floyd/Dark Side of the Moon
- Big Star/Radio City/#1 Record
- Joy Division/Unknown Pleasures
- U2/Pop
Author Comments:
These are albums that I listened to at some point and was unimpressed with, so i put them away for awhile. Fortunately, when, months or even a couple of years later, I listened again, they sounded great. I don't know what sort of psychological process took place, but I think these are really solid albums now. This ever happen to any of you guys?
this is a great list idea! i had this experience--magnified 300x or so--with jeff buckley's "grace" album. i didn't think anything of it at first and over a year later, listening to it while driving by myself for a few hours, it hit me how amazing he was. i even cried.
other albums that had this effect on me were alanis morrisette's "jagged little pill," they might be giants' "flood," toad the wet sprocket's "fear," and our lady peace's "naveed."
i don't know what causes this phenomenon exactly, but it reminds me of something a professor of mine said about reading one of his favorite books over and over again at different periods of his life, and how it came to mean different things to him at different times. it's just a matter of where you are mentally at the time, i guess.
Usually, two different factors help this experience. For one, the more you play a melodic work, the more likely it is to sear itself into your brain. This deosn't necessarily make the work any better; it just makes the listener more "trained". Remember that Celine Dion song you hated but, after hearing it on the radio 20,000 times, you couldn't get out of your head? That's this effect.
The second possibility is that complex, subtle, or initially repulsive works can often take a bit of time to sink into the brain. Time can allow the complicated melodies to finally harmonize, the underplayed emotion to finally simmer, and the shock to reside. Rather than simply endearing itself by repetition, the work actually wins us over by finally making sense to us. This is quite valid, of course, and can indeed change our view on an album's worth.
Undoubtedly, both Johnny and you are speaking of expereinces of the later type. I could easily nominate The Rolling Stone's Exile on Main Street, Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, and Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation (at least in its 1-hour-+ wholeness) as such albums. In fact, I just realized that all the previous albums I mentioned are double-LPs. Can unified works of such a length almost demand such status by definition?
And no, I have no idea why I typed all of the above...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
What you're saying certainly makes sense les; like any complex work, some great albums are subtle or ambiguous enough to require familiarity to uncover different layers until, boom! it hits you. One thing I've noticed is that albums that take awhile to love, perhaps because of their subtlety, stay best loved albums, whereas more obvious ones fade from affection after awhile.
Exile did take a few listens, and I'm not familiar enough with the other two (esp. the Beefheart) to know. But I get the feeling that Trout Mask Replica would be like that...
Johnny Waco
Good point about Grace! It didn't take me quite so long, but it was definitely a difficult one to come to love. I had friends whose tastes are close to mine rave about it, but when I first heard it, I felt indifference, even a little boredom. But because one friend in particular was so obsessed with it, I kept on listening until I suudenly felt it was great. Glad to hear you agree.
As far as the other albums you mentioned, I haven't heard much except for a few singles (esp. on Jagged Little Pill). I have been curious about Our Lady Peace though; I saw the video for their new single and was really intrigued. Any advice you could offer me about them?
Johnny Waco
i'm definitely not an authority on Our Lady Peace, but rollingstone.com said something in the review of their new album that struck me: "Canada seems to grow em either snarky or sincere, and Our Lady Peace are the sincerest modern rockers unleashed yet by our northern neighbors."
i personally attribute most of my admiration for them to Rain Maida's voice, but they seem like pretty passionate folks and i'd absolutely love to see em live. if you do get around to a listen, let me know what you think!
The quote from Rolling Stone reinforces my gut feeling from seeing the video and hearing a couple of their songs that they are somewhat in the vein of Radiohead. I don't necessarily mean that they are derivative, but they seem atmospheric, sincere (as you said), and very textured. I might have to sell some blood and use the money to check them out ;)
Johnny Waco
Totally agree on the Pink Floyd album! First time I listened to it a couple years ago I was extremely disappointed. But as I kept listening to it over and over again I began to love it.
Dark Side took so long to sink in that I haven't delved much into other Pink Floyd. Now that i like that album though, I'm tempted at some point to try something else...
Johnny Waco
check out wish you were here, that is an awesome album, my personal favorite
Yeah, I think Wish You Were Here and Piper at the Gates of Dawn will be two near-future acquisitions; I'll let you know what I think...
Johnny Waco