We’ve all got a musical Achilles heel or 10 surely? TBH I grew up in a musical loving household, my response was to hate musicals with all of my teenage goth black little heart. Oklahoma and West Side Story somehow slipped through the net. Listening to Oliver might still awaken my inner homicidal maniac…
Aggh I like musicals, singing in the rain etc. But west side story I detest.
Late to the party. I responded ‘Sometimes, but I’m not sure why’, but after 1 long minute of introspection, could add:
- futile attempts to expand my horizons (aka classical and jazz)
- Vālence having a bad day, combined with ‘where is my control?’
- the music sucks, but I love the cover art
One day I may grow up.
Yes! .back in the vinyl days I’ve ended up after browsing the bargain bins with good and bad because of the cover.
“as the artist intended” I am pretty sure the artist intended people to buy the album and after that doesn’t really care how you listen to it.
I agree for some albums, but there are quite a few that are well thought out. And often sequencing/inclusion was due to format or money constraints or regional differences. There is too much good music out there for me to listen to music I don’t care for or not in the mood for.
One crux I have is getting rid of the CD/LP of something I am not super fond of. For example, I have Bee Gees CDs of their ‘80s and ‘90s output that I rarely reach for.
Perhaps there’s a new thread - albums we keep, but don’t really like.
Can’t say I’ve sold my albums/cds…learnt a hard lesson when I was about 20-21. I sold all my singles & most were super rare, sourced from all over the world, plus extremely rare then and obviously more so today, with many iconic Australian independent bands. The reason for the sale - I bought a car. The car didn’t last long and for some 30 years always regretted selling them at this one shop in a ‘super’ bundle.
That is a good question. For me music is multi-faceted, some of it is simply down to the fact that I really like what I am listening to, some comes down to it bringing memories to life and I know this sounds pretentious, some is an intellectual challenge. I have always found ways of getting into music which is challenging whether it be Zappa, Miles or Mingus.
A few friends have looked at my CD collection and have wondered what the hell I’m on!
How do we know we will enjoy an album until we’ve listened to it?
So, like @Nostro I do find myself listening to music I don’t particularly enjoy, but this is usually far outweighed by discovered music that’s great.
On the thirty-day challenge earlier this year I listened to albums I didn’t enjoy two or three times. Billie Eilish comes to mind … a critically acclaimed album that I couldn’t connect with. I’ll probably listen to When We All Fall Asleep … again sometime.
Similarly, I’ve probably listened to most of 1001 Albums You Must Hear and it’s a mixed bag in terms of genres and my enjoyment. But I think I’m better for experiencing them all.
Yes I’ve ploughed through 1001 but the proverbial needle did come screeching off the vinyl quite often when we got to some genres.
60 respondents here by way of votes - thank you all.
I guess it’s no surprise that 47% (25 humanoids) always listen to the music they like. 14 others (23%) listen to music they don’t like sometimes, but aren’t really sure why they may do so. Eight people do, but only when forced to do so, such as family (errr wife), playing the unthinkable, that equates to 13%. Another three humanoids do, mostly to confirm that they didn’t exactly like an album (that makes sense to me).
Then we have some seven individuals (plus myself) who actually listen to music they don’t like for the fun of it (12%). Perhaps those seven and myself are the risk-takers?
Of course, due to the nature of such a poll we don’t really get a great deal of depth, Coupled with its inherent limitations, I created the poll with some thought, but not deep thought as if I were to embark on a thesis or critically analyse the data. (Ok it was somewhat spur of the moment as per the op).
Above all, which I do find interesting, we get a further (beyond previous polls/discussions) of Roon user’s listening habits.
It is still a flawed poll as you did not make allowance for people who only listen to music they like unless they are listening to music they have not heard before (i.e., exploring new to them music).
I would never waste time listing to music I don’t like yet I often listen to music I have never heard before. Most of it, I end up not liking.
I only listen to full albums, not just tracks or playlist. I frequently will try a new album I have never heard or a new performer I am not familiar with. It usually doesn’t take long to determine if it’s a keeper or a “throw-away.”
Yes, it is…
As I had said!
It was only meant as some fun & perhaps gives us a greater insight (compared to nothing) as to the way some people listen to their music. Other polls/discussions have occurred before my time here, not related to this.
Of course they would have been flawed also, but we aren’t embarking on a thesis and can only usee the tools at hand. Cheers.
Thank you Speed for your input.
Have been trying to convince myself for decades to finally quit listening to Bob Dylan. As Joni Mitchell once said, everything about him is fake. But it’s hard … it’s a haarrd … because at the end of the day I cannot admit to myself and my children that what I really like is ABBA.