Best Ever Albums

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Anonymous — Sun, 3 Nov 2013 00:03:05 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/03/2013 04:03

Someone's judgement of taste is subjective, just as taste is itself. I think most people (including myself) associate taste with listening experience and exposure to new musical ideas, but a primitivist might say the opposite -- that our taste gets worse, or polluted, with exposure to society and its musical ideas.

In other words, one person could tell me I have good taste and another could tell me I have bad taste, and they could both be right. In theory, my goal is to have good taste in the eyes of someone who I think has good taste. I don't know how useful an incomplete recursive definition is, but that's the best I can think of right now.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Listmeister — Fri, 1 Nov 2013 12:46:08 GMT

Author: Listmeister

Posted: 11/01/2013 16:46

Good taste is not a binary value judgement: this album is good or bad. Good taste is being able to listen to a work of music and experience each texture, each instrument, distinguishing them, and yet hearing the work as a whole.

Albums that I don't like sound to me like noise, but that may be because my taste just isn't refined enough (it takes practice) to discern the nuances of such albums. Other people seem to like [recommended album], so there must be something enjoyable in that album that I'm not hearing.

For me, going through the Best Debut Album tournament, listening to each album as presented, has been a tremendous boost to my own taste. You may not know it from my voting record, but I know my taste is improving because albums that I previously would have dismissed as awful are enjoyed more because I am hearing more qualities in the music; also, the album I liked before, I'll hear more layers in that one too.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

paladisiac — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:13:21 GMT

Author: paladisiac

Posted: 10/31/2013 14:13

paladisiac wrote:

It's all subjective. There's no "improving" one's musical taste. It is what it is. People agree or don't, just like any other art form.

the only way taste is "good" or "bad" is through the point of view of someone else.

although i still loathe the awful hack justin bieber and believe it's bad taste to think he has any worthwhile talen, but that's just MY opinion. so another case in point!

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Defago — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:04:32 GMT

Author: Defago

Posted: 10/31/2013 14:04

Much like what lethal said, the only possible conception of "good" or "bad" taste is entirely subjective, based on how much I agree with other people's tastes (nobody thinks he/she has a bad taste). Because of this, I don't really see a way to "improve" your taste if we interpret "improve" as "make better".

However, it is certainly possible to be able to appreciate more music, not necessarily making your tastes superior. Along the years, we start being more receptive to more kinds of music as we're exposed to them. I'm way more appreciative of hip hop and ambient now than a year ago - while it's not certainly a taste improvement, it's definitely a taste expansion. In having more listenable genres and music, you add variety to your taste.

SO. If we go by this interpretation, what I'd do - and what I've been doing - is to listen to music I don't understand (and which I don't necessarily like). Music which I don't enjoy easily, but which I still find interesting and leaves me thinking. Music which at first listen leaves me confused, and gradually grows into being comfortable to my ears. When that happens, I've grown accustomed to new musical ideas and my taste, while definitely not better, is definitely covering more ground and allows me to make more informed opinions.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

paladisiac — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:59:01 GMT

Author: paladisiac

Posted: 10/31/2013 13:59

It's all subjective. There's no "improving" one's musical taste. It is what it is. People agree or don't, just like any other art form.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Applerill — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:34:07 GMT

Author: Applerill

Posted: 10/31/2013 13:34

It's sorta like food taste. When you're a kid, your tastes are rather limited. You love pizza, and you love chicken fingers, but that's it.

As you get older and are exposed to more "grownup" food, you probably will (and should) still love pizza and chicken fingers. But you learn to appreciate the taste of a good organic coffee bean or liver sandwich, even though you may have thought these things were gross as a kid.

It's the same way with music. Some artists and genres are just more accessible, and it's great to like those. But someone with good taste doesn't musically eat chicken fingers every day. They try the turtle soup (AKA: Heart of the Congos) and can find good things to say about every genre.

So "bad taste" is when you musically ONLY consume a few things. "Good taste" is when you can notice the nuances to everything.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Evandar — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 08:51:06 GMT

Author: Evandar

Posted: 10/31/2013 12:51

Yeah, it's all subjective, though I don't mind rolling my eyes sometimes when I read or hear certain opinions, haha. That's part of the fun, you know! 😄

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 08:45:28 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/31/2013 12:45

an_outlaw wrote:

How can anyone say someone has a worst music "taste" than that person over there?

Just as easily as one can say a particular album is worse than another. Obviously taste is entirely subjective, but if I accuse someone of having "bad taste", essentially all I am doing is saying, "I don't like the music they do". Therefore, I can say that JMan, Jasonconfused, Mother Nature's Son, etc., have "bad taste" because they largely enjoy music that I don't, and I'm sure they would say the same about me. It's all fairly innocuous, outlaw. Don't worry your pretty little head about it.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

mnorris75 — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 23:24:03 GMT

Author: mnorris75

Posted: 10/31/2013 03:24

It's kind of an interesting question. Like, supposedly, there's no objective way to decide if something's better or worse than something else, but then if you practice, let's say, the piano, for several years, does that mean you only start to sound different, but not necessarily better?

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 23:04:10 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/31/2013 03:04

an_outlaw wrote:

... how would one go about improving their own? Is it as simple as listening to the most albums or are there other ways to improve it? How can anyone say someone has a worst music "taste" than that person over there?

I believe one improves their taste by becoming accustomed to as many different patterns in music as possible.

Most people seem to grow accustomed to staying safe rather than explore things that are less familiar, so therefore, I think, have uninteresting taste in most things, especially if one learns to associate something being different as a negative thing.

To not confuse the tone of what I am saying here, I'll note that I believe that accessibility is one of the most important aspects of art. The bottom line is - the more expansive one's background, the more trustable they are as a source.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Jasonconfused — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:20:48 GMT

Author: Jasonconfused

Posted: 10/30/2013 23:20

Just because something exists doesn't mean it has to be good or bad.

Re: If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:08:03 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/30/2013 23:08

Based on what I've been through, I'd say the only way to improve your tastes is to relisten to albums you'll find an album you once considered overrated to be fantastic. This goes without saying, though. You could try out new ones, but how will you grow unless you understand the truly great albums of each genre?
A lot of the albums one my chart took three listens to get there (Loveless, Elephant, Leftoverture, Blue, The Joshua Tree, Pyromania, Point of Know Return, DSOTM, Sgt. Pepper, Nevermind, Highway 61 Revisited). You must revisit albums. IT'S A PUN!

Considering the second question, I'd say whoever understands the most genres has the better music taste.

If there is such a thing as a music "taste"...

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 18:54:27 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/30/2013 22:54

... how would one go about improving their own? Is it as simple as listening to the most albums or are there other ways to improve it? How can anyone say someone has a worst music "taste" than that person over there?