Best Ever Albums

Re: General headings to rate albums.

RoundTheBend — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 19:29:04 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 04/10/2019 23:29

FelipeBoorkes wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

Can I get an Amen! 🤣

And me too! What emphasis in literature did you have?

I studied Mexican Literature here in Querétaro, Mx. After that I went to Western Michigan University to study a Master in Peninsular Literature (Spain and colonial literature).

How about you?

That's awesome.

German Literature.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

FelipeBoorkes — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 11:12:12 GMT

Author: FelipeBoorkes

Posted: 04/10/2019 15:12

sethmadsen wrote:

Can I get an Amen! 🤣

And me too! What emphasis in literature did you have?

I studied Mexican Literature here in Querétaro, Mx. After that I went to Western Michigan University to study a Master in Peninsular Literature (Spain and colonial literature).

How about you?

Re: General headings to rate albums.

Anonymous — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 18:33:14 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/06/2019 22:33

FelipeBoorkes wrote:

I'm interested to see which criteria you use to grade albums.

I've been using 4 criteria.

1) Importance in their musical context
2) Consistency of all the song as a musical concept
3) Iconic or irreplaceable songs.
4) Albums that left a personal mark

In pop and rock, you can't really go wrong with good melodies, tension/focus/attention to detail, and a few minor chords.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

Anonymous — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 18:19:31 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 04/06/2019 22:19

Tilly wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

I suppose anyone who is more self aware would want to know "why" they like something.

Feeling >>>>> Thinking

Don't give so much importance to your brain, brother.

Yet we are on a music forum, analyzing music, aren't we ?

Re: General headings to rate albums.

RoundTheBend — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 15:37:27 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 04/06/2019 19:37

Fischman wrote:

Tilly wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

I suppose anyone who is more self aware would want to know "why" they like something.

Feeling >>>>> Thinking

Don't give so much importance to your brain, brother.

But music that stimulates me intellectually makes me feel good.

Pretty much, but I'd still have to agree with Tilly (if I'm understanding correctly), that music is first emotional, then intellectual. Purely intellectual music is nearly always shit. Emotional music with no intellectual aspect usually is shallow/lacks something to take it home for me.

Also I was trying to make a Wicked and examined life joke... which clearly failed miserably.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

RoundTheBend — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 15:37:02 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 04/06/2019 19:37

FelipeBoorkes wrote:

I lost track of this post. It's interesting to find the reason against emotion discussion in this forum.

I know we chart what we love, and I know it goes beyond reasoning. Music as an experience is beyond reasoning. So we shouldn't do charts. But, inevitably, when we put something in the number one spot in our chart we hear something there that we consider better than the album we put in second place.

I've never heard any musician I like talking about another artist just in the emotional aspect. They always state an element (the production, the exploration for new sounds, the composition of the concept in the album, the tone of the voice or just the violence of their live presentations), so I do think awareness is part of enjoying music.

Also, I studied Literature so I love to put experience into words. I like to hear/read people stating in their own words what they love.

Can I get an Amen! 🤣

And me too! What emphasis in literature did you have?

Re: General headings to rate albums.

Fischman — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 15:34:14 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 04/06/2019 19:34

Tilly wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

I suppose anyone who is more self aware would want to know "why" they like something.

Feeling >>>>> Thinking

Don't give so much importance to your brain, brother.

But music that stimulates me intellectually makes me feel good.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

FelipeBoorkes — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 14:27:21 GMT

Author: FelipeBoorkes

Posted: 04/06/2019 18:27

albumceleste wrote:

About (2): I value consistency very highly. I want the artist to have a coherent vision or concept or sound or mood. I tend to rate albums that feel disjointed or very uneven -or that have a huge dissappoiting moment within them- relatively lower. (i.e. my least fav of the Rolling Stones' Big Four is Let it Bleed, just for the choir intro on You can't always get what you want, even when the rest is clearly as good as the other 4).
About (3): a really amazing moment can bring the rating high a little, as a really bad one can lower it a bit, but the overall feel it gives me is the main reason of the rating.

This is something I found interesting while doing the exercise of relistening some of my favorite artists to do my chart. Some songs I love were picked in my first intuition but appeared in albums that had odd elements. It happens a lot with very prolific artists.

My chart of songs would be completely different.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

FelipeBoorkes — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 14:02:28 GMT

Author: FelipeBoorkes

Posted: 04/06/2019 18:02

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

An album must first pass the smell test. Literally. I will initially inspect the packaging (the vinyl sleeve, the jewel case, the cartridge, the late Victorian Era steamer trunk, the hyperbaric compression capsule) using sensory means. The look, smell, taste, and feeling of the album must be determined first before the sounds within are disseminated. For example, if the album (at once) looks purple, smells floral, tastes minty, and feels slimy, then I am unlikely to proceed to the listening step. However, I have found albums that match a similar or tangential description that ended up being OK. The albums I tend to enjoy will usually look orange, smell of fresh gasoline, taste of licorice, and feel like 400 grit sandpaper (no more no less). Keep in mind, my body has to be prepared to undergo such an undertaking of artistic importance as well. Every Tuesday and Friday evening beginning at 7 o' clock GMT I will submerge myself in a plastic baby pool filled to the brim with KY Brand jelly. I pay my neighbor Ezekiel to place my Sennheiser HD 820 headphones snugly over my ears and press play on my music listening device. I then go completely catatonic for 3 hours until I have completely absorbed all that the album has to offer. My body will reject or accept the music. In the case that it accepts the music; I feel nourished, and I can go without eating or drinking until the next listening session (every 3 days). However, if my body does not accept the music, then I will need to go to the nearest facility and expel any noxious feelings immediately.

/s

I figured I'd keep up my shitposting from the last time this question was asked 😁

�'� �'� �'� ¡Beautiful!

Re: General headings to rate albums.

FelipeBoorkes — Sat, 6 Apr 2019 13:20:40 GMT

Author: FelipeBoorkes

Posted: 04/06/2019 17:20

I lost track of this post. It's interesting to find the reason against emotion discussion in this forum.

I know we chart what we love, and I know it goes beyond reasoning. Music as an experience is beyond reasoning. So we shouldn't do charts. But, inevitably, when we put something in the number one spot in our chart we hear something there that we consider better than the album we put in second place.

I've never heard any musician I like talking about another artist just in the emotional aspect. They always state an element (the production, the exploration for new sounds, the composition of the concept in the album, the tone of the voice or just the violence of their live presentations), so I do think awareness is part of enjoying music.

Also, I studied Literature so I love to put experience into words. I like to hear/read people stating in their own words what they love.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

mickilennial — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 22:20:57 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/11/2019 02:20

i like my new avatar too, purple looks good on me

Re: General headings to rate albums.

RoundTheBend — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 22:12:45 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 03/11/2019 02:12

Gowi wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

:lol:

Assuming the more I dislike it the more you do? I suppose repelling idiot would be de facto.

you are the lex luthor to my clark kent

I like your new avatar.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

mickilennial — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 22:07:43 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/11/2019 02:07

sethmadsen wrote:

:lol:

Assuming the more I dislike it the more you do? I suppose repelling idiot would be de facto.

you are the lex luthor to my clark kent

Re: General headings to rate albums.

RoundTheBend — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 21:29:32 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 03/11/2019 01:29

Gowi wrote:

5. how much seth dislikes this thing

🤣

Assuming the more I dislike it the more you do? I suppose repelling idiot would be de facto.

Re: General headings to rate albums.

RoundTheBend — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 21:28:09 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 03/11/2019 01:28

Rhyner wrote:

Oh for sure. But I can't figure it out. Or at least I haven't been able to nail it down to a neat set of criteria. Any set of criteria broad enough to capture everything I like will allow in countless false positives and/or be so general as to be completely meaningless. And when the criteria get too specific and restrictive, they start excluding things I couldn't live without.

Whatever makes good music good is, as far as I can tell, a mysterious magical alchemy. I adore thing X so I check out thing Y, which on paper seems to check all the same boxes, but thing Y falls completely flat on my ears. And yet thing Z, which is different in every respect from things X and Y, I also adore. I don't understand how my brain works. Some stuff tickles it, other stuff doesn't. Analysis of the process has never led me anywhere productive.

Or more concisely:
(at least when it comes to art)

The struggle is real. If it all was logical then those stupid algorithms from Pandora would work on me (I hate Pandora).

Re: General headings to rate albums.

mickilennial — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 15:49:33 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/10/2019 19:49

baystateoftheart wrote:

I agree for the most part that it's both. I used to be 100% in the "it's all a feeling; I like what I like" camp, but there's value in understanding why we like or don't like things. Thinking critically about that while giving lots of things outside my comfort zone a try has helped me break down biases and start enjoying music that I didn't before.

That's a pretty good set of criteria too. As to point #4, for me music can get bonus points for being original, but I don't take points off for music that is great otherwise but derivative.

i have gone through both the extremes of "objectivity is the best measure" and "subjectivity is the best measure" -- i found that both seems to be more accurate and fair as some music is made for artistic expression, others are made for artistic statements, to entertain, to experiment, and so on. music isn't so simple i can gauge it on one POV.

but yeah, i also am not too hard on derivative but enjoyable music; i mean have you SEEN my charts haha

Re: General headings to rate albums.

baystateoftheart — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 14:18:05 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 03/10/2019 18:18

Gowi wrote:

me on the whole feeling vs thinking debate:

i rate things based on the following criteria:

1. how much i like these sounds they make
2. how interesting i find these sounds
3. the emotional and lyrical depth of something for me
4. how original the sounds are

Re: General headings to rate albums.

baystateoftheart — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 14:12:09 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 03/10/2019 18:12

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

🤣 �'�

Re: General headings to rate albums.

Tha1ChiefRocka — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 13:35:57 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 03/10/2019 17:35

An album must first pass the smell test. Literally. I will initially inspect the packaging (the vinyl sleeve, the jewel case, the cartridge, the late Victorian Era steamer trunk, the hyperbaric compression capsule) using sensory means. The look, smell, taste, and feeling of the album must be determined first before the sounds within are disseminated. For example, if the album (at once) looks purple, smells floral, tastes minty, and feels slimy, then I am unlikely to proceed to the listening step. However, I have found albums that match a similar or tangential description that ended up being OK. The albums I tend to enjoy will usually look orange, smell of fresh gasoline, taste of licorice, and feel like 400 grit sandpaper (no more no less). Keep in mind, my body has to be prepared to undergo such an undertaking of artistic importance as well. Every Tuesday and Friday evening beginning at 7 o' clock GMT I will submerge myself in a plastic baby pool filled to the brim with KY Brand jelly. I pay my neighbor Ezekiel to place my Sennheiser HD 820 headphones snugly over my ears and press play on my music listening device. I then go completely catatonic for 3 hours until I have completely absorbed all that the album has to offer. My body will reject or accept the music. In the case that it accepts the music; I feel nourished, and I can go without eating or drinking until the next listening session (every 3 days). However, if my body does not accept the music, then I will need to go to the nearest facility and expel any noxious feelings immediately.

/s

I figured I'd keep up my shitposting from the last time this question was asked 😁

Re: General headings to rate albums.

mickilennial — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 09:58:14 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/10/2019 13:58

me on the whole feeling vs thinking debate:

i rate things based on the following criteria:

1. how much i like these sounds they make
2. how interesting i find these sounds
3. the emotional and lyrical depth of something for me
4. how original the sounds are
5. how much seth dislikes this thing