[Mr. Shankly]

Lots of interesting points made in this thread. I agree with Jhereko that is does it have to with what's familiar and one's comfort zone... and Poe's comment about training the brain was interesting too, because keeper albums often do push one out of his/her comfort zone and end up revered partly for that reason. Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation was one of those for me, and it's now in my top 10. Guided by Voices' albums are always like that too. Harkan's comment about the easy availability of digital music is also interesting. It's almost overwhelming the amount one can acquire and listen to, and it can be really hard to devote the "right" amount or degree of attention to a piece of music nowadays. I hate to sound like a Grandpa Shankly, but in the old days, there weren't as many distractions, and basically there was only one way to get music, to go to the store and buy it. Since this required more of an investment in both time and money, I think people would necessarily take the time to listen to and absorb albums. Interestingly, I think the 70's was one of the biggest time periods for music buying... Really interesting topic.

As for #of listens, for me it's about 5, usually. I don't have the patience beyond that anymore.

[purple]

something something snow. something something uphill both ways.

[junodog4]

[btener11]

a band that took time to grow on me was Drive Like Jehu. i found them a tad impenetrable at first but i was patient with them and man, was it worth it. the multi-layered guitar lines feature both traditional (almost) rhythm riffage, and lead work surrounded by a sea of noise, setting the scene for a very unique listening experience.

also, the flaming lips. they write such terrific concise and catchy tunes at times to go along with their more experimental work, that you might want to listen to them as a traditional rock/pop group. but (especially in their earlier days) they use enough noise, unique structures and tempos, and various other tasty quirks, that they refuse to be pigeon-holed, and can frustrate a more conventional, pop-oriented listener. needless to say, they were well worth the wait too.
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My voodoo master, my machine, baby, will not stand in line...

[GeevyDallas]

From my top 20 only Loveless and Closer took me a couple of listens to enjoy.Some took me a while to love,but I don't remember ever disliking any of the rest.Looking at my top 20,I really need to shake things up,don't have the heart to move some of the albums though.

[pearljammer13]

I'll listen to an album once all the way through and have one of 3 reactions. 1. I like or love it right away and will keep listening to see how my opinion develops. 2. Hate it so much that I find no redeeming quality to draw me back again. 3. Not sure about it but intrigues me enough to draw me back for more listens.

If it's a certain album that got great reviews, I'll always try at least 3 times. If by the third time I'm still not liking it, I'll give up. Typically growers start to make sense and really get enjoyable by the 3rd time. If not, I'm too impatient to keep trying.

A good example is my recent exploration of Pavement. First time through the ones I've listened to so far, I wasn't sure what to make of them but I knew I wanted to keep listening. By the 3rd time they really started to sound great and they just keep growing from there.

I'm sure this has been said already, but typically my ultimate favorite albums are growers that I don't love immediately. If I love it the first time through, it usually doesn't stand up as well with repeated listens. In rare cases it does.

[revolver94]

I used to actively dislike both the VU&N and Kid A. I thought the former sounded really dated and boring. I thought that the latter was too minimalistic and didn't even qualify as music. I'm baffled as to how I ever felt that way... but yeah.

Most music I don't actually REALLY like my first listen. Sometimes I may like the ambiance, but the music is just... music. It always takes me a while to get music.

I still haven't gotten "Astral Weeks" beyond the title track; I've probably listened to it 10 times.

"In Rainbows" was one that I knew how all of the songs went and thought I "got," but then at around listen 30 or so it came together; now it's one of my favorites (it would be in my top 20 if not for my 2 album/artist rule).
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My top songs of the 2010s
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[Guest]

[Mr. Shankly]

[Robert Anton Wilson]

It really varies based on tons of things such as expectancy, time of life, crowd appeal.

I listened to Dark Side of the Moon and knew on first listen this would be my favorite album ever but when I listened to Animals by Pink Floyd I was so deceived I wondered how could they have sunked so low. Once the first impression wore out I still love the Dark Side and Animals has grown on me like crazy because in my early formative years I found special effects and synth brio to be the main thing that made me like music but as I grew I was able to understand differently the foundation of a piece of music which has gained me a different appreciation of the bass/drum framework on which a song is built and of course the genius of Roger Waters lyrics and thematic creation is self evident but the genius of David Gilmours guitar playing is -I find- more subtle and it takes more time before I realised how tight his playing is because I to develop understanding of it.

Then Katy Perry came along shooting whipped cream from a container screwed to her nipples ...