Dominant musical driver - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

RoundTheBend

I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Was thinking about how different strokes for different folks usually ends up being because as they identify their musical essence, they can kinda sum it up in a certain primary driving force of what they like about it.

Of course there are multiple and the world is not black and white, but if you were to have to choose a primary musical driver in you, what would it be?

For me I've noticed it is more about melody and rhythm than most anything else. Of course there are other factors, but it really doesn't eargasm without solid melody and rhythm. Which of course is a bit vague, and of course there are other factors.

An opposing, possibly last, factor is the lyrics. Most people don't sing about terrible things or more importantly don't have the intent to do so. They are more than likely reflecting their humanity and few people are that evil. I guess what I mean is I don't feel too judgy about the lyrical content. Now, if I feel like they are annoying/non-musical or if they really are cringe-worthy (thinking mostly of something like Lennon's Run For Your Life).

Jameth

I voted other because there’s no option for harmony. Harmony, rhythm, and the portrayal of emotion are the elements that hit me the hardest. I don’t respond well to threadbare melodies or rhythms, but such responses are often overridden by the other elements you mentioned.
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guzguzgarbit

Book Of Noraia

Age: 26

I think it would be the sounds. I think there are some combinations of frequencies used in a music that simply have more impact on me...
But at least structure and/or melodies/rhythms are usually needed in addition.

Other things can also make up for some music I enjoy, so it's hard to pin down something precisely.

saltfish

Timbre

And then I have to at least appreciate the movement I hear

LedZep

Any of these (plus the options mentioned by others) can be a deciding factor for me. I don't usually care about lyrics as much, but then again I have Sun Kil Moon as the best 2010s album... The trick is that the album succeeds at what it's trying to do, be it great melody, fantastic voice/lyrics, straight up bangers, emotionally impactful, great production, lots of sounds, noise, harmony, timbre or something else. It can combine multiple approaches, it can stick to just one (for example great singer/songwriter with the voice and lyrics as the driving force). The important thing is that the musician(s) know what they're doing, and they do it well.
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2020s

Skinny

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LedZep wrote:

Any of these (plus the options mentioned by others) can be a deciding factor for me. I don't usually care about lyrics as much, but then again I have Sun Kil Moon as the best 2010s album... The trick is that the album succeeds at what it's trying to do, be it great melody, fantastic voice/lyrics, straight up bangers, emotionally impactful, great production, lots of sounds, noise, harmony, timbre or something else. It can combine multiple approaches, it can stick to just one (for example great singer/songwriter with the voice and lyrics as the driving force). The important thing is that the musician(s) know what they're doing, and they do it well.

Pretty much this.
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Repo

BeA Sunflower

Location: Forest Park

LedZep wrote:

Any of these (plus the options mentioned by others) can be a deciding factor for me. I don't usually care about lyrics as much, but then again I have Sun Kil Moon as the best 2010s album... The trick is that the album succeeds at what it's trying to do, be it great melody, fantastic voice/lyrics, straight up bangers, emotionally impactful, great production, lots of sounds, noise, harmony, timbre or something else. It can combine multiple approaches, it can stick to just one (for example great singer/songwriter with the voice and lyrics as the driving force). The important thing is that the musician(s) know what they're doing, and they do it well.

Yeah. We have a winner, folks!

Spyglass

Resident Metalhead

Gender: Male

Location: The red dot on the map

It's not any of the listed drivers, but all of them are partial reasons for my main driver: discovery. The only reason I listen to music is to try new things. I'll easily spend twenty times as much of my free time looking for a new album to listen to instead of listening to one I love. This attitude of mine makes me feel especially happy towards experimental and progressive music.
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RoundTheBend

I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

LedZep wrote:

Any of these (plus the options mentioned by others) can be a deciding factor for me. I don't usually care about lyrics as much, but then again I have Sun Kil Moon as the best 2010s album... The trick is that the album succeeds at what it's trying to do, be it great melody, fantastic voice/lyrics, straight up bangers, emotionally impactful, great production, lots of sounds, noise, harmony, timbre or something else. It can combine multiple approaches, it can stick to just one (for example great singer/songwriter with the voice and lyrics as the driving force). The important thing is that the musician(s) know what they're doing, and they do it well.

Oh for sure. I agree this is the key to it all.

I was looking for more if one particularly sticks out to you, but it sounds like the answer is no?

It's less about the medium, rather more with execution, with which I'd totally agree with.

I guess part of the reason I'm asking is I've noticed people do something like, oh wow, that was really well executed, but I hated it because of the lyrics (which I suppose means to them it wasn't well executed), and so they completely disregard something they otherwise would've liked.

Or I've noticed some people ignore rhythm... like my sister is totally "tone deaf" when it comes to hearing bass. Or I've seen people change tracks when it's "too rhythmic". It seems like some people gravitate often to a "perfect chair" of music, so to speak.

So while I agree with your statement - music can't just be simplified to a single thing and shouldn't be (how boring would that be), I have a tendency to look at melody (by which I meant harmony/timbre as well - thanks for clarifying) and rhythm (which by the way in my mind ties so greatly to harmony, I didn't think to separate at 1000k feet - should've maybe used timbre, which although speaks more to the tone a note is played in instead of the note itself, in my mind also ties really well into the same concept to me - "nice" sounds=timbre/harmony/melody... and nice in quotes because taste).

Sorry for having a crappy OP to not explain well. Still great answers.

Also sorry for the parenthetical statements/stream of consciousness.

I guess what I'm saying is the brain is often looking for short cuts - what is your short cut, in spite of knowing better?

RoundTheBend

I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Spyglass wrote:

It's not any of the listed drivers, but all of them are partial reasons for my main driver: discovery. The only reason I listen to music is to try new things. I'll easily spend twenty times as much of my free time looking for a new album to listen to instead of listening to one I love. This attitude of mine makes me feel especially happy towards experimental and progressive music.

I'd like to think this isn't true of me, but haven't really been able to stop listening to "new to me" music since I've joined this site. Initially it was supposed to be about new music discovery, but then realized I'm boring, so I decided to discover music of the past and thought I'd be done... after 9 years... nope... haha.

I liked Tap's approach in spreadsheet form to try and balance it out... to make sure to re-listen to stuff.