First impressions of an album

Goto page 1, 2  Next
View previous topic :: View next topic

Poll: am I throwing away the 'first listen experience' by listening to it in the background?
Yes
66%
 66%  [12]
No
33%
 33%  [6]
Total Votes : 18

Author Message
Xavygravy





  • #1
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 05:58
  • Post subject: First impressions of an album
  • Reply with quote
Recently, I've been doing this thing where I listen to an album in the background whilst I listen to a podcast or audiobook or read.

However, I'm beginning to wonder... could this ruin the album in a way?

Listening to something for the first time is like a mystery.. you don't know what's coming next.
I feel I could be diminishing the impact of the next listen if on the first listen it's only in the background, and I'm not paying full attention to it. What's more, I could be missing out on a great 'first listen' experience by not paying full attention to it.

So basically, you can only listen to an album for the first time once, am I throwing this experience away by listening to it in the background?


Last edited by Xavygravy on 01/14/2012 06:16; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
Jackwc
Queen Of The Forums



Location: Aaaanywhere Sex: Incredible
Canada

  • #2
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 06:00
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
Yes.
_________________
A dick that's bigger than the sun.

Music sucks. Check out my favourite movies, fam:
http://letterboxd.com/jackiegigantic/
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
GARY




Brunei Darussalam

  • #3
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 06:12
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
.


























NO


.
_________________
.
I owe $100,000 and wasted 4 years of my life.

And all I got was this silly hat



.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
mooseboy101



Gender: Male
Location: Geneva
Switzerland

  • #4
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 07:19
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
If you're not giving the music you're listening to your undivided attention, you might as well not be listening to anything at all.
_________________
sig
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
19loveless91
mag. druž. inf



Slovenia

  • #5
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 07:49
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
I do it often. OK I'm not exactly "listening" to other things like you say, but I do other stuff. Of course I do it with intention of listening to it again soon after. The thing is, whenever I listen to something for the first time, I rarely have strong feelings for it, especially if the artist does something out of ordinary - I just can't love (or even hate for that matter) it yet. So for me, knowing what to expect, at least in terms of the general sound, is fairly important. The worst thing is when I listen to something for the first time (giving it undivided attention) and the artist does something which I'm either not expecting or is just in general completely different to what I ever heard before, then I might dismiss this album, often unfairly. Because even with all that in mind, I put it in my subconsciousness that the album just isn't "that good" and I don't listen to it again.

Now if I listen to an album in the background, I won't have much of a negative impression of it (while still knowing what to expect for the second time I listen to it), and if something stands out for me then it's that much better. Maybe not the best example, but I remember when I listened to U2's first couple of albums for the first time. We have vinyls of that at home and I just put them on one after another, while doing some other shit. And there were so many times when I just stopped doing whatever it was (OK I was watching TV probably), and thought to myself.. Damn, this is good. And I checked the cover to see which song was that. I started listening to them a lot after that and they're still one of my favourite bands.

tl;dr - no I don't think it's neccesarily bad that you're multitasking while listening to something for the first time.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
Norman Bates



Gender: Male
Age: 51
Location: Paris, France
France

  • #6
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 09:21
  • Post subject: Re: First impressions of an album
  • Reply with quote
Xavygravy wrote:


So basically, you can only listen to an album for the first time once, am I throwing this experience away by listening to it in the background?


It all depends on what music, I guess. Listening to an ambient album in the background while doing something else, even on a first listen, could make perfect sense.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
Xavygravy





  • #7
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 09:22
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
19loveless91 wrote:
I do it often. OK I'm not exactly "listening" to other things like you say, but I do other stuff. Of course I do it with intention of listening to it again soon after. The thing is, whenever I listen to something for the first time, I rarely have strong feelings for it, especially if the artist does something out of ordinary - I just can't love (or even hate for that matter) it yet. So for me, knowing what to expect, at least in terms of the general sound, is fairly important. The worst thing is when I listen to something for the first time (giving it undivided attention) and the artist does something which I'm either not expecting or is just in general completely different to what I ever heard before, then I might dismiss this album, often unfairly. Because even with all that in mind, I put it in my subconsciousness that the album just isn't "that good" and I don't listen to it again.

Now if I listen to an album in the background, I won't have much of a negative impression of it (while still knowing what to expect for the second time I listen to it), and if something stands out for me then it's that much better. Maybe not the best example, but I remember when I listened to U2's first couple of albums for the first time. We have vinyls of that at home and I just put them on one after another, while doing some other shit. And there were so many times when I just stopped doing whatever it was (OK I was watching TV probably), and thought to myself.. Damn, this is good. And I checked the cover to see which song was that. I started listening to them a lot after that and they're still one of my favourite bands.

tl;dr - no I don't think it's neccesarily bad that you're multitasking while listening to something for the first time.


I kind of agree with this. A lot of albums I have gotten into by having them in my subconscious already (and, as you said, sometimes stopping to see what song was playing because it was really good), and then listening again later, with the impression that it'll be good and knowing what to expect.

However, some you don't really need to 'get', they're just instantly awesome. In those cases, I feel a bit annoyed listening to it in the background and realizing the already-awesome songs would've made so much more of an impact if I was paying full attention to it. This happened today when I was listening to "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs", and I had to stop it half way through because I didn't want to spoil the experience any more.

So it's kind of 50/50. d'oh!
I'll probably just listen to all albums with my full attention, unless it's one of those 'out there'/different albums.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
Xavygravy





  • #8
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 09:27
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
Actually no. 9 times out of 10, it's probably better hearing it in the background / not with full attention first.

This was probably one of very few occasions where a 'first listen experience' was missed, and a great album should remain excellent every time you hear it anyway.
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
RFNAPLES
Level 8


Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA
United States

  • #9
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 09:36
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
No
_________________
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
  • Send email
  • Visit poster's website
RFNAPLES
Level 8


Gender: Male
Age: 75
Location: Durham, NC, USA
United States

  • #10
  • Posted: 01/14/2012 09:37
  • Post subject:
  • Reply with quote
No
_________________
Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by RFNAPLES
Bubbling Under The Top 100 Greatest Mus...y RFNAPLES
Back to top
  • Visit poster's website
  • View user's profile
  • Send private message
  • Send email
  • Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   This topic is locked: you cannot edit posts or make replies.
All times are GMT
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2


 

Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Similar Topics
Topic Author Forum
Sticky: 2024 Album Listening Club MrIrrelevant Music
Album of the day (#4162): First Impre... albummaster Music
Album of the day (#1565): First Impre... albummaster Music
Album of the day (#2646): First Impre... albummaster Music
Genre and Double Album entries on the... RoundTheBend Suggestions

 
Back to Top