Tarquinh:....why else would we have the Fleetwood Macs or the Eagles of this world? Or even Pink Floyd, nestling in their little musical dead end.
Indeed. I would struggle to enjoy anything much from the above. (Although FM did some decent blues in their early years.)
However, of the many friends, colleagues and family members who have enjoyed the bands you mentioned, none of them ever bought them to 'show off'
their stereos.
I have never been into very 'cerebral' music like Pink Floyd because I am not very cerebral myself
(I prefer happy music and get depressed listening to PF for more than 10 minutes on my own.) I am just a sucker for anything you can dance to (Reggae, Ska, Soul, Funk, Big Band, Pop) and cheesey old pop from the 1950s - 1970s. Even Abba on a bad day! I don't 'get' heavy metal or heavier rock. (All the
camp posturing and pouting and the leather pieces and studs etc. What IS that, and why does it have to be so damned loud?)
Strangely (for me) I got into Be-Bop style jazz a few years ago and then really 'lost it' by buying stuff like Sinatra at the Sands (with Count Basie) and all sorts of 'crooner' stuff like Andy Williams, Matt Munroe, Nat King Cole etc.
My classical tastes are very narrow and light. (No symphonies or Opera at all) Mostly Baroque or Tudor and mostly vocal (The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars) and also tend towards Handel, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart (Motets especially).
Having said all that, my first love is drama and documentary/spoken word on radio. (Especially history) and this kind of radio (BBC R4, R7, World Service especially) takes up most of my system's playing time.
Drama/Docu CDs now account for about 50 percent of my CD collection and about 80 percent of my iTunes.
I could not buy a CD/download
just because it had an exemplary recording. I don't know how that works. (In this I agree with the Uber-Fahnsen.)
However, I really don't care what other people choose to enjoy (or not) or how it was recorded, or whether they are playing it for 'audiophile' reasons or simply to enjoy a bit of a boogey with the missus, solo air guitar thrash session, or a 'Stars In their eyes' wannabe mime in front of the mirror with a hairbrush 'mike'
Well that's enough from me. I am off to mime to
The Singing Nun and leap around a bit to
'I love to Boogie' and go bomb an airfield with Blur
in my Tornado. WoooHooo!! (Possibly the best opening line in a single ever.)