How many times do you listen to an album?

[Tonestar1]

I fondly remember the days when I had a handful of albums I used to listen to over and over again. Simply because I didn't have the money to buy anything new on my paper round pittance. The upside of this was that a got to know every album I had inside out, knew nearly every key change and lyric. A new album was an event not a bi-weekly occurrence. Now I have far more money, music is far cheaper (relatively) and also far easier to obtain, I don't think I put the same effort into getting to know an album. Unless a new album is by a band I already like or it grabs me straight away I'm far less like likely to put in the time and effort to really get to know every track on the album.

Anyone else find themselves listening to a new album once or twice and just not getting round to listening to it again? Not because you don't like it, just because there is now too much choice and you're too lazy to put in the repeated listens. It's so much easier to try the latest new album and cast the slow burner aside. I'm sure I must have at least 20 - 50 great albums I just haven't invested the time in to get the best out of them.

 

[Singslinger]

Yes I agree. I probably listen to a new cd at most 2-3 times before shelving it for the next bit of musical gratification.

Even when listening to an album, I also find myself not listening to it in its entirety because it's so easy to load only the songs I like onto my iPod or iTunes and to ignore the rest.

Finally, because there are tens of thousands of songs at my fingertips and with the ease of using a remote, I sometimes don't even listen to complete tracks, just the bits I like before skipping!

In the good old days (which interestingly enough are now making a comeback) skipping tracks wasn't a realistic option with vinyl playback, unless one kept getting up from one's seat to change records. So back then I did find myself getting to know my record collection a lot better than I know my digitalised music collection today.

 

[rimbaud65]

Don't think my habits have changed that much. I still have some records that I keep playing because I just can't stop. For instance I listen to Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield on a regular basis, a certain amount of Pink Floyd, like Echoes on Meddle, Tom Waits and quite a few of Bob Dylan albums. On the other hand I have bought second hand vinyl through the years, and through recent years, that I haven't even played yet.

 

[cliffster]

I think I can put it down to the pace of modern life. We have a Denon dm37 in the bedroom and its pretty much on in the background all the time when we are upstairs, but it's usually either the dab or the wifes dance stuff which I think is ok but not really my scene.The only time I ever really get to listen to music of my own choice is in the car, so tends to be the same few Oasis cds played over and over. I've been meaning to sit down with no distractions and listen to some quality music for a long time now but there are so many other options for amusement in the lounge (blu-ray, tv, ps3 cable) Also at the moment the surround sound in the lounge is doubling as the stereo, which is not ideal. Bin meaning to get round to building a dedicated system, If only I can find the time !

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Cliff.

 

[Anonymous]

The great thing about Vinyl is that you do listen to a whole side at a time, even if you don't do the whole album. But yes the shiny and new is a problem.

For CDs, I've ripped everything and I select by Genre then shuffle by song, so it's Jazz one night, Blues the next and World another, etc. That way with 20,000 tracks it's all new.