Controversial opinions on metal

[HamburgerBoy]

Although I try to avoid downloading tons of shit for the purposes of quick, one-time gratification, I don't think there's anything wrong with it in the context of how one enjoys music on its own merits. It's like arguing about whether people should open every chest on the possibility that they will miss a great drop, vs doing what is mathematically the most efficient way of going for the big kills and resetting the map every ten minutes. Whatever works for them.

 

[Funerary_Doom]

I normally listen to albums a fuckton of times, whether I download them or buy them. I agree with what a lot of people already said, sometimes it's harder to catch an entire album in one listen.


I actually do download albums quite a bit (through paying websites and pirate ones) because I attend shows very often and buy a lot of band merch. If I just buy albums I wouldn't have enough money to go to shows and buy patches, t-shirts, and to just check out new music in general. Buying albums for me is for collection purposes only. I actually have a lot of albums I haven't really spun too much, and I'd just download it even though I bought it already. To have a serious physical album collection that takes a lot of space and a good paying job, neither of which I have at the moment.

 

[KafkaX]

I don't know if I fully agree with an album not clicking after one listen...More times than not the first listen to an album shows me what it's about and if I dig it or not. There have only been a few times were the initial listen proved me wrong. Most of the time if an album doesn't fully click on the first round, I know almost always if there is something there that will grow within time or not...

 

[Westsiyeed]

I don't know if I fully agree with an album not clicking after one listen...More times than not the first listen to an album shows me what it's about and if I dig it or not. There have only been a few times were the initial listen proved me wrong. Most of the time if an album doesn't fully click on the first round, I know almost always if there is something there that will grow within time or not...

Agree that it sometimes probably is the case, just depends I guess.

I remember hearing Mastodon for the first time - Crack the Skye - and basically dismissing it after the first listen, cause I didn't like Brett Hinds sort of whiny voice. Then a year later I gave it a few more listens after hearing all the good reviews,and it's now one of my favourite albums (and bands).

But often, especially if it's a (sub) genre you don't like, one listen can be enough...

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I don't know if I fully agree with an album not clicking after one listen...More times than not the first listen to an album shows me what it's about and if I dig it or not. There have only been a few times were the initial listen proved me wrong. Most of the time if an album doesn't fully click on the first round, I know almost always if there is something there that will grow within time or not...

I'll say this, albums that take more than one listen to get usually feel like they take more than one listen to get. Aside from times when I just didn't like the genre and it took a while to just get on board with what they were doing, I don't think I've had very many albums that I went from not liking to liking. If I have a challenging album, I'll give it more than one go. And I always keep a list of heavy-hitters that I'll revisit when I can't find anything new.

I mean, it does kinda depend, y'know? A lot of grind/crust/slam albums don't need multiple listens, but post/black/stoner albums might.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

If anything I think it's easier to tell if it's a genre you do like. If you dismiss an entire style of music, the particular positive features of the album you rejected will have been overlooked because of whatever generalizable features turned you off of it. With a genre you do like, there is no bias against the expected features, and therefore it is easier to look past all of that and decide whether the artists do anything to set them apart.

 

[EternalMetal]

I don't know if I fully agree with an album not clicking after one listen...More times than not the first listen to an album shows me what it's about and if I dig it or not. There have only been a few times were the initial listen proved me wrong. Most of the time if an album doesn't fully click on the first round, I know almost always if there is something there that will grow within time or not...

Well imo new music should bring something new to the table, and occasionally it takes a few listens to be comfortable with the new boundaries that were explored. Sometimes there is a difference between what is actually a good album and something that you enjoy, and this is where the multiple listens of an album may be needed to help you make that decision.

If anything I think it's easier to tell if it's a genre you do like. If you dismiss an entire style of music, the particular positive features of the album you rejected will have been overlooked because of whatever generalizable features turned you off of it. With a genre you do like, there is no bias against the expected features, and therefore it is easier to look past all of that and decide whether the artists do anything to set them apart.

I agree more with what SomeGuyDude said about certain genres being easier to digest than others. Black metal is probably my favorite genre, and plenty of my favorite albums took a few listens for me to fully appreciate it. I was underwhelmed by my first listen of Mütiilation's Vampires of Black Imperial Blood, but once it clicked it easily became one of my favorites. And on a different note, every single one of Devin Townsend's albums took a handful of listens before I was able to properly enjoy them because of his experimental and unique approach.

 

[Nephilim96]

I normally listen to albums a fuckton of times, whether I download them or buy them. I agree with what a lot of people already said, sometimes it's harder to catch an entire album in one listen.


I actually do download albums quite a bit (through paying websites and pirate ones) because I attend shows very often and buy a lot of band merch. If I just buy albums I wouldn't have enough money to go to shows and buy patches, t-shirts, and to just check out new music in general. Buying albums for me is for collection purposes only. I actually have a lot of albums I haven't really spun too much, and I'd just download it even though I bought it already. To have a serious physical album collection that takes a lot of space and a good paying job, neither of which I have at the moment.

I like to go on Amazon and find used albums for 5 bucks or less. You can still collect a lot of albums without paying 10-15 bucks per album.

 

[matt schrauben]

This has positives and negatives. On the positive it makes it so much easier to check out new music and try before you buy (if you choose to buy). But at the same time I think it's created a generation of people who treat music as a much more temporary medium that can be thrown away. Download 20 albums, listen to each one once (or even parts of songs), then delete once done. It can mean that music doesn't really get enjoyed.

This. For me, I listen to an album at least 5 times before I make a solid judgement about it. I've also gone back and listened to albums deeper that I had previously written off. I've come to find I like most of them.

But yeah, your comment here is my gripe with the whole streaming everything online.

 

[matt schrauben]

I like to go on Amazon and find used albums for 5 bucks or less. You can still collect a lot of albums without paying 10-15 bucks per album.

Very, very true. Also, used vinyl is generally cheap as balls.

 

[Funerary_Doom]

I like to go on Amazon and find used albums for 5 bucks or less. You can still collect a lot of albums without paying 10-15 bucks per album.

Well then seems like I've been collecting music all wrong. Will definitely check out amazon for stuff.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

It's not about music being "temporary", it's that there are only so many hours in the day and I don't want to limit myself. Could I sit and spin albums a half dozen times each and let all their nuances sink in? Sure, and for quite a number of them, I do (Come Sleep's "Burden of Ballast" is one that springs to mind).

However, when you're staring into an ocean of music at your fingertips, to me it feels like you're wasting the opportunity when you only listen to a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of them. Is it true that I'm not getting the same intimate experience with most albums? Of course, but the flipside of the coin is that you're not finding nearly as many gems because you don't do as much browsing as I do.

There's no such thing as a "wrong" way to listen to music and I resent the notion that there is. I get more enjoyment out of hearing and discovering new things than I do out of repeated listens. You could say that this means I don't appreciate what I hear as much as you do, but then I could say you're missing out on albums you might enjoy even more than the ones you already have.

 

[matt schrauben]

^Totally agreed. When it comes down to it, we're actually saying the same thing. We just have different methods of enjoying music in a way we consider best suites our tastes. The end result is still the same, really enjoying music.

 

[Kara-Shehr]

Norsecore isn't ALL bad.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I thought that Norsecore was a silly joke genre someone made up. It's an actual thing, even if parody music?

 

[Kara-Shehr]

It is a derogatory term used to describe certain black metal bands but I'm simply using that term so people know what type of bands I'm referring to. So for the sake of avoiding confusion lets pretend it's an actual genre. I'm stating that bands falling into this ridiculous sub genre aren't all bad and I personally enjoy the living hell out of at times.

 

[AtDawnTheySquee]

I like post-metal stuff, like Isis.
I dislike power metal, I find it really boring and cheesy.

 

[sevag00]

Norsecore isn't ALL bad.

True. Sorhin is a good example.

 

[UltimateApathy]

Symphonic Black Metal is WAY better than Black Metal.

 

[Lateralus14]

Liking the sound better is perfectly understandable, but there simply hasn't been a tenth of the quality released under the symphonic black metal genre when compared to Bathory, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal, etc.