How familiar are you with your own music collection?

[challenge_everything]

Owning 300 cds is too much.

Whaat? I own about 600, and I don't think even 600 is too much. I would listen to probably 80% of my CDs at least a few times each year. I would say I'm very familiar with 50% (as in - know most of the words, all of the tunes), moderately familiar with 40% (would recognise most of the songs) and unfamiliar with 10%. Generally, if I know I'm not going to like it at all, I don't keep it.

But diversity helps - my collection is probably 40% metal, 20% punk, 20% rock and 20% other (blues, classical, electronic, jazz, reggae).

 

[Matt]

I have 1000+ cd's. Familiar with most because almost all of it's on my comp.

 

[Alter]

I might buy a cd just to listen to it in whole once or twice.

 

[~Derek~]

I need to trade a couple CD's in I got sometime.

 

[Hatebreeder]

I own about 125 metal CDs (and around 30 burned ones), and I tend to be more familiarized with the ones I've purchased rather than the burned ones. Must be a psychological thing.

 

[AchrisK]

Now I'll count my Metal CD's, I only have about 20 Metal CD's, I don't buy as much as a lot of you on this forum do, I buy every month or so, about everytime I go to the Mall. I've bought 4 CD's so far this year.
Deicide-The Stench of Redemption
Vital Remains-Icons of Evil
Satyricon-Now, Diabolical
Six Feet Under-Maximum Violence
I woulda had another one but listening to Deicide kept me busy for 2 months, I loved that CD.
But I'll probably get Nile-Ityllphallic next month or August for my birthday. And I plan on making a black metal order around October and November, getting me some old Satyricon and old Darkthrone.

Although this may sound like metal CD poverty, I actually kinda envy this dude. That's more like it was for me in the early days. You kinda get every bit of enjoyment out of each CD you get. Not that you love every one, but you know exactly how you feel about every one, and you really get to know the ones you love.

 

[Alter]

Although this may sound like metal CD poverty, I actually kinda envy this dude. That's more like it was for me in the early days. You kinda get every bit of enjoyment out of each CD you get. Not that you love every one, but you know exactly how you feel about every one, and you really get to know the ones you love.

I listen to music in a differnt fashion.

My Favorite's. I will listen to these the most and are in regular rotation.
----------------
Interpol's albums
Beatles 1(its a good mix)
Darkthrone'sunder a funeral moon and sardonic wrath
deathspell omega and moonblood split

Then cds that I have just bought or dont listen much

 

[AchrisK]

I listen to music in a differnt fashion.

My Favorite's. I will listen to these the most and are in regular rotation.

Yeah, but I want more and more favorites...

 

[Vossyrus]

I've own about 100 albums, and a ton of albums on my computer so I have no use for burned cds anymore. I still buy albums, but there's always the hassle of finding them or ordering them. I once in a while buy online, but my 'to buy' list is endless so where do I even begin. But I'm very familiar with the albums I own and could probably tell you when I bought them, where and the price.

 

[Dee Snarl]

I've got like 3000 CDs, about half of which are burnt - pretty ridiculous, but there it is. In fairness, all my burns are good, all have covers (many photocopied or downloaded, inside and out), and I have a respectable amount of bootleg/rare music. Probably 15%-25% of my collection is metal, depending on definitions.

I don't listen to music nearly as much this (school) year, when I've been busier than ever before; mostly in the car. I actually have kind of put a moratorium on getting new CDs, but I still have enough catching up to do, and enough keep trickling in, that I mostly listen to brand new (to me) music. Sometimes I'll listen to my CDs in some kind of order, which I enjoy because it does get me to listen to albums that I wouldn't necessarily pick when scanning, but that are cool to listen to anyway.

 

[nissan]

Discovering how great an album really is 6 months later for instance is gold.

chea, i love it when that happens.

 

[nissan]

How bout this: for the sake of this thread, I'm going to listen to an album I never really gave a chance to. Charity feels oh soo good

 

[nissan]

Here's a random question? How many spins before you get bored of a top album?

The most spins I managed to get out of a CD was about 40. The most I've gotten out of a metal CD is like 20 (All Shall Perish - The Price of Existance), but that one is still going strong.

But I agree with AchrisK; I miss the days where I used to get immersed in a CD and just listen to it for weeks on end. Ahh...

 

[BlackMetalTyrant]

I got Sons of Northern Darkness when it first came out and that was the first black metal album I ever bought, I listened everyday for 4 months

 

[Seditious]

I've had about 1200 albums, deleted about 200 intentionally, unfortunately lost about 300, and I have about 800 metal albums at the moment, I'd say a lot of the death and thrash I'm not too familiar with, and some of the recent stuff, so maybe 50%

 

[hibernal_dream]

Here's a random question? How many spins before you get bored of a top album?

If it's a top album it shouldn't get boring.... no?

 

[AchrisK]

How bout this: for the sake of this thread, I'm going to listen to an album I never really gave a chance to. Charity feels oh soo good

Cool, so tell us what albums you spin, and what your thoughts are.

If it's a top album it shouldn't get boring.... no?

Yeah, I still love albums I loved back in the 80's. I just spin them less often. But when I do, I enjoy them.

 

[Koude Haat]

i only have about 60+ cds so i know all of them.

 

[headbanger1547]

I'm familiar with about 1/4 of mine (~11k songs). Another 1/3 I'm acquainted with, and the rest I've all but forgotten about.

 

[skeptik]

This is actually a very simple scenario to respond to, since the answer is very obvious, but I do appreciate the fact that has been brought up. Common sense will tell you that the more CDs you own, the lower the percentage will be of albums that you're extremely familiar with. However, I do not evaluate all albums on the same level of familiarity, as many albums do not require a high degree of familiarity, primarily due to the simplicity of the compositions and ideas, and secondarily due to the subjective analysis of the listener of an album of being less than stellar. These lower class albums I don't believe that I need to be familiar with. For example, I know albums such as Mercyful Fate's Don't Break The Oath and Venom's Black Metal like I know my name because these are among the greatest pieces of Metal ever composed; to understand these albums is to understand where Metal came from. On the other hand, I don't feel the need to understand what drove Vomit's Kittil Kittilsen to pen "Orgie of Piss," and I probably don't really need to know the lyrics either, despite it being an excellent early Norwegian Death Metal song. This boundary between the essential classics and the excellent lower tiers calls for a similarly tiered system of familiarity. For example, I feel that I am familiar enough with, say, Razor's Violent Restitution to be able to get the proper appreciation for it. It is extremely abrupt and upfront in its intent and immediately understood. There is nothing subversive about it and requires no time to "sink in;" rather, it's just a fist-to-the-face all-out Thrash Metal assault. There is not much to be understood, but there is not much that needs to be understood to gain a proper appreciation for the album's intent.

That said, to more directly address the topic at hand, I have approximately 1000 CDs and 50 or so LPs. The LPs do not get a significant amount of play due to the inconvenience of the medium, so I kind of view playing vinyl as a sort of treat. This often leads to an infrequency of play, but also leads to a more intimate experience for each listen. The CDs, due to the sheer number of them, do not find themselves being played repeatedly very often after their first week or so in my possession. It is simply a fact of time and multitude. Many albums simply get shifted back into a pile, not to be played again for years. There are probably a few dozen CDs that I have only played no more than 5 times. While I do do an extensive amount of listening, it is simply impossible to get to everything and give them the proper attention. On the flip side of this unfortunate reality is the wonder of discovering and rediscovering hidden gems within your own shelves. It really is a wonderful feeling when you're hit by a whim to spin an album you haven't seen or touched in quite some time and just be absolutely blown away by what you hear. In some ways, it is even better than discovering a brand new album that blows you away, in my opinion.

All in all, I would wager that I'm very familiar with about 1/3 to 4/9 of my collection, sufficiently familiar with another 1/4, not quite appreciative of maybe 1/8, and the rest have been the victims of overconsumption, having been lost in the shuffle.