Albums that changed your view about the band

Great concept for a thread, I'll be back soon with my own ideas! 

Edited by cstack3 - January 21 2019 at 22:20

Certainly Exit Stage..Left by Rush changed my view on the band. Before that I had only heard New World Man, and based on that, I didn't even consider them a rock band, let alone a good one! My tastes were extremely heavy at the time, though..

Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree, for similar reasons. I'd heard early stuff, which had left me cold, and although I wouldn't consoder myself a huge fan of the band, I regard In Absentia as a classic album, which would probably be in the upper end of my top ten all time albums.

The first group of albums that come to mind were those when my 70's prog favorites drastically tried to change with the times and became something I really didn't like anymore.  Not to say these 'change of direction' albums were all completely awful, and there was still a song here and there that I still was really into, but with these albums I dropped from regularly loving 80% or more of the songs on the band's albums to 20% or less 

Edited by The Anders - January 22 2019 at 13:47

Many changed my opinion for the worse, especially in the 80s when great bands were selling out faster than super bowl tickets.

Talk Talk: Spirit of Eden.

Anyway, both brave, if only because it means selling less records and losing part of your audience.

micky wrote: I must be a strange bird...  I thought about this for a bit and you know. I can't think of a single damn instance. Sure some bands went downhill.. some did sh*tty albums... some improved as they went.. some did great albums. Perhaps having an understanding that creativity is a very finite element and 99.9 of most bands will change styles and sounds as they go can keep one from thinking about how single albums might change an opinion of a band. It really is silly if one things about it to base an opinion, much less change one based on a single album.  It is whole of their output which should be the basis of one's opinion of a band.

I may well be talking at cross-purposes as I'm too tired to parse your post well.

I sometimes say that I'm not a fan of bands generally so much as releases/ music by certain bands. My opinion of a band has more to do with the music I love by the band than the whole output. Many bands which I would say that I love, I haven't even heard the whole output.

There have been various cases where I've first heard music that didn't resonate with me for whatever reason, and then I heard other music later that I did like, and my appreciation opened up. In various cases I grew to enjoy the music I had first heard -- sometimes an album that is accessible to you at a given time can help you to appreciate more material.

Its not about the inherent quality of the music for me commonly, it's just about taste and inclination (and my tastes can change somewhat on a daily basis). Sometimes I just heard music at the wrong time in my music journey, and had I heard it later or in a different mood I might have enjoyed it.

Getting back to my experience of Thinking Plague, my first TP album In Extremis is the highest rated album, but it just didn't click for me, but then when I got the earlier material I could say that I really did appreciate the band, and I could appreciate In Extremis more than I did.

For another one that I should have mentioned in my last post: Tangerine Dream's Phaedra was my first Tangerine Dream album and it didn't click, but then I got Electronic Meditation (years later) and I loved it immediately. I then got Alpha Centauri, Zeit, and Atem and loved those. I would say that I loved pre-Phaedra Tangerine Dream. I then got Ricochet and loved that, then other 70s albums, and then I found that I really liked Phaedra but thought I didn't like 80s Tangerine Dream. Then I found that I liked plenty of 80s Tangerine Dream. I still haven't heard most Tangerine Dream, but I feel like I love and know enough to call myself a fan, and getting into those other albums really did change my perspective on the band. That said, I never thought that TD was poor. Doesn't matter if I don't know or like everything that TD has done, my perception shifted as I explored more and more music. Overall it's been more of an evolution, but hearing Electronic Meditation was a revelation to me which opened up TD doors and opened up doors to more music period (I've long loved electronic music, but TD got me exploring more related music).

Opeth Heritage

^^^ Please excuse any digressions. We’re changing constantly. We are literally not identical to the person we were a second ago even if it seems so. Even the seemingly most petty things affect us and create new neural pathways. Some experiences, though, are more transformative, and affect our psyches more obviously, than others. There is a relationship between the listener and the music of course, and each listener is important as every person filters the music differently. We all bring our own experiences and associations into the listening process. what the band has to offer is important in how it affects us as individuals, and the paths that lead from it. Will you choose Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra or Isao Tomita's The Bermuda Triangle. The choice is yours (not that I believe in free will/ agency . How much will it ultimately affect your Bandersnatch progress, well not much. I do think that one man’s treasure can be another man’s turd, and what resonates with an individual depends on a whole host of environmental and heredity factors) and what one appreciates at one time one might not appreciate at another time. Hermeneutics and audience reception aesthetics is an interesting topic. Each listener brings their own meaning to the music, and has a different experience, and that is important on the individual level. Change is inevitable where we like it or not, though some are more resistant to change than others. I believe in trying to keep an open mind, be ultimately agnostic on all things, and be open to new evidence. My perception has often perceptibly shifted when hearing new music by a band, and have gained a new appreciation. Do I feel empty inside, yes, so I do try to fill up that void with things such as music, films, novel, podcasts. I do wish that I were more creative and was making content that others would enjoy and would give me some more self-esteem. Hearing more material (be it new-to-you albums or songs)can perceptibly alter one’s life view, and give greater insight into the artistry, but ultimately there’s your peculiar perception of the artistry, and it’s not a global, absolute truth, but phenomenally subjective.

We may think about what the music, novel, whatever brings to us Id rather say bringing than offering) and whether we think about that or not, it is bringing us something, but we are also bringing something to the music on a personal level that is unique and special. The creators matter and the audience matters, it’s an interesting relationship.