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Textbook 
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Joined: October 08 2009
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 Topic: The Quest
Posted: May 31 2012 at 06:21 |
This is perhaps more about psychology than music, but I was ruminating on something just now. If a mysterious stranger appeared with a box which they said contained the greatest CD that would ever be produced in my lifetime, specifically the one I would like more than any other album extant in my lifetime, I would turn him away and not want to hear it or know what it was. Why?
Like a lot of people here, I like to quest for new frontiers in music, for the best. If I thought I "knew" I had an album that I would never like more than anything else, it would be the end of that quest. But that's a good thing right? No, because that quest keeps me poking around coming across new forms and experiences and concepts and fragments from the heads of musicians all around the world. I think this is what actually does happen to some of the GENESIS AND YES OR DIE brigade, they've become satisfied that the music they like will never be bettered, which is really quite an awful attitude when you look at it, as it's immune to refinement or a change in circumstances and gives a middle finger to all new artists saying "SORRY DON'T CARE, SCIENTIFICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO MAKE SOMETHING I LIKE MORE." So I hope I never feel like I've found the ultimate album because it would be the end of something that makes my mind expand and educates me about the world and the possibilities of people's creative imaginations.
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Snow Dog
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 06:25 |
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Nostalgia plays it's part. Hard to beat nostalgia.
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Textbook
Forum Senior Member
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 06:47 |
I'm trying to stay out of its deadly clutches. I think it's working too. This may just be baseless self-admiration but I think this approach to art makes me a bit more flexible and accurate as a person. Some people go "This thing here gives me a positive experience which I enjoy. Therefore I shall dwell on it forever because I am afraid that if I venture beyond it, I will not find comparable experiences." This attitude is what is behind people we call fuddy-duddy.
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Jim Garten
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:13 |
 Snow Dog wrote:
Nostalgia plays it's part. Hard to beat nostalgia. |
Nostalgia's not what it used to be, though
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Smurph
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:15 |
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Definitely. I have always strived to search for the album that will give me the perfect experience, but even after I find what I consider the perfect experience, there is always a chance to find better. With music, perfect is not good enough, because you can always push perfect farther. That's the best part about making your favorite music because you can always personally strive to make your own favorite album.
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Slartibartfast
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:31 |
Jim Garten wrote:
Snow Dog wrote:
Nostalgia plays it's part. Hard to beat nostalgia. |
Nostalgia's not what it used to be, though |
Also, nowhere is now here. By the way, for the mysterious stranger scenario, I'd give it a listen and probably not be that impressed.
Edited by Slartibartfast - May 31 2012 at 07:35
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Textbook
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:38 |
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Slarti: Not a possible outcome. In my scenario, the mysterious stranger is correct about how you will feel about the album.
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Epignosis
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Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:52 |
Textbook wrote:
This is perhaps more about psychology than music, but I was ruminating on something just now. If a mysterious stranger appeared with a box which they said contained the greatest CD that would ever be produced in my lifetime, specifically the one I would like more than any other album extant in my lifetime, I would turn him away and not want to hear it or know what it was. Why?
Like a lot of people here, I like to quest for new frontiers in music, for the best. If I thought I "knew" I had an album that I would never like more than anything else, it would be the end of that quest. But that's a good thing right? No, because that quest keeps me poking around coming across new forms and experiences and concepts and fragments from the heads of musicians all around the world. So I hope I never feel like I've found the ultimate album because it would be the end of something that makes my mind expand and educates me about the world and the possibilities of people's creative imaginations. |
I have Tales from Topographic Oceans, but that doesn't keep me from falling in love with multiple masterpieces.
Music isn't monogamy, bud. You can have as many lovers as you want. In fact, the more the better.
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Epignosis
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:55 |
Textbook wrote:
I think this is what actually does happen to some of the GENESIS AND YES OR DIE brigade, they've become satisfied that the music they like will never be bettered, which is really quite an awful attitude when you look at it, as it's immune to refinement or a change in circumstances and gives a middle finger to all new artists saying "SORRY DON'T CARE, SCIENTIFICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO MAKE SOMETHING I LIKE MORE."
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This person gets talked about a lot, but I cannot think of one individual here who exhibits this attitude. And even if they did, it's their prerogative. It isn't like their dismissal of other bands inhibits your enjoyment of them.
But I think this is just a canard.
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Textbook
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:55 |
But if an album was the literal pinnacle of excellence, why would you continue to listen to or search for others?
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Textbook
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 07:56 |
Yes that's right Epig, there's absolutely nobody here at all who sticks resolutely to the prog greats of yesteryear and dismisses out of hand the possibility of liking something new from outside their comfort zone. Come on man.
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Epignosis
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 08:00 |
Textbook wrote:
But if an album was the literal pinnacle of excellence, why would you continue to listen to or search for others? |
Because I like all kinds of music and I appreciate variety and I am a musician and I like writing reviews and I like sharing music with people with different tastes and I am not always in the mood to listen to my favorites.
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Epignosis
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 08:01 |
Textbook wrote:
Yes that's right Epig, there's absolutely nobody here at all who sticks resolutely to the prog greats of yesteryear and dismisses out of hand the possibility of liking something new from outside their comfort zone. Come on man. |
Name five people here. Go on.
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Smurph
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Joined: January 11 2012
Location: Columbus&NYC
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 08:06 |
^My argument might be stupid but I don't think I would search for anything better if the music was SO GOOD that I never wanted to listen to anything else. If there was such intricacies, and I say that my album would have to be a 40 disc box set and cover so many things and have so much going on that I would never be ABLE to listen to anything else if I truly wanted to dissect it... then I would spend the rest of my life trying to make music that good and even knowing I wouldnt make anything that great, it would still be worth the attempt.
But then again, even though I have littered my discography with music that I consider the pinnacle of modern composition, I still LOOOVE listening to things like Alestorm and Rhapsody of Fire because it's like funny joke music. Haha- I listen to music that I KNOW isn't the best simply because I enjoy it. I feel like when you have a certain perspective on music it becomes impossible to think this way.
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ExittheLemming
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Joined: October 19 2007
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 08:10 |
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This whole thread if just a rather long-winded way of saying the race is the prize?
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Stool Man
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Location: Anti-Cool (anag
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 08:42 |
I think that moment of knowing that so-and-so is my Best Album Ever should be reserved for my death bed - knowing it was the best I ever heard in my life. Also, of course, knowing when the best year, the best birthday, the best holiday, the best night, the best lunchtime, (etc) all were.
If I had it revealed unto me that so-and-so would be the best album I'd ever hear in my life, then I would go in search of different criteria for 'best', and I would go in search of variations on that album (including outtakes, live versions, etc), and of course I would go in search of The Best Meal I'll Ever Eat, and The Best Book I'll Ever Read, and The Best Film I'll Ever See, and so froth. Albums are not the be-all-and-end-all of everything.
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rotten hound of the burnie crew
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Equality 7-2521
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 10:37 |
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Even the idea of a best album assumes a static and unchanging preference system which will persist undoubtedly. I doubt the existence of even a best album.
Why would you turn it away though? Music is a search for the best; it's a search for things you find enjoyable. People who have climbed Everest don't stop climbing mountains.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Textbook
Forum Senior Member
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 17:24 |
Equality: Because in the scenario, it is literally a best album. There isn't ever anything going to be better. I understand that's an unrealistic quality, but I'm trying to make a philosophical/psychological point rather than one about an actual best album. Epig: I think we both know that's an attempt to get me in trouble. It's strange though isn't it, to embark on a quest that I don't want to succeed in, that I want to just meander on until my death with no moment of triumph or conclusion. But that's life isn't it, it's why everybody hates it when someone tells them their school days were the best days of their lives, it's awful to know that you've already been the happiest you'll ever be and it's all downhill from there.
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Man With Hat
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Posted: May 31 2012 at 18:38 |
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I doubt I'll ever stop trying to findthe best possible music, even if I find something that I consider the best thing I've ever listened to. (Or given something that is the best thing ever) It doesn't need to be absolutely perfection for me to enjoy a cd or a song or what have you,
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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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The Quest
