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Topic ClosedIs it all about the music - really?
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rogerthat View Drop Down
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Points: 9869 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 02 2010 at 19:23
With regard to album artwork,  is there perhaps some confusion between the act of owning an album and that of listening to the music?  When I pick up a CD with great artwork and find it to be well packaged with detailed liner notes, that does make me feel (provisionally LOL) to have picked up the album.  But, surely, if the album turns out to be a rank turd after that, all that amounts to precious little? On the flipside, I neither like the artwork for Birds of Fire much nor are there any anecdotes about the making of the album on the sleeve, but what an album!  
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sleeper View Drop Down
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Points: 16449 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 03 2010 at 10:31
Personally, it is always about the music and nothing else. Yes, the mood I'm in can have an effect on how I percieve what I'm listening to at that time, though rarely a big effect and will never colour my lasting view of that album/song/whatever, but I will never base my preception of an album solely on the a specific listen. Many is the time that the first listen has only left me with a feeling of OK rather than brilliant but for subsequent listens to boost my perception of the album, or for my initial impreciation to be of the best album I've ever heard, only for a few weeks latter for me to realise the flaws that drop the level of the album.
 
In short, I'm  well aware of the outside factors that may colour my perception of an album, but I will never let a single listening session determine my overall view of an album. I also hardly ever listen to an album for the first time without some clue as to the type of music I will here, I dont buy blind because I dont want to waste money.  
 
I've noticed that a lot of people point to the art work as having an impact on their perception of an album as well, and this is something I just can't get my head around. I can appreciate the artwork, particularly for the way some of it relates so well to the music, but never does it impact upon what I think of the music. They are sperate entities, linked but seperate.


Edited by sleeper - December 03 2010 at 10:36
Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005

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jean-marie View Drop Down
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Points: 2585 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 05 2010 at 17:35
Good artwork or good review can help have a listening or some more listenings but no more, it will not change your mind if the music feets you ,it works if it doesn't, it doesn't.The contrary is thrue too, i remember refusing to listen to prefab sprout cause the name looked too sily, finaly i heard their music to a friend home and felt in love with it and got the whole collection.The real problem is that, today,ther's far too much stuff to listen too, this is what affects our perception
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moshkito View Drop Down
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Points: 16163 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2010 at 21:32
Originally posted by rogerthat rogerthat wrote:

 
....  Ozzy is not such a great singer and yet how many times have I heard people argue him to be better than the incomparable Dio!  This is probably because Black Sabbath carefully wrote music that utilized his voice well.  ...
 
Well said Roger, and I totally agree. But it also says something about the compositional style of the group/band, when they are capable of doing that ... when you have, by comparison today ... bands that state out front that they play "prog" ... and the singer and material is almost totally .... yeah ... and has nothing to do with anything except some person's ideas.
 
Originally posted by rogerthat rogerthat wrote:

Contrast the vocal melodies of Yes and Genesis, soaring and flat in the former and dramatic and expressive in the latter, reflecting the singing style of their respective singers Anderson and Gabriel.  In short, when the vocals are overemotive, ....
 
Add Greg Lake ... same thing in ELP and KC for him ... it's not singing ... it's almost poetry and making sure that you express the point clearly and it gets accentuated with the music.
 
The best example here is Peter Hammill, specially in his early years when so much of the material screams, cries, shouts, talks, whispers ... and the music is bent around the corner to match that emotion ... I can still hear "Bernina -- genuflection in church .... " or "a louse is not a home ..." ... and most people can not understand this at all.
 
It's hard to tell the folks that it is not about the notes or the singing ... it's about the expression and the poem and the words ... and how it comes out ... it comes out.


Edited by moshkito - December 10 2010 at 21:33
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
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sararocksprog View Drop Down
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Joined: October 25 2010
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Points: 47 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 13 2010 at 00:13
Absolute objectivity is unattainable in the material world... but we can always try!
 
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