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Topic ClosedProg-Does The Recording Year Matter?

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Metalmarsh89 View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 15:12
Originally posted by HolyMoly HolyMoly wrote:

It definitely helps me understand the album better - having it in historical perspective lets you know the context in which it was made.  The country of origin is also helpful to know. 

It's been an unconscious thing all my life, but when I'm listening to something I naturally gravitate towards that line of thinking.  Sometimes if I'm listening to a radio station, and don't know what I'm listening to, one of the first things I'll wonder (or guess at) is when the recording was made.  Then I subconsciously judge it with that in mind.  Some songs are hard to tell.  I can't say whether or not I'm fixated on finding that information, but I am at least naturally curious.


This. First I'll try to spot the band, which would naturally deduce the era for me, otherwise, I will try to figure out the year it was roughly made. The year isn't of utmost importance to me, but I do like to ponder it when I'm thinking about the music, and why the band wrote the music when they did.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 16:19
That's  a good question, and yes, I do think the year matters!
 
1.  The year helps me evaluate how innovative the music is compared to what was being made at the time, and what had gone before.  Is this the first time someone ever composed a 22-minute rock song, or did others do it first?  Is that melody being played like that because only monophonic synthesizers are available at that time?
 
2.  The year helps me better place the instrumentation and melodic vocabulary.  Actually, based on keyboard sounds alone, I can usually guess the year of a recording.
 
3.  The year places the album in Socio-Politcal context.  Vietnam, Watergate, The Iranian Revolution, Star Wars, Reagan, and the advent of the personal computer all had wide-reaching cultural effects which shaped music.  When Yes composes "The Gates of Delerium," an epic about war, what experiences lay behind the music?
 
 
 
sad creature nailed upon the coloured door of time
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 16:41
I'm definitely curious to see what the results would have been if this topic was posed in the form of a poll. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 16:58
Thanks, everybody, for your interesting and thought-provoking comments. Many things you have said i can relate to directly.
        I never wanted to imply that a date is the most important factor, but it is important, and relates the "context", as has been mentioned.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 17:09
Originally posted by Stool Man Stool Man wrote:

It matters a great deal. Context is important, for one thing, as is not being clichéd. If, for example, mellotron intros were old hat in the 1990s, then it makes a difference if the album in question was recorded in the 1990s or in the late '60s.

This almost reads like a parody response. If you couldn't tell from just listening to it, and it sounded cool, that's all that matters. I can tell very easily in 99.99% of cases whether the album is modern or not though.

I like knowing the historical context too, but if it turns out you were fooled by something, and it sounds fresh, you can't then say "oh but its not original, I don't like it now". If you were honest anyway, you'd have to adjust, and admit it managed to be inspired in an old formula.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 20:59
It doesn't matter to the overall quality of the music or how I enjoy it but it is critical to understanding what else was going on at the time, what the available technology was (I'll cut a band a lot of slack if they were using the best equipment available), how it fits into the developmental arc of the bands sound, adding a bit of perspective.
 
I'm sure that ITCOTCK would not rate as highly as it does if it had been recorded in 2001 compared to 1969.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 21:56
It simply could not have been made in 2001.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 22:18
Yeah. Mainly, for me, it's to put it in context of the band's history. For example, if I didn't know that Abbey Road was recorded after Let it Be, then I'd see Let it Be as a very sad farewell from the Beatles, as, as great as the songs are, it still sounds like they had a sh*t time making it, whereas Abbey Road makes a very cheery ending to the Beatles saga, sense not only is it an amazing album, it's also very cheery and stuff.


Edited by smartpatrol - May 28 2013 at 22:20
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 22:52
For me the recording year doesn't difinitively mater to me a lot, but it is important to know. I feel that the timeline should be evident to you with Reagards to a bands yearly markings if you want to keep track of how a band has progressed over the years, and to have an understanding of what sound they were trying to embody because of the year they were in. For instance, 1996 was a big grunge year for music and some bands...even progressive took from the influencial movement of 1996. The 1980's was a time of synth pop and Genesis attached themselves a bit to that movement.

All in all. It's not a necessity to know, but it's good to know. :)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 28 2013 at 23:13
Sure.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 01:54
I love recordings made from 1969 to 1970.
The recording techniques (smaller multitrack recorders possibly means an emphasis on live takes rather than lots of overdubs) and instrumentation (organs, Mellotrons and earlier synths) are pleasing to my ear.
"The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar.... Now, that's my idea of a good time."
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 02:05
I log in by recorded year over release year if I have that information.
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 05:34
It's very important in order to appreciate the work but generally speaking it does not make me like the music any more or less, except for some cases like blatant plagiarisms from a previous work.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:06
Originally posted by freyacat freyacat wrote:

That's  a good question, and yes, I do think the year matters!
 
1.  The year helps me evaluate how innovative the music is compared to what was being made at the time, and what had gone before.  Is this the first time someone ever composed a 22-minute rock song, or did others do it first?  Is that melody being played like that because only monophonic synthesizers are available at that time?
 
2.  The year helps me better place the instrumentation and melodic vocabulary.  Actually, based on keyboard sounds alone, I can usually guess the year of a recording.
 
3.  The year places the album in Socio-Politcal context.  Vietnam, Watergate, The Iranian Revolution, Star Wars, Reagan, and the advent of the personal computer all had wide-reaching cultural effects which shaped music.  When Yes composes "The Gates of Delerium," an epic about war, what experiences lay behind the music?
 
 
 
This
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:11
Maybe if it's a historic album, and it isn't made in 29, because 29 simply isn't 63 - like 88 isn't 72, and if it's on a tuesday, because then I only listen to 79s and 81s perhaps 36. It's all about the numbers. 68.

59
84
76
11
708
9112
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:34

Sleepy

(smart ass Wink)
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:37
I thought about re-quoting your post, but then again we all can't run around and eat gummy bears. Some of us has to go for the liquorice.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:38
LOL


No you ninja'd me there!


Edited by Guldbamsen - May 29 2013 at 06:39
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:39
Lakridspiber that is the thing, and with an important historical hint too.
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 29 2013 at 06:44
Lakridspiber are made of false lakrids!
Lakrids needs to be strong and hot. I hate the sweet stuff - tastes oddly castrated.

Sorry, I know these things are the bee's knees here in DK, and I do really like the looks of em, I've just never been able to enjoy emEmbarrassed 
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

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