Albums you do not get...a plea for help and understanding


So like most of you (I bet), I listen to tons of music.  But there are just some albums I never learned to appreciate.  I hope this thread can serve as a teaching tool.  I did not get Mingus at first but now he is one of my favorites.

Perhaps ending each post with, "What am I missing?" would be a good idea.

I will start with Graceland by Paul Simon.  Most of my friends call me crazy (still after all these years...OUCH that was bad) but I never desire to listen to this record.  I get the African influence and rhythm but it just does not impress me.  Alternatively when Peter Gabriel did the African influence thing I found it stunningly good. Paul Simon as a musician impresses me in his other works.  What am I missing?

bancsee

@bdp24 

 

Personally I love what a well-positioned dim. chord can contribute but tension and resolution is a major aspect in my listening enjoyment. This is not necessarily true for everyone. 

 

 

 

 

 

@16f4 

No, you are most certainly not "imagining" the Dead's off-key singing.

Whether it was unlistenably so, all the time, depends upon one's tastes. 

 

 

 

 

 

@frogman 

Wise counsel. . . and ( speaking strictly for myself, of course. ;o)  ), not so easy to follow.

 

 

Didn't think I'd ever like choral music. (Forced to go to chapel every day as a youth. Twice on Sundays.) Now I think Bach's Mass in B Minor is the pinnacle of Western Civ.

 

The Rite of Spring caused a riot at its premiere and has been jangling nerves ever since. You prolly know it from Fantasia. Here the composer gives his own take.

 

 

I'm also not a big fan of Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town... yeah, a few great tracks but when I put it on I want to take it off before hearing the whole thing. 

I much prefer Born To Run and Wild, Innocent, E-street Shuffle albums, with Wild being my favorite.  Nebraska is great, too. 

And, more recently, The Rising is good, ... better than Darkness.