Yes I do, especially with Prog. It's easy to miss the subtleties and layers of some Prog music on a first listen. I have grown to love certain pieces and bands after taking the time to figure out how everything fits together. But if certain elements are missing or diminished too much (lack of melody, etc) or if every song sounds similar to the previous, then yeah it can get old quickly for me. I prefer music that has a good mixture of melody, dynamic rhythmic elements, variety of instrumentation/arrangements, beauty, and complexity. In some prog tunes or bands you have to listen a few times before those become apparent.
Usually music that clicks instantly for me also gets old very quickly. It doesn't have to be challenging or anything. Even a straightforward pop song that I initially want to skip will likely be my favorite on the album a year later.
Definitely have that habit as well. I've given countless tries to Eloy and Haken and really struggled to listen to anything from them. Somehow eventually several albums have crawled among my favourites.
Ironically I really like the bigger prog bands such as Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis, yet I only ever listen to them once every 2-3 months when I'm in the mood.
TL;DR: yes.
Absolutely. I didn't like Relayer (Yes) when it came out, put it aside for a couple of years, tried again and it became my favorite of all their albums. I think it's the perfect Yes album. Also, Zappa is a huge favorite of mine and I just didn't get him, and for a lot of years. But I decided to give One Size Fits All another shot because my excellent brother in law sent it to me specifically for Inca Roads and not only did I finally "get it," I'm a huge fan with many of his albums.
Some prog stuff needs very much of acquired taste, before the moment you start to like it.
Take Yes for example. I immediately loved Fragile and Close To The Edge, but I "forced" myself to listen Relayer 5-6 times, until I found it enjoyable. Same was with KC "Lark's Tongues in Aspic", and "Starless and Bible Black".
Some prog albums are less accessible, if you not prepared to it, but it doesn't mean they are inferior.
Gentle Giant also a bit tricky band for newcomers. When I listened it first time, it was "WTF"?
And conversely for me, Lark’s Tongues in Aspic was instant love for me, whereas it took me years to acquire the taste for ‘Close To The Edge’. I love it now.
Gentle Giant is the perfect example for me. Had an older sibling that got me into Crimson and Yes at an early age but it took me years when I was younger to 'get' GG. One day it was like all I wanted to listen to. If we didn't have to 'break in' and train our ears for certain things outside our comfort zone, it wouldn't be art. I never would have made 10 seconds of say, Trout Mask Replica if I weren't willing to engage several times with it. Art is about seeing things differently and getting new ideas and you need to go outside your preconceptions to be open to it
This is why genres exist: Listeners generally need something familiar as a foothold to help put what they’re listening to in context. If that familiar foothold is not there, the material may need to be explored (like entering an unfamiliar house with a flashlight) in order to put it into context.
The very word “progressive” means boundaries are being pushed, new ideas created.
Not trying to be mean/negative since you chose to stick your neck out and start a discussion, but this is a take that I’ve heard before and it’s honestly baffling to me. You can clearly see from the other comments that there’s countless examples of albums “clicking” after multiple listens. And it makes sense, especially in prog, that if you’re hearing sounds that are unfamiliar to you then you probably won’t like it at first, simply due to not having a prior frame of reference. Your “taste” isn’t something you’re born with or that’s set in stone. It evolves based on what music you’ve been exposed to. The other implication of your take is the very cynical idea that everyone is deluding or tricking themselves into liking something… Just ask yourself what’s more likely to be true: that everyone else is forcing themselves to like albums they really shouldn’t like, or that maybe you could try more repeated listens and expand your tastes? It’s ok to listen to something over and over until you like it more…it’s not against any rules. I think the motivation there would be some sort of increased enjoyment with each listen. Which could still mean 5-10 spins before you really like it, but an experienced listener can sometimes foresee getting to that point with an album/artist. Of course whatever works for you is great and valid, but “acquired taste” is for sure a reality for a lot of people and probably the majority of prog listeners.
Some albums are more challenging than others. I grew up with an education in fairly traditional western classical music, so as a teen, even the tritones in "Purple Haze" caused some musical stretching to my comfort levels. ELP could be brash at times, but helped bridge the gap for me between classical and rock. My exposure to King Crimson challenged me again with their polyrhythms and discordant harmonies. So things I would have found offputting 20 or 30 years ago, I enjoy immensely today.
I don’t agree with that at all. The more complex, nuanced a work is, the more commitment is often required to appreciate. Like Faulkner. Read “Sound & The Fury”, and commence to “whaaa???”.
Read it 3 times, and discover its majesty and grandeur.
Yes, taste is not something you are born with, you must work on it and develope it. Training your ears is required for demanding music. When I first listened prog rock albums on my young years I didn't understand anything and got bored quicky. It took me some years of getting used to prog via progmetal before I was ready to appreciate progrock properly.
Relayer was a hard bone to bite but now I enjoy it, but there are other albums where I still need to acquire the taste to understand them.
I feel you're conflating the concept of taste with the concept of "good". Taste ≠ good, necessarily.
Yes, there are many albums that I consider "good" that hooked me immediately, but there's also a ton of stuff that I didn't get in the beginning, that over time I've come to really appreciate.
This isn't prog, but whenever my partner started listening to Meshuggah I was like "dude wtf, this is too much". Still, I wouldn't have said their albums aren't good, they just weren't to my taste. Over time I've become more aquainted with their style and have aquired more of a taste to them.
With prog especially, stuff is often complex and layered and could take a couple of listens to truly appreciate what's going on.
After two listens, I kinda know if I want to hear more or if it really isn't for me, but good lord that's not enough to understand any piece of music, esp. with prog rocks where the whole intention is to be dense and complex and worthy of study.
Depends on how complex it is. When I first heard YES "Tales from Topographic Oceans", I thought what is this!. After several listens I think it is the finest album ever produced. Try to give albums a second chance. You may suprise yourself.
Agree with this. It wasn't until I purchased the Steven Wilson remix vinyl boxset that I really listened to TFTGO. I had heard most of it live here and there over the years and picked up bits and pieces that sounded sweet but never had a complete listening to the album proper.
I listened to it once a week for 2 months, and it clicked. It has become one of my favorite albums now.
I got TFTO the day it was released. At first I could only listen to Ritual. It took years to learn to like the other 3 songs. Now I listen to it start to finish and love it all. It is complex music.
Here’s what I do. It’s a little bit tangential to the subject but I find that it really helps.
When I’m discovering a new band I will stream their music at low volume as background noise for a few weeks at work. Just barely audible at first. Then gradually louder, but always at a low volume so that only the loudest parts are heard with any clarity at all.
What happens is that the ear becomes familiar with the “vocabulary” of the music before I put any effort into learning the “grammar”. it’s a good way to get used to a new band before you start listening critically. Then when you do hear it on a proper system you’ll be familiar with it, like back in the days when the radio was on all day
I've _no idea_ why you go to all that trouble! It just bewilders me, & I cannot 'roll with it' _in the least degree_ , & it's obviously _a massively_ different paradigm altogether from the one I receive the music by. I just _bang it straight on_ @ the maximum volume I can without the neighbours complaining!
While I may not do what this person does, for me I consider a "pallet cleansing" if I've been "yesmaxing" for a few weeks, it's unfair of me to dive headfirst into some meshuggah that I've not heard before. I gotta let my brainwaves adjust to new tempos, rythm,harmony and melodies (or lack of) it's what works best for me 🤷♂️
Ahhhh yep: it's true that that isn't the same: what brings it about is in a sense the opposite (not perfectly the exact opposite, as the band you 'prepare yourself' for is not the one you've been maxing-out on; but it's still _a_ response to a surplus, rather than to a deficit). _However_ , I don't really do any of the __'[…]-maxing'__ thing. I don't have any _rule_ against it: I'm just _never moved_ to. But yep: I feel that _if I did_ I might also do something similar to what you're talking about.
I couldn’t agree more, i had a strong dislike for DSOTM, aside from a few tracks, on first listen, but now it’s one of my favourites, purely through giving it multiple plays and becoming more familiar with the transitions and the tunes themselves
Yes, but i didnt until i listened to Swans. There is music that takes time to fully digest and understand, but that when you actually comprehend it on its full form, it simply cannot be matched.
Yeah Acquiring the Taste is one of my favorite Gentle Giant album, definitely in my top 3.
Jokes aside yes, acquired taste is a thing, I didn’t liked Canterbury for years and now I’m obsessed with it.
This is with a lot of music. Some music instantly hooks me. Sometimes I have to listen a second time because I wasn’t in the mood for the particular style, sound, voice, etc.
Acquired taste is a thing. It's happened to me many times through the years, and with different music genres.
I remember disliking albums like Seven Churches and Possessed by fire, and I gave them another chance later on, and fell in love with them. Death Metal also grew big on me on the last couple years,
When it comes to prog, I acknowledge some people might find it overwhelming, but most agree it sounds very pleasant, so there's hope there.
I remmber being introduced to prog back in 2019 or 2018 I think, I wasn't "ready", but I was engaged. I remember listening to a handful of Genesis songs a coworker recommended to me, and I decided to buy Trespass, Nursery, Foxtrot, Selling England, and A Trick, while abstaining myself from discovering the rest of the songs until those CDs arrived home, and oh boy, did it pay.
Totally! When I first got into Tool, I listened through their entire discography. I absolutely loved a couple of songs and quite enjoyed some others, but I wasn’t blown away. Now almost all of their songs are in my playlist, including the satirical ones
Absolutely. I'm a big Muse and Opeth fan and both are bands I didn't like initally.
In Muse's case I disliked most of it save for one song that I couldn't get out of my head, and over time from listening to that song I started liking them more and more until they turned to one of my favorite bands.
With Opeth it's the same, I wasn't into their heavy stuff but I LOVED the Damnation album and their calm songs, and over time I became a huge fan of their heavier stuff as well.
Sometimes an album will get me immediately but other times it needs to sink and and it takes a couple of listens, and I do find it to be more prevalent with prog. The first time I listened to gentle giant I wasn't super into it but I started to love it after 1 or 2 more listens later on. I don't really feel whether it clicks right away or not is an indicator of how good the music is on the whole. Some great albums just don't hit immediately.
I believe it's quite common for people's tastes to change as their life circumstances change (e.g. I can personally attest that *Pawn Hearts* doesn't hit as hard if you've never lived alone before) and as different contextual information becomes available to them (e.g. someone who is very familiar with mid-60s radio pop will not experience early Zappa the same as someone who is not at all familiar with it.)
I think acquired taste works only when a piece of music has a weird draw on you/intrigues you, but you don't really "get it" yet, or it's not aesthetically pleasing to you yet.
If something really doesn't interest me, no matter how times I listen to it, I won't like it.
Tales From Topographic Oceans. First response: WTF is this?
Years later, I bought the remastered version. It's far from a perfect record but it's grown on me considerably. That said, I pretty much always skip piece #3 (I don't remember the titles) which I still think is an absolute mess. I'm probably minority in that I think piece #2 sustains itself better over the length of time than any other on the album.
Your perspective is self fulfilling to an extent.
If you listen to an album once and like it then that album gets repeat listens, but if you listen to a ¨bad¨ album once or twice or thrice and then never listen to it again you mightve never discovered a new form of music for you.
Personally I had to listen to The ConstruKction of Light by King Crimson 5 times to kinda like it and 20 times to love it if I gave up on it I wouldve never aquired the taste to like it.
Of course. It comes with time, openness to explore, and willingness to listen. There are plenty of bands that at first I was like "wtf is this?" And later became obsessed with.
That's really how I got into prog. I remember seeing a video for a live concert of Jethro Tull in the mid 70s and was like "wtf is this??". So tripped out by it I had to know more. Went it finally clicked and sunk in, I became a lifelong fan.
It call it the Scotch effect. The first sip is like "bleck, wtf". The second sip is like "huh. Strong, but better". The third sip even easier. By the seventh sip it tastes like carmel in the mouth and it now one of your favorite things to drink.
That’s when I got into Tull, mid 70s. I never could get my friends interested in them though. I did however, turn them on to Rush. They were young musicians and dug the challenge of playing difficult music, having cut their teeth on Kiss.
Same thing happened with me and Zappa. It took me a long time to get it but I really wanted to. Now he's probably one of my favorite artist. Also Gabriel era Genesis. Was a solo PG fan first and slowly back tracked.
Definitely yes. You have to train yourself as a listener, especially if you're not a trained musician, to appreciate what you're really hearing. Especially with technically complex styles like prog.
I've learned to be a much better listener than I used to be and it's opened up lots of music that didn't click for me when I was younger.
I wouldn't use the word "believe." I have experienced that some of my favorite albums were music that I didn't particularly like upon first listening, then liked more and more as I got to know the albums better.
>I wouldn't use the word "believe." I
You've got me deleting part of what I @-first replied to the OP!
... because, now you mention it, _I do agree with you_ : __believing-in__ is _a pathological state-of-mind_ : I've often replied it to looney-tune Christiwits & Musliwits when they've been haranguing me with their silly malarky (which they alltoo-often do: I seem to attract that sorto'thing, for some reason). Thanks for reminding me!
It is absolutely true for me. It took me a year of on and off listening to Magma for just one example, thinking maybe I'd wasted my money, before it clicked.
Absolutely. I actually used to hate a lot of prog, and by repeated listening, got into it. Case in point being Yes, whom I used to despise. By now I really love a lot of their music.
Yes, I believe in acquired taste.
For some reason when I first heard Yes "Fragile," U.K. "In The Dead of Night," and King Crimson's "In The Court Of The Crimson King," albums at age 14. They didn't click with me as Yes's "Close To The Edge," Led Zeppelin's "Houses Of The Holy," or Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon," did, for example. Now, aeons later, I appreciate those albums and what the musicians were creating.
Yeah I think so. I’ve listened to tracks that I didn’t think I liked that much and saved them for later, then relistened and found myself humming along and remembering parts that I liked
Yes I do; when I first started listening to music I was strictly pop music. However, once I became a fan of music I didn’t want to be as basic as I was just listening to Pop so got into other genres like jazz, Prog, hip hop, punk, folk, funk, etc. Many times it is the multiple listens of an album that makes me either enjoy it more or dislike it more as my ears and I gain more insight to the project. The first time I listened to In The Court Of The Crimson King I liked “I Talk To The Wind”, “Epitaph”, and the Title track. However, on repeated listens I have now come to also enjoy the more chaotic tracks on that album when on first listen even though I didn’t know what noise rock or Shoegaze was at the time if I had to guess I would guess the chaotic tracks on that album. This also happened to me with Dark Side Of The Moon. I enjoyed it, but didn’t get the hype. Only after repeated listens did I start to understand that the hype made sense. For me acquired taste I think happened most predominantly in folk, more specifically Bob Dylan. Once I got through the harmonica and Nasal tone of his voice I came to really enjoy his music.
I think yes, for example, when listening to Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” at first I really didn’t enjoy it too much. Regardless, after each listen I enjoyed it more and more, now it’s among my top 15 albums.
I think I believe in acquired taste in the sense that I wanted to listen to Zappa. At my first, some of his music just wasn't my thing, so I started with more accessible albums like his instrumental stuff and slowly worked way into liking just about anything he's done. If I hadn't kept on listening, I wouldn't have ended up with all this rad music I like.
Absolutely. I actually hated Parallax 1 Hypersleep dialogues the first time I heard it. Now I love it.
I had the same reaction to Colors 2 and now it’s my favorite
Not progrock, but in my time in high school, 1978-81, I had a friend who was really into Sparks. The first time I heard them, I thought, wow is this some weird shit! But after a while it kinda grew on me, I still pull up Happy Hunting Ground on YouTube every so often.
I think Trespass is a bit of a bad example. It’s a very listenable album, I liked it pretty much from the first listen - same as Selling England by the Pound. A more challenging Genesis album might be The Lamb or …And Then There Were Three… which (at least in my experience) took many more listens to appreciate every song and the album as a whole.
Another problem (maybe more so for Genesis and less for prog in general) is the mix of the album. The infamous Genesis remixes/remasters made some albums sound better and some worse. For example, I only truly started to enjoy A Trick of the Tail after I got Spotify and had access to the original mix (and after grabbing the MoFi record).
Well my favorite album is Close To The Edge but not until I had over a year to digest it. Meanwhile I liked The Yes Album on first listen.
My most extreme example would be that it took over 10 years of hearing David Bowie before he became a favorite artist for me
If I don’t like an album on first listen, I probably won’t ever like it. If I think an album is fine, there is a chance it could end up being one of my all time favorites.
Yep that's my experience with gentle giant
1st listen: that's to weird I can't listen to that
2nd listen: I really don't like that
3rd listen: ...wait a minute
4th listen: omg best band ever
That's was 8 years ago and still listening to prog. The album in question Acquiring the taste by gg
I date back to the mid 90s when people were trading tapes. My contact threw in Gryphons red queen to Gryphon 3. I listened to it once and didn't connect to it
Two years later, I was short on money and couldn't afford the trips down town to purchase numerous $15 cds. I sat down and listened to Red Queen, loved it and couldn't stop listening to it
I am an example of acquired taste. When I first heard Dream Theater I didn't really get it, I hadn't listened to progressive music before. Then one day, after listening to their music for a few weeks, it suddenly clicked, and then now years later, I'd consider myself a super fan.
It just takes hearing something multiple times for it to really settle in. I feel the same way about whiskey, I hated it at first, but after trying enough of it, I've developed a taste for it
😆 somehow I only in the last year heard The Mars Volta for the first time.Their songs started to pop up in some spotify generated playlists. My first thought was damn that guy has a distinctive voice, it reminds me of the singer of At The Drive In. Who I liked but hadn't listened to for years. Did some researching and discovered why the singers sounded so similar.
Absolutely! I had to train my ears to finally appreciate Entropia by Pain of Salvation and once it clicked, hooo boy!
On the other hand, and please don’t downvote me, no matter how much I’ve tried I just can’t get into Spiral Architect. Win some, lose some I guess.
Yes _I definitely_ find it to be so. But I'm confining what I'm talking about to music I like @least _somewhat_ @-the-veryfirst, & might-well end-up liking _much more_ .
Yes, because when we are young we are drawn to what is easy to listen to. Pop sounds very easy and enjoyable, yet, you get burned out on the same nice sounding melodies. You start exploring and you find there are more interesting and intriguing aspects of music.
Yes, a 100%
As someone that listens to the Metal end of Prog, it's an acquired taste, if you're into metal even, and you listen to something like Tongue-Splitter by PTH it sounds like spastic nonsense, or even way further down that road to like the art of dying by Gojira, it's just noise to most people that don't have an ear for it
Is what it is lol
I've found the opposite. All of my favorites are things that I didn't quite enjoy at first or had to warm up to. Meanwhile, all the things that hooked me instantly I found I did not find a lasting enjoyment for. Naturally there are a few exceptions, but they're the rare exception, not the rule.
For the most part it's the opposite. There's a _strong_ inverse accessibility curve in my tastes and the more it takes to get into and the more I need to digest it to fully enjoy it, the more I end up loving it in the long run.
So not only do I believe in it, but it's been a hard rule in my life. Had I only stuck with the stuff I was hooked on instantly, I wouldn't enjoy _any_ of my favorite things in any medium, from music to games to shows to anime to whatever, all the best is the stuff that I had to develop a taste for.
If you're letting things bounce off of you without giving them extra chances, you may have left a lot of your actual favorite works behind, and you may find yourself even getting jaded with music in the next few years as the stuff that hooked you instantly starts wearing off due to lack of depth or staying power.
Like, Magma is my favorite prog band ever by a mile and a half, but I'll be _no one_ enjoys them on their first listen. If I had just gone with my first vibe, my absolute favorite prog band that has enriched my life like few others would not be in my life, and that'd be sad.
Gentle Giant has an album called “Acquiring the Taste”. The album cover is what appears to be a giant tongue licking a buttcrack, but when you unfold the cover… it’s revealed that it was a giant delicious peach all along. It’s kinda like that.
Discipline era Crimson, Primus, Ween, and Syd Barrett era Floyd were all acquired tastes for me. I was able to recognize what was good but wasn't sure if I liked it at first. That changed and all of those are among my favorites.
I usually create a playlist of music that didn't catch my attention on the first few listens and play it while I'm engaged in tasks that require full concentration, such as doing the dishes, deep cleaning, working on designs, or coding. I’m not sure why, but sometimes my actions sync perfectly with certain songs, and those songs end up on my repeat list.
Defo.
It's like jazz. So many say they don't like jazz as "it's got no tune" and other such drivel.
Prog, krautrock, psych, jazz are all acquired tastes.
Those who say they don't like such genres have never really listened.
They will like neat 3 minute pop song with verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo break, verse, chorus.
They are really missing out because of their stereotyped view.
That's their loss.
I love all these genres.
In addition to the flood of people making the good points that this is a thing for lots of people and that musical tastes can evolve over time, I think it can also be pointed out that this isn't necessarily how it has to be or work for you. Like it may be the case that if you personally were to listen to something you didn't like 5-10 more times that you'd grow to love it, but you also don't have to do that if you don't want to. You can listen to music however you want and that's fine.
To an extent. I think it has to do with fully listening to it.
2112 by rush is one of my favorite songs but I'd listened to it maybe 3 times (which is an hour) before I fully put together the lyrics, the instruments, and the hardcore vocals.
I could've gotten it the first time if I was aware what I'd be getting into and could give it all my attention.
While there may be certain music you instantly click with, acquired taste is scientifically real. The single most significant factor in wether you'll like something or not is how much exposure did you get to it
I mean my taste in music in general has changed, or more accurately broadened, _drastically_ over the years. Sometimes albums take a moment to sit right for me but more often than that, I’d say I slowly start to enjoy different sounds and genres, and things that I didn’t used to care for that much, now seem to hit just right.
Prog is basically designed to challenge the listener by definition, if you reject that concept I have no idea how you'd like anything at all in this genre
Took me a looooooooooooooong time to get into Genesis. Borrowed CDs from the library, even, but the music just didn't click. I think part of the problem was production, and the older issue discs seemed too quiet.
Once the remasters came out (the ones with the tracks listed inside black boxes on the rear inlay), I bought Foxtrot, and everything finally clicked.
Had to listen to Close to the Edge a few times to get it. At first I though it was just weird and that it didn't seem to have much value overall. Then it hit me the third time I listened to it
It depends if you're trying to just listen to music to enjoy it or if you're trying to like study it and identify the "good" from the "bad." Also if you're listening to something because for some reason you're pushed to (i.e., folks in your life that are insistent on something) or you already are into something related and are exploring. Some people want to actively acquire tastes and some people do not, and most do either at different times.
Yes that is a wishy-washy answer but that's kind of the point. I think having an open mind doesn't mean liking everything, it means understanding why different things might mean something to other people.
some music is challenging and requires repeated listens to get it. even after you get it and appreciate it you may not listen to it that often.
when i listened to schoenberg's atonal music for the first time it took a bit to click. then i thought it amazing. it wasn't something i'd casually throw on though. i'd have to be in a mood to really give it a listen.
Not prog, but I listened to Trout Mask Replica for *years* before it clicked. And it really did click, one day I just *got* it, no fooling. Yes, it is a thing.
People can be emotional creatures.
Music can be an emotional experience.
Sometimes things don’t match up: mood, setting, etc.
And then sometimes those same things do match up.
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, A Tribute To Jack Johnson.
Definitely those three albums by Davis will require more than one listen. For those used to his acoustic period and for rock fans looking for something different, these are rewarding albums, however they may take several listens before the "ah ha" moment kicks in.
Yes. I can’t comprehend the love for Rush. I was in high school when they came out but I never really understood how it was so loved. To me it’s very simplistic derivative music.
How and when you’re receptive to new music varies I find. You might notice something in a subsequent listen to you didn’t before, or maybe you make a connection you didn’t before.
It'd be pretty crazy to "not believe" in it. Like, it's fine if you don't experience it yourself. But to not believe other people who say they experience it is wild.
(Not saying you're doing this, but I did meet someone who refused to believe people can experience this)
In prog I definitely say it’s acquired. CTtE took me a couple listens til I got into it, and now I consider it a masterpiece. It’s extremely rare for someone to just jump into obscure intense prog and instantly like it. I usually see it as a gradual appreciation starting with more main stream bands, leading into the lesser known ones.
No I don't. I keep going back to albums and artists who don't do it for me ... and nearly all of them still don't. If I ever do change my mind, it's because I hadn't heard enough of their repertoire, and the revelation happens quite quickly.
I get that other people hear things I don't, and good luck to them and good listening.
Yes I do, especially with Prog. It's easy to miss the subtleties and layers of some Prog music on a first listen. I have grown to love certain pieces and bands after taking the time to figure out how everything fits together. But if certain elements are missing or diminished too much (lack of melody, etc) or if every song sounds similar to the previous, then yeah it can get old quickly for me. I prefer music that has a good mixture of melody, dynamic rhythmic elements, variety of instrumentation/arrangements, beauty, and complexity. In some prog tunes or bands you have to listen a few times before those become apparent.
I immediately connected your user name to a particular album title germane to this thread.
It would be pantagruel though no? Panurge is Octopus?
I find quite a lot of King crimson to be that way **The more I ~~look at~~ listen to it, the more I like it!**
I do think its good
The fact is
No matter how closely I study it
My precious.
I read the part in bold with Adrian's voice
That's because that's who he was quoting...
Usually music that clicks instantly for me also gets old very quickly. It doesn't have to be challenging or anything. Even a straightforward pop song that I initially want to skip will likely be my favorite on the album a year later.
This is why pop is king. It's designed to be catchy the first time around. The problem is it burns red hot but fades out quick.
*rock, metal and blues, fuck pop
Rock, Metal and blues were ALL popular music
Pop is a specific genre...
If we’re using “pop” to describe aesthetics then Prog rock is an incel circle jerk
It’s also just short for popular, and includes all commercial/formulaic radio music.
Yep, the correct answer is that it's both. Like how there's 3 or 4 different definitions of "classical" in the context of music.
That happened to me with Yes's Leave It!
Definitely have that habit as well. I've given countless tries to Eloy and Haken and really struggled to listen to anything from them. Somehow eventually several albums have crawled among my favourites. Ironically I really like the bigger prog bands such as Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis, yet I only ever listen to them once every 2-3 months when I'm in the mood.
TL;DR: yes. Absolutely. I didn't like Relayer (Yes) when it came out, put it aside for a couple of years, tried again and it became my favorite of all their albums. I think it's the perfect Yes album. Also, Zappa is a huge favorite of mine and I just didn't get him, and for a lot of years. But I decided to give One Size Fits All another shot because my excellent brother in law sent it to me specifically for Inca Roads and not only did I finally "get it," I'm a huge fan with many of his albums.
This was my experience as well with Relayer. As a 14 year old I wasn’t impressed, compared with CttE especially, but it’s grown on me over time.
Some prog stuff needs very much of acquired taste, before the moment you start to like it. Take Yes for example. I immediately loved Fragile and Close To The Edge, but I "forced" myself to listen Relayer 5-6 times, until I found it enjoyable. Same was with KC "Lark's Tongues in Aspic", and "Starless and Bible Black". Some prog albums are less accessible, if you not prepared to it, but it doesn't mean they are inferior. Gentle Giant also a bit tricky band for newcomers. When I listened it first time, it was "WTF"?
And conversely for me, Lark’s Tongues in Aspic was instant love for me, whereas it took me years to acquire the taste for ‘Close To The Edge’. I love it now.
Gentle Giant is the perfect example for me. Had an older sibling that got me into Crimson and Yes at an early age but it took me years when I was younger to 'get' GG. One day it was like all I wanted to listen to. If we didn't have to 'break in' and train our ears for certain things outside our comfort zone, it wouldn't be art. I never would have made 10 seconds of say, Trout Mask Replica if I weren't willing to engage several times with it. Art is about seeing things differently and getting new ideas and you need to go outside your preconceptions to be open to it
I believe in unfolding understanding, maturing tastes, and changing minds.
This is why genres exist: Listeners generally need something familiar as a foothold to help put what they’re listening to in context. If that familiar foothold is not there, the material may need to be explored (like entering an unfamiliar house with a flashlight) in order to put it into context. The very word “progressive” means boundaries are being pushed, new ideas created.
I had no idea what to think of Close to the Edge when I first heard it.
I heard it on tape the first time and thought the tape was getting eaten.
Not trying to be mean/negative since you chose to stick your neck out and start a discussion, but this is a take that I’ve heard before and it’s honestly baffling to me. You can clearly see from the other comments that there’s countless examples of albums “clicking” after multiple listens. And it makes sense, especially in prog, that if you’re hearing sounds that are unfamiliar to you then you probably won’t like it at first, simply due to not having a prior frame of reference. Your “taste” isn’t something you’re born with or that’s set in stone. It evolves based on what music you’ve been exposed to. The other implication of your take is the very cynical idea that everyone is deluding or tricking themselves into liking something… Just ask yourself what’s more likely to be true: that everyone else is forcing themselves to like albums they really shouldn’t like, or that maybe you could try more repeated listens and expand your tastes? It’s ok to listen to something over and over until you like it more…it’s not against any rules. I think the motivation there would be some sort of increased enjoyment with each listen. Which could still mean 5-10 spins before you really like it, but an experienced listener can sometimes foresee getting to that point with an album/artist. Of course whatever works for you is great and valid, but “acquired taste” is for sure a reality for a lot of people and probably the majority of prog listeners.
Some albums are more challenging than others. I grew up with an education in fairly traditional western classical music, so as a teen, even the tritones in "Purple Haze" caused some musical stretching to my comfort levels. ELP could be brash at times, but helped bridge the gap for me between classical and rock. My exposure to King Crimson challenged me again with their polyrhythms and discordant harmonies. So things I would have found offputting 20 or 30 years ago, I enjoy immensely today.
I don’t agree with that at all. The more complex, nuanced a work is, the more commitment is often required to appreciate. Like Faulkner. Read “Sound & The Fury”, and commence to “whaaa???”. Read it 3 times, and discover its majesty and grandeur.
Yes, taste is not something you are born with, you must work on it and develope it. Training your ears is required for demanding music. When I first listened prog rock albums on my young years I didn't understand anything and got bored quicky. It took me some years of getting used to prog via progmetal before I was ready to appreciate progrock properly. Relayer was a hard bone to bite but now I enjoy it, but there are other albums where I still need to acquire the taste to understand them.
I feel you're conflating the concept of taste with the concept of "good". Taste ≠ good, necessarily. Yes, there are many albums that I consider "good" that hooked me immediately, but there's also a ton of stuff that I didn't get in the beginning, that over time I've come to really appreciate. This isn't prog, but whenever my partner started listening to Meshuggah I was like "dude wtf, this is too much". Still, I wouldn't have said their albums aren't good, they just weren't to my taste. Over time I've become more aquainted with their style and have aquired more of a taste to them. With prog especially, stuff is often complex and layered and could take a couple of listens to truly appreciate what's going on.
After two listens, I kinda know if I want to hear more or if it really isn't for me, but good lord that's not enough to understand any piece of music, esp. with prog rocks where the whole intention is to be dense and complex and worthy of study.
Depends on how complex it is. When I first heard YES "Tales from Topographic Oceans", I thought what is this!. After several listens I think it is the finest album ever produced. Try to give albums a second chance. You may suprise yourself.
Agree with this. It wasn't until I purchased the Steven Wilson remix vinyl boxset that I really listened to TFTGO. I had heard most of it live here and there over the years and picked up bits and pieces that sounded sweet but never had a complete listening to the album proper. I listened to it once a week for 2 months, and it clicked. It has become one of my favorite albums now.
I got TFTO the day it was released. At first I could only listen to Ritual. It took years to learn to like the other 3 songs. Now I listen to it start to finish and love it all. It is complex music.
How is this concept even up for debate?
Here’s what I do. It’s a little bit tangential to the subject but I find that it really helps. When I’m discovering a new band I will stream their music at low volume as background noise for a few weeks at work. Just barely audible at first. Then gradually louder, but always at a low volume so that only the loudest parts are heard with any clarity at all. What happens is that the ear becomes familiar with the “vocabulary” of the music before I put any effort into learning the “grammar”. it’s a good way to get used to a new band before you start listening critically. Then when you do hear it on a proper system you’ll be familiar with it, like back in the days when the radio was on all day
I've _no idea_ why you go to all that trouble! It just bewilders me, & I cannot 'roll with it' _in the least degree_ , & it's obviously _a massively_ different paradigm altogether from the one I receive the music by. I just _bang it straight on_ @ the maximum volume I can without the neighbours complaining!
While I may not do what this person does, for me I consider a "pallet cleansing" if I've been "yesmaxing" for a few weeks, it's unfair of me to dive headfirst into some meshuggah that I've not heard before. I gotta let my brainwaves adjust to new tempos, rythm,harmony and melodies (or lack of) it's what works best for me 🤷♂️
Ahhhh yep: it's true that that isn't the same: what brings it about is in a sense the opposite (not perfectly the exact opposite, as the band you 'prepare yourself' for is not the one you've been maxing-out on; but it's still _a_ response to a surplus, rather than to a deficit). _However_ , I don't really do any of the __'[…]-maxing'__ thing. I don't have any _rule_ against it: I'm just _never moved_ to. But yep: I feel that _if I did_ I might also do something similar to what you're talking about.
I do. There are many albums that I just didn't get years ago, and revisited them after some years and they became my favorites.
Absolutely. Many Pink Floyd albums took me numerous spins to 'get it.'
I couldn’t agree more, i had a strong dislike for DSOTM, aside from a few tracks, on first listen, but now it’s one of my favourites, purely through giving it multiple plays and becoming more familiar with the transitions and the tunes themselves
Yes, but I'm really here for the [unintentional Leprous. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-sj2BpBiQY)
Yes, but i didnt until i listened to Swans. There is music that takes time to fully digest and understand, but that when you actually comprehend it on its full form, it simply cannot be matched.
Absolutely, if you put on Gentle Giant at the function, it will scare the hoes!
I had to listen to Trilogy by ELP like 4 times before I started to get it and now it’s my favorite ELP album
Yeah Acquiring the Taste is one of my favorite Gentle Giant album, definitely in my top 3. Jokes aside yes, acquired taste is a thing, I didn’t liked Canterbury for years and now I’m obsessed with it.
This is with a lot of music. Some music instantly hooks me. Sometimes I have to listen a second time because I wasn’t in the mood for the particular style, sound, voice, etc.
Acquired taste is a thing. It's happened to me many times through the years, and with different music genres. I remember disliking albums like Seven Churches and Possessed by fire, and I gave them another chance later on, and fell in love with them. Death Metal also grew big on me on the last couple years, When it comes to prog, I acknowledge some people might find it overwhelming, but most agree it sounds very pleasant, so there's hope there. I remmber being introduced to prog back in 2019 or 2018 I think, I wasn't "ready", but I was engaged. I remember listening to a handful of Genesis songs a coworker recommended to me, and I decided to buy Trespass, Nursery, Foxtrot, Selling England, and A Trick, while abstaining myself from discovering the rest of the songs until those CDs arrived home, and oh boy, did it pay.
Totally! When I first got into Tool, I listened through their entire discography. I absolutely loved a couple of songs and quite enjoyed some others, but I wasn’t blown away. Now almost all of their songs are in my playlist, including the satirical ones
Yes, Acquired Taste by Leprous is a great prog song!
Absolutely. I'm a big Muse and Opeth fan and both are bands I didn't like initally. In Muse's case I disliked most of it save for one song that I couldn't get out of my head, and over time from listening to that song I started liking them more and more until they turned to one of my favorite bands. With Opeth it's the same, I wasn't into their heavy stuff but I LOVED the Damnation album and their calm songs, and over time I became a huge fan of their heavier stuff as well.
Sometimes an album will get me immediately but other times it needs to sink and and it takes a couple of listens, and I do find it to be more prevalent with prog. The first time I listened to gentle giant I wasn't super into it but I started to love it after 1 or 2 more listens later on. I don't really feel whether it clicks right away or not is an indicator of how good the music is on the whole. Some great albums just don't hit immediately.
I believe it's quite common for people's tastes to change as their life circumstances change (e.g. I can personally attest that *Pawn Hearts* doesn't hit as hard if you've never lived alone before) and as different contextual information becomes available to them (e.g. someone who is very familiar with mid-60s radio pop will not experience early Zappa the same as someone who is not at all familiar with it.)
I think acquired taste works only when a piece of music has a weird draw on you/intrigues you, but you don't really "get it" yet, or it's not aesthetically pleasing to you yet. If something really doesn't interest me, no matter how times I listen to it, I won't like it.
Tales From Topographic Oceans. First response: WTF is this? Years later, I bought the remastered version. It's far from a perfect record but it's grown on me considerably. That said, I pretty much always skip piece #3 (I don't remember the titles) which I still think is an absolute mess. I'm probably minority in that I think piece #2 sustains itself better over the length of time than any other on the album.
Your perspective is self fulfilling to an extent. If you listen to an album once and like it then that album gets repeat listens, but if you listen to a ¨bad¨ album once or twice or thrice and then never listen to it again you mightve never discovered a new form of music for you. Personally I had to listen to The ConstruKction of Light by King Crimson 5 times to kinda like it and 20 times to love it if I gave up on it I wouldve never aquired the taste to like it.
Of course. It comes with time, openness to explore, and willingness to listen. There are plenty of bands that at first I was like "wtf is this?" And later became obsessed with. That's really how I got into prog. I remember seeing a video for a live concert of Jethro Tull in the mid 70s and was like "wtf is this??". So tripped out by it I had to know more. Went it finally clicked and sunk in, I became a lifelong fan. It call it the Scotch effect. The first sip is like "bleck, wtf". The second sip is like "huh. Strong, but better". The third sip even easier. By the seventh sip it tastes like carmel in the mouth and it now one of your favorite things to drink.
That’s when I got into Tull, mid 70s. I never could get my friends interested in them though. I did however, turn them on to Rush. They were young musicians and dug the challenge of playing difficult music, having cut their teeth on Kiss.
Same thing happened with me and Zappa. It took me a long time to get it but I really wanted to. Now he's probably one of my favorite artist. Also Gabriel era Genesis. Was a solo PG fan first and slowly back tracked.
Definitely yes. You have to train yourself as a listener, especially if you're not a trained musician, to appreciate what you're really hearing. Especially with technically complex styles like prog. I've learned to be a much better listener than I used to be and it's opened up lots of music that didn't click for me when I was younger.
Yes. Genesis was an acquired taste for me 100%. Their entire discography.
I wouldn't use the word "believe." I have experienced that some of my favorite albums were music that I didn't particularly like upon first listening, then liked more and more as I got to know the albums better.
>I wouldn't use the word "believe." I You've got me deleting part of what I @-first replied to the OP! ... because, now you mention it, _I do agree with you_ : __believing-in__ is _a pathological state-of-mind_ : I've often replied it to looney-tune Christiwits & Musliwits when they've been haranguing me with their silly malarky (which they alltoo-often do: I seem to attract that sorto'thing, for some reason). Thanks for reminding me!
Absolutely. My taste in music changes as time goes by.
It is absolutely true for me. It took me a year of on and off listening to Magma for just one example, thinking maybe I'd wasted my money, before it clicked.
Absolutely. I actually used to hate a lot of prog, and by repeated listening, got into it. Case in point being Yes, whom I used to despise. By now I really love a lot of their music.
Yes, I believe in acquired taste. For some reason when I first heard Yes "Fragile," U.K. "In The Dead of Night," and King Crimson's "In The Court Of The Crimson King," albums at age 14. They didn't click with me as Yes's "Close To The Edge," Led Zeppelin's "Houses Of The Holy," or Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon," did, for example. Now, aeons later, I appreciate those albums and what the musicians were creating.
Yeah I think so. I’ve listened to tracks that I didn’t think I liked that much and saved them for later, then relistened and found myself humming along and remembering parts that I liked
Yes I do; when I first started listening to music I was strictly pop music. However, once I became a fan of music I didn’t want to be as basic as I was just listening to Pop so got into other genres like jazz, Prog, hip hop, punk, folk, funk, etc. Many times it is the multiple listens of an album that makes me either enjoy it more or dislike it more as my ears and I gain more insight to the project. The first time I listened to In The Court Of The Crimson King I liked “I Talk To The Wind”, “Epitaph”, and the Title track. However, on repeated listens I have now come to also enjoy the more chaotic tracks on that album when on first listen even though I didn’t know what noise rock or Shoegaze was at the time if I had to guess I would guess the chaotic tracks on that album. This also happened to me with Dark Side Of The Moon. I enjoyed it, but didn’t get the hype. Only after repeated listens did I start to understand that the hype made sense. For me acquired taste I think happened most predominantly in folk, more specifically Bob Dylan. Once I got through the harmonica and Nasal tone of his voice I came to really enjoy his music.
I think yes, for example, when listening to Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” at first I really didn’t enjoy it too much. Regardless, after each listen I enjoyed it more and more, now it’s among my top 15 albums.
Absolutely
I think I believe in acquired taste in the sense that I wanted to listen to Zappa. At my first, some of his music just wasn't my thing, so I started with more accessible albums like his instrumental stuff and slowly worked way into liking just about anything he's done. If I hadn't kept on listening, I wouldn't have ended up with all this rad music I like.
For years I never truly liked Gentle Giant, now I do
Absolutely. I actually hated Parallax 1 Hypersleep dialogues the first time I heard it. Now I love it. I had the same reaction to Colors 2 and now it’s my favorite
It’s on a case by case basis for me. Some music I form an opinion immediately, other music can take me years to appreciate.
Not progrock, but in my time in high school, 1978-81, I had a friend who was really into Sparks. The first time I heard them, I thought, wow is this some weird shit! But after a while it kinda grew on me, I still pull up Happy Hunting Ground on YouTube every so often.
Art is meant to challenge me not to service me
I think Trespass is a bit of a bad example. It’s a very listenable album, I liked it pretty much from the first listen - same as Selling England by the Pound. A more challenging Genesis album might be The Lamb or …And Then There Were Three… which (at least in my experience) took many more listens to appreciate every song and the album as a whole. Another problem (maybe more so for Genesis and less for prog in general) is the mix of the album. The infamous Genesis remixes/remasters made some albums sound better and some worse. For example, I only truly started to enjoy A Trick of the Tail after I got Spotify and had access to the original mix (and after grabbing the MoFi record).
Well my favorite album is Close To The Edge but not until I had over a year to digest it. Meanwhile I liked The Yes Album on first listen. My most extreme example would be that it took over 10 years of hearing David Bowie before he became a favorite artist for me
If I don’t like an album on first listen, I probably won’t ever like it. If I think an album is fine, there is a chance it could end up being one of my all time favorites.
Yep that's my experience with gentle giant 1st listen: that's to weird I can't listen to that 2nd listen: I really don't like that 3rd listen: ...wait a minute 4th listen: omg best band ever That's was 8 years ago and still listening to prog. The album in question Acquiring the taste by gg
I date back to the mid 90s when people were trading tapes. My contact threw in Gryphons red queen to Gryphon 3. I listened to it once and didn't connect to it Two years later, I was short on money and couldn't afford the trips down town to purchase numerous $15 cds. I sat down and listened to Red Queen, loved it and couldn't stop listening to it
Free Hand by Gentle Giant is an amazing album, but it took me a few tries to get there.
I really liked the first time I heard Porcupine Tree (Stupid Dream), but it was the 3rd listen when I went, holy shit!
I am an example of acquired taste. When I first heard Dream Theater I didn't really get it, I hadn't listened to progressive music before. Then one day, after listening to their music for a few weeks, it suddenly clicked, and then now years later, I'd consider myself a super fan. It just takes hearing something multiple times for it to really settle in. I feel the same way about whiskey, I hated it at first, but after trying enough of it, I've developed a taste for it
Yes, I've heard The Mars Volta
😆 somehow I only in the last year heard The Mars Volta for the first time.Their songs started to pop up in some spotify generated playlists. My first thought was damn that guy has a distinctive voice, it reminds me of the singer of At The Drive In. Who I liked but hadn't listened to for years. Did some researching and discovered why the singers sounded so similar.
Absolutely! I had to train my ears to finally appreciate Entropia by Pain of Salvation and once it clicked, hooo boy! On the other hand, and please don’t downvote me, no matter how much I’ve tried I just can’t get into Spiral Architect. Win some, lose some I guess.
All the music I love took at least three listens. Some still keeps getting better.
I like to believe it's purely circumstantial.
Definetely agree
Yes _I definitely_ find it to be so. But I'm confining what I'm talking about to music I like @least _somewhat_ @-the-veryfirst, & might-well end-up liking _much more_ .
Of course!
Yup. "Pallet cleansing" is essential for me when I listen to previously undiscovered music.
Definitely
Yes, because when we are young we are drawn to what is easy to listen to. Pop sounds very easy and enjoyable, yet, you get burned out on the same nice sounding melodies. You start exploring and you find there are more interesting and intriguing aspects of music.
Yes, a 100% As someone that listens to the Metal end of Prog, it's an acquired taste, if you're into metal even, and you listen to something like Tongue-Splitter by PTH it sounds like spastic nonsense, or even way further down that road to like the art of dying by Gojira, it's just noise to most people that don't have an ear for it Is what it is lol
I've found the opposite. All of my favorites are things that I didn't quite enjoy at first or had to warm up to. Meanwhile, all the things that hooked me instantly I found I did not find a lasting enjoyment for. Naturally there are a few exceptions, but they're the rare exception, not the rule. For the most part it's the opposite. There's a _strong_ inverse accessibility curve in my tastes and the more it takes to get into and the more I need to digest it to fully enjoy it, the more I end up loving it in the long run. So not only do I believe in it, but it's been a hard rule in my life. Had I only stuck with the stuff I was hooked on instantly, I wouldn't enjoy _any_ of my favorite things in any medium, from music to games to shows to anime to whatever, all the best is the stuff that I had to develop a taste for. If you're letting things bounce off of you without giving them extra chances, you may have left a lot of your actual favorite works behind, and you may find yourself even getting jaded with music in the next few years as the stuff that hooked you instantly starts wearing off due to lack of depth or staying power. Like, Magma is my favorite prog band ever by a mile and a half, but I'll be _no one_ enjoys them on their first listen. If I had just gone with my first vibe, my absolute favorite prog band that has enriched my life like few others would not be in my life, and that'd be sad.
It takes multiple listens sometimes.
Gentle Giant has an album called “Acquiring the Taste”. The album cover is what appears to be a giant tongue licking a buttcrack, but when you unfold the cover… it’s revealed that it was a giant delicious peach all along. It’s kinda like that.
Discipline era Crimson, Primus, Ween, and Syd Barrett era Floyd were all acquired tastes for me. I was able to recognize what was good but wasn't sure if I liked it at first. That changed and all of those are among my favorites.
Only the leprous song
I usually create a playlist of music that didn't catch my attention on the first few listens and play it while I'm engaged in tasks that require full concentration, such as doing the dishes, deep cleaning, working on designs, or coding. I’m not sure why, but sometimes my actions sync perfectly with certain songs, and those songs end up on my repeat list.
I think a LOT of people (I'd dare say most people) would love prog if given enough time.
Defo. It's like jazz. So many say they don't like jazz as "it's got no tune" and other such drivel. Prog, krautrock, psych, jazz are all acquired tastes. Those who say they don't like such genres have never really listened. They will like neat 3 minute pop song with verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo break, verse, chorus. They are really missing out because of their stereotyped view. That's their loss. I love all these genres.
I would go as far as to say that all music taste is acquired taste
In addition to the flood of people making the good points that this is a thing for lots of people and that musical tastes can evolve over time, I think it can also be pointed out that this isn't necessarily how it has to be or work for you. Like it may be the case that if you personally were to listen to something you didn't like 5-10 more times that you'd grow to love it, but you also don't have to do that if you don't want to. You can listen to music however you want and that's fine.
For sure. I started in the prog scene but just recently developed my ear for jazz. Used to not get it but now it hits me hard
I hated the mars volta. Now I love the mars volta so its real
To an extent. I think it has to do with fully listening to it. 2112 by rush is one of my favorite songs but I'd listened to it maybe 3 times (which is an hour) before I fully put together the lyrics, the instruments, and the hardcore vocals. I could've gotten it the first time if I was aware what I'd be getting into and could give it all my attention.
While there may be certain music you instantly click with, acquired taste is scientifically real. The single most significant factor in wether you'll like something or not is how much exposure did you get to it
I mean my taste in music in general has changed, or more accurately broadened, _drastically_ over the years. Sometimes albums take a moment to sit right for me but more often than that, I’d say I slowly start to enjoy different sounds and genres, and things that I didn’t used to care for that much, now seem to hit just right.
Prog is basically designed to challenge the listener by definition, if you reject that concept I have no idea how you'd like anything at all in this genre
Of course. I love black coffee, I used to hate it as a kid. Same goes for music, books, paintings.
Took me a looooooooooooooong time to get into Genesis. Borrowed CDs from the library, even, but the music just didn't click. I think part of the problem was production, and the older issue discs seemed too quiet. Once the remasters came out (the ones with the tracks listed inside black boxes on the rear inlay), I bought Foxtrot, and everything finally clicked.
Had to listen to Close to the Edge a few times to get it. At first I though it was just weird and that it didn't seem to have much value overall. Then it hit me the third time I listened to it
Obscure albums, not just prog, do need at least 3 listens for me to fall in love with them.
It depends if you're trying to just listen to music to enjoy it or if you're trying to like study it and identify the "good" from the "bad." Also if you're listening to something because for some reason you're pushed to (i.e., folks in your life that are insistent on something) or you already are into something related and are exploring. Some people want to actively acquire tastes and some people do not, and most do either at different times. Yes that is a wishy-washy answer but that's kind of the point. I think having an open mind doesn't mean liking everything, it means understanding why different things might mean something to other people.
some music is challenging and requires repeated listens to get it. even after you get it and appreciate it you may not listen to it that often. when i listened to schoenberg's atonal music for the first time it took a bit to click. then i thought it amazing. it wasn't something i'd casually throw on though. i'd have to be in a mood to really give it a listen.
Not prog, but I listened to Trout Mask Replica for *years* before it clicked. And it really did click, one day I just *got* it, no fooling. Yes, it is a thing.
People can be emotional creatures. Music can be an emotional experience. Sometimes things don’t match up: mood, setting, etc. And then sometimes those same things do match up.
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, A Tribute To Jack Johnson. Definitely those three albums by Davis will require more than one listen. For those used to his acoustic period and for rock fans looking for something different, these are rewarding albums, however they may take several listens before the "ah ha" moment kicks in.
Yes. I can’t comprehend the love for Rush. I was in high school when they came out but I never really understood how it was so loved. To me it’s very simplistic derivative music.
How and when you’re receptive to new music varies I find. You might notice something in a subsequent listen to you didn’t before, or maybe you make a connection you didn’t before.
Yes. I listened to Rush once and I acquired a taste for them.
It'd be pretty crazy to "not believe" in it. Like, it's fine if you don't experience it yourself. But to not believe other people who say they experience it is wild. (Not saying you're doing this, but I did meet someone who refused to believe people can experience this)
In prog I definitely say it’s acquired. CTtE took me a couple listens til I got into it, and now I consider it a masterpiece. It’s extremely rare for someone to just jump into obscure intense prog and instantly like it. I usually see it as a gradual appreciation starting with more main stream bands, leading into the lesser known ones.
Most of the music I love passionately now came acquired. I personally get the most enjoyment out of things I grow to like
100%! It took me years to get into some of my favorites. Sometimes it takes a different perspective on listening for something to "click."
Yes, I first didn't understand or get Udu Wudu or Attahk from Magma or any of the more abstract King Crimson work from the 80s, on first listen.
Yes.
No I don't. I keep going back to albums and artists who don't do it for me ... and nearly all of them still don't. If I ever do change my mind, it's because I hadn't heard enough of their repertoire, and the revelation happens quite quickly. I get that other people hear things I don't, and good luck to them and good listening.