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I love this quote. 'claimed that we only ever really love 10 albums, and we spend the rest of our listening lives seeking facsimiles of those 10, pursuing the

I love this quote. 'claimed that we only ever really love 10 albums, and we spend the rest of our listening lives seeking facsimiles of those 10, pursuing the initial rush, so to speak' I too did the calculation from article about how much music I had amassed and could never listen to all of it. Good stuff.

mikestew 9y ago
Sure, I still seek the thrill of, say, putting Rush’s 2112 on the turntable for the first time, but I’m not going to get that by seeking out 2112 clones. Those moments now only come when I branch out. The breathy ambience of School of the Seven Bells doesn’t get found looking under the “prog rock” category. I mean, I see what the quote is getting at, but I just can’t see myself trying to relive the 70s. For one, despite having purchased everything in the Led Zepplin catalog at least twice, I’m getting just a little sick of what I grew up with. Might explain why I currently play bluegrass on a mandolin, and the Strat hangs on the wall.
- aaroninsf 9y ago
  This scratched my raised-on-progressive-rock itch nicely. It's more early Crimson in rockstar mode than Rush, but. Old news but recent to me :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3LvVHYMM8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3LvVHYMM8
- scarecrowbob 9y ago
  Ha. That quote in the parent literally triggered in my brain "Tom Sawyer". At this point, I totally don't like any "prog rock" other than Rush (unless you want to count Primus). What you write is super relatable. I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock and older stuff including a lot of Zep, Beatles, Rush, Yes and all kinds of stuff. I just turned 40 and I'd much rather play and listen to old jazz or country. Most of my guitar and piano playing ends up being blues, though it's fun to cover Hendrix on a piano. Hell, I'd rather listen to my kid's vaporwave stuff or, say, Neon Indian, than make another pass through Zep IV. I play a lot of bluegrass (guitar, upright bass, banjo, dobro, etc) but can't hardly stand to listen to it. About the only stuff I can stand to listen to and work on playing at the same time is the Dead and related groups. Maybe that's like jazz but for late 20th century rock... I dunno.
  - abakker 9y ago
    Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhHU_BZXSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhHU_BZXSk I think that provides enough inversion while still hitting the right points in my brain.
    - scarecrowbob 9y ago
      I'd forgotten about that... thanks for reminding me :D
- abakker 9y ago
  This provided me a similar thrill. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdTa2kYJMEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdTa2kYJMEM But, I didn't "get it" until about the 3rd listen. Part of what made Rush so great to me, was that I felt like I got more out of it the more I listened to it.
  - mikestew 9y ago
    Definitely on my "listen to later" list now, thanks.
- epicide 9y ago
  When I first read that line, I was really annoyed with it, but then when I broke it down, I couldn't really refute it. You might not be looking for something that sounds like 2112, but rather looking for something that puts you in the same mindset 2112 did the first time. I think it could also be taken to mean what you initially liked about those 10 albums influences what you consider "good music". You could rephrase it as something like "your music taste is largely based off of about 10 albums".
fhood 9y ago
Honestly, that calculation deeply annoyed me. The author says he is 39, and that he has amassed so much music that he couldn't listen to all of it in 40 years, so what I would like to know, is why he owns so much music that he has never listened to!
- saint_fiasco 9y ago
  Maybe he bought a lot of music back when you had to buy whole albums at a time even if you only liked a couple of the songs. Kind of like I do with videogames and bundles.
- rb808 9y ago
  > But I will confess that when peer-to-peer file-sharing came into my life about 15 years ago, I was not immune to its siren song. Yeah downloading every mp3 in the world was easy, which I think is the point of the article.
- fusiongyro 9y ago
  This guy is a music industry professional, so it's less surprising to me than if he were just some dude who makes websites.
- Brockenstein 9y ago
  In the 21st century its pretty easy to acquire media of any type faster than you can consume it. I've got a backlog of books on my kindle. Over 14 years I've acquired games on Steam a few at a time to an extent that I could take a few years off work to play them. The problem is you can't listen to all the music that came out today, and then listen to all the music that comes out tomorrow and listen to your favorites from yesteryear too. Some people don't temper their buying habits to reflect that, at least not optimumly.
ambrosite 9y ago
I liked that quote, too. I think it is true of other art forms as well, like novels, movies, and even computer games. I find that most of the time, when I like a new book or movie, it is not because it was an original and unique experience for me, but rather because it reminded me of some other book or movie that I had loved a long time ago.
xamuel 9y ago
It doesn't have to be limited to 10. One day I realized my music tastes were determined by random chance and I was just listening to more of the same. So I started seeking out critically acclaimed albums, and listening to them repeatedly until they "click". Some albums take longer to click than others, but they all click eventually. In some cases, I'll have to temporarily give up on a difficult album. Listen to a few dozen other albums and let them click. Then come back to the difficult album, and bang, "This is amazing! How could I be so blind!" It's like you have to level up your musical appreciation stat. I'll never, ever trust my playlist to some recommendation engine. If I'd done that instead of seeking out classics, I'd've missed so much amazing music!

mikestew 9y ago

Sure, I still seek the thrill of, say, putting Rush’s 2112 on the turntable for the first time, but I’m not going to get that by seeking out 2112 clones. Those moments now only come when I branch out. The breathy ambience of School of the Seven Bells doesn’t get found looking under the “prog rock” category. I mean, I see what the quote is getting at, but I just can’t see myself trying to relive the 70s. For one, despite having purchased everything in the Led Zepplin catalog at least twice, I’m getting just a little sick of what I grew up with. Might explain why I currently play bluegrass on a mandolin, and the Strat hangs on the wall.

aaroninsf 9y ago
This scratched my raised-on-progressive-rock itch nicely. It's more early Crimson in rockstar mode than Rush, but. Old news but recent to me :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3LvVHYMM8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3LvVHYMM8
scarecrowbob 9y ago
Ha. That quote in the parent literally triggered in my brain "Tom Sawyer". At this point, I totally don't like any "prog rock" other than Rush (unless you want to count Primus). What you write is super relatable. I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock and older stuff including a lot of Zep, Beatles, Rush, Yes and all kinds of stuff. I just turned 40 and I'd much rather play and listen to old jazz or country. Most of my guitar and piano playing ends up being blues, though it's fun to cover Hendrix on a piano. Hell, I'd rather listen to my kid's vaporwave stuff or, say, Neon Indian, than make another pass through Zep IV. I play a lot of bluegrass (guitar, upright bass, banjo, dobro, etc) but can't hardly stand to listen to it. About the only stuff I can stand to listen to and work on playing at the same time is the Dead and related groups. Maybe that's like jazz but for late 20th century rock... I dunno.
- abakker 9y ago
  Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhHU_BZXSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhHU_BZXSk I think that provides enough inversion while still hitting the right points in my brain.
  - scarecrowbob 9y ago
    I'd forgotten about that... thanks for reminding me :D
abakker 9y ago
This provided me a similar thrill. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdTa2kYJMEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdTa2kYJMEM But, I didn't "get it" until about the 3rd listen. Part of what made Rush so great to me, was that I felt like I got more out of it the more I listened to it.
- mikestew 9y ago
  Definitely on my "listen to later" list now, thanks.
epicide 9y ago
When I first read that line, I was really annoyed with it, but then when I broke it down, I couldn't really refute it. You might not be looking for something that sounds like 2112, but rather looking for something that puts you in the same mindset 2112 did the first time. I think it could also be taken to mean what you initially liked about those 10 albums influences what you consider "good music". You could rephrase it as something like "your music taste is largely based off of about 10 albums".

fhood 9y ago

Honestly, that calculation deeply annoyed me. The author says he is 39, and that he has amassed so much music that he couldn't listen to all of it in 40 years, so what I would like to know, is why he owns so much music that he has never listened to!

saint_fiasco 9y ago
Maybe he bought a lot of music back when you had to buy whole albums at a time even if you only liked a couple of the songs. Kind of like I do with videogames and bundles.
rb808 9y ago
> But I will confess that when peer-to-peer file-sharing came into my life about 15 years ago, I was not immune to its siren song. Yeah downloading every mp3 in the world was easy, which I think is the point of the article.
fusiongyro 9y ago
This guy is a music industry professional, so it's less surprising to me than if he were just some dude who makes websites.
Brockenstein 9y ago
In the 21st century its pretty easy to acquire media of any type faster than you can consume it. I've got a backlog of books on my kindle. Over 14 years I've acquired games on Steam a few at a time to an extent that I could take a few years off work to play them. The problem is you can't listen to all the music that came out today, and then listen to all the music that comes out tomorrow and listen to your favorites from yesteryear too. Some people don't temper their buying habits to reflect that, at least not optimumly.

ambrosite 9y ago

I liked that quote, too. I think it is true of other art forms as well, like novels, movies, and even computer games. I find that most of the time, when I like a new book or movie, it is not because it was an original and unique experience for me, but rather because it reminded me of some other book or movie that I had loved a long time ago.

xamuel 9y ago

It doesn't have to be limited to 10. One day I realized my music tastes were determined by random chance and I was just listening to more of the same. So I started seeking out critically acclaimed albums, and listening to them repeatedly until they "click". Some albums take longer to click than others, but they all click eventually. In some cases, I'll have to temporarily give up on a difficult album. Listen to a few dozen other albums and let them click. Then come back to the difficult album, and bang, "This is amazing! How could I be so blind!" It's like you have to level up your musical appreciation stat. I'll never, ever trust my playlist to some recommendation engine. If I'd done that instead of seeking out classics, I'd've missed so much amazing music!