Bands you just didn't 'get' initially

[Timcognito]

Gentlemen, enough.

Steely Dan were the pinnacle of Western Civilisation and are beyond serious criticism.

Take your big black cow and get out of here

 

[bluefuzz]

Steely Dan were the pinnacle of Western Civilisation

If that's the pinnacle of western civilisation then I think we ought to just nuke the whole thing and leave the planet to the cockroaches. We have failed as a species ...

 

[mglobe]

Captain Beefheart. I liked The Spotlight Kid when it came out. Tried a couple of other albums and didn't bother listening further.
Sat down and had a long listen through the speakers one day and my view has changed.

Every few years I try again with Beefheart and I still don’t get it, even after more decades having passed than I’d like to admit.

 

[Karmacoma]

What about a whole genre ?
- Classical music, took me a long time to fathom why it was called the ''great music''.
- Jazz, didn't really enjoy it until I got my first good hi-fi system.

 

[Stopeter44]

I wasn't a Queen fan until saw Live At Wembley on video.

I saw that set at Wembley, on TV, live. They were awesome, I recall someone from Status Quo bemoaning they had to follow that act. I think that short set is one of the most, and I'm stuck for the right word, awesome live performances I ever saw. That said, I still really don't like Queen, I find their music overblown and pompous. I bought "A night at the Opera" the day it came out, and quickly came to hate it. I absolutely cannot stand "Bohemian Rhapsody" even if it is beautifully recorded, etc (which might be arguable, I don't know).

A paradox, Freddie Mercury was the consummate showman, and I guess you had to "be there" to get it.

The Dan, OTOH, I always liked from the beginning, and especially the first two albums. It took me a while to get Rush, and event then not before Moving Pictures.

 

[Stopeter44]

Any catchy danceable Tim Buckley?

"Greetings from L.A." One of the Greatest Albums of All Time, IMO. I don't get all of Tim Buckley, but he had an absolutely fabulous voice, with astonishing range. Some of hs singing gives me chills just thinking about it.

 

[djb]

Keep them coming. I've come to discover a lot of good music on threads like this.

 

[Ghostofmerlin]

Fleetwood Mac for me. I grew up listening to them on MTV in the 80s and generally was unimpressed. Little Lies and Everywhere, in particular, drove me crazy, and still do. I didn't really hit me how good Rumours is until I sat down and listened to it a few years ago. So maybe I'm still not a giant Fleetwood Mac fan, but am more of a Rumours fan.

 

[Svet Angelov]

Einsturzende Neubauten. Then again I purchased Tabala Rasa when I was very young and had more sensitive ears and wasn't use to actual hard music. Lyrics on this record are particurarly complex as well. Listened to the same album 6 months later and loved it.

Leonard Cohen. I just didn't think he could sing, these days I think personality matters quite a bit too so it doesn't have to be perfect

EN sure do need some breaking in of the ears LOL

 

[Bleib]

EN sure do need some breaking in of the ears LOL

With 44 year old career I'd say it depends. Early on was made to be almost unlistenable, some of the newer tracks are almost closer to traditional rock music

 

[GD Fan]

People frequently find this is the case with Grateful Dead.

 

[mglobe]

Fleetwood Mac for me. I grew up listening to them on MTV in the 80s and generally was unimpressed. Little Lies and Everywhere, in particular, drove me crazy, and still do. I didn't really hit me how good Rumours is until I sat down and listened to it a few years ago. So maybe I'm still not a giant Fleetwood Mac fan, but am more of a Rumours fan.

There’s basically two Fleetwood Mac’s. The Peter Green version and the Stevie Nicks version. Purely a personal thing, but I love the former. I can not listen to the latter. To each his own!

 

[DMill]

For me it was probably Talking Heads. I’m 56 and when I first saw them I was into Van Halen and Journey And the Beatles. Then this weird dude came out in an oversized white suit and sang about Psycho Killers and tangled lyrics like Crosseyed and Painless and Artists Only. Then around 3rd year of college I sat down with some weed and completely got it. i sure would love to say thanks to David Byrne and the gang.

On a separate note, I would say when I fell in love with audio gear I branched out and discovered music in Jazz, R&B and even old country music. For me the gear was a gateway to new music that I still try and “get” today. Somebody at work said Taylor’s new album is that good. I’ll have to give it a shot.

 

[napfkuchen]

What about a whole genre ?
- Classical music, took me a long time to fathom why it was called the ''great music''.
- Jazz, didn't really enjoy it until I got my first good hi-fi system.

For me also classical music but for the most part progressive/technical death metal/djent. It took me quite a while, via other, more easily "digestible" metal genres, to get there.
Erra has been my favorite band for some time now, they deliver a varied mix of quiet as well as faster, technical and aggressive music.

 

[Ghostofmerlin]

I’ll throw Electric Light Orchestra on this list, for me.

Great stuff. Wouldn’t touch it with a pole for the previous years of my life…….. (guess how many!

 

[mglobe]

Here’s a more recent one. Billie Eilish. I totally dismissed her at first. Late last year I actually sat down and listened. I’m a total fan now and I’m well over 60 years old.

 

[Eric Natural]

Specific to the question of finally "getting" a band, best example for me would be Pearl Jam. Seeing them live brought real appreciation for their skills. Their new record, Dark Matter may be their best work yet.

I also wanted to mention the recurrent theme above of 20th century pop music being superior to recent artists; this prejudice is very poorly informed. There are so many great bands & artists making phenomenal recordings right now. I think many boomers and gen x guys have a lot of great music to learn & to "get".

 

[Ghostofmerlin]

Haven’t thought about Pearl Jam in years. Going to spin this on the way to work tomorrow

 

[jkasch]

My reaction to hearing Dylan was always being put off by his voice and not finding his songs interesting. People would say, “ but he’s a poet listen to his lyrics!””

My reply was, fine. I wish he’d stick to writing poems rather than trying to sing the words.

Every Dylan cover seems to be an improvement.

 

[TonyJZX]

the fleetwood mac thing i would agree with

when i was a kid it seemed like they were already old lol

and the whole stevie nicks, lindsay buckingham, mcvies kind of 'drama' dominated - also majorly radio friendly... i reemmeber working at a radio station and this stuff would be piped into staff areas 24/7 (!!!)

but when you listen to them in your high end home environment... you get it

aslo stuff like Journey... I cant 'get' the prog rock stuff before steve perry