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Stuff that great to you now after initially being quite disappointed


Barking Spiders

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As a yoot I was blown away by The Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill, it being on constant rotation much to my flatmates delight. When the follow up, Paul's Boutique, came put it was a huge change and I was pretty disappointed as it lacked the crunching guitar sound. For a long while it's been gathering dust but recently I've gone back to it. Not only did I play it in the car three times yesterday IMO it's a more varied, entertaining and durable album than the debut. For me it's one of the best albums in hip hop history. So, what albums did you write off initially but now think are among the best you have?

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Chapter IV by Booze & Glory. I’d been so looking forward to it’s release, and when it came out I was seriously underwhelmed. Aside from the 2 songs that I already knew it just didn’t seem like the old B&G. But I persisted and now it’s definitely one of my fave albums ever. The songwriting, playing, production, all of it just add up to an amazing album, much less Oi than their previous material but no less powerful, plus lyrically dealing with subjects not approached before.

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Pearl Jam Binaural

14 year old me thought 'meh' in first listen, in that 'how could the band that did Ten end up doing this?'. On reflection I actually really like it.  

Baroness - Blue Album

I loved Red Album in that it mixed 1970s prog, some Americana folk and just straight up Neorosis sludge. The Blue album seemed to me to be a step back in creative and production terms at the time. The guitar tones seemed overly fuzzy and the drum sound just seems a bit flat. On reflection though, I really like the songs on this album and the way it flows from beginning to end. 

I'm also scared to say this but...Load by Metallica.

This is the album where Metallica stopped being a 'metal' band, and started being an alt-rock, classic rock band. I just thought it was naff when I first bought it when I was 12-13. However, now I think that there are some really good tracks on this album and that there is a really good ten track album hidden amongst the 80 minutes of material on the CD. 

In terms of 'non-rock' stuff, my wife really likes Kelly Clarkson of American Idol fame. Honestly, I quite like her voice at this point. I hear her more than I would like but I have a pro quid pro agreement with my wife of 'no aggressive doom music' in the house in exchange for 'no Jessie J' in the house. Accordingly, I will continue to mildly enjoy Kelly Clarkson, Ed Sheeran and Sia and other singers she likes.

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I think, possibly without exception, my all-time favourite albums are those that I didn't particularly enjoy on the first few hearings.

I still get tremendous enjoyment from the "growers" of my early years.

I'm sure there's been studies as to why "growers" eventually mean more to you, and stay with you for life.

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I had this recently with Lingua Ignota's most recent album Caligula.

I'd not heard of her before, but people I respect were raving about the album so I gave it a go. First time round, I was completely unclear what I was listening to and didn't like it at all.

A few weeks later thought I'd give it another shot, this time my expectations were re-calibrated - I think first time I was expecting something like Chelsea Wolfe or Emma Ruth Rundell, which it isn't - and whilst I could see more where it was going, still wasn't wild about it.

Again, a few weeks later, I thought I'd give it one more chance and this time I thought it was pretty good. Couple more listens and I've changed my mind completely and think this woman is a literal musical genius, I can't stop listening to it. I'm retrospectively, changing it to my number one album of 2019 and can't wait to hear the new release she's got out this year.

 

 

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Rubber Soul.

It was supposed to represent a turning point in the career of the Beatles, an album so awesome that it inspired Brian Wilson to create Pet Sounds...but for all that I never used to get it.

But now, years on...I very much get it and appreciate the genius behind it.

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My spin on this is that bands like Queen, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles etc were viewed with much derision by the punk loving teenage me. But in 2020 the fifty year old me sees that actually, they’re pretty bloody good. I suppose it was considered uncool to like bands of that ilk, NME and Melody Maker considered them ‘the enemy’, and at the time I genuinely didn’t like their music. But now, I find myself thoroughly enjoying and maybe even downloading the likes of Rumours or The Stranger. 
 

Still prefer The Clash though...

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Waiting for the Punchline by Extreme. Following Pornographiti and 3 Sides to Every Story, I was disappointed to say the least. But, I gave it a try again a little later and it’s now my favourite album by them. My expectations when it came out were more of the same I suppose so once I realised it wasn’t and listened to it on it own merits I’ve come to love it’s raw, stripped back feel. Awesome band!

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A Crow Left of the Murder by Incubus.

At first I just couldn't believe this was made by the same band who had made 'Make Yourself' and 'Morning View'. I hated 90% of this album after the first listen, and blamed their "terrible" new sound on the new bass player who had "ruined everything" (can you tell that I was a slightly overdramatic fanboy as a youth... 🙄) But over the months that followed, I listened to it a couple more times and started to appreciate it in a "It's not the incubus I know but it's pretty decent" kinda manner. And by now, 16 years later,  it's pretty much my favourite album by who I'd still call my favourite band of all time.

 

That being said, my experience with that album led me to try to like their later album 'If Not Now, When?' for way longer than it deserved quite frankly.  I kept waiting for that one to grow on me, but it just never has. My first impression that time was apparently correct, it is just a pile of utter shite. 

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Tool: 10,000 Days.

I so wanted to like the album, there are some very good songs on it... but there's also some stuff on there that goes on too long and is either a bit too rambling or a bit too arty. 

It has taken me many years to appreciate the album as a whole, and I still think you have to be in the mood to listen to the whole thing, but when that moment strikes, it is a stunning album.

Pretty sure that there are many other albums that I could mention... just can't think of them now! 😀

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Empath by Devin Townsend.

Quite possibly my favourite artist of all time, there's very little of his work that I don't like. I pre-ordered it, excitedly played it the day it arrived and felt completely cold. I didn't play it again for six months! 

I now absolutely love it, and listen to it all the time. It's multi-layered and rich with detail, and even manages to revisit the sound of Strapping Young Lad.

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Sax jazzist Nubya Garcia. I was like wot TF when I first heard her.  Now in lerv and gonna go to her concerts whenever possible. Plus her double bassist Daniel Casimir is the only upright player I ever found remotely listenable to.  And he's a lot more than remotely...

 

 

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Anything by Sting and the Police... I just thought they were naff and a bit creepy. My uncle bought me a best of one Christmas and I was a bit disappointed. I absolutely love a lot of Sting and the Police's stuff now. Took me a few years and a dose of the flu where I stuck in the nearest CD on repeat and I realised there was some great song writing in there and a style that resonated with me. I'm determined to front my own band where the opener every night will be Message in a Bottle. 

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