What do you do when you get a new album?

For me, I usually listen to it on the computer while surfing the net. I know that reduces it to background noise, but i need to be doing something while listening to music, i cant just listen to it while doing nothing, and i can still determine if a song/album is good while surfing the web (nothing too distracting, just message boards and such).

"I can't just listen while doing nothing". I find that to be rather sad, as sitting quietly and truly absorbing music without distraction is something that I've enjoyed doing since I was a small kid. I can't even imagine how many times I put Dark Side Of The Moon or The Wall on headphones and sat in my bedroom with all the lights off and just let the music create new worlds on its own.

Not saying I do that with every album because let's face it, a lot of music is just surface without much to offer on more focused listening. But if I hear something that really captures my imagination I'll want to just sit in the sweet spot between the speakers and absorb as much of the experience as possible.

S.D. wrote:

 But if I hear something that really captures my imagination I'll want to just sit in the sweet spot between the speakers and absorb as much of the experience as possible.  

This right here!

S.D. wrote:

"I can't just listen while doing nothing".  I find that to be rather sad, as sitting quietly and truly absorbing music without distraction is something that I've enjoyed doing since I was a small kid.  I can't even imagine how many times I put Dark Side Of The Moon or The Wall on headphones and sat in my bedroom with all the lights off and just let the music create new worlds on its own.  

Not saying I do that with every album because let's face it, a lot of music is just surface without much to offer on more focused listening.  But if I hear something that really captures my imagination I'll want to just sit in the sweet spot between the speakers and absorb as much of the experience as possible.  

Same here. I pretty much have to be doing nothing to listen to music. Even driving is a distraction. My preference has always been headphones, no once else around. Doesn't even matter if the music is complex or not. Hearing all the nuances and textures and order of things brings out the art of it all. Any distractions diminish this experience.

I rip the album to my computer and upload it to a cloud service. I usually will listen to the album on headphones while I take notes on it, unless I have no plans to review it. If it's vinyl, I'll spin it and listen on headphones. I do a lot of my music listening on the bus on the way to work because there aren't many distractions. I will often listen to music while I am at work, but that's more to drown out other noise and I don't focus closely on it.

Reminds me of the good ole days - PARTY to it - 3 or 4 of us -
beer - shots - smoke - smokes - ohhhh I miss that !

I do the majority of my metal scripture listening in my car -
highway and biways - everywhere - usually loud.
Singing lyrics out too - just as loud ! ( I'm a good singer )

I 'sometimes' listen - at night - in bed - CD player box thing - tired
when the light goes off - hit play - but to very certian metal bands -
Ha ! I often fall asleep - after a few songs - happily -

Listen to it in the car, at work, while showering, and on the computer and then the best songs go onto the MP3 player.

If a CD or download, I will listen in my truck or while mowing the yard. That way I can listen uninterrupted. If vinyl, I will put on the record, open up the jacket, look at pics and read the lyric sheet and liner notes while listening to it. I don't seem to pay much attention to music while using the computer.

The hardest part of "concentrated listening" is in finding a comfortable place to just sit and listen. I have a great rig in my bedroom (share a house with three people), but the only place to sit in the "sweet spot" is my bed, which isn't exactly where you'd want to be sitting upright for a long period of time.

The plan at this point, since I do feel like I'm missing out, is to pick up some really nice headphones and giving myself the option of just plugging in to new material and going with it.

When it comes to individual releases, there is a different treatment to say, a "Collected Albums" box set with cardboard sleeves, vs. an anticipated single album release that I will digest raptly. The middle ground are some of the "deluxe" editions of single albums that drop. I recently picked up the super deluxe of the first A-ha album (don't laugh) and was really digging that. The big collections tend to get ripped and put on a shelf and individual albums get played in the car when I pick them up, ripped, listened to a few more times, etc. I guess they're just less daunting than several days' worth of audio.

In a perfect world without the distractions of being a husband and father and going to work everyday, I'd sit quietly and listen to new music with big, comfy headphones, drinking it all in. But seeing how that's not going to happen anytime soon, I'll settle for the next best thing.

Since most of my music is delivered to my work these days, most new albums are played through the cd drive on my computer and listened to with big, comfy headphones. I don't find work to be that much of a distraction. If it comes in later in the day, I might wait and play it in the car on the ride home. Since I typically sit in a sh*t-ton of traffic, I can focus on the music and waving the horns at neighboring motorists.

I usually crack the wrapper and rip it to my desk top, Then I sit in my lazy boy and listen while I read the liner notes.

I definitely like to obsorb the album while doing nothing. Unfortunately, I don't  have a lot of opportunities to do that; so I use my hour drive to work as my time to soak up an album.

When I get a new CD, I delicately remove all the packaging like I'm handling uranium. Usually to the point that my fingers are sore from trying to remove that f***ing tape without leaving sticky splotches on the case.

Then I sync it on iTunes and onto my iPod where it'll sit taunting me until the end of the day when I can finally listen to it.

Once I'm home, I put on a game to play along with the music (something simple like Call of Duty or an RPG I'm overly familiar with), grab a Nos or Rockstar so I can stay up for awhile, and pull up the lyrics.

DakotaRogers wrote:

When I get a new CD, I delicately remove all the packaging like I'm handling uranium. Usually to the point that my fingers are sore from trying to remove that f***ing  tape without leaving sticky splotches on the case.

I hate that stuff too. A helpful tip: unhinge the jewel case from the bottom to flip the front upward. This'll allow you to pull both sections away from each other, cleanly removing the tape.

With the plastic I usually just dig my nail in between the front and back on the right side, running it back and forth. Eventually it tears away.

That was weird describing all that. Hope it made sense.

I usually rip it to iTunes first, and then I spin it, whether on the computer, in the car, or at the library.

corplhicks wrote:

I hate that stuff too. A helpful tip: unhinge the jewel case from the bottom to flip the front upward. This'll allow you to pull both sections away from each other, cleanly removing the tape.

With the plastic I usually just dig my nail in between the front and back on the right side, running it back and forth. Eventually it tears away.

That was weird describing all that. Hope it made sense.

Thanks! I'll definitely try that next time.

corplhicks wrote:

DakotaRogers wrote:

When I get a new CD, I delicately remove all the packaging like I'm handling uranium. Usually to the point that my fingers are sore from trying to remove that f***ing  tape without leaving sticky splotches on the case.

I hate that stuff too. A helpful tip: unhinge the jewel case from the bottom to flip the front upward. This'll allow you to pull both sections away from each other, cleanly removing the tape.

With the plastic I usually just dig my nail in between the front and back on the right side, running it back and forth. Eventually it tears away.

That was weird describing all that. Hope it made sense.

A store owner taught me that trick many moons ago and it's awesome. Good advice, corp.

If I buy vinyl I bring it home and throw it on the turntable and usually play games on my ipad or look at a magazine while i listen to it...sometimes i just rest in my easy chair while it plays...
Cd's I tend to listen to at night while i read in bed...sometimes i also listen to them in the car...

DakotaRogers wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

I hate that stuff too. A helpful tip: unhinge the jewel case from the bottom to flip the front upward. This'll allow you to pull both sections away from each other, cleanly removing the tape.

With the plastic I usually just dig my nail in between the front and back on the right side, running it back and forth. Eventually it tears away.

That was weird describing all that. Hope it made sense.

Thanks! I'll definitely try that next time.

Yeah dude I cannot imagine opening a CD that has the white sticker across the top without unhinging the jewel case. It takes 2 seconds and there is not a drop of glue left on the case (except in those weird instances were the sticker has been there maybe for 15 years and is insanely stuck to the case...when you do have sticky residue left, just take the peeled off sticker or some tape and fold it with sticky side out and then just press it on and off the residue and that will quickly take off most or all of it usually).

As far as listening to a new album, it is always in my car. There is no actual listening to music at home. A lot of times there is music going all day or a lot of the day, but it's KISS or The Wiggles or background playlists while hanging out with the kids. I couldn't tell you the last time I just hung out and did nothing except listen to an album.

If it's a new album, I usually wait for a quiet moment at the house, pour a glass of scotch/ale/OJ, put on headphones and just listen. It's not non-stop for hours. I take breaks every 20ish minutes, and either continue or replay some tracks. I don't do other stuff like read or use the ipad. Just maybe browse the booklet.

It's different if I already know the album well. Then I can eat, read, browse the internet, drive, etc etc and it's not such a big deal.

As a side note, I do feel a CD - is like a private concert -
like a well worth it - ticket - into that year.
It's exciting - cause the band OBVIOUSLY tried their best -
Like I was thinking of buying another LOUDNESS CD !

I wasn't happy at all with AC/DC's Rock or Bust -
two, three songs - then it was rehash city.
Songs that could be bonus songs on other CDs -
Worse AC/DC release ever !