Hearing it again...

I have recently (today) begun to listen to albums I have had in my collection since either the day they were released or a long period of time but pay no mind to them b/c I dismissed them when I first heard them. These albums could be viewed as the bands weakest link or be universally panned by music critics. I am giving them another opportunity with an open mind and heart and really trying to let the album stand on its own without any preconceived notions.
The first album I re- listened to was Bon Jovi - 7800 Fahrenheit. I had always glossed over this one, despite owning it on cassette since 1986. I don't really know why I never gave it it's fair share of respect, as I actually like it a little more than the s/t debut. When in the mood for Jovi, I would always grab SWW or NJ or the s/t.
The next album I gave a second shot to was Def Leppard - Slang. I was also pleasantly surprised after spinning this disc a couple of times, and like before, couldn't figure out why I let it collect dust on the cd rack for so long.
Could it be my tastes are changing or maturing? or the realization that not everything has to be as heavy as Priest or Maiden (or Megadeth or Metallica) for me to like it. Anyone else experiencing this or doing this?

Quote :

Bon Jovi - 7800 Fahrenheit

That's my favorite Bon Jovi.

As for your phenomenon, I think it is part of getting older. You become more open minded in some avenues but more closed minded in others. For me, I have grown exponentially towards music as I have gotten older. But I still dont like the new Alice Cooper.

I actually like both albums Bon Jovi "7800 Fahernheit" was a great album and was overshadowed by "Slippery When Wet", I agree with Spec best album from their discography. I also liked 'Slang" , Def Leppard were not afaird to experiment with their sound. I like almost every song on "Slang" the expection being the title track.

Aside from "In And Out Of Love", 7800 is sort of a serious-mood album...no real "light" songs on it...even "Silent Night" is a little more intense than thier other ballads...

Slang is a great record...

Preconceived notions can wreak havoc on one's enjoyment of something, be it a cd or dvd, and that is why lately I have begun to ignore the "leaked" or the advanced tracks from upcoming releases and desire to go into the listening with an open mind. Peace.

spectrefate wrote:

Quote :

Bon Jovi - 7800 Fahrenheit

That's my favorite Bon Jovi.

As for your phenomenon, I think it is part of getting older. You become more open minded in some avenues but more closed minded in others. For me, I have grown exponentially towards music as I have gotten older. But I still dont like the new Alice Cooper.

I agree. It started when I decided to revisit my Motley Crue cd's and I really liked them (enough to go buy the Crucial Crue remasters) and couldn't figure out why I shat on these guys so much. Peace.

I've found myself re-discovering a lot of '80s thrash bands over the past couple of years (Atrophy, Mortal Sin, some of the later albums by Exodus and Nuclear Assault, just to name a few) that I never paid much attention to when they were current. I guess at that time the scene was so oversaturated that after a while I just blew off a lot of bands/albums without giving them a fair shot.

Either that or I'm just getting grumpier as I get older so thrash fits my mood better nowadays than it did a few short years ago.

That's how I was with Pink Cream 69. Picked up a couple of their discs, heard 2 or 3 songs that clicked but I thought the rest were generic. I put a bunch on a comp for a friend and he started raving about them so I dug the CDs out again. Now I have all the PC69 discs included EPs and live; one of my favorite bands.

I recently had a Alice Cooper kick, and went back and listened to some of his early 80's stuff. I never got into them before, but now I love them! And I love his newest one too!

You Norwegians and your kickis.

spectrefate wrote:

You Norwegians and your kickis.

I have no idea what you are talking about

2 (or 3, really) that come to mind right away are:

Megadeth - Risk
Metallica - Load/Reload

I'm a huge Megadeth fan, but when I heard Risk for the 1st time, I had about given up on them, thinking Dave has just really lost it. I didn't see where he was going with that album and didn't like it at all. It sat on the shelf as a space holder in an otherwise great discography. Fast forward a few years and I get an mp3 player. As I'm importing all my Megadeth, I listen to Risk with fresh ears. While it's still at the bottom of the pile when placed against other 'Deth, it's not nearly as bad as I remembered it to be. If I listen to just Megadeth on shuffle and songs from Risk creep in, they don't sound too bad.

As far as Load & Reload go, as hard rock albums, they're not bad. As Metallica albums, they are terrible. At the time they came out, if those albums were released by some new, unknown band, I probably would've dug 'em. But being an old school Metallica fan, they just don't fit in with their back catalog. But listening to them recently, they aren't bad. Not as horrible as I remembered them to be.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

2 (or 3, really) that come to mind right away are:

Megadeth - Risk
Metallica - Load/Reload

I'm a huge Megadeth fan, but when I heard Risk for the 1st time, I had about given up on them, thinking Dave has just really lost it. I didn't see where he was going with that album and didn't like it at all. It sat on the shelf as a space holder in an otherwise great discography. Fast forward a few years and I get an mp3 player. As I'm importing all my Megadeth, I listen to Risk with fresh ears. While it's still at the bottom of the pile when placed against other 'Deth, it's not nearly as bad as I remembered it to be. If I listen to just Megadeth on shuffle and songs from Risk creep in, they don't sound too bad.

As far as Load & Reload go, as hard rock albums, they're not bad. As Metallica albums, they are terrible. At the time they came out, if those albums were released by some new, unknown band, I probably would've dug 'em. But being an old school Metallica fan, they just don't fit in with their back catalog. But listening to them recently, they aren't bad. Not as horrible as I remembered them to be.

As I was driving to work today I was thinking about giving Load and Reload second spins. Good point on the fact that as Metallica albums, they are terrible, but as hard rock albums, they are okay. I will have to go in with a mindset of that thinking. I will try to keep my memories of me and my buddies, all long time Metallica fans, crying sell out and keep an open mind. Peace.

I am on a rediscovery of Helloween at the moment. Gambling was such a good album i've had to pull them out and remember how good they can be.

So today, I revisited Bad English - S/T. I recently picked up their second album on the cheap so I figured I would see if these guys are worth keeping in the collection. Anyway, I spun it twice this morning and although I never felt the need for the skip button, I was not impressed and really only liked the one track I bought the album for, Forget Me Not. John Waite is a talented enough vocalist and a good lyricist, but too many ballads sink this ship in my humble opinion.
There are 13 tracks total on the album and 3 are ballads, 3 are mid paced rockers and the rest is uptempo, slick AOR. Other than the one track I really like and maybe one or song that I will rip to an ipod or cd comp of similar bands like Journey, Bon Jovi, or Autograph, I can't see myself giving this one much play.
I have the second album, Backlash, in the player now and I have noticed that it is a full 14 minutes (3 songs) shorter than the previous one, so I will let you all know my findings. Peace.

Journey, Foreigner, and Boston, for years I dismissed these bands as corporate faceless, emotionless rock n roll. This despite the fact that Journey was the first band I ever saw in concert, years later on a whim I bought a greatest hits package from Journey and loved it, also did the same thing with both Boston and Foreigner. Not my favorite bands but good music. Also both Neal Schon and Tom Scholz excellent guitartist.

Man, those first two Boston albums are classics no matter if they're corporate or not. Good you came around, they are very enjoyable.

Nazgul wrote:

Man, those first two Boston albums are classics no matter if they're corporate or not. Good you came around, they are very enjoyable.

Well the first one is a classic for sure. Not a bad track on it.

After that....eh.

Revisted Train Of Though by Dream Theater - forgot how much I like that CD.

Tried to revist Falling Into Infinety - that didn't go so well, I still don't like it

manny wrote:

Journey, Foreigner, and Boston, for years I dismissed these bands as corporate faceless, emotionless rock n roll. This despite the fact that Journey was the first band I ever saw in concert, years later on a whim I bought a greatest hits package from Journey and loved it, also did the same thing with both Boston and Foreigner. Not my favorite bands but good music. Also both Neal Schon and Tom Scholz excellent guitartist.

Actually, Foreigner was a pretty damn good band in their early years. Sure, they are basically a ripoff of Bad Company, but they're good at it. Interesting trivia, Ian McDonald (of King Crimson/McDonald & Giles) somehow ended up in this band and played guitar, keyboards and all the reed instruments.

As much as I hate to admit it, their first 4 albums are pretty much benchmark examples of how to create perfectly crafted pop/rock records.

They are also my favorite of the 3 bands you mentioned.

I have to agree with you on Foreigner, for awhile their during my brief punk phase I deceided they were horrible and purged my collection of all AOR bands. Now that I am older (alot older) my musicial taste have expanded. Lou Gramm is a great vocalist in the Paul Rodgers tradition.
They along with Journey and Joe Lynn Turner era of Rainbow are responsible for the dreaded power ballads that would invade the airwaves in the '80's IMO.

manny wrote:

I have to agree with you on Foreigner, for awhile their during my brief punk phase I deceided they were horrible and purged my collection of all AOR bands. Now that I am older (alot older) my musicial taste have expanded. Lou Gramm is a great vocalist in the Paul Rodgers tradition.
They along with Journey and Joe Lynn Turner era of Rainbow are responsible for the dreaded power ballads that would invade the airwaves in the '80's IMO.

The difference being that Foreigner and Rainbow were GOOD at power ballads.

I'm re-visiting the last 2 Blind Guardian albums today. I'm having a great time, but can't remember a single note from any song when the albums are over!

That's a sign of age.

Nazgul wrote:

That's a sign of age.

...or poor songwriting.