What do you listen for?

[Wireworm5]

When I listen to music, the most important element is that I like the song (if it don't have that swing it don't mean a thing). After that I get the most enjoyment on how instruments sound. Like the low vibes of a bass guitar, The raw sound of Ritchie Blackmore's limited addition Fender Stratocastor, the realism of an anolog synth, ( in the past they always sounded tiny). The haunting piercing sound of a trumpet or french horn,etc.. Then there is the ambience or mood that a song plays on the mind. Like if I play an extended play trance electronic track, first I get immersed in the sound, then it takes you on a trip in your mind,( this is without drugs). I am not one for vocals for the most part, and I stay away from sappy love songs,country or any other boring music styles.
This is what makes me a audiophile fanatic. What are the elements that you are listening for in music? Maybe you like sappy love songs, why?
I know its not easy to define in words what it is that makes music enjoyable to you, but give it a try.

[PAT.P]

When I listen to music, the most important element is that I like the song (if it don't have that swing it don't mean a thing). After that I get the most enjoyment on how instruments sound. Like the low vibes of a bass guitar, The raw sound of Ritchie Blackmore's limited addition Fender Stratocastor, the realism of an anolog synth, ( in the past they always sounded tiny). The haunting piercing sound of a trumpet or french horn,etc.. Then there is the ambience or mood that a song plays on the mind. Like if I play an extended play trance electronic track, first I get immersed in the sound, then it takes you on a trip in your mind,( this is without drugs). I am not one for vocals for the most part, and I stay away from sappy love songs,country or any other boring music styles.
This is what makes me a audiophile fanatic. What are the elements that you are listening for in music? Maybe you like sappy love songs, why?
I know its not easy to define in words what it is that makes music enjoyable to you, but give it a try.

I love from Classical,Rock ,Jazz,New Wave and yes some Country.I like Jesse Cook and the way he plays the guitar.I do like the voice althought combine with instuments.Nothing like a great sound of the drums ,electric guitar .I like to close my eyes and feel the music like Im there .Let the music transport me out of my body ,dont need drugs to get my high

[bacchanal]

first of all, great topic!

emotion...if I can't hear the emotion then it isn't worth listening to imo. I tend to like albums that are recorded 'live' or close to it...not as in live on stage, but in one take as a band in the studio. I have a lot of respect for producers/artists that are willing to leave some of the errors in the music. I also like hearing artists perform at or beyond their limit. SRV was like that in his earlier days...some of his performances are very exciting to watch.
I also like music with a message, not just music for the sake of music or music about chicks and money or whatever. It is cool when someone is passionate about something and they are trying to express that artistically. Then again, there are plenty of times when I'm totally satisfied with mindless rocking. Just depends on the mood I guess.
Of course songwriting and instrumentation play a big role in what I listen to. Guitar, guitar, guitar, and more guitar. If it's got six or twelve strings, and it's not on mtv, i'll probably dig it in some way!

[dingus]

if the song doesnt catch me right away, skilled musicianship paired with creative ability and originality have to be evident.

[Bernd]

Yeah-great topic.
To me a song is like a painting. You got to like it first and then get that tingle and after that the brushstrokes, strumming and interpretation and execution come into play. As said before I too like recordings that are done live in the studio (check out "Fishermans Blues" or "Room to Roam"-by the Waterboys).
But all important to me is that the song has to mean something and then the performance has to be true and well recorded.
This brings me to your original question I guess, at home I like to hear what's on the disc all of it-that's the quest we are on I suppose. We all hear different and are moved by various things.Most of all just enjoy and marvel at what you hear or see. I am not a fan of the an*l retentive stuff like PRAT etc. It has got to sound right and move something inside of you.Sorry, got on my soapbox but there is so much BS printed ( $ 450 Audiophile knobs anyone).

What's playing: Stan Ridgway-Black Diamond

Peace

Bernd

[GMichael]

I like music with a large dynamic range. Something that is soft and then powerful. This usually gets my emotions going. Also like it to be intricate. Many instruments playing at one time entangled together to create one story. The timing of one instrument beginning a rift to have another finish it catches my ear and holds on tightly. Music that I have heard many times, but when I listen again I hear something I never noticed before.

[kexodusc]

I like songs that tell a story, reflect on something of significance, or make you feel an emotion. And they don't have to do so with words.
Singing for the sake of singing, or playing for the sake of playing doesn't cut it for me. And I'm sick of modern metal acts with their insincere, packaged, false aggression and anger routines. Mix it up a bit.
Technical ability is great, but it has to add something to the song, not just serve the purpose of showing off.
Holst's "The Planets" is a real journey for me.

[thepogue]

Believe it or not I just picked up the Waterboys on vinyl at the Thrift shop!!..I love Mike Scott...great stuff for sure!

Believe it or not I just picked up the Waterboys on vinyl at the Thrift shop!!..I love Mike Scott...great stuff for sure!

As far as what grabs me first is the feeling that the music is Honest...sound weird I know...but I like bands that kinda play from the "gut" so to speak...and that comes from all different types of music...I'll just throw a few names out a and why they are, in my book, convincing...they really sound like they believe in what they are playing,

KD Lang - She sings with all her being it seems and I'm not really a country fan.

Porcupine Tree - Although I kinda like Spocks Beard, PT is just way more "real" for me.

The Pogues - Playin hard, Drinkin hard.

Springsteen - His early stuff was from the heart, kinda got commercial during "Born in the USA".

The Saw Doctors - True Blue.

Early Areosmith - Rocks and before.

Thin Lizzy - Rock from within.

Delbert McClinton - The down and dirty blues man.

John Hiatt - True blue.

Floyd - Need I say more?

Just my take...I know it's a judgement call...but there are band that I have enjoyed and do enjoy that just don't pass that gut-check - Alice Cooper, Styx, CCR, Fleetwood Mac, even Zeppelin in MO. Now PLEASE don't start the flamin thang...I'm a HUGH Zeppelin/Mac fan...but the difference tween Zep and Areosmith IMHO Zep played kinda to show how great they were (even in the early day) and the early day of Areosmith you could hear the hunger and that sounded very soulful to me. (in the latter days they sucked IMHO). Queen was always boarder line for me...the music sounded always too polished but Freddy was and is one of the best of the best...and no one more believable

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Peace, Pogue

Yeah-great topic.
To me a song is like a painting. You got to like it first and then get that tingle and after that the brushstrokes, strumming and interpretation and execution come into play. As said before I too like recordings that are done live in the studio (check out "Fishermans Blues"-by the Waterboys).
But all important to me is that the song has to mean something.

Peace

Bernd

[3db]

Believe it or not I just picked up the Waterboys on vinyl at the Thrift shop!!..I love Mike Scott...great stuff for sure!

Believe it or not I just picked up the Waterboys on vinyl at the Thrift shop!!..I love Mike Scott...great stuff for sure!

As far as what grabs me first is the feeling that the music is Honest...sound weird I know...but I like bands that kinda play from the "gut" so to speak...and that comes from all different types of music...I'll just throw a few names out a and why they are, in my book, convincing...they really sound like they believe in what they are playing,

KD Lang - She sings with all her being it seems and I'm not really a country fan.

Porcupine Tree - Although I kinda like Spocks Beard, PT is just way more "real" for me.

The Pogues - Playin hard, Drinkin hard.

Springsteen - His early stuff was from the heart, kinda got commercial during "Born in the USA".

The Saw Doctors - True Blue.

Early Areosmith - Rocks and before.

Thin Lizzy - Rock from within.

Delbert McClinton - The down and dirty blues man.

John Hiatt - True blue.

Floyd - Need I say more?

Just my take...I know it's a judgement call...but there are band that I have enjoyed and do enjoy that just don't pass that gut-check - Alice Cooper, Styx, CCR, Fleetwood Mac, even Zeppelin in MO. Now PLEASE don't start the flamin thang...I'm a HUGH Zeppelin/Mac fan...but the difference tween Zep and Areosmith IMHO Zep played kinda to show how great they were (even in the early day) and the early day of Areosmith you could hear the hunger and that sounded very soulful to me. (in the latter days they sucked IMHO). Queen was always boarder line for me...the music sounded always too polished but Freddy was and is one of the best of the best...and no one more believable

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Peace, Pogue

I hear ya man on this as strange as it seems. John Hiatt must be one of the premier song writers, love his words.. just poetry.

I'm such a blues fan cause nothing comes more from the hear/gut as old delta blues from people like Johnson, Howlin wolf etc.

A relatively new Canadian band ya might wanna check out is the "trews" I'm realy stuck on them right now..

http://www.futureshop.ca/multimedia/...r/M2098135.gif

[thepogue]

how's it shakin brudda?...alls well here. ya the "muddy water" gut check...Booker T also get me there quick!!

PHILIP LYNOTT of Thin Lizzy has the biggest heart in rock I'd say...and although I'm not the biggest fan of all thier LP's...the "Big 3" Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation were their finest hour


Peace, Pogue

[3-LockBox]

I used to be an audiophile, few years back. Not so much anymore. I had such a limited and boring music collection because I was so enraptured with things like soundstaging, imaging, and accuracy. Nuances like, "hey, what kind of woodwind is that", or "was that a dobro or a banjo...time to change speaker cables!". I decided that I was really depriving myself of a lot of great music by worrying whether or not a CD was going to 'do my system justice'. Hell, I still can't bring myself to listening to MP3 downloads, because I do like accuracy to a degree, but then again, I rarely sit down in front of a system that can even portray a high level of accuracy. I do like a nice system, I just won't limit my listening experiences anymore.

Nor do I spend too much time worrying about who's the most bad-assed, bass or guitar player or drummer, etc., as long as they don't suck.

I'd rather experience an epiphany listening to a piece of new music, rather than chase ellusive (and sometimes imaginary) nuances that are just..one..more... esoteric accessory or tweak away from "true realism".

No green marker stains on my fingers...no deguassing CDs (or freezing them for that matter)...no $100 cables...no anti-static mats.

I'd rather listen to music than gear.

[BinFrog]

Music has to move me and I don't care how.

[Bernd]

Music has to move me and I don't care how.

THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace

Bernd

[Mike]

I think most of us at some time have started to go down the audiophile route, I always envied friends who could listen to any old crap (soundwise) and just enjoy it for what it was ie good music.

But if you do go down that road you end up just listening to the same old bland (and I'm not saying all well recorded stuff is bland) brilliantly recorded, technically perfect dull as ditchwater sounds. And you miss out on so much stuff that's out there, this board has opened up my ears to so many new sounds that 5 years ago I would have dismissed at first pass. Don't get me wrong I like to hear well recorded music but it's not the end of the world if it isn't.

Going back to your original question I like my music to have some emotion either lyrically or musically and sometimes that emotion catches you by surprise because it's not about sappy sentiment. I also like my music to have some degree of proficiency, I'm no musician but I don't like to listen to something and think hey I could have done that if only I'd bothered to learn to play an instrument.

Cheers
Mike

[Dave_G]

Hard to explain.

But the piece has to "connect" to my musical tastes.

Be it Thin Lizzy, XTC, IQ, Devo, Rush, Genesis, Yes, Ultravox, or whomever, there has to be an intrinsic "hook" in the composition for me to like it.

I get into music big time and am not an audiophile per se (mainly becasue I don't have the dough) but I like to listen to much music as possible and buy cd's and lp's all the time, and dee vee dees too.

Hell, I just bought a Police concert on laserdisc the other day!

Dave

[Davey]

I remember reading one time an interview with the late Lester Bangs, and he was asked what he listens for in an album, and he said something very simple, I think it was "just soul and vitality." And that kind of resonated with me, because soul in music is something that has always meant a lot to me. The feeling that an artist really has something invested in the music. Something of himself. It's that soemthing that makes it almost possible to take ownership of the music and think of it as your own, because it means something deeper than its entertainment value. It has a life, the vitality he talks about. For me it comes from passion, not necessarily from an artist striving to turn their emotional turmoil into music, or vice versa, but from that rare ability to make you feel passionate about their music. So that it becomes a part of your life. Like that Dylan line from "Tangled Up In Blue", where he talks about the words of a long dead poet, "...and every one of those words rang true, and glowed like burning coals, pouring off of every page like it was written in my soul...", now that's soul and vitality

But I'm a lyric and vocal freak. Love unique and quirky vocals and especially lyrics. So ultimately, that's where I wind up. Really has to have that soul and vitality in the music to bait me, but also needs to follow through with some unique imagery in the music and/or lyrics to really set the hook.

The sound quality and production values and everything related to how the music gets through the air to my ears used to mean a lot more to me than it does now. I won't say that's a good or bad thing, just that it is.

[Dusty Chalk]

But if you do go down that road you end up just listening to the same old bland (and I'm not saying all well recorded stuff is bland) brilliantly recorded, technically perfect dull as ditchwater sounds.

I never did. I still consider myself an audiophile, but I never changed my musical tastes based on equipment. I was fortunate enought to receive some good advice early on: for test tracks, listen to what you're familiar with. So I did. Then a discussion came up about soundstaging, and someone mentioned that most pop/rock music sucks in that area, so I stopped bothering (listening for it -- not after hearing Weavers Live at Carnegie Hall, though). And then someone (a writer for Stereophile, I believe) mentioned that most of the crap that audiophiles listen to will sound good on any system (Diana Krall, et al), and I had noticed that too (also, that much of it was boring). So I stopped forcing myself to listen to some of it, except when it was musically good.

So yeah, the first thing I listen for is the Gestalt. If it doesn't have that, I don't bother 'listening' for anything more.

[Hyfi]

First of all, Hello to all the new folks and crossovers who are posting here.

All of the replies so far have been un-arguable. Myself, I would rather listen to music than vocals. There are a few singers that absolutely do it for me because thier voices are instruments....Need I say Annie Haslam, Sandy Denny.....I don't like repetative - OOh Baby Baybe baby lyrics or songs without a good story or meaning if it does contain vocals.

I have what I like to think is a pretty decent playback system with only scratching the surface of high end. I never rolled equipment or tubes but I have found a few cheap tweaks that made huge differences.

I prefer Jazz-Fusion-Bluesy-Rock type music. I prefer talented and highly technical performers / bands. I prefer the recording be decent and truthfull, but after a few years here I definately listen to way more than I did for a long time. It does seem like the technical mastsers of thier instruments have better sounding disks. Have you ever heard a BAD Dave Weckl recording?

Examples of my preference would look similar to this:

Acoustic Alchemy
Annie Haslam
Bruford
Carl Filipiak
Craig Chaquico
Dennis Chambers
Eric Mareanthal
Fairport Convention
Fourplay
Genesis
Gov't Mule
Jethro Tull
Kansas
King Crimson
Lee Rittenour
Los Lonely Boys
Michael Hedges
Mike Stern
Ozzy
Pink Floyd
Rennaisance
Rippingtons
Stevie Ray Vaughn
yadadadadadadadadadada

I do still sit down and listen to my equipment fom time to time but the end, the music has to make me tap my feet or tug on my heart.

Hyfi