Interest in music

[Magic]

I have always been a huge music fan. I guess it is because my brothers were into music and one of my brothers carried his guitar everywhere he went.

I grew up hearing a wide variety of music styles, from country to psychedelic. This is probably why my tastes are ecclectic.

My daughter is a big music fan.....she played in high school band, and continues to carry on the tradition of ecclectic music tastes.


When you are a big music fan, the music does something to move your emotions.....you actually FEEL the music. I think this is what sets us apart from a casual listener.


However, I also read A LOT and I am a big movie buff, too. I truly believe that some people need more visual stimulation than others, which is probably why they become more fixated on movies and television. Music just doesn't fulfill that need for visual stimulation.

 

[CREAM'd]

I have three brothers and four sisters and my eldest brother is the only one who's into music. Any time I'd go down to his flat he'd have Neil Young or similar playing. The rest of my family just can't understand how somebody can just sit back and listen to a full album without doing anything else.

 

[Lynch]

The thing that puzzles me is... many of these people will seek out the latest books, browse book stores regularly and have a healthy reading habit. Many also keep up on the latest movies, watch award shows like the Oscars and get excited to watch the latest movies. But they have no interest in keeping up with new music... or even collecting established classics.

What do books and movies have that music doesn't?

Almost too many things to mention, but I'll touch on a couple. I'm not an avid book reader anymore, but I did read a lot when I was younger. Reading is probably one of the easiest uses of imagination. It is up to the author to describe a picture, a scene, a person, a situation, etc and the reader gets to develop that description into their own scene.

Example, an author can describe a character in a book to 100 people sitting in the same room, thus they ALL hear the same description at the same time and if you could get a snapshot of their image these 100 people create in their minds based on that picture, you'll have 100 variations of the exact same character. Now expand that into an entire story with dozens of characters, scenes, situations, etc. The possibilities of what each person interprets are almost endless.

To me, this is what is intriquing to a lot of people. Yes, the story has to grab the reader and make them want to read more, but it's an exercise in your mind's ability to take those words and turn them into a picture or a 'movie' in your own mind.


Movies? Well, similar to a book, you are getting a story. Some stories are good, some are not. Some characters are great, some are terrible, but a story is there nonetheless. The big difference between movies and books is that someone else (a director) has taken a book (or a script, screenplay, what-have-you) and put taken their own interpretation of those characters, scenes, storylines and put them to film so that you can watch them. Movies are kind of like the "Clift Notes" for books ... a quick sumation of the story told from the mind and through the eyes of a director.



That isn't to say music can't give a story as well, but it's a VERY short story. Listening to an album is a collection of very short stories, unless of course if you are listening to a concept album of which it's a longer version of a story, each song supposedly tied together with the song before it and after it. But in general, there aren't a lot of concept albums so it's fair to say that most albums are a collection of short stories. Some stories (songs) are good, some are not.

From my perspective, music is good for getting you worked up or it can relax you. Some people like it loud, others not so much. I think that music can take you to a previous time and place in your own life and can be very emotional.

I dunno, there are way too many aspects of music, movies and books that can't really be fully described in a simple forum post. You could write a book or make a movie on this topic, easily (but could you record an album explaining it? )

 

[architect]

I don't know anyone who loves and collects music like I do. I listen to music like most people watch TV.

My brother plays guitar and really loves metal and classic rock but he does not collect albums.

My mom and dad like music but they're content without it on a regular basis. Sometimes my dad will put on Count Basie or The Ink Spots if he's cleaning or baking.

My sister likes music too but mostly to dance to.


I have to say I got my taste in music from my family but I have taken it to a whole new level of obsession. I'm constantly looking for something new to listen to or seeking out rare lps at record shows.

 

[Musikwala]

I have to say I got my taste in music from my family but I have taken it to a whole new level of obsession.

This is true for me too, although my level of obsession has died down a bit in the past 5 years.

I got into music largely thanks to my dad. He always enjoyed listening to the Beatles and a handful of other 50s and 60s acts as well as a lot of Motown artists like Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder. He still listens to online radio stations all the time. But he bought very little. Occassionally he would buy cassettes through the 80s and 90s and later a few CDs now and then, but nothing on the level of obsessive collecting like me.

My mom and sis were also into music but not as much as my dad or me. In recent years, my sis has got back in touch with new music, but generally more thru' mainstream radio and TV.

But generally, they are all much more interested in the latest movies than the latest albums.

 

[Houston]

I agree, most everybody is a casual listener, that does not purchase music.. my older sister ignited my love of music, she would play her albums, and some radio, in the mornings before school, and I couldn't help hearing and enjoying them from my room next to hers..

today, she is getting back into music after a long lull.. she asks me "who is good"?, and what albums she should get.. she remembers most of the old classic rock artists, by name, but she often fails to link names and songs..

 

[zengac]

This is a great discussion! For me, it's like what Magic said .. I feel music and it definitely does something to move my emotions. It seems like everything in my life is connected to music in some way and I associate music with everything. That can be a good thing .. like when things are going well and music makes me feel happy. But it can also sometimes be not such a great thing. When things go wrong, I also associate music and certain songs with those events. For example, when I was a kid, one of my neighborhood friend's mother commited suicide. My friend told me about it and she was obviously very upset and crying. When I went to tell my parents, the song, "Sailing" by Christopher Cross was on the radio and to this day, years later, whenever I hear that song, it brings me back to that very sad moment. The song had nothing to do with me, my friend nor her mother but it was my connection to that moment and probably always will be. It's a beautiful, peaceful song but for me, it will always have a sad association attached to it.

 

[Jet]

This is a great discussion! For me, it's like what Magic said .. I feel music and it definitely does something to move my emotions. It seems like everything in my life is connected to music in some way and I associate music with everything. That can be a good thing .. like when things are going well and music makes me feel happy. But it can also sometimes be not such a great thing. When things go wrong, I also associate music and certain songs with those events. For example, when I was a kid, one of my neighborhood friend's mother commited suicide. My friend told me about it and she was obviously very upset and crying. When I went to tell my parents, the song, "Sailing" by Christopher Cross was on the radio and to this day, years later, whenever I hear that song, it brings me back to that very sad moment. The song had nothing to do with me, my friend nor her mother but it was my connection to that moment and probably always will be. It's a beautiful, peaceful song but for me, it will always have a sad association attached to it.

That is exactly why I hate it when bands allow their music to be used in commercials.

 

[Speed King]

What you wrote in post #1 is the reason why I'm here. There are a couple people at my neighborhood bar that I'll talk classic rock with, but it always ends up being a one sided conversation ending with, "how in the hell do you know all this stuff?" Then I feel kinda weird and redirect the subject to something else.

 

[Riff Raff]

Having had most if not all close family listening to music heavily I feel somewhat advantaged in my ways of getting into metal. My mother played music like Elvis, Meatloaf and folky type stuff too, Dad had his bluegrass (still does actually), Johnny Cash, George Thorogood I obsessively listened to as a little kid on his headphones, my brother with a very bluesy collection and his share of rock and metal.

One of my sisters enjoys the punky stuff and bands like Divinyls which I myself always liked too. Punk bands like Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys (before they sold out), Ramones, anything else Jello Biafra was involved in too to bands like Faith no More. The two other older sisters with bands like Korn, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pantera and Down, both at the early part of the 90s enjoyed death and black metal which I didn't get into until a couple years back.

My best friend is as big a metal guy as anyone I know who got me into plenty of good bands at the time I was starting to explore such as Judas Priest which was the most significant one and bands I did discover myself were bands like Megadeth, Iron Maiden which also proved a pivotal point to why I enjoy the music I do.

That was all before I joined this forum of which plenty of people got me into classic stuff but also some good modern acts. LG getting me onto bands like Floyd, Rush etc, MP and others getting me into some good power metal, thrash and death/black metal bands too.