As far as not finding newer releases as mind blowing as I did when I was
younger, my conjecture (based solely on my own insane thought process) is
that many of the releases that I could listen to for weeks on end over and
over were mainly some the first releases I'd heard that use a certain style.
Since they were totally new, I could listen to them over and over again, for
long periods of time. I think that after time two things happen that makes
these albums stick out, and other new albums seem not as good:
1. as I begin to become more familiar with a style, other releases can't
impress me as much, because they offer fewer new ideas.
2. the more an album effects me initially, the more likely I am to become
nostalgic about that album, and my enjoyment factor on repeated listens will
depend on more than just the music.
For an instance of 1, while I really liked OK Computer, I had serious
problems with my friends calling Radiohead the best band in the world,
because I've listened to Pink Floyd, and I find that album _very_ inspired
by (if not a complete rip off of) PF. Likewise, Orbital-Untitled II is an
absolutely gorgeous album to me. But I've yet to find a release in that
style that I like nearly as much. I don't find anything really new about new
albums in that style, and so I can't get excited about them.
For 2, I can say that I didn't listen to BoC-Music Has The Right To Children
nearly as much as I did Ae-Tri Repetae++, and I'm pretty sure it's because I
heard Tri Repetae first, and have great memories of that album, not because
it is intrinsically better than BoC. (I happen to think comparing the two
would be like comparing insanely great pommegranites, to super fantastic
tasting mangos). I think this is also why I don't think much of RDJ. Much of
RDJs music holds no sentimental value for me, and I find that many of his
tracks sound dated. I do like, some of his stuff, but after a first listen
of his albums, I've never felt the need to listen to the whole album
immediately again, as I did with Tri Repetae.
Anyhow, enough incoherrant ramblings. I was going to include a rail against
the entertainment industry which included some personal commentary about the
Masters of the Universe movie and Final Fantasy:The Spirits within, but that
seems just a tad off topic.
As is the popular refrain today, I should get back to work.
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