NPR: "Too Much Music"

My son sent me this link -- it's kind of rambling, somewhat predictable, but still, I'd opine, an interesting read. Not long, but not short either. (and it name-checks Rega, for whatever reason).

Offered "as-is" and FWIW.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/01/16/578216674/too-much-music-a-failed-experiment-in-dedicated-listening

a little sample text (taken way out of context... but I like the thesis as a point to consider):
A friend once floated a theory that I've grappled with ever since. She claimed that we only ever really love 10 albums, and we spend the rest of our listening lives seeking facsimiles of those 10, pursuing the initial rush, so to speak. At the time, I argued with her, mostly because I didn't want this to be true. But even as I protested I began recalling how many times I compulsively "added to cart" an item whenever some savvy vinyl-hustling mountebank deployed the phrase "Velvets-y" or "Royal Trux-ish," and how many times I'd bought reissues promising the "holy grail" of "private press proto-doom" only to discover tepid bar rock that sounded like a warmed-over Bad Company. Our individual dragons may vary — Sabbath or Coltrane or Beatles or Beefheart — but we're all chasing 'em.

Comments

  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Nice article. I would tend to agree with the notion of about 10 albums or so. During my searches and experiments I eventually gravitate back to a certain genre, looking for modern day purveyors of the pomp rock and metal hero’s of my youth. My formative years I guess.

    Occasionally I get lucky. Avenged Sevenfold and 5FDP have earned they way into my faves. Our hero’s back in the day are definitely getting old BTW ...

    But sometimes for me the unexpected happens. Styx recently released a new album that harkens back to the good old days.

    And Greta Van Fleet reminds me of a young Led Zeppelin.

    I love the search!!! Will never stop!!! But yes a lot of the newer stuff I accumulate remains played only a few times.

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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    I am not like that, I don't really listen to my ten favorite albums from my youth, I am not that easily amused. There probably are a lot of people that are like that, what else would explain the popularity of abominations like Bruce Sringstein? Oh how I envy simpletons like that writer that gets paid to just write stuff.
  • voltz
    voltz Posts: 5,384
    Bruce you not listen to the right songs by the Boss! B)
    heres one that I use in my playlist to show off my speakers. except I use the studio version.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMriDhHDB1E
    2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

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  • dr1978
    dr1978 Posts: 424
    Good article, thanks for the heads up. In general I like the fact that I have access to much more music than I did when I was younger, but I do share the feeling that I don't get as much out of it as I used to. I guess with more choices and less time what can you expect? I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to retire down the road and at lease recapture a bit of the magic!
    Pro-ject 2 Experience SB, OPPO BDP-103, Marantz SR5011, Lounge LCR MKIII, McCormack DNA-HT5, Polk LSiM705, Polk LSiM706C, Polk LSiM702, SVS SB16-Ultra
  • Jimbo18
    Jimbo18 Posts: 2,310
    What impressed me the most about the article, is how well it was written. That guy is a "writer" first and foremost.
  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    voltz wrote: »
    Bruce you not listen to the right songs by the Boss! B)
    heres one that I use in my playlist to show off my speakers. except I use the studio version.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMriDhHDB1E

    Is that Paul Schafer?
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    edited January 2018
    That was a GREAT SONG and I known girls/women who've told me about their walls they built after heart aches.

    Now Bruce didn't repeat the same phrase 30 times in this song, which was NICE.

    But he mumbled a lot. I had to look up the lyrics to understand the second half of the song.

    GREAT lyrics!!!

    Real life stuff here!

    Secret Garden
    Bruce Springsteen
    She'll let you in her house
    If you come knockin' late at night
    She'll let you in her mouth
    If the words you say are right
    If you pay the price
    She'll let you deep inside
    There's a secret garden she hides
    She'll let you in her car
    To go drivin' 'round
    She'll let you into the parts of herself
    That'll bring you down
    She'll let you in her heart
    If you got a hammer and a vise
    But into her secret garden, don't think twice
    You've gone a million miles
    How far'd you get
    To that place where you can't remember
    And you can't forget
    She'll lead you down a path
    There'll be tenderness in the air
    She'll let you come just far enough
    So you know she's really there
    And she'll look at you and smile
    And her eyes will say
    She's got a secret garden
    Where everything you want
    Where everything you need
    Will always stay a million miles away
    Songwriters: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    Not feeling it, he has done worse though.