Musical taste seems to be generational. Every time I hear an "artist" like Bruce Springsteen, I have visions of Nat King Cole or Johnny Hartman turning over in their graves.
I began to get turned off on "new" music when the guitar replaced the saxophone as the lead instrument; when Elvis started making millions from the Black musicians who were left standing poor; when Sarah Vaughn was replaced on the radio with Janis Joplin.
Not that I never recovered of course. Over the many years I've learned through exposure to appreciate a lot of rock music, some of which is really great. Most "advancements" of that genre still sound to me like a lot of "who can scream the loudest."
I've downloaded so many suggestions in this forum via Spotify and have tried to find music that is unfamiliar to me in an effort to expand my musical tastes. For the most part, I am finding recordings that are DRENCHED in artificial digital reverb. What's up with that? I suspect it's a way to cover up deficiencies in the artist's voice.
One thing I've noticed ... the music folks liked as teens seem to stick with them through life. It takes a real effort to expand beyond that. I remember a friend who loved opera. I hated it. He told me that opera was a lot like jazz ... one must listen to it a lot before the light bulb comes on. So, I stuck a cassette tape of Madam Butterfly in my car and listened to it over and over. As my friend said, the light bulb came on and I recognized the beauty and genius of opera. I now have a healthy opera collection ... Puccini mostly. I did the same with classical music. Yep, I still prefer Cal Tjader, Paul Desmond, Ella and Sarah ... but I listen to lots of classical, opera, rock, country (old school), too.
Memo to the engineers ... get the reverb out of the mix, PLEASE!
I began to get turned off on "new" music when the guitar replaced the saxophone as the lead instrument; when Elvis started making millions from the Black musicians who were left standing poor; when Sarah Vaughn was replaced on the radio with Janis Joplin.
Not that I never recovered of course. Over the many years I've learned through exposure to appreciate a lot of rock music, some of which is really great. Most "advancements" of that genre still sound to me like a lot of "who can scream the loudest."
I've downloaded so many suggestions in this forum via Spotify and have tried to find music that is unfamiliar to me in an effort to expand my musical tastes. For the most part, I am finding recordings that are DRENCHED in artificial digital reverb. What's up with that? I suspect it's a way to cover up deficiencies in the artist's voice.
One thing I've noticed ... the music folks liked as teens seem to stick with them through life. It takes a real effort to expand beyond that. I remember a friend who loved opera. I hated it. He told me that opera was a lot like jazz ... one must listen to it a lot before the light bulb comes on. So, I stuck a cassette tape of Madam Butterfly in my car and listened to it over and over. As my friend said, the light bulb came on and I recognized the beauty and genius of opera. I now have a healthy opera collection ... Puccini mostly. I did the same with classical music. Yep, I still prefer Cal Tjader, Paul Desmond, Ella and Sarah ... but I listen to lots of classical, opera, rock, country (old school), too.
Memo to the engineers ... get the reverb out of the mix, PLEASE!