SGGreenman: How Many Times Do You Listen To An Album Before You Rate It?

SGGreenman 02.23.14	I'd say for me like 5-7
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	once. i dont really place much importance on numeric assignments to albums, they are placeholders/helpful reminders on how i felt about long forgotten albums. if i like it a lot ill probably listen to it a bunch more. if its shit ill rate it a 1 and not listen to it again
snowbbird 02.23.14	I usually know how I feel about an album after the first listen, but I'll rate it at around the 2nd or 3rd listen. If I'm reviewing an album I'll listen to the album around ten times and listen to said bands other material.
Rowan5215 02.23.14	Twice to get a provisional/placeholder rating, usually about 4 to confirm it
SGGreenman 02.23.14	Yeah I for sure feel like the more I like an album the longer it takes for me to rate it. I'd say 4 is fair but 1 just seems so little for me. I don't get nearly as much out of an album from the first listen as opposed to the third/fourth.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	i honestly kind of think rating albums is stupid as fuck for any purposes outside of using it as an extremely malleable tool for keeping track of things assigning numerical values to music super seriously... just cant fathom
Winsomniac 02.23.14	NottoDisuShittoAgen.jpg It depends on the record/person. You rate it when you form a fucking opinion about the album as a whole, and presumably change it as your impression of it changes.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	agree with winso
SGGreenman 02.23.14	@LordPots in context yeah ratings are dumb, but they are easy ways to express your feelings on an album to others, and yeah keeping track of how much you liked it.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	well yeah those are two reasons that hold not very much inherent mass importance so i agree! altho mostly just easy ways to express feelings on an album on here... i dont usually respond to "what are your thoughts on 'album'" with "5/5" in real life unless im being satirical
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	"Depends on the album really, but I try to listen at least 3 times to get an idea of the album's quality. Sometimes it can take as many as 20 listens for albums I don't "get" at first, other times I can rate after just 2 spins if the album is derivative, simple or just plain shit ." see this is wat i dont get. this is something you should just inherently do if you need to do it with an album. if not then don't. the process of album rating has next to nothing to do with whether or not i want to or need to spin an album multiple times
Muisc4Life26 02.23.14	2-4 times
Winsomniac 02.23.14	Never forget fuagzi
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	when i said 'this isn't what i get' i didn't mean 'i dont understand' i was just implying that its not how i view rating
Pheromone 02.23.14	2-4 times depending on a genre
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	" There's a tonne of albums I haven't rated simply because I haven't listened to them enough, because I feel there might be intricacies or a bigger picture that I've missed out on/overlooked." yeah, and again, "haven't listened to it enough to rate it" is silly imo. rating shouldnt take priority or be emphasized over actual mental/aural processing. u can throw numbers around like whatever, who cares, having rated something isnt gonna help u argue why u like or dislike something, the processing is but again, just my opinion on why rating is like, super insignificant to me. totally just my own thing, everybody views it different!
Winsomniac 02.23.14	That doesn't make them all equal, Jac.
climactic 02.23.14	once, cause im not gonna listen to an album like 7 times if i think its pretty decent, 2.5-3 range, just to confirm what i think the rating is. i rate what my first impression is, and if i like it i'll listen to it more and adjust accordingly
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	all im saying is i put very very little thought into rating, doing so i think detracts from the purpose of musical enjoyment
climactic 02.23.14	yeah what pots is saying basically. ratings are p arbitrary. thinking too hard about em takes away from actually enjoying music for what it is.
Pheromone 02.23.14	The first time I listened to Yo La Tengo's "I can hear the heart beating as one" I found it unbelievably dull, but spinning it a few more times rendered me more enjoyment and it's now one of my all time favourites. I think most albums deserve more than one listen, but as you said everybody views it different.
sonictheplumber 02.23.14	sometimes once sometimes more
tempest-- 02.23.14	depends with shit albums like once or twice with stuff i like prob about 5 times but sometimes even then idk i just rate when i feel like i have a definite opinion on an album
zakalwe 02.23.14	There's countless albums I haven't rated that I've listened to countless times.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 02.23.14	arbitrary is the word clim, definitely
MoosechriS 02.23.14	20 - 30 times probably, i listen to most stuff i buy around that before i move on to the next item in my never ending backlog
menawati 02.23.14	once, but rating may go up or down later if i come across it again on here for some reason
Necrotica 02.23.14	once
greg84 02.23.14	3-5 times, depends on the record
ButteryBiscuitBass 02.23.14	Once, never more, if I don't like it then I won't listen to it again. Time is precious, it's the same with books, if I'm reading a book and it gets shit I throw it out the window and start a new one.
DrHouseSchuldiner 02.23.14	666 times
zakalwe 02.23.14	Patience is a virtue dude
ButteryBiscuitBass 02.23.14	Not with reading. In terms of music I could never understand the whole 'this albums a grower' statement. I think if you listened to The National over and over again you'd even end up 5'ing one of their albums. As far as rating goes, it has to be after the first listen. Did that album grab you at any point? Did it give you a boner? Yadda yadda. There's a lot of music out there, man, not enough time to listen to it all as it is.
JamieTwort 02.23.14	"In terms of music I could never understand the whole 'this albums a grower' statement." Are you saying that you can't understand that one's appreciation of certain (often more complex or less accessible) albums can't increase with repeated listens? cos if you are then I've never heard anything so ridiculous.
JamieTwort 02.23.14	I rarely feel comfortable rating an album after 1 listen cos it's very rare that I'm able to take everything in during my first listen. Often the listening experience can be entirely different during the second listen.
menawati 02.23.14	"I could never understand the whole 'this albums a grower' statement" In terms of the rating system on here I've heard records that go from 3 to 5 in my estimation over a few weeks, granted you got to like something to a certain extent before you want to re-listen but i think stuff does grow. Also the reverse too, I can absolutely love something for a short while then wonder why i was so hooked when the novelty wore off.
greg84 02.23.14	Plus, the albums that are growers have obviously higher replay value.
tempest-- 02.23.14	i mean everyone was diggin some shit music when they were like 13 thats a fact you werent listening to godspeed you black dildo in junior high
tempest-- 02.23.14	great that was my 9k comment
zakalwe 02.23.14	JT is never wrong except for Appetite for Destruction. Butters is talking bollocks.
DrHouseSchuldiner 02.23.14	dam i started jamming godspeed when i was 14
OmairSh 02.23.14	Most great albums take multiple listens to unfold.
ButteryBiscuitBass 02.23.14	'Are you saying that you can't understand that one's appreciation of certain (often more complex or less accessible) albums can't increase with repeated listens? cos if you are then I've never heard anything so ridiculous.' No, I'm saying the album's quality was always there from the moment you first heard it. Not hat an album takes numerous listens to understand. I think that's ridiculous, who is anyone to dismiss someones opinion (or even intelligence to understand an album) because they haven't heard it enough? I agree that you can have a personal attachment to an album that grows over time, but my point was that the quality of that album doesn't grow at all, so if you get it or think you do, you can rate it as and when you want.
dimsim3478 02.23.14	I don't have a number. It's really just me taking a good stab in the dark every time until I think that I understand a record well enough to gauge its merit in a rating and then explain that rating.
menawati 02.23.14	i respect your opinion buttery but i dont think that way about music
ButteryBiscuitBass 02.23.14	wtf jac, I can't understand how my opinion is ridiculous? Unless, I'm not explaining it correctly.
OmairSh 02.23.14	jac's being a jac ass
Ryus 02.23.14	lol i dont listen to them i just look at the average and rate it accordingly
VermTheImpaler 02.23.14	At least 5
collins 02.23.14	i generally rate after one listen just to decide if im ever going to bother again. if i decide 'yes'. ill stick it on my ipod and listen to it again one day and then rate it for real basically my ratings are just a way for me to keep track of stuff ill want to hear again and what stuff i wont
ButteryBiscuitBass 02.23.14	I get what you're saying Jac and I do appreciate it. Sometimes that is just a turn off for me, different strokes for different folks.
FearTomorrow 02.23.14	5 or 6, but it really depends on the album. some are easier to digest than others
TwigTW 02.23.14	Two listens, but if it interests me I’ll adjust it after a few more spins . . . love the surprise of an album that grows after a few listens.
warlordfun 02.23.14	at least 10 times
JamieTwort 02.23.14	"I agree that you can have a personal attachment to an album that grows over time, but my point was that the quality of that album doesn't grow at all" Well when people say an album is a "grower" it generally means it grows on you (as you begin to appreciate it more), not that the quality of the album grows (I can understand why you'd think that is ridiculous). Personally most of my favourite albums were growers, I mean I didn't listen to The Lamb Lies Down Broadway once and think "my god this is the best album ever", it took many listens (I don't just mean 2 or 3) for me to digest and fully appreciate every aspect of the album. Of course I respect your opinion, I always do, I just have a very different way of thinking about music and digesting an album.
JamieTwort 02.23.14	"who is anyone to dismiss someones opinion (or even intelligence to understand an album) because they haven't heard it enough?" You're right, no one should dismiss someone's opinion because they haven't given an album enough listens, I think when people seem to be doing that (myself included) they're speaking from experience about how it was a grower for them in the hope that it might be for whoever they're talking to.
anarchistfish 02.23.14	all my favourite albums were growers
anarchistfish 02.23.14	I rate most albums after 2 or 3 listens. I can always change it afterwards
anarchistfish 02.23.14	varies though. some albums take a lot more time to get a feel for them
Insurrection 02.23.14	depends on the album/genre etc i usually auto-3.5 or 4 anything that sticks out to me in a good way first couple listens and wait before handing out 4.5 or 5s
NordicMindset 02.23.14	I rate it when it feels right
ButteryBiscuitBass 02.23.14	Fair cop, JT. I have my own way and I always respect your opinion! I think I was getting wrapped up in what the album means to a person, of course, thinking about it that has a lot to do with a rating. But like you say, the lamb is a great example, I rated it as a 4 initially and then it became a 5, but I rated it after the first listen because the quality was always there. Then it became a personally fave. (still not pipping Selling England though hehe :-p but that's a totally different argument.)
adr 02.23.14	every time is different, depends. If i rly don't like something and hate it i rate it like after 1 listen, however most of the time i listen 2-3 times every album before i rate it, so yeah..
anarchistfish 02.23.14	"depends on the album/genre etc i usually auto-3.5 or 4 anything that sticks out to me in a good way first couple listens and wait before handing out 4.5 or 5s" same.
adr 02.23.14	smae [2]
NordicMindset 02.23.14	When I heard Aenima the first time I knew it was a 5 so there you go
Snake. 02.23.14	twice at most cause i'm a busta
climactic 02.23.14	i find it really hard to believe that the people saying they listen to shit 10 times heard all their 1s, 1.5s and 2s 10 times
itsalltherage 02.23.14	Ratings are an ongoing process as I don't have a paritcular listening schedule. So I revisit stuff I don't feel I've necessarily gotten a proper grip of yet whenever I happen to feel like doing so; that rating could theoretically change at any given moment. That way I'm providing an album with every chance to impress me or catch me off guard. As some have said though, ratings to the nearest .5 aren't definitive, they are merely guidelines for our individual tastes. But a single listen isn't enough to pass legitimate judgement on anything but the worst albums.
climactic 02.23.14	dont leave ;{
ArsMoriendi 02.23.14	I usually only listen to it once before I rate it, but if my rating changes after more listens, I'll change it.
DrMaximus 02.23.14	"depends on the album/genre etc i usually auto-3.5 or 4 anything that sticks out to me in a good way first couple listens and wait before handing out 4.5 or 5s" For the most part, smae
SGGreenman 02.23.14	why the fuck won't 1's album artwork? frustrating shit
Rhyme 02.23.14	1-3 times, I don't wanna listen to an album I know I won't like based on the first few listens
climactic 02.23.14	i actually might wipe my ratings again hm
titanslayer 02.23.14	I rate it after the first listen but quite a bit of the time I change my rating a week or so after I heard it.
LambsBread 02.23.14	once, but i listen to albums ive already heard again before i rate them too
PitchforkArms 02.23.14	usually i'll rate it after 1 listen but i wont really care too much about my rating until a few listens
MeatSalad 02.23.14	usually once, sometimes twice if i'm unsure about how i feel about it on first listen which is becoming increasingly more often
BMDrummer 02.24.14	Usually about 2-4 times, but certain albums I know are 5/5 or 1/5 from the start.
FearThyEvil 02.24.14	It really depends on the album/band. It could be anywhere from 2 to 10listens.
Greyvy 02.24.14	i can usually rate an album after hearing 1 song
theacademy 02.24.14	usually 0 times
bloc 02.24.14	Lol once
olivianigma 02.24.14	once, but ratings always change after hearing it multiple times