Over the last year I've gradually found it more difficult to find an LP in my collection I want to hear.
Put an LP on......... some nice sounds growing to some raucous, and sometimes annoying, heights like so much Rock.

Today I tuned every system in the house to 106.1 classic FM........ no grating guitar solos, no rantings of a singer trying to act possessed. Quite relaxing and clear and crisp......... ummm.....no, NO, No it wasn't........ it was like old mans music, so boring! so droll ! so damned lame !!!! So lame but unintrusive, so calming........ even NICE.......and meaningful........ and .......... :tears:

Come on guys, I used to like early Devo and Talking Heads.......Nick Cave and Magazine, Echo and the Bunnymen and Eno........

.......I'm Melting...........

I find myself just about there...I find the NPR classical to be not so lame..they dont play the staple music of the classical repertoir. But then, if they do, I just put on a classical LP/

I'm in the same boat. I listened to a lot of stuff when I was a teenager that now I wouldn't even go in the same room with. Instead I'm listening more and more to classical, jazz, even folks like Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

Peoples' tastes change as they mature, Jeff. Nothing to be frightened of. Just wait til you start liking opera! Wagner, anyone?

Tom

It's a natural progression, nothing to be ashamed of. :music:

See if you can find the Chant CD.

You're dooooooomed.

:D

I occasionally get "in the mood" for classical, it is usually but not always as more of a background thing.

But more and more in seriousness. It it age? :scratch2:

I think the orchestra is the greatest instrument ever made.

Pete

Yepper, I'm listening to more classical, folk and jazz with each passing day. Will weed out all the classic rock before much longer.

I've done the same thing. I worried about myself there for awhile! ha. Things I thought I'd never listen to when I was a kid are now sounding pretty good. I guess we acquire a new appreciation of what sounds good on our systems. Being 40 now, I grew up liking the harder rock (if this is right) like KISS, Judas Priest, Montrose, Van Halen, and southern rock like .38 Special, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc... Now I have things from Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Allison Krauss, Diana Krall, etc. Things I never thought I'd listen to. I still have my old school jamming times, though. I haven't lost it yet! lol

But again...they just SOUND good to me.

I've always enjoyed a little classical in my musical diet. I was just very picky about what classical I would listen too, but now I seem to enjoy it much more. Mostly for background music, or for the rare occasion where my head is not so full of junk that I can actually sit and enjoy it. I can't listen to it when I am really busy or wound up, I find it irritating when I'm like that.

I dont know why but you are going thru withdrawl.
Close your eyes and pick an lp out of your stack and enjoy it.
Then wonder why that was the one you picked.
Good luck.

As a little kid, I was a big fan of...

Hard rock
Some Pop
Blues
Jazz
Opera (preferably live)
Some Classical
"World" and "ethnic" music
An occasional country-western song

As a middle-ager, I am a big fan of...

Hard rock
Some Pop
Blues
Jazz
Opera (preferably live)
Some Classical
"World" and "ethnic" music
An occasional country-western song

The only thing that has changed is the percentage of time I spent listening to each. I do spend more time listening to easier/softer stuff and less time listening to harder stuff, than I used to.

I've read that loud music and harder rock type music increases adrenaline and testosterone production in the body. As we age and get past the normal reproductive years, our levels of (and need for) these and similar chemicals/hormones is reduced, and as a result we don't want/need that kind of stimulation any more. The shift from pounding rock (or these days, kids' techno/trance stuff) to easy classical is almost certainly a natural part of aging.

I just can't figure out why --as defined by musical tastes-- I was partly old when I was young, and am partly young as I get old...:headscrat :D

The danger, I have found in classical music is the sheer volume I have collected since I became interested in it. I currently have about 15 linear feet of classical vinyl and am still looking for obvious things that are missing. (for instance I don't have a copy of the four seasons...i have picked up 2 that I have discarded due to scratches) Plus, classical records will make you really want to invest in a record cleaner and quality turntable. There is nothing more irritating than ticks and pops during a piano performance.

jeffn, i know what you mean. the birthday party and the accused are both on my list of cds to re-purchase. but even if i find them cheap, i think 'do i really want to hear this anymore?'

and i've gotten to the point of wondering if i'll like bands such as: procul harum, bread, CSN, yes, ten years after, etc. i wasn't into them as a teen and my step mom had some of their lps. of course, she tended to have the bad releases of these groups.

i've got a lot of classical, but haven't listened to any in a long time. my roommate doesn't like it (but his twin loves classical, weird). coincidentally, they grew up in australia.


no idea what is in your collection now, but check out: hermann nitch's harmoniumwerks, simon finn's pass the distance ('70 psych-folk), big black, thomas brinkmann (you mentioned no electronic and i have no idea what your bias on it is, but brinkmann's disc ROSA is great - beautiful tones. it isn't labeled w/ his name. i think the only word on the whole cd is 'rosa' it is a compilation of 24 12" that i'm suire are OOP

and check out oren ambarchi recordings

May I suggest:
Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano with Claude Bollins and Jean-Pierre Rampal
Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano with Claude Bollins and Yo-Yo Ma
a few Diana Krall CDs (Look of Love or Live in Paris) for a change of pace
and Too Far to Whisper by Shadowfax, if you can still find it anywhere...

Man can not live by Rock 'n Roll bread alone...

Gordon Lightfoots music sounds as good to me now as it did 30 years ago. A few of his best albums:

If You Could Read My Mind (titled 'Sit Down Young Stranger' outside of the US)
Summer Side of Life
Don Quixote
Summertime Dream
Cold On The Shoulder
Sundown

Jeffn,

Remember, all "classical" symphonic music is (at it's best) was the biggest, baddest, loudest sound the artist could come up with. It ROCKS!

Ain't no shame in Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, and Stravinsky.

Jeffn,

Remember, all "classical" symphonic music is (at it's best) was the biggest, baddest, loudest sound the artist could come up with. It ROCKS!

Ain't no shame in Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, and Stravinsky.


yeah, berlioz was awesome!

Goooo innntooo the liiiighttt....

May I recommend the Amadeus Soundtrack. Great movie also...

Forgot to add people like Bethoveen were the rock stars of their generation...

Hey all you classical music lovers...give me some...Ravel,Holst,Rimsky-Korsakov,Mussorgsky,Bizet,Brahms,Berloiz,Dvorak,Li szt,Copland,Grieg,Saint-Saens,Debussy,Mahler,Prokofiev,Respighi,Rossini,Si belius,Lalo,Smetana,Tchaikovsky,Von Suppe,Wagner,Elgar,and Stravinsky...anyday,I love this stuff,and will listen to it till the end of my time,even got the son started on his music career with classical music as his working to be someday major in college right now. :yes: :music: Rob

Music appreciation was valued highly in my family. I attended Leonard Bernstein's "The Sound of an Orchestra" Young People's Concert as a young lad, and was exposed to a wide spectrum of jazz and classical. But I was also a child of the 60's and 70's, and attended shows by Yes, Jethro Tull, Aerosmith, Robin Trower, Frank Zappa, et al. My rock dinosaur credentials and love for jazz and classical notwithstanding, I think it is a false dichotomy between classic rock and *radio safe* classical (i.e. no Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Varese, etc.). There has been plenty of amazing music created in the last 10+ years in every genre, and hopefully there is no end in sight! ;) Nothing wrong with classical, but it needn't equate to dotage. Seek and you shall find.

Kerry M

PS. Speaking of Eno and Old Man's Music, Have you heard Paul Simon's "Suprise"? If you like Talking Heads, check out David Byrne's "Look Into The Eyeball", and tune into David Byrne's monthly playlist at www.davidbyrne.com for inspiration.

I wake up to classical every morning. Some of my earliest and fondest recollections of classical music was from watching Elmer Fudd chasing that wascally wabbit in tune to the William Tell Overture!

Kerry M

PS. Speaking of Eno and Old Man's Music, Have you heard Paul Simon's "Suprise"? If you like Talking Heads, check out David Byrne's "Look Into The Eyeball", and tune into David Byrne's monthly playlist at www.davidbyrne.com for inspiration.

I haven't heard surprise, but I am checking the Byrne link now...... thanks.

Whats really daunting about classical music isnt just the sheer volume of great artists and pieces of music.Its also finding the really great performances and recordings of the pieces you really like.Thats why youll constantly see new reissues of recordings that are over 40 years old.A great performance,espescially of the basic repetoire,is to be cherished.
Jimmy

I wake up to classical every morning. Some of my earliest and fondest recollections of classical music was from watching Elmer Fudd chasing that wascally wabbit in tune to the William Tell Overture!
"Kill the wabbit, kill the waaabbbiiiittttt..."
I still remember laughing out loud when I discovered that was Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" in "What's Opera, Doc?". I have Bugs Bunny to blame for opening my eyes to opera.
Tom

I like the combination of strings and rock, hence ELO, Tull, etc. I wish more groups did albums like Jethro Tull's "A Classic Case" where the London Symphony Orchestra played their songs along with Ian on flute and Martin "It's Your Night" Barre on guitar with no vocals. But I can agree with you- sometimes I put something on and it just does not do it for me. I have been getting into more Harry Chapin, Don McLean, Chris DeBurgh since I picked up a bunch at the thrift.

"Kill the wabbit, kill the waaabbbiiiittttt..."
I still remember laughing out loud when I discovered that was Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" in "What's Opera, Doc?". I have Bugs Bunny to blame for opening my eyes to opera.
Tom

Spike Jones does wonderful things to the classics, too.

A shame good recordings of his are hard to come by.

Pete

"Kill the wabbit, kill the waaabbbiiiittttt..."
I still remember laughing out loud when I discovered that was Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" in "What's Opera, Doc?". I have Bugs Bunny to blame for opening my eyes to opera.
Tom

Now that's a CLASSIC! :thmbsp:

And this is a problem because???

:yes:

:D

Pete

Nothing to worry about, you're just learning to appreciate subtlety. It's sweet, isn't it?

Same here - even classical is beginning to get a bit old. I've been picking up music from the composers listed on the American Mavericks http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/composers/ Very interesting selection. I have not been disappointed so far.....C

Please send all your unwanted music to me ;).

It's all music to me. I like some of it and don't care for some of it. The next day I might like it. It's all mood and hard to account for. Appreciation for detail is a part of maturation. Enjoy all of it.

Rick

Everyone needs a balanced diet of music. Enjoy! :thmbsp:

The good thing about "classical" music is that there are any number of "periods" to it from Rennaisance, to Baroque, to Romantic, to the present day - take your pick or try them all.

I don't know what UA titled his albums here, but my Gordon Lightfoot album is titled 'sit down young stanger', but then I bought in Gordon's home country.:D