Music

When checking out a new album:

Do you follow along with the lyrics, or listen first and dive deeper later?

Musician • Songwriter • Producer | Web3's first rockstar | Wrote a song a day for 100 days just released the best tracks: deshsaxena.com/release3

Yeah It's interesting. 

My favourite bands and musicians are ones who I have thoroughly researched their history and how they came about.

I quite enjoy things like biopics, documentaries and podcasts, even if they aren't historically accurate, as they provide some context for the musician, and makes me appreciate them more. 

And for streaming services, I am sure there is a very easy way to link an interview of the artist below the album on its release - that seems quite reasonable.

I wasn't around in the 90s/early 2000s, was more context given at that point - with CD releases etc? I'd imagine so.

Isn’t it strange how little context these streaming apps provide us with about an album before we decide to press play? The best they’ve been able to do so far is presave buttons with release date countdowns

I think for contemporary music defo listen first, deep dive later
But for classical music, I do like knowing some more background and knowing what to pick out and look for.

Lyricist 🎤🎶 • Visionary 👁️ • Synthesizer 🧠

Sharing lucid thoughts at the intersection of culture & the cutting edge. For my music: wildenfree.music

I have a pretty keen ear & often times hear a lot of what the lyrics are saying, but not all of it. And I like it that way sometimes, because it gives me a lot of replay value. I may not go into the lyrics until I heard the song 2-5 times already! And even then I won’t belabor them & try to decipher it intensely all at once.

Slow burning the greatness🔥

I feel like I’ve slept on a lot of albums just because I didn’t have time to really focus the first time I listened. Sometimes when I don’t have the lyrics, im like “wow, this sounds dope” just vibing with the production or flows. But then when I actually check out the lyrics, I realize my first impression wasn’t really on point

Depends on my time availability & how much focus I can attribute to it. Most of the times I’m just listening through it first!

i should add the caveat that i mostly do this for artists i like or projects im excited about

if its something ehh i will just skim thru it first to see if its worth the attention

This used to be the way I did it before social media and streaming. Headphones on, lights off, eyes closed. It felt like jumping into a portal and entering a world created by the artist and their collaborators. 

Now im lucky if I can get through a full 15+ track album without getting distracted by all the other stuff fighting for my attention

listen first. front to back, no skips, then deep dive

Founder musicto.com - mostly /music - some /football - loves making playlists with strangers

I think you’re right, genre def makes a big difference. As a hiphop head, I sometimes won’t even listen to a full album until the lyrics are available

Absolutely listen first - like prob for the first few times - though tbf - the genres you’re listening to prob use more words than mine ;-p

I always go with lyrics, so I will know if I should invest my time in the album trying to understand the lyrics or just vibe to the album because it has good beats and sounds.

After that I begin to dive deep into the songs that hit me on first listen.

Definitely listen first to just take it all in and then dive in upon the second listening.

Definitely looking to give a legitimate listen first. Start from the top and let it run through. I’ll get into all the nuances afterward