I keep reading people say that they listen to a DTB album a few times and then "get it". Few seem to explain what they "get". Thought I would start a thread for people to explain what they are "getting". Seems like it would make for interesting discussions.

[Blazingmonga]

Interesting question! I'm not sure it has been answered directly before, so it will be cool to read what others think they 'get'.

When I buy a new album (not just DTB, but ideally DTB...heh) it usually takes a few listens before I can make any kind of fair judgement of it. If at that point I find that it seems to be a really good album, then it probably is. Or, if it seems to be 'ok' then it is possible that I just havent reached an understanding of the album yet. Or, it is also possible that the album isnt very good.

So, for example with a Devin album like Ocean Machine it took many, many listens before I could really decide what I was hearing. I think that this was because of all the layers and the expansive soundscapes and epic songs that it took a lot of digesting. When I had got past the stage of deciding what I was hearing it was then on to the question of why I was hearing these things.

When I first felt I had 'got' the album, I had reached my own person explanation of why the album contained the sounds and words that it did. That explanation was totally personal to me and most likely not the same as anybody elses, but the experience of reaching that understanding was probably very similar.

So, in short, I think that we get our own understanding of the music.

with every dev album it usually just takes me 2 or 3 listens to "get it". possibly because i just remember most of the parts. sometimes i listen to an album for the first time and im like "wow that was great" but when i think back on it i cant really distinguish many parts of the album and it seems to be one big blur. it just seems to come clearer with more listens

i think it would be arguable, that sometimes you need to be familiar for you to enjoy it
i guess that applies to music as well
as a rule though, if after about 10 listens you feel an album isnt all that great, listening to it more will probly not change anything

As with pretty much any album I buy, I always appreciate that my judgement of an album after the first listen, after a handful of listens, and after multiple lsitens will all be very different. Every one of Devni's albums has been something I've enjoyed thefirst time, but often not in the same way that I enjoy it later.

To me, a truly great album (and this is very true of Devin's stuff) is one where I can discover new things about it even when I think I've played it to death!

[Blazingmonga]

as a rule though, if after about 10 listens you feel an album isnt all that great, listening to it more will probly not change anything

Sorry, but I disagree here. My point was that sometimes it can take that long to 'get' an album. I know I must have heard Infinity 50 times before it became something different.

In the same way, when I first heard Infinity (and City for that matter) I actually didnt really like it that much!

Sometimes I guess you have to be in the right headspace to get the most out of something.

well i guess it work in different ways for different people
some albums i tried to like, and it didnt workd
hell i must have listened 20 times to new nine inch nails album, and it still sounded bad to me
and that was my original feeling on the first listen as well

and with the new black, on the first listen, i felt like it was good, but also my least favorite SYL album, and even after those listen this still remains true

i think first impression always hold a nugget of truth, for me anyways... i dont ever recally my opinion of an album changing drastically after more than 4-5 listens
i'll get comfortable, and you can start to humm the songs, and you look forward to certain parts, wich is always cool, but the original feeling is always there

but i also always make sure to place myself in a good listening state when hearing new music, to me its like a little ceremony

jesus christ, i would never listen to an album 50 times if i didn't like it much. i'd be forcing myself to like it if i did that

but i also always make sure to place myself in a good listening state when hearing new music, to me its like a little ceremony

Yeah, me too. But you have to make sure you have a slight idea of what you're getting into before you play it. Music is mood-dependant a lot of the time

What I meant for this thread is what are you getting? What is the message you are hearing? What is your understanding of a record? Something deeper than just saying "I got it." What did you actually get?

[Blazingmonga]

jesus christ, i would never listen to an album 50 times if i didn't like it much. i'd be forcing myself to like it if i did that

Well, obviously if I really didnt like it at all I wouldnt have listened to it once all the way through! I just mean that an ok album can become an incredible one with repeated listens.

What I meant for this thread is what are you getting? What is the message you are hearing? What is your understanding of a record? Something deeper than just saying "I got it." What did you actually get?

I get something different out of each album, but they are all similar in that I have an understanding personal to me. Its like I have figured out what it means to me.

Ok, this sounds crazy, but imagine for a moment that an album was written for you and you alone. When you heard the songs you would want to figure them out, an understand what is trying to be communicated. What are they songs trying to tell you?

This is no different really, but just it is ourselves connecting to the album rather than the album connecting to us. And when we make that connection, we get something out of the album. We are able to learn something, find peace, laugh, cry or something even deeper. We wouldnt be able to experience these things if we couldnt relate the music to ourself.

Aaaah, I am tired and sounding like nonsensemango.

"The message is: there is no message"...ha.

I think the first time you listen to an album, you are comparing it to how you expected it to sound. Like Physicist, for instance. Just from the name of the album, I expected it to be very complex, technical, experimental, etc. Therefore, I was a little put off by how straightforward it was. But after my second listen, I had set aside my expectations and just listened to the album for what it was, and it quickly grew on me.

This applies to many bands for me. I used to hate Primus and Faith No More, but in time I understood what they were doing with their music and grew to appreciate them. Now, they are among my favorite bands...

What I meant for this thread is what are you getting? What is the message you are hearing? What is your understanding of a record? Something deeper than just saying "I got it." What did you actually get?

I get something different out of each album, but they are all similar in that I have an understanding personal to me. Its like I have figured out what it means to me.

So, for instance, what does OM mean to you? What is the message that you are hearing in it? This is the type of thing that I meant for this thread to be. Maybe it's too personal and people don't want to discuss something like this?

I don't think it's too personal to discuss. I think it's too complicated to explain. It's not something you just 'say' in two or three or five sentences, it takes a full-page review like the Infinity one you mentioned.
And because it is very personal, it's different for everyone.

For instance, I could never explain what Terria means to me. I can tell you that it got me through some tough times and that it feels soothing and comforting whenever I listen to it, but that by no means explains the album. And for others, it works in complete opposite ways.

For Devy in particular, it's because of how dense yet clear the songs are. This approach is so unconventional for his general genre, Metal, that's a lot of information to take in. For most of his 4-5 minute songs, there's more information to take in than many bands' 8-12 minute epics. I just have to identify each element of his songs, then they all come together perfectly.

What I meant for this thread is what are you getting? What is the message you are hearing? What is your understanding of a record? Something deeper than just saying "I got it." What did you actually get?

Well first of all, 90% of the time there is no real "message" to get. It's not like all of Devin's albums have some hidden meaning that takes repeated listens to decipher. If anything, what I "get" is the artist's intentions, a better understanding of what he was trying to achieve musically with the record. Many times when someone dismisses an album as a bunch of noise (for instance, Devlab), it does not say as much about the music as it does about that person's lack of understanding as to what Devin was trying to achieve when he made Devlab. In other words, they don't get it. It has little to do with the meaning of the album, and a lot to do with the purpose of the music itself.