What album/s did you discover too late?

More "late to the party" here. Agreed that it's never too late, but there's something to said for enjoying music while it's new & fresh.

1st 3 Blood, Sweat & Tears. OK, offer me some latitude in that the debut came out when I was approx. 18 mos. old.

Carole King. Did sort of a clean sweep of some classic material on MFSL SACD, so it's now covered. Only recollection is of the hits on AM car radio as a child. Still maintain that she was a better songwriter than performer, but she might well agree with this assessment.

The Alarm. Still meaning to acquire Declaration and Strength. Don't know what to say. Maybe they just got lost in the shuffle and left behind with U2, Simple Minds and Big Country getting attention on MTV. It's unfortunate, because they deserve a better fate. Some years back, they did perform at a free outdoor show, locally. Did not make the effort to attend and it was a regrettable mistake. Maybe their sound didn't seem distinct enough within the context of the mid 80's, but some of the material was definitely substantive. Will rectify this soon enough.

 

All Dylan. Virtually every artist I've loved since I started developing my own musical taste and buying my own music is a direct descendant of Dylan, starting with Costello when I was nine. I always favored the smart, melodic lyric-oriented singer/songwriter driven acts, yet didn't finally get around to sitting down and really listening to Blonde on Blonde or BoTT, or any Dylan album until my late thirties.

It was like the musical equivalent of Plato's Cave. I'd been seeing the flickering shadows.

 

Interesting. I LOVED The Alarm when they first appeared on the scene in '83 or so - the first EP, "The Stand," Declaration and Strength, but now they feel more like a guilty pleasure - like Adam Ant and some other acts, which I hold dear to my heart for nostalgic reasons, though they kinda derailed musically after the first couple albums. There is a TON of Alarm/Mike Peters related material out there and I have most of it, including his stint fronting Big Country and the new Dead Men Walking project, but I haven't really sat down to catch up with them since Eye of the Hurricane, when they sounded like they were chasing U2 instead of forging their own path. I'd be interested to hear what you think of them when you hear more.

 

The 2 albums will probably cover my interest. What piqued my curiosity was that First Wave on SiriusXM 33 has played certain tunes with some regularity. However, there is some recollection of expecations of "bigger things" from them, as in capability of rivaling U2. Maybe these were just blind ambitions from their associates, but this has stuck in my mind. Of course, from a commercial standpoint, U2 left them in the dust, but did include them as an opening act on one tour.

Funny you should mention Adam Ant. He actually had my attention when new but quickly lost it. Never really considered the reasons, since it didn't seem so critical over 30+ years, but that same satellite station offered an indication. They have played Adam and the Ants, as well. That backing band was the difference. They obviously broke to support Annabelle. Maybe somebody saw star potential in Adam Ant as a solo artist, which caused the band to split. Whatever the case, Adam with that group of musicians had chemistry, which he was never able to recapture afterwards and clearly what they accomplished with Bow Wow Wow was short-lived.

 

Joan Armatrading (1976 album with Down to Zero)

ELP- Trilogy

The Flamingos- Flamingo Serenade (this album is ethereal, bordering on a religious experience)

 

No you're not.

 

The Kinks music in general, but especially their run from Face To Face through Everybody's In Showbiz, with album like VGPS, Arthur and Lola really standing out. I didn't discover The Kinks until 2006 or so, I knew about "You Really Got Me", but that's all I thought there was to them, was I ever wrong.

I was buying CDs by bands like BTO or John Fogerty's Eye Of The Zombie album before I owned a single Kinks disc. Not knocking the artists I mentioned, just wished I'd discovered The Kinks a little sooner.

And yes, I am the 1 person who actually likes the Eye Of The Zombie album. The horror...

 

Explain why it would be too late.

 

Both Left Banke albums. By the time a buddy turned me on to them that "There's A Storm Coming" compilation that combined both albums was long out of print and was commanding premiums second hand on Amazon.

 

How do you like Bleach but have never even HEARD Nevermind? That does not compute.

 

As Oscar Wilde said on his deathbed, "Either that Black Crowes album goes, or I do."

 

You're probably correct that those two Alarm albums will probably be all you need, although their first EP is great. I believe some newer remasters may have the EP as bonus tracks of Declaration. I imagine the rainy day will come when I listen to more Alarm/Mike Peters. There's some intriguing stuff there. Tony Visconti produced "Change", Mike Peters recorded an album with Billy Duffy from the Cult as a band called Coloursound in 1999. I liked those first Alarm albums so much back in the day that it seems worth seeing how Peters developed in the ensuing years. Their new albums try to sound more like the Clash than the Clash ever did.

As for Adam Ant. His first solo album, "Friend or Foe" was actually much better than the last Ants album and there are always a couple of infectious, if not great, songs on his others, since, up until very recently, he continued to work with Marco Pirroni from the Ants, who was his Keith Richards. Pirroni has a band called The Wolfman with Chris Constantinou, who was Adam Ant's bass player during the mid-80's. They're actually pretty great, showing how much Pirroni actually has to do with Ant's sound. Speaking of Visconti, he also produced Ant's "Vive Le Rock" album, which I always thought was a solid, fun, underrated effort.

 

I'm the other one!

 

Regrettably, I missed the early Wilco albums upon first release.
Specifically the classic Jay Bennett years (1994 to 2001).

Despite reading rave reviews of their earlier CDs, I never tried to listen to their music.
Now that he's gone, it seems bittersweet to get into their music any more than I have in the past few years.

For example, I really got into "Being There" 2 years ago. It seemed like a long-lost classic that was bottled and just uncorked. Or a comfy worn-in couch that fits so well when you try it and sink in.
Other CDs like Summerteeth hit that "Where Was I When They Came Out With This!?!?! nerve, too.

Let's not discuss what live shows I could have seen with them then (with Jay on board).

Many seem to claim Yankee Foxtrot Hotel is their best. As bizarre as it sounds, I'm kind of avoiding listening to it...
I have too many pages in my Book of Regrets, for the time being.

 

I discovered Big Star only a couple of years ago only - not too late really, but a great "find" after being aware of the "hype" for 15 years.

 

Catholic Boy Yes, it's a great lp. In my rotation frequetly.

 

Please Please Me by The Beatles.

I bought it later on in 1963 with the black and yellow Parlophone label.

If only I had been able to afford it immediately it was released it would have been the gold and black!

 

Adam And The Ants had only released one album when producer Malcolm McLaren stole 3/4 of the band away to form Bow Wow Wow. The backing band you are (rightly) raving about was actually Adam's second band, the one he released Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming with. Those albums feature African Burundi drumming, or at least an approximation of it. I'm not sure if it was Adam's original drummer, or Malcolm McLaren who thought to use that type of drumming, or if it was even someone else, maybe Adam. Off the top of my head, I think it was McLaren that came up with the idea to use that sound.

I don't own either of those Adam albums, but, man, in the early days of MTV, I have to admit I thought songs like "Antmusic", "Stand And Deliver" and "Prince Charming" were pretty cool, if not a bit weird.

 

Then it must have only been a sick bed.

 

Never too late but I owned both Love Forever Changes and The Zombies Odessey and Oracle for over 20 years before I really got them.

 

Morrisseys' solo stuff. I was really into the Smiths when I was 13 or so and I first heard The Queen is Dead and Strangeways, Here We Come but I never really took notice of Morrissey's solo albums until about 2005. I saw him perform live on Wednesday night at the Sydney Opera House and he was fantastic. I think his solo stuff is excellent and wish I'd realised this from his first solo album. Having said that, it has been great to 'discover' his solo albums over the past ten years...it's never too late.

 

Magnolia Electric Co. by Jason Molina and Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska.

 

Because people change and tastes change.

I have heard tracks from rock albums that I somehow missed earlier, and thought "This album would have bowled me over when I was in my teens or twenties." But then I don't bother to seek out the music, because I know that the window has closed. I have moved on to other forms of music. Such is life. I am happy with what I listen to now.

 

Never too late for the recorded music. But there are a lot of bands/acts that I discovered too late to see them live.

Aside from the obvious before-my-time acts, just in December I discovered a band and bought the album just to learn that they had just been in town a few weeks before (chances they will return are slim).

 

How about the opposite?
From what I have heard about the Heatbreakers LAMF original vinyl it may be better that I did not pick it up at the time but bought the CD a few years ago.