"Difficult" Albums You GOT on the First Listen

Beatles for Sale makes more sense.

 

That's one I liked on first listen. As for as Beatles go, some relatively lesser known gems on that LP. Especially What You're Doing.

 

These were LOVE at first listen:






and:

 

This:

 

Yea, the quote at the bottom of all my post is his, but it suits every out there artist ever from Beethoven to Boulez.

 

I notice that beautiful Francoise Hardy avatar every time I see it!

 

No problem listening to this the first time? me neither.

 

Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu

Loved it right away!

 

Skinny Puppy-Rabies, 1989 (Complete With Dolby Noise Reduction)
28 years later I still can't get through Choralone however...

 

Mr. Bungle's 'California'. I was blown away on first listen and still in my top 3 albums of all time.

 

That one was pretty immediate for me. The title track went into repeat mode very quickly.

 

and

 

The Pod

 

The first thing I thought of was On the Corner, from the moment I heard it became my favorite jazz album of all time. Astral Weeks is another fairly challenging album that immediately became one of my favorites. Also, if you classify this as challenging (pop music but still a very very complex record), Pet Sounds was an instant favorite.

 

Rain Dogs by Tom Waits. 30 years later it's still in my top 5 records of all time, and probably my favourite record from the 80's.

Cheers, SLuggy

 

Larks Tongues in Aspic? Though the title song Part1 still defies comprehension to some extent

 

We Coulda Saved Hank ... by Drs 4 "Bob"

 

For those albums I consider a "difficult" listen, I will probably never listen to them a lot even if I can see their value as performances/works of art. However, Forever Changes is far too groovy to fall into this category. It was okay on first listen but really didn't take long for me to really get into it - 2 or 3 plays. So some may see it as a "grower."

 

With the quotation marks ... has to be this one

 

Oasis - Be Here Now

I never had a problem with it and I still don't understand all the fuss. Sure it's a tad overblown, but people make a mountain out of a molehole in regards to that album, imo.

 

Tusk has all the elements of the prior two blockbusters but substitutes dissolution for commercialism, making it the best of the Buckingham/Nicks era FM, for me at least.

 

stuff like kid a and yankee hotel foxtrot grabbed me right away, but i think their reputation as "difficult" was a product of media hype rather than rooted in reality.

all of Neil Young's 80s stuff and Dylan's gospel period clicked immediately.