Obsessed with an artist

I feel a Jefferson Airplane obsession coming on this weekend. Listening to After Bathing at Baxters right now. I could listen to Grace Slick all weekend.

 

I do this religiously in three instances:

1) If I have tickets to see an artist in concert---I'm seeing Journey tomorrow night and have been listening to their entire collection in chronological order.

2) One of my favorite artists has a new CD coming out (reissues don't count). Last examples of this were Black Sabbath 13 and Rush "Clockwork angels". Listened to their catalog in order leading up to the new releases.

3) one of my favorite artists passes away. Last time I really did this was when Richard Wright passed away (floyd & Rick solo listening obsession)

 

Even though I have many, many more favourite artists, I often go through phases of only listening to one of the following:

Paul McCartney/Wings
Al Stewart
Genesis
Fleetwood Mac
Tangerine Dream
Badfinger
Asia (John Payne era)
Jimi Hendrix
Michael Jackson
Yes

 

This happens to me with every good group i discover,the last one was The Sir Douglas Quintet,usually it lasts between one day and a couple of weeks.
there was one exception though,i was hooked to Van Morrison for the better part of 6 years...a lot of stuff to assimilate.

 

(1) Queen, (2) Phil Collins, (3) Michael Jackson

 

Jason Falkner - I've got just about everything he's done. Lately I've been branching out and getting albums by other musicians that Jason has produced and/or appeared on, which has led to some great discoveries.

 

Yes, yes, yes. I'm glad to see other people relate to music this way, as well. I go through phases of being focused on one main artist with, maybe, other artists popping in and out, depending on what's caught my interest or a new release, for weeks or months - then switch over to another one.

Sometimes it's discovering and immersing myself in the work of an artist I'm not familiar with or sometimes it's going back and hearing all the work I missed for an artist I used to love, but lost track of (I did this with Paul Weller's post-Jam work in about 2008 and caught up on everything from the Style Council to the present. That was a fun one). Many times I just go back and get obsessed again with an artist who's work I'm already intimately familiar with, but I'm just in the mood for them again. Many of them (the Dylans, Costellos, Van Morrisons) have SO much material out there that you always discover something new or finally get around to paying closer attention to an album you sort of ignored upon release.

I think the move to digital really was the start of this kind of listening pattern for me. It really BEGAN with the Paul Weller thing, which is about when I switched to digital. Suddenly my access to entire catalogs at the push of a button enabled me to get all archival on my favorites and discover new bands easier, too. Is that true for anyone else here? Do you think the internet or the way we can hear/acquire music today enables and feeds this kind of OCD/obsessive myopic listening?

 

Well sure.

I'm currently on a Rory Gallagher "bender " myself ...

I started with the Taste debut and am proceeding in order of release. I am currently on Calling Card. Once I make it past Fresh Evidence, his last one before his untimely death, I will continue with the BBC live, Wheels Within Wheels and Live At Montreux releases.

If that is mental illness, then I'm more than happy to join ya ...

 

I was obsessed with U2 in the late 80´s (I think you suspected that), but the longest I was obsessed with an artist was David Bowie. Almost the entire 90´s. I would consume everything Bowie obsessively really.

 

God , I still love that voice of hers...

 

I'm obsessed with every artist I have in my collection. If I'm not obsessed with them then I don't want to hear them.

 

Beatles / solo up till 73.
Bowie up till Scary Monsters
Todd till Healing
Eno till Another Green World
Aimee Mann till Lost In Space
Patti Smith till Wave
Stones till B&B
Dylan till New Morning
Lou Reed - New York
Kevin Ayers- Bananamour
John Cale- Helen Of Troy

 

just curious. What is stones B&B. Is it Beggars banquet, Between the Buttons, or Bigger bang. If it;'s the last one, you truly are a diehard Stones fan

 

never mind...just figured out it's probably Black N Blue. Wow---stones have a lot of B albums.

 

I'm surprised this wasn't one of the first posts in this thread. Not there any more, but for about two years I probably listened to 99% Grateful Dead (mostly live shows). Now it is probably only 10% of my listening. But Grateful Dead, Neil Young, and Steve Earle still take a lot of my listening time. In the mid-1970s, I was on a 99% Willie Nelson kick that lasted a year or two.

 

Obsession in spurts, the way many have described.

However, the one obsession that never fades, is my 38 year old one with.....

The Rolling Stones

 

For the last two weeks I've been (somewhat oddly, as I'm not sure what got me started) on an early Ten Year's After kick.

Cricklewood Green
Shhsh
Stonedhenge
Watt
Undead

 

The sexist original album cover one.
Black & Blue.

 

I have phases when I listen to a certain artist more or less exclusively for several days, but I haven't been obsessed with an artist for decades. Until I found St. Vincent...

 

Surprised no one has mentioned Led Zeppelin yet since the new remasters came out a week ago.

Finished Crown of Creation a bit earlier and on to Volunteers now in my JA obsession for the weekend.

 

A new obsession comes every week. This weekend is Echo & the Bunnymen

 

My last 2 obsessions were Pedal Steel Transmission and Hurray For The Riff Raff. Honestly I'm still a bit obsessed with both. Lately I'm obsessed with Natural Vibrations, a great "Jawaiian" band, but mainly when I'm on the way to the beach (which is a few times a week).

 

It probably doesn't help, I agree. Especially streaming where I could go through a classical or jazz period for example and, if I really wanted to, spend a few months or more just on one artist or composer.

An interesting thread but this definitely isn't me. I will get obsessed with songs or albums for days or weeks at a time, but rarely with an entire artist's catalog. I'll scan the back catalog and put some time in, but usually after a few days or a week I'm off listen to something else. Good and bad, I suppose.

 

I never listen to one artist to the exclusion of everything else, but I have spells where I dig back into a bands catalog and spend a week or so listening to some of their stuff I am less familiar with.

 

Yes.

Artists: FZ and the Dan.

Labels: ECM, Blue Note, CTI, Impulse, CMP, DGG, Decca, Mercury Living Presence, Living Stereo.