Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Musical longevity & making future classic albums

littledog · 22nd June 2003

i'm not really disagreeing with anything said above, but part of the 'timelessness" factor is, after all, in the psychology of the listener. Association of key memories, romantic events, general reminiscenses of one's youth, concerts attended, etc. are associated with the music that was being played at the time.

For instance, I never thought all that much about Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" until I saw them perform it live in Oakland, CA in the summer of 1972. After that, I loved it. Then there was the time i froze my ass hitch-hiking 1000 miles from Ann Arbor to Boulder one Thanksgiving vacation to visit a girl I was madly lusting after. It seemed that every car that picked me up that trip had "American Pie" playing on the radio. Not exactly my type of music, but can't help being overwhelmed by nostalgia when i hear it.

I think that will always be true: we hear and enjoy music partly because of it's musical/production qualities, and partly because of the associated memories it stimulates.

So I suppose the truely timeless music is the stuff that can be appreciated even without an associated historical context.

22nd June 2003	#8
littledog Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Boston area Posts: 874	i'm not really disagreeing with anything said above, but part of the 'timelessness" factor is, after all, in the psychology of the listener. Association of key memories, romantic events, general reminiscenses of one's youth, concerts attended, etc. are associated with the music that was being played at the time. For instance, I never thought all that much about Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" until I saw them perform it live in Oakland, CA in the summer of 1972. After that, I loved it. Then there was the time i froze my ass hitch-hiking 1000 miles from Ann Arbor to Boulder one Thanksgiving vacation to visit a girl I was madly lusting after. It seemed that every car that picked me up that trip had "American Pie" playing on the radio. Not exactly my type of music, but can't help being overwhelmed by nostalgia when i hear it. I think that will always be true: we hear and enjoy music partly because of it's musical/production qualities, and partly because of the associated memories it stimulates. So I suppose the truely timeless music is the stuff that can be appreciated even without an associated historical context.