When you fall in love with an album, it’s more than just the music. It’s the frame of mind the people were in when they wrote it. It represents the recording and production technology and trends of the time.
Your love for a record is also very much dictated by what was going on in your life when you heard it. Think about your favorite records of all time – chances are, they came out (or you discovered them) in the best of times, or, they helped you get through the worst of times.
Many people wish that artists and bands would stay the same album to album. That’s like asking a 30 year old to think, act, and produce art the same way they did when they were 14. Not only that, but your life is completely different a decade later, so the environment that influences your art is totally different. Artists are always looking to improve and evolve. Ask most bands what their favorite record is, and it’s always the next one – not just for the PR (although it doesn’t hurt), but because people who create are always striving to improve.
Some of the appeal of many bands lies in their youthful sound that doesn’t work after the first couple of albums. Other bands get better with age. Beyond that, there are bands who are forever trying to emulate their own sound on records decades later (usually to the disappointment of all, since it’s rarely genuine).
The word “record” has many meanings:
1. A thing constituting a piece of evidence about the past.
2. The sum of the past achievements or actions of a person or organization; a person or thing’s previous conduct or performance.
3. To convert (sound or a performance) into permanent form for later reproduction.
An album of music embodies all of these, but it also a record of you, the listener and your associated memories.
Who we are as individuals is defined by significant moments, and these moments have a soundtrack – your favorite records.