Favorite Album by ....

09/24/07 | by BigSteve

The discussion about Meditations vs A Love Supreme reminds me of a facet of record collecting I’ve noticed many times before. The first album you acquire by an artist is the one that will always be your favorite by that artist. [Note the First Album Exclusionary Rule – if you start following an artist with his/her/their first album, said first album is not necessarily going to be your favorite, though it frequently may be.]

For example, I resisted Tom Waits for a long time. Then at some point in the mid-80s, I was in a chain record store in Nashville, and I bought a remaindered cassette of Rain Dogs. I loved it. I have bought pretty much every Tom Waits record since that time (plus the one before it, Swordfishtrombones), and I’m a big fan, but I will never love any Tom Waits CD as much as I love Rain Dogs.

This pattern has been repeated for me many times over. Does your experience match this pattern?

5 comments » •

5 comments

Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]

I was about to agree with you, BigSteve, because I too bought Rain Dogs first after years of resistance, it's also my favorite, but with all the objectivity I can muster, I'm certain that it also just happens to be his best album:)

09/24/07 @ 13:12

Comment from: berlyant [Member]

· http://www.bigtakeover.com/author/Matthew+Berlyant

I love Rain Dogs as well, but my favorite Tom Waits album is Small Change, partly I'm sure because it's the first one I ever heard, thus validating BigSteve's theory.

09/24/07 @ 13:32

Comment from: shawnkilroy [Member]

Small Change! Me too!

09/24/07 @ 15:08

Comment from: geo [Member]

Not for Waits. I had Nighthawks at the Diner and got back on board with Swordfishtrombones. I also think my favorite is Raindogs although Bone Machine has been giving it a run lately.

I'm not denying this effect. The first Mothers' album I had was Absolutely Free and that remains a sentimental favorite. This effect could also be a function of pre-selection: you're more likely to start with something that you've heard is someone's best work when you jump in in the middle somewhere.

09/24/07 @ 19:49

Comment from: 2000 man [Member]

· http://www.whammoblammo.blogspot.com/

I've been thinking about this one, BigSteve. It doesn't seem to work for me. It's certainly not written in stone anyway. It is the case sometimes, but if I'm late to the party on a band there's no telling which album of theirs I'll like best. Sometimes it's the first one I get, but I think if that's the case, I usually only get two albums by that band. If it's a band I get several albums of, I tend to have a favorite for awhile, and then another favorite later and it it changes. Like with The Replacements. Some days I like Pleased to Meet Me, some days I think it's Tim and some days I like Let It Be (right now it's Tim). The first one I got was Pleased to Meet Me, but I bought it on one of those days when I bought a lot of cd's, and I never got around to listening to it until a few years later.

09/26/07 @ 08:37

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