Ten Albums I Grew to Like, Eventually
(Some of these I was simply too young to appreciate the first time I heard them. Others demanded a change in my aesthetic or even my character before I was able to recognize their virtues. One or two I disliked at first for reasons I really don’t know how to explain—maybe I was just in a bad mood that day. I’ve arranged them in order of the age I was when I first encountered them, and I’ve footnoted them generously.)
age 8: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys *
age 10: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics
age 16: A Fierce Pancake by Stump **
age 17: Haus der Lüge by Einstürzende Neubauten ***
age 17: Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth ****
age 18: Master of Puppets by Metallica
age 20: Bone Machine by Tom Waits
age 31: I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen *****
age 35: Tilt by Scott Walker
age 40: World of Echo by Arthur Russell ******
* I was on the “Catch a Wave” and “I Get Around” wavelength at age eight. Pet Sounds baffled me.
** One week later, I loved it.
*** Three months later, I loved it.
**** Thirty years later, I loved it.
***** The dinky keyboards bothered me at first. It was a few years before I learned to take pleasure in them.
****** I picked this one up after a feature in Fact Magazine named it the best album of the 1980s. I still wouldn’t say so myself, but I understood the appeal, eventually.
— March 4, 2023