Are first impressions everything when listening to a score?

Whether this is a 'sign of the times' though is debatable. It's human nature to react on your initial opinions, especially ones of extreme disappointment or vice-versa. (Jordi being the most prolific example of that from this board.)

Yeah, I have always maintained that seeing the film - after all this is film music we're talking about - is very important to understanding why the music is the way it is. Whether or not that will change someone's enjoyment of it is entirely personal, but anyone and everyone can benefit from more understanding, as it helps to avoid such snap judgments.

I get that the music should be strong enough to stand on its own, but that's not why it was created in the first place.

Interesting thread. I think there are many way to approach this.

1. If you were to buy the music without seeing the movie, then you're treating the score as pure music, not music that was meant to be accompanied with something else. If so, the music should give you something to grasp onto, to maintain your interest, throughout that first listen. Unless....
2. You got the album due to how it worked/affected you while watching the movie. Then the score might encourage further listening where the depth of the music would be explored.
3. You have the whole user recommended issue, where you got the score because of the acclaims people have given it. That's something else where, if the first listen does disappoints, you might be more inclined to give it more attention.



Regardless

Interesting thread, I'll come back on this one.

Agree with Michael on Golden Compass, it's really grown on me.

Absolutly not. As shocking as it sounds, on first listen, I HATED The Incredibles. Now it's one of my favourite scores.

I think film music should be judged based on its purpose, whether it works in the movie or not.

Everything beyond that is based on taste. Nothing else.

Some people tend to overanalyze a score until they discover two dozen themes in Michael Collins, others throw away a thematically rich and complex score like Golden Compass as boring after one listen and never return to it.

Personally I tend to listen to a CD at least once and decide then whether I liked it immediately or that I should try to appreciate it at a later point in my life, which may never come for some Elfman scores.

That said, no, I don´t think a score should be judged after the first listen.

Yet it's the availability of the music nowadays which makes it a 'sign of the times', in my opinion. For example, when I did not have the internet yet to go freely and discover every new soundtrack that was going around, and when my pocketmoney was limited to only 1 CD every few months (or so), I only had a few CD's: Jurassic Park and Casper, most prominently. And those scores I listened to a lot. At first, there were just highlights on them I really appreciated, but after listening to it repeatedly, ultimately, I loved them from start to finish. I did so, because I could focus completely on them. Although I think it is possible to completely love a score from the beginning to end, it's only untill repeated listens and you know every note by heart, you can truly say it's a personal experience.

But nowadays, when every score is for the taking and you 'need' to hear everything that comes out, the focus is gone. You want to give Lust / Caution several listens, but you also have to listen to The Golden Compass, and what not, since every week sees another scorerelease to listen to, to have an opinion about and to talk about. With so easy access to so many scores, which is definitely something the digital age gave us, every score is way less special. And if you're not swept away with something the first (few) time(s), there are enough other scores waiting to give it a go. And you are able to choose between rediscovering something you already heard, and discovering something new. Quite often, the latter choice wins.

It's a luxury problem, but sometimes I just choose not to get the newest scores and wait till I've really grown tired with the ones I already got. We just don't appreciate the stuff anymore that we have. And if we just didn't download all that music, I guess it'll be a lot more special again when we purchased a CD.

Me, myself, I tend to listen to the music on bed, with my headphones, in the dark, where it's possible to fully concentrate on the music. And then, as opposed to hearing it with the stereo while doing something else (even if that's just random surfing on the net), it is possible, I feel, to really discover the themes of a score on the first listen. Yet, the second listen brings a whole new emotional level to it; there are no expectations anymore and you know what you're going to hear, how long it is, when you reach the finale, etc., so, on a conscious level or not, you're bound to have different feelings about it. Plus, you don't need to worry about if it's good or not.

Yet, most often, you never fully appreciate the true masterpieces on the first listen. Because the really original scores, where the composer is doing the unexpected, are most often the best works and those are the ones we will remember. And on the first listen, you don't get what you were expecting, so you're often disappointed. You never truly expect originality, because you're basing your expectations on works you can relate to. Yet when a composer gives in to your expectations, you will feel satisfied at first, but will discover the unoriginality on later listens and it will sooner feel as a stereotypical, 'normal' score.

Ah, darn, I've got quite some thoughts on it, and they all seem to contradict each other, but this is about the way I think about it, rubbish ramblings or not

I'll happily judge anything at first view or listen.
Doesn't mean I won't return to it though, but it's a very rare case indeed where my opinion will change radically. Most often I find that maybe my first inkling to have a composer slowly beheaded with a particularly rusty piano wire may have been slightly harsh and a quick firing squad will suffice nicely instead.

But these are mere nuances, and a softening of an opinion that at its core remains unchanged.
In general, and in a binary good-bad context, I find that my first impression therefore is quite suited to represent my taste.

I do not need (nor enjoy) having to have my music or indeed its context explained to me.
Amazingly I tend to know what I like.

Nothing at all wrong with an understanding of why it's there.
In fact there's just as little wrong with that as with not giving a hoot for why it's there and just enjoying it in its own right.

Many first listens are screwed just because you´re in the wrong mood for a specific score. If I´m depressed, I won´t give a score like Sinbad a chance. If I´m in the mood for action, I doubt that Snow Falling on Cedars will survive for ten seconds. So either I wait for the perfect mood or i just give it another chance later.

Which is why I still haven´t heard my new AVP:R score...

Mostly agree with you Thor, a very large percentage of scores I have, particularly continental scores are from films I've never seen and a reasonable percentage of those are scores I really love.

For me, I rarely see a movie before I have the music - so the music has an effect on me as pure music rather than being associated with the movie itself. Or the music is seen (and heard) as another example of a favourite composer, etc.

I find that I get a very general like/loathe feel for the music when I listen to a CD the first time - and many times that opinion can be based upon clips. I know it's dangerous to base an opinion on clips as I have several good examples where the best 30 seconds of a score is a clip and the rest of the score does nothing for me. Then I listen to the CD and my initial opinion is refined down to favourite cues, how a theme(s) is/are developed or presented in various forms, etc.

For me... the truly GREAT scores are the ones that make a great first impression. Most of, if not, ALL of my favorite score of all time made an immediate impact on me. However, there have been some scores that need multiple listens to truly appreciate but NONE of those are going to be on my ALL TIME list.

-Erik-

Exactly!

-Erik-