Does Taste in Music Change? Become "Mature"?

[ProudLib72]

Had the "top three bands on a desert island" conversation with my brother in law this afternoon. He told me he used to be into Zeppelin and The Who, but his taste in music changed. Yet he is still going to choose The Beatles as one of the bands he listens to on the island. That seems strange to me. Maybe it's because I started out on The Beatles when I was really young and then branched out into other rock bands? I thought of it as a progression (no disrespect to The Beatles.) Are certain bands commonly viewed as "immature" when people get into their forties or fifties?

Or maybe I'm venting because Zeppelin are rock gods!

[TalenaGor]

1. *waves* check-in @ 50- not yet! lol

And yes zep are the gods of all rock!!

[CentralMass]

2. I'm 59 and still like Led Zepplin.

[flibbitygiblets]

17. 54yo, still love Zep. And yes, musical taste

does evolve. My 19yo stepdaughter grew up loving pop music, but over the years she grew to appreciate more mature music. Proud to say she's s now totally into Zeppelin!

[msongs]

3. beatles are extremely musical with a wide variety of sounds. most bands just crank out the same

old thing with variations here and there

[hlthe2b]

6. Yes. I think you'd want some variety of styles in your limited "three" collection & beatles achieves

[50 Shades Of Blue]

4. I guess mine hasn't...

I'm 66, and I'll take the Beatles over Led Zep any day. They just weren't and aren't my cup of tea. But I still love Jimmy Page's former band, the Yardbirds! I even saw him play with them when they were part of one of those Dick Clark Caravans, in November '66.

[ProudLib72]

9. You saw them live?

Jealous!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

16. Yep! Here's the whole bill --

November 26, 1966 Washington Coliseum, Washington DC Talent: Dino, Desi & Billy, Little Anthony, Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs, The Yardbirds, Distant Cousins, Bobby Hebb, Brian Hyland

https://concerts.fandom.com/wiki/Dick_Clark%27s_Caravan_of_Stars_1966

[MFM008]

5. Mine is still the same

Teens to 60....

[oregonjen]

7. Lyrics take on different meanings in each stage of life for me

I hear songs that were popular when I was a teenager and I don’t like them now. Then again, there are songs I listen to that are much more meaningful as I age.
I would take The Beatles, John Denver and maybe some Bach or Vivaldi. Classical wouldn’t have been on my radar when I was young.

[Initech]

8. I'm almost 40 and I love a wide variety of music.

Old bands, new bands. Young musicians, experienced musicians. All kinds of different styles and genres, you name it!

[ProudLib72]

11. Well sure, if it's good, it's good

But it doesn't mean that, as soon as you find a new band, the old band you were listening to suddenly become lame.

Which reminds me that I need to go listen to some Neutral Milk Hotel.

[Initech]

12. Yeah just because I listen to Amon Amarth and Ghost, doesn't mean Iron Maiden is suddenly lame.

And I'm going to see all 3 bands this year!

[ProudLib72]

13. No one will see Cobalt with me!

[Initech]

14. I wind up going to a lot of shows by myself.

Like I'm a huge Steven Wilson fan, no one else I know likes Steven Wilson so it's impossible to find anyone to go to his shows. Same for a lot of the hard rock and metal that I listen to. So I wind up going anyways because it definitely beats sitting at home listening to the albums on my computer!

[zanana1]

21. I went to an Aerosmith cover band concert alone last month.

The place was packed, but they were just all right.

[Turin_C3PO]

25. I love Steve Wilson and Porcupine Tree!

[Initech]

38. Cool!

I just got In Absentia on vinyl, and I really want to get Blackfield II and Grace For Drowning on vinyl as well. I want to see Steven Wilson live again when he comes back to LA for sure.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

10. I've been eclectic all my life.

From classical to modern. So I guess I'm not the best to answer this.

[Brainfodder]

15. If I liked it in youth I still like it.

3 bands only, hmmm probably:

The Guess Who
Toto
Queen

[PufPuf23]

18. Stones, Dead, Zappa all time favs

Last edited Tue Jun 4, 2019, 01:19 AM - Edit history (1)

Attended shows regularly from 67 up to 1988, last show was Dead and Nevilles in Oakland Arena (Henry Kaiser Auditorium)

Fortunate to have been local for Fillmore West (68-71) plus Winterland and later lived in Berkeley on and off from 73-87. Since 88 saw the remnants of Spirit in a Eureka beer bar in 93 and David Lindley in another Eureka beer bar in 94. But saw Samantha Fish at Stateline NV Aug 18 and have tickets for SF Sept 19 at South Lake Tahoe.

Except for SF and other blues musicians mostly listen to music from mid 60s to mid 80s.

[jcgoldie]

20. Great choices PufPuf

I replace Zappa with Clapton... wife and I gearing up for 2 Dead&Co weekends this summer in Chicago and Boulder!

[Turin_C3PO]

24. I wish I was alive when Zappa was touring.

Well, I was alive but pretty young. He’s probably my favorite artist.

[UTUSN]

19. Yip, changes *drastically* - even genres AND even to NO music!1

[Leith]

22. Not mine

I still like some good, rollicking Ringo Starr pop, Tom Lehrer, Led Zeppelin, a Strauss waltz, Irish, operetta, and folk performed without electricity. The only thing I added was a bit of punk. If it was good enough for 1970, it's good enough for me.

[ProudLib72]

26. I saw Fugazi in the mid 90s

That was the last concert I actually enjoyed. Can you imagine what it would have been like to see The Ramones or Sex Pistols live? Now there is only one punk band from recent times that I like: Refused.

[Turin_C3PO]

23. My taste in music has remained the same since high school.

Beatles, Zappa, and classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal. I do appreciate Jazz and modern classical more than I used to.

[ProudLib72]

27. Zappa you say?

I would never have guessed.

I've been to the Zappa memorial in Lithuania: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/frank-zappa-memorial

Actually, it was kind of a fluke. I was staying in some dorms about a block away from the memorial, and I passed by it every time I left to go into town.

[True Dough]

28. I'm 46. Zeppelin and the Beatles were before my time

but I've grown to appreciate them. That said, I still eat the candy that is top 40, at least some of it. I check out new releases every Friday and repeatedly listen to the songs that grab me.

[ProudLib72]

32. I only turned 47 last month, so we are not that far apart in age

I was listening to the Beatles by the time I was five. Zeppelin came much later. When I go to the music store, I head straight to the metal listening section and don't leave. Having said that, I turned on the car radio for twenty minutes this morning and heard Blondie and Nirvana. That was good.

[True Dough]

36. Blondie and Nirvana are okay

I'm more partial to Coldplay and Collective Soul. Also love some Simon and Garfunkel. Top 40, pop, alternative. That's where it's at for me. No country, no jazz, no classical.

As for metal, I went through a period where I listened to a lot of KISS. Not much of a "metal head" though.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm fond of Post Malone too!

EDITED AGAIN!!! Because I want to say that I'm not a big rap fan but I'm hooked on this new tune...

[guillaumeb]

29. I discovered the Cranberries (and Delores O'Riordan) this year.

My loss.

[True Dough]

37. No, your gain!

You could still be oblivious to Delores's rich vocals. Glad you are aware of their talent, even if they won't be cranking out more albums. That said, are you aware of this release from earlier this year?

[guillaumeb]

39. True. It was my loss for the time I was unaware of them.

Thank you for the link.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. Most people's musical tastes are formed

by the time they are twenty or so, and never really change much. We especially are unlikely to change our favorites.

That said, in recent years I've taken up liking Native American instrumental music that I find here in New Mexico. I find classical Western music, which I always liked (along with the bands of my youth naturally!) to be unpleasant to listen to. I certainly wouldn't call this a maturation of my taste, just a change. I keep on expecting I'll stop liking the new music and want to go back to the old, but I'm 11 years into this new phase at age 70.

When I do Geeks Who Drink, I almost never recognize a single song in the audio round. Although one time they did have Bobby Darin singing "Mack the Knife" and I was the only one on our team old enough to recognize it.

[Hoyt]

31. I've gotten where I prefer acoustic instruments and vocals, to rock music. I still like

“protest” music, folk music, and the like. Still have my black light too.

[ProudLib72]

33. Acoustic? Like this?

[Hoyt]

35. That works. My favorite music today is Mandolin Orange, acoustic Steve Earle, etc.

A Hendrix Unplugged would have been awesome.

[Harker]

34. My tastes have broadened.

I still listen to rock and blues, but along the way I added opera, film score music, Sinatra, punk, etc., etc.

There's little from my youth that I would no longer enjoy.

My first 45 rpm was Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash" and my most recent CD a thrift store copy of a Merle Haggard collection.

I suppose, in a way, that expanding tastes is a sign of maturity - at least a more open mind.

[Codeine]

40. Absolutely. I embraced a lot of extreme music later in life.

I was in my forties before I started listening to black metal, and my taste in jazz just keeps getting more and more “out there” over time.

But I’ll never like Led Zeppelin. That’s musical torture for me.