You know how it goes, you buy an album based on a recommendation or a review or maybe hearing some song samples online or at a listening station or even just because the cover looked cool, then get it home and it doesn't do much for you. Kind of wish you had your money back. So maybe you play it once or twice, and then retire it to the shelf thinking you'll give it another try later. And then you forget about it....until about a year later you pulll it out for one reason or another - maybe someone is saying how good it is or you read they have a new album or something like that. And you listen to it with a fresh ear and can't believe how you could've originally dismissed it because now you love it from the first listen. And can't get enough of it. And run out to buy the new one that people are raving about and you love it as well. Weird, huh? Guess sometimes we just aren't in the right state of mind for certain types of music. Ever happen to you?

So I'm drinking some coffee this morning and listening to some music while my roomate is getting herself ready to go to the mall. And I'm getting myself ready to go running, even though I'm not really feeling it today. And first I was playing some Yo La Tengo, which was nice, but when they amped it up for the brilliant cover of "Little Honda", I knew it was time to put on something that rocked a little harder to get some life back into my weekend spirit. And that lead to Polly Jean and also to the silly (but obnerific) recollection that follows....

I think the one that most caught me off guard in the modern age is the first PJ Harvey album, Dry. I remember reading some very positive comments about it back when it came out sometime in '92 I guess, and picked it up shortly after and was completely underwhelmed. Probably didn't even listen to it twice before sticking it on the shelf and promptly forgetting about it. So fast forward about a year or so and I'm reading more rave reviews about her new album and thinking to myself, what gives? Did I miss something? So I find my barely played copy of Dry and put it on and get completely blown away by how good it is. And I play it over and over and try to figure out what was wrong with me a year ago. And I run out and buy the new one, Rid of Me, and find myself listening incessantly to it as well, trying to decide which one I like best. And I can't. But that was many years and many albums ago and I still love her, but that first album Dry is my favorite and probably always will be, no matter what she does. And what a great live sound it has too, with tons of unrestricted dynamics. One of the quietest CDs of the modern era, but still has the peaks set to max. Guess they weren't sophisticated enough on that first one to know that you're supposed to use tons of compression on modern rock music

First time I heard Sonic Youth's Dirty it did nothing for me & I couldn't see what the fuss was about them. It wasn't till Experimental Jet Set... came out & I got into them that a friend convinced me I needed to give Dirty & a lot of their older stuff a shot. Now I prefer Dirty over Experimental Jet Set... & SY is one of my favorite groups.

Amon Tobin's Permutation did nothing for me when I bought it. It wasn't till someone gave me Supermodified & I listened to it in it's entirety during my 1 hour commute home that it clicked with me. Then I went back & fell in love with Permutation.

Front 242's Tyranny (For You) I thought was too slow & shelved after a few listens in favor of faster stuff from Orbital, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Prodigy & a lot of random breakbeat 'ardcore. A year or two later I slowly got into it & then dug into thier older stuff & now they're one of my favorites. Tyranny (For You) isn't my fave by them, but I like it & the speed they operate at a lot more now.

First article I read about Luscious Jackson called them a female version of the Beastie Boys, so when In Search Of Manny EP didn't deliver "Chick Your Head" so to speak I lost interest. One day I randomly put it on again & fell in love.

First time I heard Dummy I was still real into death and black metal. A friend told me it was real depressing stuff with great female vocals I hadn't heard Evanessence but that was the sound I was imagining. When I heard it I hated it for being chic music and totally blew it off.
Later on reviews kept shuffling in about how great the album was so I tried to like it for the second time, this time around I couldn't get past Gibbons voice and shlipped it off again. About this time metal was on its way out and stuff like Mazzy Star and Smashing Pumpkins was flooring me. I heard a clip from Strangers on the radio and I totally dug the old French sound of it. Borrowed my freinds tape again (with Portishead) put it on for background music while playing Silent Hill and was steamrolled by it along with the game. I have not been the same person since.

I'm sincerely hoping this eventually happens with the Delays record, but I kind of doubt it

The one that stands out is Daft Punk's Homework. On first listen I absolutely hated it, but I listened to it about a month later (on a whim and not because of public opinion) and it quickly began to grow on me. It was as if my ears had evolved.

One night I woke up to get a drink from the kitchen and I tripped over my Radiohead "My Iron Lung" CD single.... totally caught me off guard....I was like WTF!!!!! Caught totally off guard!

just listened to willy mason for the first time. i was really surprised. its really good.

That's funny! One day I was walking in from the car carrying way too many bags of groceries, with my Enon Believo! CD in one of those flimsy plastic sleeves precariously dangling from between the tips of two fingers, and when I reached the perceived safety of my living room carpet I heard a nasty crunching sound under my foot, not unlike some of the sounds Enon makes on the CD, and I said WTF too, but unfortunately in this case it was the sound of my CD shattering into about 100 little pieces. Oh, so sad.