Frequently an album's genius does not hit me until after several listens.
Case in point:
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

A friend of mine tried for the longest time to get me to love this record, and for the longest time I just thought it was boring as hell. Then, one night we got nice and not low.... and it hit me. Since then, even with my feet firmly on the ground, I have been in love with MBV and that album, in particular.

A similar experience happened with the same friend and
Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet

What are your examples -- took you a while to warm up to, but then you did in a BIG way?

Air: Moon Safari
Radiohead: The Bends
Beck: Mutations

One of my roommates in college had bought Air while they were in Europe. I hated it at first, I thought it was a bad mix of lounge music and techno.

I didn't mind Creep off of Pablo Honey, but at the time I thought they would most likely be a one hit wonder. I was also somewhat anglophobic due to Oasis. After listening to it several times, I realized they were a solid band and was wrong beforehand

I liked Mutations, but I wasn't quite used to folky Beck versus funky Beck. It is now my favorite Beck album.

Good call on MBV, same here.

I'd say Radiohead OK Computer was a bit of a grower for me as was Wilco's YHF. Both are now two of my top three of all-time but initially I thought they were boring.

For me it's got to be The Silver Jews' "The natural bridge".
It seemed so bland when I first heard it. It has become one of my most beloved albums.

MBV for me as well

OK Computer......liked upon first listen, but it got better and continues to get better with each listen...

one more: neutral milk hotel

The Long Winters - When I Pretend to Fall

Mogwai - anything. I thought I would love them because they're Scottish, but it took a good three or four years before I became crazy about them.

Yo La Tengo - Painful

Welcome aboard Snow Cat!

Recently, The Raconteurs album. Gave it a few listens when I first got it, and passed it off. Now I cannot stop listening to it. Soo soo good.

The National

Good to know. I've been really looking forward to this but hearing a few negative things lately.

clap your hands. took a while to grow, then it peaked, now it's just okay

the soft bulletin. i couldnt stand it when i first listened to it, but now, i absolutely love it.

TVOTR - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

My first few listens left me confused and not sure what the big deal was (hadn't heard the EP). Not until I turned it up and really listened to the pristine production did I appreciate it. Now, it's definitely one of my favorite albums of the 00's.

Kid A. Took me quite a while to become okay with it, but at some point it just hit me so hard. I think I was listening to it one time and Nat'l Anthem came on and it just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
Dag Nasty - Can I say
Fugazi -repeater
Beck - Sea Change

Current grower = Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise

This was a big one for me. I liked some of it at first ("A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" always sounded cool), but it took several months for me to really get into it and get past the WTF factor of most of it.

OK Computer was another grower. I liked it at first, but I thought most of it was a little slow and boring. Since then, I've alternated between pretty much every song on the album other than "Fitter Happier" as being my favorite.

I know there are several others. Here are a few:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
The Zombies - Odyssey and Oracle
The Stooges - Funhouse
Big Star - #1 Record & Radio City

All of which I didn't really like at first.

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Third - Soft Machine
Ege Bamyasi - Can
I Often Dream of Trains - R. Hitchcock
Folded Palm - Frog Eyes

Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day. Not a difficult album to grasp in the first place, but for some reason it wasn't striking a chord with me at first, but then I began to love a few tracks here and there, and now I love it all. Their best album, me thinks.

All of the Weakerthans albums get better each time I listen to them.

MBV still do nothing for me, though I haven't put on Loveless in at least a few years....

Tool - Lateralus
The Streets. All of it.
Antony & the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now
Beth Orton - Trailer Park
Blackalicious - Nia
Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
Wrens - Seacaucus

The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
Radiohead - Kid A

I've been meaning to pick this up forever. Thanks for the reminder. I really like the first two Soft Machine albums a lot as well as the solo Wyatt that I've heard.

Ditto.