Have your musical tastes changed as you've aged?

[Graphista]

Just curious.

I love music of all genres with the possible exception of not being a huge fan of metal though there are a few tracks by metal bands I like.

But I've been listening to radio more lately especially absolute 80's which is honestly my main era though I also am a big fan of certain 70's and 90's acts but I'm most familiar with the 80's. I'm pretty hopeless post 2000 that's all "new" music to me and it's rare I'll find a newer artist I like.

But back to the point - I'm finding there are tracks/artists from the 80's I wasn't into back then, I was very much a "pure pop" girl back then, I'm a huge George Michael fan but I also liked Madonna, aha, spandau ballet and even Duran Duran (betraying my "whammy" roots )

Now I'm "by accident" listening to tracks and artists where the work is more complex (changing melodies, challenging lyrics) dare I say has more depth (again lyrically but also production styles) and finding I really like them whereas when I was a teen I found them "boring"

Was I just a really shallow teen or does age make us appreciate such things more? Or do we just like different things when we're older

And before other George fans descend on me! I totally will say that his talent was incredible and he was doing some amazing, deep and insightful and technically & emotionally complex work even in early wham! Days of course.

Hi OP,

I have found the same thing that as I've got older I like different genres of music. Similar to you I've always liked 80's and 90's music. I'm a George Michael/ Wham fan too!
I never used to like rock but now I love rock, I'm talking guns n roses era rather than current era!

I think as you say the older you are the more you can appreciate things in general including music.

Thanks for replying.

I've always liked rock but in the 80's I was a closet rock fan there was a lot of cliqueyness related to musical taste. Eg the aforementioned wham!/Duran Duran rivalry.

But yes I'm liking it even more now. Alice Cooper "poison" just played on the radio and I loved that even then but would never have admitted it because I was a stereotypical be-denimed, neon accessories wham!/George girl

But in the privacy of my own bedroom I also liked bon jovi, Joan jett, pat benatar, def leppard, Motley crue, billy idol...

I was a VERY closeted huge 70's music fan too - again loads of different genres - from the carpenters to Joan Baez to ccr to queen to ABBA and the eagles which in the 80's in the circles I ran in were considered deeply uncool (except perhaps queen)

I'm now finding I'm more drawn to artists I wasn't that fond of then

Depeche mode, tears for fears, the human league (I liked "don't you want me" but wasn't really into their other stuff), Howard jones (preferred nik kershaw and Paul Young - who I now think of as a bit of a "fake" as most of his were cover versions!), Gary Numan, omd...

A lot I liked their big hit singles but didn't particularly like or seek to listen to lesser known tracks but they're popping up eg on forgotten 80's programme and I'm liking and sometimes surprised when I learn who the artist is.

I had a similar epiphany when a friend had a particular track by an artist I don't like (both musically and as a person) as their first dance song at their wedding. I didn't recognise the title (this was way before internet so I couldn't google) and said so to other friends who were due to be attending the wedding and they sort of eye rolled me (cos they know me well) and went "you may not know the title but as soon as it starts playing you'll know it. It's a good song very romantic" and they were right - but it kinda pisses me off this artist has a track I like a lot!

When I say they know me I mean this happens to me a lot! I'll think I don't know a song cos I don't recognise the title and even sometimes the artist but I do know it, even more true with newer tracks. I'll say to dd "I've never heard of (title/artist)" and she'll say something like "you were singing/humming along to it the other day when I had it playing"

I'm also quite often surprised when I see the artist they don't look how I thought they would - main one recently for this was rag n bone man who I love. I'd heard him and thought he'd be a big guy but sort of expected more rick Astley as quite a smooth voice but he's more meat loaf?