Where Does Artistic Taste Come From?

[Truth Teller]

The band Rush does not make overtly political music,if anything most of the band's members personally lean on the liberal side of things.

Still,in my expereince most hard-care Rush fans I've known are right-wingers,most people I've known who don't care for their music are on the left-wing.

The late Lester Bangs often said that we don't choose music,it chooses us.

He may be right when we think about how one forms their artistic taste.

There is no doubt that things like education,class,family,and environment have a major influence on artistic taste.

But it may be possible that artistic likes/dislikes can also be influenced physiologically(which would prove Lester Bangs' theory to be correct).

In other words : The way our brains are structured help determine our tastes.

That would help explain why so many prog fans seem to be conservatives ,and why so many liberals seem not to be prog fans.

Discuss.

[CCC]

Could never get into the band Rush or understand the hype. I've leaned towards alternative/new-wave/coffeehouse rock as my favorite genres, but love and appreciate classic rock and classic R&B as well.

[Truth Teller]

Could never get into the band Rush or understand the hype. I've leaned towards alternative/new-wave/coffeehouse rock as my favorite genres, but love and appreciate classic rock and classic R&B as well.

Well,what may be be "classic" rock and R+B to you,may not be classic rock or R+B to someone else.

Example : Do you know of Louis Jordan?

Hell,R+B is where rock and roll comes from,but I digress.

Anyway,why do you have the taste you do?

Where does it come from?

[CCC]

Well,what may be be "classic" rock and R+B to you,may not be classic rock or R+B to someone else.

Example : Do you know of Louis Jordan?

Can't say that I do. Feel free to share.

Hell,R+B is where rock and roll comes from,but I digress.

Agreed.

Anyway,why do you have the taste you do?

Where does it come from?

Dunno.

I was raised by my grandparents, and my grandmother was into country and grandfather wasn't into music at all.

I have a fairly diverse appreciation for most forms of music. I do appreciate melody, which is why it's hard to appreciate most rap/hip-hop and some current pop music, so I'm starting to appreciate country again (which my interest had waned in the 90s).

I'm always seeking out new music to appreciate, and these are good times for that as the internet has opened up new avenues to discover underappreciated talent.

[CCC]

I also was growing up in 70s, in a predominately Mexican/Hispanic area, so disco seemed cool at the time, though older people, particularly those who liked "hard rock" seemed to have a strong, passionate hatred for that genre. Couldn't understand the strong reactions, and eventually the disco genre became somewhat dormant as new wave, with the help of MTV, started ushering in a new era, and that music seemed fresh for me.

[Guido]

What's a "prog fan"?

[Šñøü†ê®]

The band Rush does not make overtly political music.

Teller. Important steps in being successful with the English language include getting facts together in a cohesive, intelligent collection of sentences that feature an intro, body and conclusion. Try again.

[Going Postal]

From their song titles.

Working man - if it was liberal, it would be called Mailbox Man.
Tom Sawyer - if it was liberal, Who?

[Šñøü†ê®]

It is TELLING that Teller is so CLUELESS about the content of songs by RUSH. And attempts to use that MAJOR MALFUNCTION as the basis of some kind of idiotic troll thread!

[Guido]

Artistic taste is judgment. Judgment is developed and refined by the practice of making judgments -- of what is more of less valuable in one's experience.

In the modern age, when we can no longer rely on authoritative traditions for answers, the challenge is to distinguish the genuine from the fraudulent and the failure of institutions to compel conviction means that only one's own individual experience can distinghuish between the two. Ultimately, it is a matter of the interest one takes (and invests in) own's own life -- whether you choose to actually live your life or allow someone else to do it for you.