When you listen to a band, what part of the music excites you the most?

Question

Some people get hyped by the vocals…

others wait for the guitar solo, the drums, or even the little details in the background.

It made me curious…

what actually pulls you in when you’re listening?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Never the lyrics, but everything else. I just want to °feel° something seamlessly going on. Even if looped or repeated.. but to be creative in a sense.
Take Variant - through The Cosmos [Pallas] as an example.

Instrumentation overall that genuinly delivers the feelings of what I like, not to mention the accopmaniying vocals too if okay. Again.. not the lyrics. I might not ever take a look at lyrics. I prefer no lyrics.. or unclear or okay with clear as long as just part of the thing and not cringy or noisy in any obstructing manner or minimally effective.
I listen to quite both ends. Soft gentle minimal uplifting. As well as loud fast or slow heavy - dark music.
This goes from underground metal genres and themes to electronic music as well as various ambient/drone productions. Yet usually ambient is intense of how abstract/lifeless/voidish or expressive they are.
Reminds me of Mirage - Klaus Schulze (1:17:17; with bonus), for an expressive. Especially that last bonus song.
All KS music seems to have life within, unlike others I listen to. At least my own way of percieving it.
🤔 Maybe that in a way is my most I engage with as per your question.
**This part is the last I actually wrote ['expressive' and its following]**

Add to that, harsh noise (State in Decline - Luke Lund) as a good average example + minimalism such as (Loss Less - Kamran Sadeghi) only as one quite niche example within the whole varying "well/worth" minimal productions I like.

Lyrics are thoughts, which are not mere feelings. So I listen to them only in my culture.. which also are quite specific and niche in genre and purpose where lyrics are the main purpose and music just comes to help convey them. And sometimes even sung without instrumentation at all/music-free versions.

Might like some drama/sorrow/yearning or light romance lyrics.. but I guess I end up just fusing their feelings into my typical "ignored lyrics" music, as an inspiration of feelings or so. So if I like lyrics, its is purposeful and extremely selective.

msc545 · Accepted Answer

Well, being a guitarist of sorts myself, I really love listening to guitarists, particularly the lead guitar. Also, the percussionists really get my attention as well, but of course that's their job.

Cinematic Lily · Accepted Answer

For me it’s always the textures and little details in the background that hook me first 🎧
That mix of bassline + drum groove + subtle synths or strings under everything is what pulls me into the song’s “world.” Then I lock onto the vocals and lyrics. I love when a track reveals new tiny sounds each time you relisten, like a movie with hidden Easter eggs 😌✨

drummerdude25 · Answer

I’ll walk you through this one… 👀🎧 First it’s the clean and crunchy, almost EDM-sounding mix in the intro, tipping off my brain… then in comes the catchy, heavy guitars and a great drum groove, solidifying the intrigue… then I’m walloped over the head with an urgent, panty-dropper of an opening vocal line 😆 the groove switches and the music subtly builds up, back into that catchy main groove… lots of ghost notes and accents on the drums gluing it all together… then into a more syncopated 2nd verse… There’s not a ton of repeating/copy-paste musical bits, only the main motif, great hooky vocals throughout… and eventually we reach a nice, heavy breakdown with a nice spread in the mix, these low, guttural sounding guitars… 😮‍💨 with a chill riff over the top… dropping back into an airy EDM-type of build and then a final chorus into an EDM-y kind of outro… I pick up on and am constantly drawn in by a ton of details! 😅 Everything is firing on all cylinders with this one. It’s a nice, catchy blend of musical styles with a ton of groove.

Lliam · Answer

I love electric guitar and am a rock guitarist myself. But I have to say that the rhythm section turns me on - a prominent bass and a drummer that kicks ass.
Think Born to be Wild or Highway Star. Bass hooks are cool and I like to hear them thunder.
I love the drum intro on Shakin' by Eddy Money, and When the Levee Breaks. Or how 'bout when the beat drops in Stairway to Heaven or Phil Collin's In the Air Tonight?

There are/were some fantastic drummers. Bobby Caldwell is one of my favorites. You should check out Captain Beyond's first album.

exitseven · Answer

I like to listen to the lyrics. How a phrase can be turned to mean something else. The emotion behind the words.
I heard this song this morning. I had heard it before but I actually listened to the lyrics. It is about a time gone by but it made me question why we could not go back there again? What made the country so special back then and how can we recreate it today. We should have the technonogy to do it.

ohsheeT · Answer

I love music and I love the way the words tell a story on some songs and on some songs I love the way that the music tells the story because I can feel it and I become it and there's a flow that happens between the music and myself that it mixes with my energy and I love that feeling if I can find them I'll give you two examples

aaron13547 · Answer

I like lyrical music. I want to be able to feel the emotions in the words. I want the metaphors to rhyme with a rhythm. I want to be able to listen to a song 100 times over and find a deeper meaning each time. For me its the words. The melody of how they are said, is just the key to unlock to deeper connection with the words.

Maybe_Maybe_not · Answer

Hi Led Zepp 👋🏼 What pulls  me  in... My feelings, musicians' feelings, this collision? Instruments do not seem to matter to me, my subjective experience does.

Nikki1989 · Answer

That depends on the artist and the genre of music. However, I am not a big vocal person.

AngryCarl3 · Answer

I love electric guitar, particularly when played in a metal style. Give me those power chords. Percussion is essential of course, whereas vocals can frame the song, and in the case of someone like, let's say Robert Plant, the voice itself becomes another instrument.

AydenHazor · Answer

Each part grabs me differently. A good beat thumping in my chest pulls me in and makes me want to move. A quality melody invokes beauty and emotion. Good lyrics make me invested in the sing and story of it. When ask the come together it's truly miraculous

TonyMetal___86 · Answer

Since you have posted photos of led zeppelin, so in this particular one "'stairway to heaven" i wait for the mid part after the solo finishes, i like robert plant's part when he sings after the solo finsishes...

Usually i like the guitar solos and drums hehe

Are you the lady with glitters miss phoenix from bouvet island 😁

RandomGirl42 · Answer

Oh! It's the energy of it all that gets me dancing on the tables! And then tossed out of bars. 😳

Tarifa · Answer

Most songs reveal details when you listen to them frequently. I'd say guitar riffs, guitar solos, bass and drums. Certain songs are full of subtle percussion.

HawkPerception · Answer

Dunno honestly. All of it together is what makes beautiful music in my opinion. If it was any one of them on their own, it wouldn't sound anywhere near as beautiful. Everything plays a part.

whosnumber_1 · Answer

I can play a lot of instruments so I hear music by breaking down the individual tracks in my mind. Music by great and talented artists (like Led Zeppelin) that carry a lot of depth and message in their music hold more weight for me.

Xawyx-2 · Answer

Likable melody of course. Sometimes a beautiful vocal too. Lyrics aren't that important, as long as I like the melody.  But I don't like nonsense/meaningless, or rude/insulting lyrics.

Phoenix98 · Answer

Really comes down to the band and sometimes the song itself sometimes if might be the vocals, the beat or just the instruments themselves.

mrkdvsn · Answer

Generally, how progressive it sounds, and how extensive the chord progressions are

FunkyMonkee · Answer

Mostly drums and bass. I hardly ever pay attention to guitars and vocals. Synths are cool too.

sage2021 · Answer

The drums 🥁 and electric 🎸guitar sounds and solos.

Spencer10 · Answer

Well its close but I gotta go with an epic guitar solo.

LC75LC71 · Answer

Usually the guitar solos.

LiamJHayden · Answer

All of it. I tend to analyze all of the music parts and all of the vocal parts.

Staximus · Answer

A combination of all the instruments and vocals

altaboy · Answer

I've always preferred the instrumentation more than singing. It's absolutely what they play more than lyrics. In fact, much of the music I appreciate most had no lyrics at all.

love_conquers_lust · Answer

Whatever you like, I'm sure @nikki1989 will find something about it to bitch about.

Shiprex · Answer

The guitar or melody

Iron_Man · Answer

The main words

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

Guitar,, sometimes drums.

dragoblack · Answer

Honestly the vibes being fun.

Pterodon · Answer

Watching them play their instruments

Jeff51 · Answer

I love the drums.

Darkest-Knight · Answer

The bass guitar.

CubaPirate · Answer

Drum solos

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