Context with music is an interesting thing. I will often be turned on to a band that is new to me, but has been making music for a long time. I'll ask a friend that likes them to recommend a starting point on which album to listen to first. There are several different answers: 1. Start at the beginning, this gives you context to appreciate the artists journey and full body of work. 2. Start at with an album that shows them maturing, a turning point album. -Many would pick Rubber Soul for the Beatles. 3. Or... pick the best album they've made in your opinion. Which do you recommend? How important is context to the appreciation of the band in question? Interesting stuff and the answer varies based on the band and the friend asking.
I was thinking about this earlier, too. Used to be I'd trawl the web for album recommendations (honestly, I'd trawl 4chan's /mu/. The recommendations there were mostly always interesting at least and often good) and start with that one album. For a while (and to some extent, still now) I'd grab a discography and start with the very first album. But that has potential issues, too, I think - I haven't moved past Astronautalis' first album, because I love it so much, but the first track I heard from him - the one that made me go get his stuff - was on his latest. I think the hesitance is partly because I don't enjoy his 2nd too much, but I'm reluctant to move on so quickly. What I'm doing more often now, though, especially when I'm looking for stuff for one of the radio shows, is just grab whatever's free (usually from bandcamp). That stuff, depending on the band, can be singles, EPs, really old stuff, stuff the band doesn't really like or think is their best - or maybe it is their best and they're using it to draw in the crowd - or absolutely everything. I can't decide which approach to new-to-me artists I prefer, and I'm determined to eventually settle on a particular approach - even though it'll take ages and a few months after that I'm likely to change my mind.
Oh, that's a tough question. And a good one. I was actually thinking about that tonight while listening to Portugal. The Man. I got their albums all at once and listened to them chronologically, but I got bored and just kind of bore it until I got to the latest album, which got me interested in them in the first place. Then, tonight I started listening backward through the discography and it made a lot more sense to me and was a lot more interesting. Conversely, with Weezer, I liked them until Pinkerton and then decided I'd had enough. I have the other albums, but rarely listen to them. Every once in a while I'll listen through and discover that I like a particular song, or section of an album. Maybe someday I'll like or at least appreciate them all. I guess this is why I so often ask where to start when getting recommendations on hubski. That way I can do it the way I want and then try it the other way too.