[Mag]

I think for me I listen for song structure first and foremost. It can be any genre of music and if I like the song structure there's a good chance I'll like the song.

Secondly, I like a good performance, it trumps sound quality of a recording, though I like to have both if possible.

Then I listen for instruments, hard rock for example, catchy guitar riffs, good bass, vocals, drumming, etc.

I try to follow all the instruments at the same time so if the song is good I'm in my bliss. Sometimes I focus on just on one instrument, guitar, bass, drums, keyboard.

With trance/electronic I'm listening for creative music themes and sounds.

And if I'm in the mood I want the music to sound powerful.

[Tyson]

I find people respond to music with either their heart, their head, or their gut.  For a heart listener, it's all about the passion, the emotion.  They really connect with the emotional intensity of the music or singer.  For a head listener it's more about the patterns and rhythms and musical construct.  For gut listeners its all about the physicality of the music - they want to feel it, in their body. 

For most people, 2 modes are dominant.  For example, I am a head/gut listener.  So I like composers like Bach (head), and performers like Coltrane (head) and Tool (gut). 

My wife is a heart/gut listener, so for her its all about dance grooves and heartfelt lyrics and singing passion.  She likes the Gypsy Kings and ABBA. 

[musick]

I'd fit right in as a head/gut listener. Started gut, shifted toward head (gave a bit too much credit to originality and artistry) and have regained an appreciation of the gut aspect in recent times.

These days it depends on how I'm listening to music. If I'm in the car with a friend I go pretty much straight gut. Even by myself the gut aspect tends to take over. I think that's what grabs most people. Especially those who haven't spent time listening on 'audiophile' equipment. It's 'harder' to tell the difference in quality between a band like Led Zepplin and Getta Van Fleet if you're just listening on the radio. It's definitely possible to hear a difference in overall quality if you're paying attention to more than just the guitar riffs and vocals. This isn't to say that Gretta Van Fleet doesn't have some good songs, because they definitely do. However, they don't stand up against most Led Zeppelin songs, which is no easy task mind you.

If I'm listening with a good pair of headphones hooked up to a nice tube amp the head definitely takes over (working on completing my first speaker system right now). Not only do the rhythms, melodies, and patterns grab my attention, but the overall nuances and more subtle aspects take hold of my attention. Both on the musical and mastering side of things. I really enjoy good use of soundstage. It's probably my personal favorite aspect of music. It would be quite moot without all the other things that make up good music though. The way music is imaged is just one aspect of music and all great musicians are well aware. That's why bands like ACDC are as popular and good as they are. They focus on certain aspects of music, a lot of gut, and do a stellar job at it. In my opinion ACDC will never be as good as bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zepplelin, The Stones, The Doors, The Experience, or The Beatles. However,  that's not to say they're not close, or that they couldn't be just as good or even better in someone else's opinion.

In the end it all comes down to what this thread asks. What grabs you about music? I'm still pretty young and am pretty sure that as time goes on a multitude of different aspects will grab my attention. It's definitely a good thing to be appreciative of many musical attributes in order to open yourself up to new music ready for your enjoyment!

[Wind Chaser]

Music either connects, or it doesn't. I don't think about it, I like what I like because I like it. That's how it's always been.

Growing up as a child in the sixties, I knew I liked music. Back in those days the AM radio ruled the airwaves. We didn't even have a record player until my sisters got one for Christmas in the late sixties / early seventies. I was so jealous, they always got all the cool shit including a piano, tape recorders, music lessons etc, while I being 5 years younger got fucking Lego's, an electric train, models, toys etc. But I was thrilled when they got that record player because it sounded so much better than the AM radio or anything they could play on the piano. 

Anyhow I couldn't always follow the words, partly because I was too young to understand them or the singers voice was obscured by the recording. So lyrical content didn't matter as much as the sound of the voice. For that reason I liked Jagger more than anyone else. My sisters loved the Beatles which I didn't really care until much, much later. My mom liked Elvis but I thought he was worse than the Beatles.

So to this day lyrics aren't that important to me. In fact I can only think of one song that I really like where the words make the song, and without the words the song couldn't stand on it's own as an instrumental.

I heard from a friend you'd been messing around
With a cute little thing I'd been dating uptown
Well I don't know if I like that idea much
Well you'd better stay clear I might start acting rough
You out of town guys sure think you're real keen
Think all of us boys here are homespun and green
But that's wrong my friend so get this through your head
We're tough and we're Texan with necks good and red
So it's ki yi yippie yi yi
You long hairs are sure gonna die
Our American home was clean till you came
And kids still respected the president's name
And the eagle still flew in the sky
Hearts filled with national pride
Then you came along with your drug crazy songs
Goddamit you're all gonna die

How dare you sit there and drink all our beer
Oh it's made for us workers who sweat, spit and swear
The minds of our daughters are poisoned by you
With your communistic politics and them negro blues
Well I'm gonna quit talking and take action now
Run all of you fairies clean out of this town
Oh I'm dog tired of watching you mess up our lives
Spending the summertime naturally high
And it's ki yi yippie yi yi
You long hairs are sure gonna die
Our American home was clean till you came
And kids still respected the president's name
And the eagle still flew in the sky
Hearts filled with national pride
Then you came along with your drug crazy songs
Goddamit you're all gonna die
Goddamit you're all gonna die
Oh lord, goddamit you're all gonna die, listen now

Texan Love Song, by Bernie Taupin

[kevin360]

I've thought about this question since the thread began. I've even begun typing responses, but they failed to express a fulsome answer to the riddle and were dispatched to the bit-bucket. Much that I would say has been said, but is ultimately meaningless. How can one know or explain the why in a manner that can be meaningfully conveyed? It's practically impossible not to talk in a circular fashion, so I'll leave it a mystery. I know that I am moved by music of diverse genres, but certainly not all off them, nor by most music in any of them. I know it when I feel it, when it grabs me, pulls me down, lifts me up - whether it makes me think or overwhelms my emotions.

e.e. cummings once hinted at why it might be best not to attempt an answer far more elegantly than I can muster.

minds ignorant of stern miraculous
this every truth - beware of heartless them
(given the scalpel, they dissect a kiss;
or, sold the reason, they undream a dream)