There are some albums I liked immediately, after first listening (Black sheep boy, Sea change, In Rainbows etc.), and there are others I needed to dig and dig and finaly I got in. The last time it happened to me was with Portishead - Third. The album came to me step by step (luckily I got some competent recommendations that pushed me over initial resistance) and I needed about 12-15 listenings to fall in love with it.

What are your digging gratifications?

(FKA, do not hesitate to close this thread in case it already exists, I just didn't find it)

For me, I think it must be Hail to the thief. It took me about three years to start to like it, listening to it on and off. Now there are still a handful of songs I'm not into, but I like 2+2=5, A wolf at the door, I will, A punchup at a wedding and There there quite a lot, and I absolutely love Where I end and you begin.

Now, I don't know how much time it will take me to finally get into Kid A and Amnesiac, maybe I never will.

It took me forever to get into the Shins. I had their first two albums and I wasn't sure why until I saw them on Austin City Limits and it clicked for me.

I loved OK Computer(Radiohead) instantly and Dark Side of the moon and Wish You were Here( Pink Floyd). I didn't dig Piper at the gates of dawn( Pink Floyd) easily but its right up there with TDSOTM and WYWH now.Took an year though

I've always been under the impression that enjoyment increases exponentially with familiarity (to a point, obviously: you can be too familiar with something). Albums that sound foreign at first almost always grow into something I enjoy after enough listens. My ex would always make fun of me for what she called "forcing myself to like something" but those times where something is a bit uncomfortable at first are the times when your musical horizons grow the most. "Getting used" to one album will inevitably lead to many other enjoyable ones in the same vein.

Just thought I'd rant about that a bit. Anyway, here are some examples of albums that at various times in my life took quite a bit of patience but yielded great success in the end.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
New Order - Technique

I had this experience with one of my all time favorite albums, Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins. I was working in a music store and the people working there kept playing the damn thing over and over again. Finally I got it. And I still love this album to this day.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, by Wilco. I love that album now, but it took a while to grow on me.

Since I'm not great dubstep fan I didn't enjoy Burial/Untrue for a long time but now it works for me.

In the Aeroplane...
Vitalogy
Loveless

For me, the most recent digger was Gui Boratto's Chromophobia. It was very off-putting at first, but I now consider it to be one of the best albums of 2007.

We have similar threads here and here. Feel free to copy and paste your comments there.