It is a strange phenomenon but I tend to change my appreciation of high, close to falsetto male voices in pop music over time. There are voices I used to dislike or even hate like Neil Young or Thom Yorke which I love now.

When I first heard Neil Young around 1975 (I was 12) I felt that he was a puff, a wimp. His voice is probably the least masculine in rock. I rediscovered him around 1987 when my first girl-friend left me. And I instantly fell in love with him on second sights on After the Goldrush. A consolation by someone who had experienced a similar loss.

I am not sure if Radiohead's Thom Yorke did change his voice from Amnesiac on. Before I could not take his whining which made me think of a squealing mouse. Abominable. But now I have really come to appreciate the intensity and purity in it. There is a despair in his voice which touches me and makes me shiver.

On the other hand there are voices I used to like or even love which I cannot take anymore. Which I have got allergic to. The only one I can think of right now is Damon Albarn from Blur. I liked the cheekiness and Britishness in his singing on the first two albums. But now I find his style stilted. His voice has not evolved or it evolved in a direction I dislike. Maybe it is just that my ears were overexposed to his singing whereas in comparison I still have listened to much less Radiohead than Blur. I don't know. But I doubt that I will get Think Tank after the excerpts I listened to. And this is not because of the missing guitar, I swear.