Muppet,
I've sort of wondered about this for a little while. When you listen to music, critically that is, do you have the lyrics in front of you or do you try to decode what is being said? Also, how many spins do you give an album before coming to a rating?
Personally, I seldom reach definite conclusions after single listen (there are singularities of course) and even say someone like Phil Elverum is not always transparent and a lyrics helper goes a long way. Just wondering what your methods are. Thx.