There are quite a number of types of music that I enjoy, as well as some genres that I don't.
My original love was classical - with a small 'c', which I inherited from my father, though my tastes were more latter-day classical than his. I was (and am) particularly fond of Debussy and Ravel.
I never liked the pop music of the 1950s and early 60s, but around 1965, when things started to change, I started to get interested in people like the Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys, even the Fab Four who were at their most interesting stage in 1966/67.
Later on, along came Elton John. His self-titled album is one that should be in everyone's collection, even if they have no other music by Elton.
And then... I discovered the delights of progressive rock, with bands like Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues. Some people don't classify the Moodies as progressive, but I think they earned that title with the album Days of Future Passed, the first album to attempt a fusion of rock and classical orchestral styles, and one of the most successful.
What don't I listen to?
Can't stand most disco - there are some exceptions.
I don't like most punk - but I do like The Clash.
I don't like music that relies on technology to impress. Synthesisers are a great invention, but there has to be a decent melody behind it all. Much of the pop music of the 1980s comes across to me as lacking in soul, it's all about someone showing off their latest Roland.
Can't stand most grunge.
Country music - sometimes it's OK, much of the time it's abysmal. Often my problem is with the lyrical themes - :found me a woman", "lost my woman", "my woman's cheating on me", "I'm cheating on my woman".
Lately I find myself listening more and more to what I like to call the generation of "new progressive" acts. Progressive not in the sense of sounding like clones of Yes or Pink Floyd, but building on that legacy and developing their own sound, often introducing elements of metal, a genre that I don't like as a rule, but which can be used to successfully introduce a bit of bite into a song. First among these are Porcupine Tree and other Steven Wilson-related projects; others include Anathema, Opeth and Nosound.
Oh, and I like Coldplay. There, I said it.
Having said that, I am not too impressed with what I have heard from Coldplay's latest album.
I've left out quite a lot of types of music, mainstream and otherwise, that I like, but that will do for now. Perhaps I should add that I like ABBA...