Best Ever Albums

Re: About long albums

Space-Dementia — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 10:04:55 GMT

Author: Space-Dementia

Posted: 06/20/2018 14:04

Yeah, I was never a fan of albums being over 50 minutes long, with a few exceptions. One thing that's great about living in this era is that I can make Spotify playlists of what I think some of my favorite long albums' tracklists should look like. I've made them for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, The Ooz, Illinois, The Life of Pablo, and Songs for the Deaf, and I almost exclusively listen to the playlists as opposed to the actual albums anymore.

Re: About long albums

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 04:54:20 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2018 08:54

YoungPunk wrote:

baystateoftheart wrote:

#-o

As an aside, if you're not in the groups targeted, you don't get to decide that there's nothing to get offended about.

Look, I have no problem with being interested in what I say, but if you keep irritating me with your sad PC comments I will have to take action.

The classic 'muh free speech' irony of getting upset after having it suggested you might be making other people upset.

I appreciate you have a talent of somehow making most threads into a socio-political discussion, but I think we're going to have to start keeping music discussion on subject. Anyone can PM me if they have an issue with this.

I'll put in my own two cents that you should consider having a bit more tact after someone has very honestly shared how uncomfortable music on certain heavy subjects made them feel. There's no 'right mindset' when it comes to these things, as we all have different life experiences.

Whatever 'take action' means, you can do it away from the site or at the very lest through PMs.

Re: About long albums

PurpleHazel — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 01:35:19 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/20/2018 05:35

I always found it interesting how many double alums are considered the artists' best:

Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band

Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones

At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band

Tago Mago by Can

London Calling by The Clash
Despite the criticism, it's the album most often cited as The Clash's best.

Double Nickels On The Dime by Minutemen

Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü

Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth

Something/Anything? by Todd Rundgren

Re: About long albums

Tha1ChiefRocka — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 00:12:08 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 06/20/2018 04:12

Terrible album with a ridiculously long run-time. (If it were 40 minutes it might be tolerable, but at an hour and a half, I'm ready to slit my wrists by the end)

Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz by Miley Cyrus

A great album with a long run-time.

Link

Re: About long albums

YoungPunk — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 23:58:41 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 06/20/2018 03:58

baystateoftheart wrote:

#-o

As an aside, if you're not in the groups targeted, you don't get to decide that there's nothing to get offended about.

Look, I have no problem with being interested in what I say, but if you keep irritating me with your sad PC comments I will have to take action.

Re: About long albums

CharlieBarley — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 23:15:35 GMT

Author: CharlieBarley

Posted: 06/20/2018 03:15

YoungPunk wrote:

Stover75 wrote:

I like these two long albums:

Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder

F♯A♯∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

I also wouldn't cut The White album but I agree Frampton Comes Alive, Tusk, Sandinista and London Calling are all too long. Swans' To Be Kind is a unique listening experience but it probably is too long. It puts me off playing it although I have only heard it in full twice. Stands to reason.

What makes me very uncomfortable when playing Pink Floyd's The Wall is the track on disc 2 (CD version) - In The Flesh. Before you all shout I know the character of Pink is supposed to be mentally ill at the time and going through some sort of hallucination of being a fascist dictator, as he calls out people to be thrown "up against the wall". But its tones of racism, anti-semitism and homophobia are disturbing, even when you realise the intended cleverness and irony. He is playing a character. Ok I get it. But it's still disturbing. Maybe that's the point but I don't like it. (I also hate the lyric "sad old man dying of cancer" in the track Dogs on the Animals album.. What a horrible thing to predict for anyone).

But maybe Pink Floyd are being even more clever and saying it's ironic and part of a story as a cover for their real feelings, especially Roger Waters, who wrote the lyrics. It's weird cos I love Pink Floyd's music generally but that particular track disturbed me so much I withdrew The Wall from my top 100 chart. And it was in my top 10. That track aside its one of my favourite albums. Or it always was, but I just couldn't have it on there with that track on it. And can I overlook this track despite loving the rest of the album. And when roger Waters performs the album live today, as he still does, does he perform the track word-for word as it is on the album? Cos in this day and age you could have some very upset black, Jewish and gay people in the audience.

And I am a fan of Pink Floyd. This is challenging to me. Any input would be appreciated.

I find that scene in the Wall very funny. Most of us take fascism too seriously... Roger Waters does not... Try watching The Producers to get straight... There is really nothing to get offended about, and its really funny when you approach it with the right mindset...

I've seen The Producers. Both versions. Springtime for Hitler and all that. Great film, the original. But Mel Brooks can satirize Nazism cos he is Jewish. Not that you need to be Jewish to take the piss out of Nazi's.

Re: About long albums

baystateoftheart — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 23:05:43 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/20/2018 03:05

YoungPunk wrote:

Most of us take fascism too seriously... There is really nothing to get offended about, and its really funny when you approach it with the right mindset...

🤡

As an aside, if you're not in the groups targeted, you don't get to decide that there's nothing to get offended about.

Re: About long albums

YoungPunk — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 22:56:40 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 06/20/2018 02:56

Stover75 wrote:

Re: About long albums

CharlieBarley — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 22:31:15 GMT

Author: CharlieBarley

Posted: 06/20/2018 02:31

I like these two long albums:

Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder

F♯A♯∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

I also wouldn't cut The White album but I agree Frampton Comes Alive, Tusk, Sandinista and London Calling are all too long. Swans' To Be Kind is a unique listening experience but it probably is too long. It puts me off playing it although I have only heard it in full twice. Stands to reason.

What makes me very uncomfortable when playing Pink Floyd's The Wall is the track on disc 2 (CD version) - In The Flesh. Before you all shout I know the character of Pink is supposed to be mentally ill at the time and going through some sort of hallucination of being a fascist dictator, as he calls out people to be thrown "up against the wall". But its tones of racism, anti-semitism and homophobia are disturbing, even when you realise the intended cleverness and irony. He is playing a character. Ok I get it. But it's still disturbing. Maybe that's the point but I don't like it. (I also hate the lyric "sad old man dying of cancer" in the track Dogs on the Animals album.. What a horrible thing to predict for anyone).

But maybe Pink Floyd are being even more clever and saying it's ironic and part of a story as a cover for their real feelings, especially Roger Waters, who wrote the lyrics. It's weird cos I love Pink Floyd's music generally but that particular track disturbed me so much I withdrew The Wall from my top 100 chart. And it was in my top 10. That track aside its one of my favourite albums. Or it always was, but I just couldn't have it on there with that track on it. And can I overlook this track despite loving the rest of the album. And when roger Waters performs the album live today, as he still does, does he perform the track word-for word as it is on the album? Cos in this day and age you could have some very upset black, Jewish and gay people in the audience.

And I am a fan of Pink Floyd. This is challenging to me. Any input would be appreciated.

Re: About long albums

Onater — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 21:49:37 GMT

Author: Onater

Posted: 06/20/2018 01:49

It really depends on the album. Some just wouldn't work as well if they were shorter. For instance, you mentioned To Be King. That is such an intimating, overwhelming album, and it is intentionally so, and I feel like if it were only 45 minutes long and didn't have that same exhausting effect that a 2 hour album has it wouldn't be as great of an album. The same with lots of other super long albums, super draining albums, like Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, and just about every album Swans has released since 1991. Some, like Have One On Me, Double Nickels On The Dime, and Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards are less like one album and more like a collection of shorter albums or EPs that are connected to each other in theme and sequencing yet also function when split up into smaller parts. Then there are those albums that, despite being long, just have nothing that is worth being cut because it's just too consistent, like Illinois, London Calling (which really isn't even all that long), or - controversial opinions incoming - The Wall (every track on there is essential to the story and flow of the album) and The White Album (even though just about anyone will tell you that it should be a single album, nobody can ever agree on which tracks should stay and which should be cut). The one time that I really have a problem with long albums is with hip hop - I think that about 75% of classic hip hop albums could be improved by cutting out a good 30 minutes while losing little of value - The College Dropout, Ready To Die, Only Built 4 Cuban Lynx, Black On Both Sides, The Marshall Mathers LP, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, even The Infamous and Aquemini could be shorter.

Re: About long albums

Komorebi-D — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 19:22:10 GMT

Author: Komorebi-D

Posted: 06/19/2018 23:22

craola wrote:

the song titles.

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Re: About long albums

Fischman — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:10:32 GMT

Author: Fischman

Posted: 06/19/2018 20:10

It only makes sense... the more you put out there, the more likely it is that some part of it will fall short.

I think pretty much every double album will have a large number of fans/critics who think it may have been better if some tracks had been omitted.

Here's a few as yet unmentioned on this thread; albums I love, but I'm usually gonna' skip a few tracks:

About the only doubles I really like throughout are live albums, but that's something altogether different as they program usually includes known winners from across an artist's catalog.

Re: About long albums

YoungPunk — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 14:35:08 GMT

Author: YoungPunk

Posted: 06/19/2018 18:35

The longer an album the greater the chance it'll be truly great for me. What is greater? Shakespeare's Hamlet or a single one of his sonnets? Length is directly correlated with greatness. My favorite all time single work is 14-15 hours long btw, so you can see this in my charts. On the other hand, being like Stephen King and not editing out enough can also be a problem, but only if you don't have the material like my favorite music artists with long works did...

Re: About long albums

bobbyb5 — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 14:02:37 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 06/19/2018 18:02

Romanelli wrote:

I have no problem with the lengths of any of those albums. And if any of them have flaws, I wouldn't list lack of consistency among them.

I think you could make a much better case with these:

Out Of The Blue by Electric Light Orchestra

Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton

Tusk by Fleetwood Mac

Warehouse: Songs And Stories by Hüsker Dü

Sandinista! by The Clash

Again, each one of these albums you named are my favorite albums by these artists, with the exception of Elo, even though each one I feel would be better if they were originally issued as three-sided albums instead of four. Ha ha. And as for The Clash, my favorite Clash songs are on that album, even though there's only about enough good ones to fill up one album and not 3 albums, as it originally was on vinyl. And with ELO, I could probably make a great single album out of that.

Re: About long albums

craola — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:59:30 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 06/19/2018 17:59

Puncture Repair wrote:

yo what filler does illinois have?

the song titles.

Re: About long albums

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:50:44 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/19/2018 17:50

yo what filler does illinois have?

Re: About long albums

Tap — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:13:04 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 06/19/2018 17:13

just pretend you're watching a short movie

Re: About long albums

craola — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 12:30:44 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 06/19/2018 16:30

personally, even if i like every track on an album, i'm not a fan of "long" albums. generally, if an album goes past 14 tracks and/or 50ish minutes, it's just too much for me to digest. examples:

RADIOHEAD :: Hail to the Thief (14 tracks / 56:35 minutes)

i love every track on this album, but even thm agrees it's too long. i almost don't even care which tracks had been cut (this is totally not true). i just wish it was 10-12 songs and ~45 minutes.

MODEST MOUSE :: The Lonesome Crowded West (15 tracks / 73:58 minutes)

once again, i can't name a track on this album i don't love, but 15 tracks is too much. ~74 minutes is waaay too much. for me. granted, i have a short attention span...but still.

BOARDS OF CANADA :: Music Has A Right To Children (17 tracks / 62:58)

so much to digest. too much. if you've got 63 minutes of incredible, please please please please please release two short albums or an LP-EP combo. i just can't remember what i listened to 60 minutes ago. i can't. and so i have to listen twelve times before i get a feel for the album, and it's daunting. and i'm overreacting. and i love this album so i should just shut up. but man, on a personal level, i just can't see myself doing it this way.

keep in mind, i went to art school, and in art school, they'll drill into your head that "less is more" every chance they can get, so you can argue that i have been trained to think this way.

Re: About long albums

bobbyb5 — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 11:50:06 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 06/19/2018 15:50

I agree. I like all these albums, and some I love, but to me they all would have been better with less tracks. But on the other hand, I know people who like everything on them. And I can think of a couple of long or double albums that I myself think are good just the way they are. And actually, when albums switched from Vinyl to CD, they became roughly about 15 minutes longer. And I felt that the majority of most new albums would have been much better at the old 40 or 45 minute length. It seemed like they were padded out with too many filler tracks.

Re: About long albums

Romanelli — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 11:42:26 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 06/19/2018 15:42

I have no problem with the lengths of any of those albums. And if any of them have flaws, I wouldn't list lack of consistency among them.

I think you could make a much better case with these:

Out Of The Blue by Electric Light Orchestra

Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton

Tusk by Fleetwood Mac

Warehouse: Songs And Stories by Hüsker Dü

Sandinista! by The Clash