1940s Decade Charts - Suggestions - Forums : Best Ever Albums

BozoTyrannus

Gender: Male
Age: 31

albummaster wrote:

It's not a big change for the site to enable 1940s decade charts, but it's a lot harder to allow '1940s and earlier' charts as the site is structured by year/decade and this would break how the site works. (Not sure how many 1910s/'20s/'30's albums that the site would be missing out on, but could equally add these decades as well if there are people that want them).

EDIT: Now enabled 1940s decade charts.

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for adding that feature. Before there were only 29 albums from the 1940s that had a rank score, and after just three days we already have 42 on the list now. I hope this well help more users find these albums more easily.

Again, thanks for taking the time to listen to our requests!
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Hayden

Location: CDMX

Well, I have to say our 40s chart got pretty interesting overnight. Plenty of recs. Hoping to piece together a top 10 sometime today.

albummaster
Janitor

Gender: Male
Location: Spain
Site Admin

BozoTyrannus wrote:

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for adding that feature. Before there were only 29 albums from the 1940s that had a rank score, and after just three days we already have 42 on the list now. I hope this well help more users find these albums more easily.

Again, thanks for taking the time to listen to our requests!

No problem, and thanks for putting across the argument for this so well. Hopefully, more albums will be added over the next few days/weeks (and the ones already on the site will gain more visibility once they start accumulating points via decade charts). EDIT: Just wondering whether to also enable 1930s charts but not sure if there's enough volume for people's lists to be varied.

Hayden

Location: CDMX

BozoTyrannus wrote:

there were only 29 albums from the 1940s that had a rank score, and after just three days we already have 42 on the list now. I hope this well help more users find these albums more easily.

It's at 144 now. Looks like it was a good call.

BozoTyrannus

Gender: Male
Age: 31

albummaster wrote:

EDIT: Just wondering whether to also enable 1930s charts but not sure if there's enough volume for people's lists to be varied.

I'd definitely use a 30s chart, though it wouldn't be very large. But I for sure like allowing some 30s albums to get a rank score

But maybe not for a week or so. I want to focus on really developing my 40s chart properly.
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

albummaster wrote:

BozoTyrannus wrote:

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for adding that feature. Before there were only 29 albums from the 1940s that had a rank score, and after just three days we already have 42 on the list now. I hope this well help more users find these albums more easily.

Again, thanks for taking the time to listen to our requests!

No problem, and thanks for putting across the argument for this so well. Hopefully, more albums will be added over the next few days/weeks (and the ones already on the site will gain more visibility once they start accumulating points via decade charts). EDIT: Just wondering whether to also enable 1930s charts but not sure if there's enough volume for people's lists to be varied.

For reference, the number of 30s albums on RYM (including compilations) is 145. The number of 30s albums on Discogs (including compilations) is 71.
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

This is great. Could you please add 1940s as an option to filter on this page?
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PurpleHazel

BozoTyrannus wrote:

there's a substantial amount of albums from the 40s and even older in the database.

Heck, I'd be ok with the chart being "1940s and older" and then throwing in any older record I find that I enjoy (because, again, there's some quality 1930s albums out there and on the site's database)

Albums -- if you define an "album" as an original recording of 30 minutes or more in length -- were primarily only used for classical music and musical soundtracks till the mid 50s, so there were practically no popular music albums before 1954 by that definition. Practically all LPs of all genres of music other than classical and musical soundtracks from before 1954 are technically compilations, because 10" LPs and 78s couldn't contain more than 30 minutes of music. The 12" LP was first introduced in 1948. Before then, classical albums longer than 30 minutes were released as multiple 78 or 10" sets.

I'm not saying 1940s records shouldn't be allowed, but just want to make clear that practically all of them are technically compilations (not that they need to be labeled as such, but they're at the very least 10" records padded out with extra tracks) or less than ~30 minutes, and that's why BEA is biased (don't mean prejudiced, just weighted toward) toward post-1954 records.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

PurpleHazel wrote:

BozoTyrannus wrote:

there's a substantial amount of albums from the 40s and even older in the database.

Heck, I'd be ok with the chart being "1940s and older" and then throwing in any older record I find that I enjoy (because, again, there's some quality 1930s albums out there and on the site's database)

Albums -- if you define an "album" as an original recording of 30 minutes or more in length -- were primarily only used for classical music and musical soundtracks till the mid 50s, so there were practically no popular music albums before 1954 by that definition. Practically all LPs of all genres of music other than classical and musical soundtracks from before 1954 are technically compilations, because 10" LPs and 78s couldn't contain more than 30 minutes of music. The 12" LP was first introduced in 1948. Before then, classical albums longer than 30 minutes were released as multiple 78 or 10" sets.

I'm not saying 1940s records shouldn't be allowed, but just want to make clear that practically all of them are technically compilations (not that they need to be labeled as such, but they're at the very least 10" records padded out with extra tracks) or less than ~30 minutes, and that's why BEA is biased (don't mean prejudiced, just weighted toward) toward post-1954 records.

In some ways the word album makes a lot of sense to these pre-LP "albums" because they physically were an "album" of 78s. I lucked out and was able to find Glenn Miller's famous "comp" (which back then I don't know what it was called... on the cover it's called an album). Anyway, back to the concept of album - it's like an old fashioned photo album these albums, with multiple pages of 78s often. It's a really fun find.

I'm actually glad we are including these as such because in the end it's more about music. But I have always respected the limitations of this site. It's like that film, the 5 obstructions - sometimes it's the limitations of art that are more powerful than the ability to portray everything perfectly - uncanny valley and all.

PurpleHazel

RoundTheBend wrote:

In some ways the word album makes a lot of sense to these pre-LP "albums" because they physically were an "album" of 78s. I lucked out and was able to find Glenn Miller's famous "comp" (which back then I don't know what it was called... on the cover it's called an album). Anyway, back to the concept of album - it's like an old fashioned photo album these albums, with multiple pages of 78s often. It's a really fun find.

I'm actually glad we are including these as such because in the end it's more about music. But I have always respected the limitations of this site. It's like that film, the 5 obstructions - sometimes it's the limitations of art that are more powerful than the ability to portray everything perfectly - uncanny valley and all.

Hey, I'm a jazz fan. Practically every innovation in jazz other than free jazz, modal jazz and electric jazz occurred before 1950. All the best Charlie Parker records were originally 10" (not counting live albums and bootlegs). If one 10-inch record is allowed, all 10" and 78s should be allowed. But there's a reason why pre-1955 records are sorely unrepresented and I was explaining why. Some people don't put comps in their charts because they don't consider them albums (I have a few in my overall chart). But practically all pre-1954 non-classical and non-musical soundtrack albums are either under 31 minutes or comps (the latter at least on a technicality). Also, on a site that has "album" in the name, I think the history of records in the first half of the 20th century isn't as well-known as it probably should be (actually there's not a huge amount of information on 78s and 10"s on the internet overall).

In the end it should absolutely be about the music. Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and early Billie Holiday are criminally underappreciated on BEA, the biggest reason being that the majority of the records are pre-1950 (or maybe Scaruffi...).

Those 78" photo album-type album sets are really cool. Only seen them a couple of times.

Quote:

But I have always respected the limitations of this site. It's like that film, the 5 obstructions - sometimes it's the limitations of art that are more powerful than the ability to portray everything perfectly - uncanny valley and all.

This is an intriguing, expressive way of looking at it.