Great albums are still to be found!
Are great albums still being made? And should we even bother? After all, the LP format as an artform has only played a major role in popular music since the Beatles’ Rubber Soul. In the past, Radio remained a major form of music consumption, many album collectors used mixtapes as a means of spreading their faith, and MTV aimed its focus on the specific song using the accompanying visuals. Currently, it is the popularity of streaming services seemingly sounding the album its final death knell and putting full emphasis on the single track again. I, too, believed I had given up on the album format. I concentrated more on individual songs, playing all music on random from my hard drive. However, if you find a song you really like, where do you turn to find more of that specific artist or band? Of course the accompanying album! And lo and behold, the art of the album is still alive and kicking.
The Era of Albums
The album era itself, from a historical standpoint, “ was a period in English-language popular music from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s in which the album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption[1][2]” (Frank Sinatra did have a head start with his 1955 release In the Wee Small Hours and 1958 …Sings For Only The Lonely). Social media has the hashtag #albumsyoumusthear with most accompanying recommendations coming from that exact era minus the 2000s. Moreover, they seem to end in the mid 90s. Now that might be great for a novice listener in search of quality music. For us long-time collectors it serves mainly as a reaffirmation of our great taste.
The long-time listener, not the novice, truly appears to be the main audience for these tweets, who then pontificates with like minded individuals the importance of these overanalyzed works of art in mile long threads. What follows are abstract comparisons between songs, albums, and artists because, what else do you have to say about Led Zeppelin IV, Hotel California, Rumours, and the like? They’re fucking awesome, end of story.
If I really meet someone who has never heard any of these classics I will gladly dive deep into the subject matter and try to bring my understanding to the table. Other than that I’ll just shut up and crank it up.
Now that obviously isn’t exactly true. I’m not immune to pontificating overanalyzed masterpieces just like the next guy or gal ( and yes, after being on music twitter for over a year, I can with a good conscience say women are just as protective of their musical taste as men are). What really gets me talking is their impact on modern music. Countless times have I caught little glimpses of a new musician’s influences, hearing a little Zeppelin here, a bit of Springsteen there – hold on – is that British New Wave in the mix, or even German NDW? That’s where things get interesting. And that is how you pull new listeners into the mix.
Why Is The Album Listener Stuck In The Past?
With plenty of great albums released since the 90s why do many still concentrate on the well known records of old? Because you’re not going to get lost as easily in the pruned forest of styles past as you will in the thick jungle of subgenres today. And in that former manageable music scene only a minority had the creativity to form a long player that could hold a listener’s interest from front to end. That included almost everything Led Zeppelin and the Beatles ever recorded, along with many recordings of the Stones, Genesis, Tull, Fleetwood Mac, and the list goes on and on. Now you might have several hundred releases in your collection and disagree with me on the minority aspect. However, compare it to the the sum of all records released from the 60s to 90s. Suddenly a few hundred doesn’t seem like a whole lot.
Along with the narrower scope in diversity, the long players were also kept much shorter. Artists and bands put more time into creating fewer songs. Meanwhile, all these bands were breaking new ground, which in turn developed into sub genres and styles all their own. Then the dawn of the CD diluted the impact of the LP by allowing albums for ever longer playing time. Led Zeppelin IV had 8 songs and Michael Jackson’s Thriller 9, with both clocking in at just over 42 minutes, both highly influential records. I remember ingraining almost every note of these albums into my brain.
Compare that to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs with 18 songs and just under 64 minutes. I’ve never heard this one but know right now that in no way would I ever retain even half of these songs upon listening to it a few times. My mind starts to wander after too long, forgetting what I had just heard. You might listen to something thinking “wow, this is really great” only to find yourself after 50 minutes trying to remember why you even started. A little while and life’s worries later, needing music to help you through your day, you pull out the ol’ trusted Aerosmith Rocks or Pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd, relegating the listen of the other day to the subconscious.
How Do You Distinguish A Great Album?
So what constitutes a great album? In my humble opinion, it can’t be too short or too long, and shouldn’t waste a single note. Replete with great songs it needs to sound cohesive. And it has to keep your attention. You need to lose your sense of time while listening. Use Your Illusion I and II could have been one of the greatest albums of all time, even rivaling Appetite for Destruction, if it would have been kept to a single album under 60 minutes. Same goes for Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness. To this day I still can’t remember half the songs on these releases. Meanwhile they both have brilliant moments that evaded me for close to two decades.
I also don’t care if it’s the only great album released by the band or artist. It doesn’t matter if they fall into mediocrity or develop a style I don’t like. With so much music out there I can gladly live with that one effort and move on.
Send Me Your Pick For Great Album!
All I can say is keep an open mind, don’t misconstrue influence with plagiarism, and broaden your horizon. Which brings me to my question. What albums from 2000 on would you consider great? Not just a favorite, but something that needs to garner more attention for its perceived brilliance? Do you have something that can burst out of the limitations of its genre and be received by listeners and fans of other styles?
I’ll only give one example of an album I will discuss at a later date. Outkast’s Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is a hip hop release I could very easily recommend to open minded listeners generally lacking an understanding of that music style. How do I know that? Because I am that listener. Throw your ideas my way. I will be looking forward to reading from you. Keep on rockin’!