Having grown up late 90s into the 2000s I went from buying cds to lime wire to spotify.
In the last 6 months I have found such a greater appreciation for just putting on a whole album and listening to it front to back.
I feel there is a huge loss when going from one artist to another to another all random.
Today I am listening to Refused, The Shape Of Punk To Come
No, not at all. There are usually only a few pieces i like.
That’s because you grew up in an era where the Album wasn’t an art form any more. Today it’s just a collection of random songs.
In the 60s, the Beatles made the album an art form of its own, and other bands embraced the model. The cover(s), the inner sleeves, even the labels on the records, all became part of the artistic conception.
The music was carefully programmed, with a compelling opening, and a closing song at the end of side one. Then the flip, and side two has to open with a bang, and end with a big finish. The songs between were expected to carry the vibe of the album forward, and many albums were even built around a story, called Concept Albums.
When it was finished, that LP album was a fully contained artwork by a true musical artist, the way a book, or painting is the final representation of those artists artistic concepts.
It started to fall apart during the CD era of the 90s, when every package was essentially the same, and the artwork was too small to make a strong impact. Them things went fully digital, and people could just cherry pick their favorite tracks, and the concept of an album as art collapsed.
How do you cherry pick Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, or The Wall? Or The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper, Abby Road, Revolver, Rubber Soul? Led Zeppelin IV? The Who’s Who’s Next? The Cars debut album?
Today, artists generally don’t think in terms of full albums, just individual songs. It’s the equivalent of a corporation only being concerned about the current quarter’s results, and not considering the long term ramifications of that sort of thinking.
This is my bearing. The stuff I love most, and want to listen to most, also tends to be stuff that is so good, the entire album is good.