Albums that must be listened to front to back in their entirety

[ztejas 43479]

4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

As big of a Springsteen fan as I am (avatar checks out), classic rock stations made the song Born to Run unlistenable to me, even years after tuning out traditional and satellite radio. 

But this is still a fantastic front-to-back album.  And the vastly underrated and quietly understated Meeting Across the River followed by the epic of Jungleland, which has the best saxophone solos in the history of rock-and-roll (say otherwise and I will cut you), is one of the better album endings of all time, in my very humble opinion.

It's hard to find an album with bookends as good as Thunder Road and Jungleland. And yeah, Born to Run is fine but I wouldn't put it any higher than 3rd for best songs on the album.

[South Austin 52521]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

It's hard to find an album with bookends as good as Thunder Road and Jungleland.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Bruce did just as good a job if in not better with Darkness on the Edge of Town, kicking it off with Badlands and ending with the title track.  The guy knows how to lay out an album. 

[jimmyjazz 45978]

On 6/10/2020 at 10:38 AM, Nole-4-Life said:

 

Interesting choice.  Boston's debut is one of the few vinyl albums for which I wore out multiple copies.  However, for me, it doesn't make this list, because I think I listened to Side One several dozen times before I flipped the record over.  Now, I was about 12 years old at the time, and tended toward obsessive replay of "the single", but at least at that time in my life, it wasn't a "start to finish" record.

Also, there are a couple of "eh" songs on Side Two (namely "Smokin'" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight").  I still enjoy "Smokin'", but oy, the lyrics.  Great organ solo, though.

Edited June 12, 2020 by jimmyjazz

[Nole-4-Life 804]

2 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

 

Interesting choice.  Boston's debut is one of the few vinyl albums for which I wore out multiple copies.  However, for me, it doesn't make this list, because I think I listened to Side One several dozen times before I flipped the record over.  Now, I was about 12 years old at the time, and tended toward obsessive replay of "the single", but at least at that time in my life, it wasn't a "start to finish" record.

Also, there are a couple of "eh" songs on Side Two (namely "Smokin'" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight").  I still enjoy "Smokin'", but oy, the lyrics.  Great organ solo, though.

We'll defintely agree to disagree. Not a stinker on either side IMO.

 

[jimmyjazz 45978]

2 minutes ago, Nole-4-Life said:

We'll defintely agree to disagree. Not a stinker on either side IMO.

 

Just listened to "Smokin'" again . . .  DAMN that organ solo is terrific!  It's Jon Lord (Deep Purple) level playing.

[Goredho 17409]

On 5/23/2020 at 9:05 AM, TwiceHorn said:

So we have entered a time in which most listens are the equivalent of 45s. I'm not even sure anything can be considered a purchase anymore. Is there a market for albums anymore?  Will artists continue to produce them?

Somehow missed this post the first go-round.  As an answer to the question:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/sheryl-crow-final-album-threads-887034/

As for why she’s stopping the album process, the Grammy winner says the industry has changed in terms of how music is serviced and consumed. “I’ve loved making albums, I’ve loved growing up with albums, [but] I don’t think people listen to albums as a full artistic statement anymore,” she explains. “They cherry pick and make their own playlists or you’ll only hear a song if comes up on a playlist. For me to make a full artistic statement with a beginning and a middle and an end, and to put the emotion and the money and the time into it only to have it not be heard that way? It seems slightly futile.”

[ztejas 43479]

26 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Somehow missed this post the first go-round.  As an answer to the question:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/sheryl-crow-final-album-threads-887034/

As for why she’s stopping the album process, the Grammy winner says the industry has changed in terms of how music is serviced and consumed. “I’ve loved making albums, I’ve loved growing up with albums, [but] I don’t think people listen to albums as a full artistic statement anymore,” she explains. “They cherry pick and make their own playlists or you’ll only hear a song if comes up on a playlist. For me to make a full artistic statement with a beginning and a middle and an end, and to put the emotion and the money and the time into it only to have it not be heard that way? It seems slightly futile.”

People still listen to albums. Even people that won't listen to an album will still listen to multiple songs on it. In fact I think the trend has reversed now that subscription services are the norm, since hearing the full album doesn't cost anything extra. Also, owning physical copies - especially vinyl - is now kind of cool and counterculture.

When iTunes and internet radio was the norm everything was singles. Music consumption has changed a lot since then.

She seems like she's complaining that people don't buy albums anymore so it's not worth the effort for her. I don't think her last 2 efforts have sold 100k equivalent combined. 

I respect her decision because it seems logical, but the reality is that - in addition to album sales not being what they once were - no one really cares whether Sheryl Crow releases a new album nor not.

I guess what I'm saying is that she comes across a little passive aggressive and whiny and I think she's full of shit. She's upset that people aren't listening to her albums.

Edited June 12, 2020 by ztejas

[Goredho 17409]

On 5/22/2020 at 5:02 PM, CooterBrown said:

I’ll argue every album.

I missed this one the first go round, too.  I think every artist has some intent with an album as a collection of work.  But for me personally, its pretty rare that I feel like I get something from an album beyond the handful of songs on it that appeal to me on their own for whatever reason.  That is to say, most times if a song appeals to me, it would appeal to me no more, less or differently if its place on an album was changed, or if it was moved to a different album or released solely as a single.  And thus, I don't miss anything from just listening to such a song individually as part of a stream of random songs within a genre or whatever.

I've never been a big Springsteen fan, but I've also only heard the hits like "Born to Run."  I am going to listen to some of the recommended albums because how they are being discussed seems to really get at what I had in my head when I started the thread. 

[Goredho 17409]

3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

She seems like she's complaining that people don't buy albums anymore so it's not worth the effort for her. I don't think her last 2 efforts have sold 100k equivalent combined. 

I respect her decision because it seems logical, but the reality is that - in addition to album sales not being what they once were - no one really cares whether Sheryl Crow releases a new album nor not.

I guess what I'm saying is that she comes across a little passive aggressive and whiny and I think she's full of shit.

Yep.  I would listen to her last album if there was a happy ending involved.

[ztejas 43479]

4 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Yep.  I would listen to her last album if there was a happy ending involved.

For reference - Travis Scott's last album is triple platinum and did 500k it's first week. You almost never have artists do platinum in a week anymore (unless it's like Beiber/Drake/Taylor Swift) but there are still plenty of artists that easily hit six figures and seven figures or more on popular efforts.