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It's funny how throughout my life, I have bought CDs and albums and most of the time, I only really liked 3 or 4 of the songs. This has always kept me from put the artist or musicians too high on a pedestal. Friends would say, "you gotta buy this!" But, after hearing the hit song, and maybe another, I used to find myself wanting a refund.
Often, the songs that I click with, I really, really like - but the others may leave me cold. Ar you the same way or do you feel every song is at least great, from you favorite artists.
Admittedly, I often found myself liking more songs when I heard them in live performances.
Thanks.
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04-07-2021 08:09 AM
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Ah, yes the dreaded music industry.
Originally Posted by AlsoRan
I've often felt the urge to discuss this topic here.
How does popularity among the vast unknowing yield our modern jazz household names?
Never forget humans undeniable affinity towards boredom and laziness.
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It seems to me that no matter how good the album is, there is typically some filler, or at least some "B" tunes as opposed to "A" tunes, so to speak.
An album with all "A" tunes is hard to find, especially when it consists of originals.
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Not so much for jazz, particularly stuff released on labels like Blue Note that allowed for longer running times on tunes...so you get less songs, but there's better songs, and lots of quality playing. So generally, I'd say on jazz albums I consider great, there's not filler, and there's a lot of those records.
For other genres like rock, pop, country, hip hop, etc, it is VERY RARE that I like every song. I can think of only a handful of examples, really.
I wonder if this has to do with the idea that jazz is probably not as much trying to win over new fans, but to appeal to the niche group they already appeal to, whereas rock/pop/etc. need to constantly appeal to new, young, consumers as the top end of their demographic "ages out" of listening to new music and falls into their mid thirties "I still like the music I liked when I was 16 the best" rut?
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I seem to recall Keith Richards once saying of Motown albums that you got two hits and 8 tracks of shit. (I can't speak to that; as a kid, I only bought Motown singles.)
As for non-jazz albums where every song is good, I would have to say Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon." That's certainly an album millions of people have listened to from end to end time and again.
Led Zeppelin IV is another. Some would say this of Fleetwod Mac's "Rumors." The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" is this sort of album for many.
I feel this way about the Allman Brothers "Eat A Peach" (-I can't get enough of "Mountain Jam," but I know that most can.)
It was normal for me as a kid to listen to albums from end to end. It was just what I did. My brothers were like that too. Genesis, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Ted Nugent (me, not them), the Stones, Taj Mahal, Led Zeppelin II and IV, the New York Dolls, Todd Rundgren....
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Sometimes. Sometimes not. Every one is individual and different. But if you buy a lot of music, it's inevitable that there will be some songs you don't like as much as others. It's a matter of taste, and everyone's is different.
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My LPs I would play end to end, a habit I got from listening to symphonies, reinforced by the idea that once the needle was in that groove, it stayed there until the arm was automatically lifted and brought to rest where it belonged, and I flipped over the retainer and it was safe until the next use. Once CDs became established I used to skip songs all the time, even with artists I really liked.* Very few collections of music are 100% gems. As Mark noted, there are exceptions, and the era of the concept album was a high-water mark, IMHO. Depending on my mood, I might skip half a disc, especially in the car. Life is too short to listen reluctantly.
* Why would I buy something I didn't like?**
** Back in the day, to learn the latest hits, which were not always to my taste. I ended up with a lot of 45s. Remember them?
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LP's limited the amount of music to about 45 minutes too, which is a good length for taking in the whole thing.
CD's got really bloated in the 90's/00's...who has nearly 80 minutes to hang around? And with that, more filler...
And now essentially we are back to a "singles based" music. The album is dead. Jukeboxes would be huge again, if we didn't already have one in our pocket.
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The Stones made albums shorter than that. There used to be an argument that you needed 20 minutes or less per side, otherwise the sound quality suffered. (Don't know if that's true, but it's something I read while growing up that stuck in my mind.) Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Here's a list of ten classic albums that clock in at under 30 minutes, including Dylan's "Nashville Skyline", Slayer's "Reign In Blood", CCR's "Green River" and The Ramones' self-titled debut.
10 Classic Rock Albums That Last Less Than 30 Minutes | Classics Du Jour
Here's a nifty article about great albums with (exactly) 8 songs on them.
I don't agree that all these albums are great, though certainly I agree that Television's "Marquee Moon" is.
Why 8 Songs Is All It Takes to Make a Great Album - InsideHook
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I liked everything on the Stones' "Sticky Fingers."
Here is one listener's ranking of the ten (!) songs. (Serves as a reminder of what all the songs are, in case one doesn't have an encyclopedic memory.)
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For the record, I also liked everything on "Let It Bleed." (Supposedly the band's response to the Beatles' "Let It Be".)
Gimme Shelter
Love In Vain
Country Honk
Live With Me
Let It Bleed
Midnight Rambler
You Got The Silver (Keith's first lead vocal?)
Monkey Man
You Can't Always Get What You Want
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One of the great things about listening to digital files is that if there a few tunes on an album that I don't like, I can just choose either to not buy them or to not load them on to my music player.
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This^^^ Originally Posted by AlsoRan
Also to add, when still I had my awesome headphones, I listened through all songs on albums just to feel the bliss that a good sounding instrument or voice makes... the songs didn't have to be even close to brilliant then.
If the sound ain't that good, the personal taste matters so much more.
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It depends...
Mark Knopfler, pretty much like them all.
Steely Dan, hard to find a song on any of their albums I don't like
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I like all songs on Led Zeppelin 1, 2, 3, 4 and ELP Trilogy, and Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here.
Regarding jazz, Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life, Scofield's Rough House, Bobby Broom Plays Monk comes to my mind first (I suppose it would be too boring mention Kind of Blue), I am sure there are plenty.
However you are right, those albums let they count even over hundred are the minority, less tha 10 percent.
I also noticed a bad habit on myself, that I abuse the easyness what technology gives me to switch and skip tunes, and even surf across album by album. This was impossible with a turntable. Same effect with the value, I mean inflating. For start I had a few LPs so I had to value them, and had to listen every note out, like the hungry man with the last breadcrumbs. Now I have all the jazz, rock and classic records in my hand using apple music, spotify and tidal. (But before the online era I also had the lossless offline version of 3000 jazz and classical albums giving similar experience using Kodi, or other multimedia center application.)
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I never skip songs on Steely Dan records! Even if some didn't thrill me at first, they grew on me. "Aja" had only 7 songs but they are all first rate: Black Cow, Aja, Deacon Blues, Peg, Home At Last, I Got The News, and Josie. Originally Posted by fep
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Yea, with my favorite bands, sure, every song. AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica... just of the top of my head. Cant go wrong with any album any song.
In jazz, hmm, I think the same. If I like one off the album, I know I will like the rest. Because it's about the sound, the vibe, the energy, much more than how they put the chords and melodies together.
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I think AC/DC's "Back In Black" is one of those 'just play the whole damn thing' records. (Others of theirs are too, really, but the sound of that one is STILL fresh and strong.) Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
Sabbath's "Paranoid" was one I heard a lot from end to end as a kid. (The first album too and "Sabotage".)
Metallica's "Master of Puppets" was another one that never seemed to let up.
My little brother played Patti Smith's "Horses" from end to end, over and over, for months. Same with "Ziggy Stardust."
Lou Reed's "Rock'n'Roll Animal" with Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner on guitars was good from end to end.
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I just heard something about that...I believe you have to cut the grooves closer together, and it affects the bass. So to have a really good "bottom end" you can't have too much music crammed onto the side of a record. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
What I kind of miss in today's less AOR world is less interesting intros and little spoken word or musical interludes. I was listening to the ELO song Fire on High today, with that wonderful Beatlesesque opening, which is a rarity these days. Also loved Frank Zappa's naughty little interludes as on Uncle Meat, and the short song segments on REM's Life's Rich Pageants.
Let's just say for the kind of music I tend to like, I generally like ALL the songs on the album. I find that with some artists I'm not too familiar with, oh let's say Free or Manassas, I only like about 25% of the cuts on first listening. There is a reason so many classic rock groups were so successful, and one of the reasons is they knew how to make good records without much filler. Most of the time.
BTW nice rockumentary on Peter Gabriel making the So album--Daniel Lanois moved in with him for ONE YEAR to make the darn thing. Peter spend weeks deciding on the song sequence. No wonder his output was so sparse in those days. Maybe even more OCD than Steely Dan, well no one is more OCD than Fagen and Becker.
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Come to think of it many artists/groups start out making good records with a bit of filler--the Stones for instance--then hit their stride and make GREAT records with 100% prime music, then lose their touch for awhile and end up with mostly filler and a few good bits.
Story of my life I guess.
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good till the last drop
kenny b- midnight blue
cheers
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Is there any artist at all who has released ONLY universally good bits?
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Chick Corea comes to mind... Originally Posted by emanresu
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I just thought of the case- Queen! Fantastic band, live maybe the best ever, and so many hits we all know and love. But albums? The only album I'd ever get is The Greatest Hits
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