track order and the art of the album

[Forge.]

from the thread on the Beastie boys album: http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... 6#p1338936

when I bought this album I burned it to a CD and listened to it in the car a few times, then it kind of grated on me and I got sick of it.

Then yesterday I just figured out that for some reason the iTunes playlist I burned it from was all in the wrong order, and listening to it in the right order and it's a whole different album.

In fact it's about 1000 times better.

It really reinforced the point of just how important selecting the right order of tracks for an album is and how much of an art form in itself the album is. So much more than a single - it's a statement from the artist and covers a number of different expressions and emotions to form a complete picture. A single might represent a day in the life of the artist, but an album can represent a week, month, year or even many years.

Those of us who grew up with albums I think can appreciate this, and the generations before us, like the baby boomers who were kind of there at the beginning of the great rock and roll concept albums of the 60s etc, so they are still around appreciate and buy albums.

But are the next generations oblivious to it? Does it mean anything to them any more?

Is it a dying art form, or are we still keeping it going? - or do we need to try harder to make sure it doesn't die?

For me there's never been any question - I still far prefer to listen to an album.

I'm not saying I never just stick my whole library on shuffle, sometimes I really enjoy doing that, but never at the expense of listening to albums as well.

discuss.

[Hermanus]

an album is like a story.
The last amon tobin ISAM is a good example, when things are well done, you feel the album like a whole track/story even forgetting blanks between every tracks.

Choosing the order of tracks is crucial imo

[hacktheplanet]

Ha, yes track order is extremely important! I had a similar experience with Swervedriver - Ejector Seat Reservation. The tracks in iTunes were ordered incorrectly. When I bought the actual CD the track order was completely different and changed the way I experienced the album. Fantastic album, but I think the incorrect track order was better.

[H20nly]

+1 for albums and the bigger picture.

any Blackalicious album is better than the sum of its parts just to name the first that came to mind.

the problem is that there are more than a few albums that are just not that great, but have a couple outstanding tracks on them. i think that a lot of bands have/make albums that are a cohesive voyage, but other artists just can't do it. Hip Hop is littered with examples of this. instrumental albums have the ability to "ride the waves" for what they are, but despite somewhat of an advantage in that regard they often end up boring when taken out of their genre driven scenario i.e. house or drum n bass type club tracks for example.

[Punky921]

My favorite band, Thursday, has always put a lot of thought into their track orders, and on albums where they didn't the album suffered. (A City By The Light Divided comes to mind)

[infiniteB]

from the thread on the Beastie boys album: http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... 6#p1338936

when I bought this album I burned it to a CD and listened to it in the car a few times, then it kind of grated on me and I got sick of it.

Then yesterday I just figured out that for some reason the iTunes playlist I burned it from was all in the wrong order, and listening to it in the right order and it's a whole different album.

In fact it's about 1000 times better.

It really reinforced the point of just how important selecting the right order of tracks for an album is and how much of an art form in itself the album is. So much more than a single - it's a statement from the artist and covers a number of different expressions and emotions to form a complete picture. A single might represent a day in the life of the artist, but an album can represent a week, month, year or even many years.

Those of us who grew up with albums I think can appreciate this, and the generations before us, like the baby boomers who were kind of there at the beginning of the great rock and roll concept albums of the 60s etc, so they are still around appreciate and buy albums.

But are the next generations oblivious to it? Does it mean anything to them any more?

Is it a dying art form, or are we still keeping it going? - or do we need to try harder to make sure it doesn't die?

For me there's never been any question - I still far prefer to listen to an album.

I'm not saying I never just stick my whole library on shuffle, sometimes I really enjoy doing that, but never at the expense of listening to albums as well.

discuss.

It's not a lost art (although many, many, many are lost)... http://infnitebeyond.com
also check out KRS-One's templeofhiphop.org

[phonographiq]

Since I Left You by the Avalanches is without a shade of doubt the most cohesive LP in dance music in a long, long time. Shit just flows like Anna Karenina. Blows my mind every time I pop it on just how long it really runs. Changed the way I compile for good.