The Brokes and I have been working on conceptualizing and preparing for their first album. A lot of thought is being put into answering questions like:
- What tracks should be included?
- Where should the tracks be place on the album?
- How do the songs relate to each other?
- How do the songs relate to larger themes?
As the process of answering these questions continues, I cannot help but asking myself another, "What is the point?"
Back in the days when vinyl recordings were the medium of mass consumption, crafting the album was a delicate process. Tracks could not be skipped and, except for a little dead air, one led into the next. Albums were meant to be listened to from the beginning to the end...there were few other options.
When the CD came around, it became much easier to pollute albums. If listeners did not like a particular track, they could simply skip to the next. Bands began wasting tracks and album time with a new passion, including not only low quality songs, but also skits or bits in between the music.
Now, with the MP3, the album has officially become an endangered species. Even during the time of the CD, to hear a particular song, the entire CD had to be purchased (Note: in general, things like CD burning and mixes go beyond the basic production-consumer relationship). Songs are no longer written to be heard in succession based on theme or style. The fate of most songs is to be purchased online, downloaded onto a portable device, and left on some playlist to be eternally shuffled with other 'greatest hits' style tracks.
I am not condemning portable devices, playlists, online purchasing, the MP3, or anything really. I feel that these things have their time and place and have actually done wonders for the music industry...maybe not financially, but the music fan can now listen/purchase much more effectively. My only concern is that somewhere in all of this, the album with lose its time and place -- it will become extinct.
For someone who listens to music for more than a mental distraction or something to move around to at a club, the death of the album would be a grave tragedy. A good album has the potential to create a universe. It can take the ideas songs present and stack them on top of each other or pit them against each other. Song is to album as chapter is to novel (which is dying too ironically).
Finding a way to save the album might be a difficult task, but I would much rather try than say goodbye to this musical institution entirely.
2 comments:
I don't think the album is in total danger of annihilation. My Chemical Romance's The Blank Parade was a concept album based around a cancer patient, that was almost entirely dependent on listening to the entire thing through from the first song to the last (with the exception of the strange hidden bonus track, "Blood," at the end.) The first song began with "The End," ironic considering it was the first song, and then flowed right into "Dead!", and just followed a rather logical route after that. Every single track's placement was deliberately placed, and all the tracks related to death and dying. It's arguably my favorite album of this decade due to the obvious craftsmanship that went into it.
You should check it out, at least. It only takes about 50 minutes to get through every single track.
I know what you're saying about albums, I think lots of musicians probably fear for the loss of that form more than just music listeners.
But there are a few albums I can think of in recent years that feature almost all amazing tracks. Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is one such album, and I think a couple of Radiohead's CDs have been fantastic as whole works of art.
This comment is not so useful at all, but I do think the creative decisions you guys are making now must be a lot of fun. And the results are bound to be gratifying.
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