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How long is that album!!!
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Got me thinking from another thread. What do you guys and gals think is the perfect time length for an album?
In this age of more tracks and longer albums with the event of CDs, are people making their albums too long?
Many younger peeps are not actually buying physical media now, but still they seem to want to put more tracks on an ‘album’. I’ve a feeling people are not listening the same now, as at one time an album was an expensive thing to cherish. Now it’s just play, skip, play, skip.
Still, I’m of the opinion that for a decent listen to an album (you know, when you really listen to it!), 30 to 40 minutes is about right.
What do you peeps think?
Comments
40-60 minutes. Three songs. I’m an old Yes fan. 😇
I do about 60 mins. Value for money look
I know what you saying Mr @Fruitbat1919 also, I agree with Mr @wim too..... In the old days on 33rpm, it was 30 to 60 mins on an Vinyl album.... CD’s hold roughly 120 mins of (I think?), But in today’s way of things Producers have to do more ( monies worth for the masses)... If I remember correctly, UB40 early days use to include a 12” Single with an Album ( Signing Off & Present Arms LP’s come to mind)...But when it comes to a time factor on an Album, I think it’s down to the Arist & Label.... Mike Oldfield “ Tubular Bells” or “ Ommadawn” wen onto a long, but brilliant ear candy journey.... Actually, I remember buying Chicago Trax, Adonis single, “ No Way Back”.... Frigging 10 mins of clever non stopping sampling right threw the track.... Infact most 12” single in the House/Acid scene was very long ( Phuture Phantasy Club “Acid Trax” went for 10 mins too)... So when you bought an Jack Trax Volume series, they were a Double Album... All 5 to 7 mins or more, each track...... When I bought them, I thought I had my money’s worth.... If I bought an Album, with 7 to 10 track,( 30 mins long) I felt cheated..... Back in the day mind (1990’s)..... My goodness.... the happy times....Now old, young in mind & Heart.... Maybe that’s why I overboard when writing music & Remixes for Labels... I like to think that the people out there get there money worth?.....
I made Electric Ian be 40 minutes. Twelve tracks, average just over 3 mins, 40 minutes the whole lot. If that were vinyl, it’d just about work across both sides (ideally about 19 mins per side, but this would have done just fine, too – it’s intentionally not particularly bassy and most tracks aren’t very dense, which helps).
38-44 minutes..no longer than an hour-long TV show sans commercials. For pop music at least.
I can like all kinds of extremes, too, when it works for what the thing is, but generally I admire and favor brevity these days. I listen to and read great amounts every day, but I’ve gotten fatigued enough with the idea of epic-length things that I now really appreciate shorter films, books, and albums. Not because of a short attention span (mine is not short), but because I just think the pendulum could use swinging that way again. I will also most likely never even start reading these huge thick fantasy novel series and so on. I read The Lord of the Rings once (long before the Jackson films) and feel no need to do so again.
Like I mentioned, I read a lot every day and have done so all my life. But life is too short for some things when the world is full of more elegant packages of art. I don’t aim at writing a super long film either, but rather something more concise. I think 30 to 40 minutes for an album is actually really nice, as mentioned in the original post. Haven’t some studies also shown that after about 45 minutes of anything requiring concentration, people generally start zoning out? (To casually paraphrase.)
Considering my favourite albums it can go anywhere with me. Nick Drake's Pink Moon is barely 30 minutes long, but i also love Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and that lasts about 14 hours.
lol, what's an album? isn't that the thing granny used to pull out with all the black and white photos in it?
Aren't they all supposed to be 12" ?
What, you’ve never had a ten inch album? This isn’t going anywhere good is it now Andy
I had an 8" floppy once a long time ago......you know me so well, and I just couldn't help myself
It used to be based on the size of the vinyl and what you could fit on (as @u0421793 was eluding to I think), then there where double albums where the stuff wouldn't fit...
Today with digital media we are without those limits to an extent and there are more sensible rules that can be applied, but this is art at the end of the day, and in art, there are no rules !
For me it depends on the content a lot and would follow these 2 things
My first solo “album” was 73:35 with 35 tracks...that was in 1999 before 80 minute CD-R’s were widely available.
The tracks were recorded in the same order which they appear on the disc, made within a period of 4 months using a Dell PC running Tuareg by @brambos on Windows95.
My opinion is that if it can keep me listening then I’m along for the ride, but if goes beyond a B side then my dedication waivers. I used to make 120 minute mix tapes for car/van listening for the convenience mainly but would try to loosely maintain some theme or vibe.
When I had 80 minute CD-R’s I started making “50 Piece Platter” mixes of my beats which ran 79:45 with no gaps between tracks (Roxio CD Creator rocked because of the cross fading settings)...if it were a Yes album it would only be 5 tracks 😉
That just made my day!
For me, track lengths dictate themselves. For albums, however, my brain ALWAYS goes back to The Beatles - 14 songs. They had 14 on nearly every album, and for years now I don't feel complete unless I have 14. Just one of those weird ticks I have...
That’s like asking how many pages should a book have! Or what is the ideal size for a picture frame.
War and peace is exactly the right size , so is Catcher in the rye.
Both perfect , both entirely their own size.
It’s great to have so many opinions
45-60
Revolver was too short.
Many years ago I bought a 10” inch LP.... Yellowman “Operation Radication”.... Bought the 12”singles too.... Oh Happy Days.....
It had 9 tracks on the Album...
Nice
32 minutes and 2 seconds.
16:01 per side.
I don’t care too much about the length. It’s all about the content. I have favorites on either end. Electric Prunes Mass in F Minor is only about 20 minutes. Then I have double albums like Amon Duul II Dance of the Lemmings running up to 80 minutes.
Well now this just made my day!!!
I still remember my license code, best $35 I ever spent in the 90’s (one of the most mind-altering purchases too, and that’s a competitive category).
If you’d like to hear that album it’s still on my SoundCloud.
Funny you asked, few days back I had exactly the same question in mind. I would say it depends on the type of music.
For exemple, talking about what I would call raw folk album (one voice one guitar) I think an album like Nick Drake's Pink Moon has the perfect length (around 29 minutes).
For rock/art rock, most of my favorite albums are 35-45 minutes. There are obviously exceptions, the most notable ones I can think of being Lift To Experience's monumental Texas And Jerusalem Crossroads and the Minutemen...
When it comes to what critics like to call post Rock it is hard to imagine an album under 50-60 minutes, especially for bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor or Do Make Say Think.
For electronica, ambient and drone stuff, 50 minutes is also a minimum in my book. Can you imagine a 30 minutes Boards Of Canada album?
When it comes to jazz, albums like Miles Davies Kind Of Blue or John Coltrane's Love Supreme and Giant Steps are perfect to me, so somewhere between 35-45 minutes.
As long as it takes
The first double album I bought was in the mid 70s, I can’t remember whether it was Hawkwind / Space Ritual, or (more likely) Kraftwerk / Kraftwerk.
My first double was the Star Wars OST