Death of the Album?

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Ben
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06 Jul 2007 08:28


*Taken from news article - MSN.COM 06/07/07*


Fans of indie-rock stalwarts Ash were perturbed to hear frontman Tim Wheeler introduce new songs at last month's Isle Of Wight festival as being from their "last album". It turns out he was being completely literal; the band aren't splitting up, they're simply not going to release any more albums, preferring instead to issue individual tracks digitally.

Wheeler explained to the NME, "The way people listen to music has changed. With the advent of the download, the emphasis has reverted to single tracks? When you're tied to the album format, you find yourself waiting six months between finishing a record and releasing it? We're the first band to do this, but I very much doubt we'll be the last."

We've been able to buy individual album tracks online for some years but this is different. If Tim Wheeler is right, it means the way we think about recorded music will have retreated 100 years.

The term 'record album' was coined in the first years of the last century when collections of discs (singles, effectively) were issued in a book resembling a photo album. By the time technology had advanced to allow multiple recordings on the same disc, the name had stuck.

At first glance it would appear that we're on the threshold of total consumer freedom. No longer will the music buying public be obliged to pay for tracks they don't like. You will, in effect, be the compiler of your own Greatest Hits collections. So what's the problem?

Well, for one thing, albums are often more than simply collections of individual tracks. In the same way that a good stand-up routine is more than just a collection of jokes, a good album offers the listener a whole experience which, at its best, is considerably more than the sum of its parts.

It's true that this hasn't always been the case. Until the mid-Sixties, albums were more or less just collections of songs, although even then track ordering was considered extremely important for maximising the listener's pleasure.

But as pop evolved into rock, the album would come to be considered an art-form in its own right, something designed specifically to be listened to from start to finish - and in order. Perhaps I'm just getting old but doing away with this entirely seems like a retrogressive step.

Consigning the album to the dustbin of history will also mean that only the catchiest, most immediate songs are likely to gain an audience. One of the great pleasures of albums is how hidden gems only reveal their quality over time.

Futhermore, it will mean the end of pieces which only work within the context of the whole. It's difficult to imagine something like I Just Want To See His Face by the Rolling Stones ever seeing the light of day under these circumstances. A bizarre gospel jam with barely intelligible lyrics which sounds like it was recorded in a toilet, it doesn't work on its own.

Within the context of the album from which it comes, 1972's Exile On Main Street, it makes perfect sense and acts as a wonderfully atmospheric bridge between the two songs it intersects.

To use a more contemporary example, the death of the album would render the skits so beloved of hip-hop artists redundant. Hmmm? ok, so maybe it's not all bad news after all.

As part of the CD generation, I remember older music fans mourning the loss of the gatefold sleeve. They missed the pleasure to be had from a vinyl album's artwork, the beauty of the physical object, both of which were diminished by the compact disc's flimsy little case.

It was impossible to deny they had a point but ditching the album format for good will surely be a far greater loss to music fans.



Discuss...


Ben
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06 Jul 2007 08:36

I personally love albums in the 'full' - and agree if this is the way forward we will loose those 'hidden gems', tracks that grow on the listener over time. These for me are the dark horses of an album and make the listening pleasure of a great album increase with every play.With the internet 'here and now' generation we could loose the very spirit of music, pushing only the catchiest tunes to the public eye and condemning more obscure artists to the underground scene - although this could give music back to the 'real' hardcore fans who will still search out these hidden artists.
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