J.T.
"I have great faith in fools; my friends call it confidence."
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Post by J.T. on Apr 11, 2021 11:54:50 GMT -5
This thread is called "Albums Discussion." It gets few postings. I assume that's because so few artists bother with real albums these days. The focus seems to be on 2-minute singles for YouTube. Perhaps that is why I am so pleased with Ajr's OK Orchestra. It is an album. A real album with a theme, songs that connect with each other, and consistency. The production quality and lyrics are of a high level. Lyrically, you could take out a random sentence and be confused. But taken as a whole, the lyrics are amazing as everything connects. So my actual question...
What albums have been released recently that are actual albums? As in, not collections of singles but rather more similar to the 1970s-1990s era of albums (i.e. what I consider the golden age of albums). Do y'all have any favorite albums recently that are lyrically, musically, and production-quality worthy albums?
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Post by JessieLou on Apr 11, 2021 13:04:40 GMT -5
Unfortunately I have also noticed this, which sucks because I've always enjoyed the excitement of buying an album. There have been some good ones recently though, including:
Chris Cornell - No One Sings Like You Anymore (duh) Pearl Jam - Gigaton Harry Styles - Fine Line Lady Gaga - Chromatica Teenage Wrist - Earth Is A Black Hole Beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers Taylor Swift - Folklore and Evermore
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Julian
Daydreamer
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Post by Julian on Apr 11, 2021 18:47:51 GMT -5
Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA
An album filled with multiple genres infused in one yet somehow managed to remain consistent and fresh.
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Post by billcs on Apr 12, 2021 21:25:57 GMT -5
Gareth Emery's The Lasers is one. Porter Robinson's Nurture is coming on April 23 and has been preceded by several singles during the last year.
Albums will be making a comeback. With the industry power players now getting their major artists - Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, for two - to make two or more albums in a year, the pressure is on all artists to come up to speed. Spotify and other streaming services are adjusting their algorhythms to look for more music by artists on a more regular basis, so we will see less one-off singles and more frequent singles leading up to either EP's or albums.
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Post by ziggy2 on Apr 13, 2021 10:33:29 GMT -5
It might be the lack of physical medias that makes it different. Vinyls were great because you could hold them in your hands. There was a large cover art.
And when you purchased it with the money you made delivering newspapers in the neighborhood, the album meant a lot, and you listened to all tracks. It was an experience. You had to pick and choose.
Hmm, I think I’ve become my dad.
Not sure we will have the same almost mystical feeling of owning, Pink Floyd’s Dark side of the moon, or Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. There was also word of mouth and discovering something you never knew existed.
I remember being 12 and browsing through the vinyl collection of my uncle. I picked up Santana’s Abraxas, because there was a nude black lady on it. How obscene. I chuckled. And when I put it on, I was blown away.
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mikeespinho
FKA twigs - Killer (#1 for seven weeks)
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Post by mikeespinho on Apr 13, 2021 11:50:24 GMT -5
This is definitely a trend in these days. On the other hand there are artists who defintely release albums after releasing an high amount of singles. For example German singer LEA released seven singles and then her album "Treppenhaus". Or German singer Elif. She did the same before releasing her album "Nacht". I personally prefer the classic way, but at the moment I don't see this trend stopping.
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Pipa
JERRY
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Post by Pipa on Apr 13, 2021 21:17:29 GMT -5
Keep in mind this forum was created in 2003, and the industry has changed drastically since. At that time record labels were just begging us not to pirate, while simultaneously giving us overpriced albums (The Offspring's Splinter, anyone?) That and they had yet to try reviving the industry with ringtones (yep, that was a thing). Spotify has brought us back to the jukebox-style format of the 60s, but instead of paying a nickel per hit record, you're paying $10 a month to hear any song released from any point of time. And in a post-COVID world, artists are struggling to survive, much less release entire albums.
So while the album doesn't have the driving force it once did decades ago, it's not quite an outlier yet. As others have said, there have been plenty of terrific albums released lately, but you're more likely to find them on an indie artists' Bandcamp page rather than advertised on iTunes or Spotify.
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Post by Courage on Apr 15, 2021 12:34:07 GMT -5
This was seen quite a bit in the 50s and 60s, particularly with newer artists. The problem is that albums are costly to make. Record labels don't want to shelve out the money for a full album for an artist unless they're certain it's gonna be a money maker. In the digital era, unless your name is Taylor Swift, those seem to be few and far between. Established artists are more likely to sell albums, but their streams aren't as strong as a one-hit wonder from TikTok. Since the latter tends to be a dime a dozen, many of them don't get that 2nd bite that one viral song got, so the one-off tends to be the way to go for them. Essentially it comes down to $$$.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2021 17:36:49 GMT -5
Dominique A. - Vie Étrange Chevelle - Niratias Cepeda - Con Los Pies En El Suelo Ruston Kelly - Shape & Destroy Kaboom Karavan - The Log And The Leeway Max Richter - Voices 2 Kevin Max - Radio Teknika Davi Sabbag - Ritual CocoRosie - Put The Shine On Gad Elbaz - L'Chaim Idan Rafael Haviv - Breathing Sounds
To name some. I find all of these in their respective genres, to be very cohesive albums. You might disagree completely, cause you value lyrics, and I don't, so check them out at your peril lol
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J.T.
"I have great faith in fools; my friends call it confidence."
Posts: 1,453
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Post by J.T. on Apr 17, 2021 11:13:14 GMT -5
Hmm, I think I’ve become my dad. I agree with everything you wrote. Good insight. And yes, I also realized I too have become my father. Ay-yi-yi...
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J.T.
"I have great faith in fools; my friends call it confidence."
Posts: 1,453
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Post by J.T. on Apr 17, 2021 11:17:12 GMT -5
Unfortunately I have also noticed this, which sucks because I've always enjoyed the excitement of buying an album. There have been some good ones recently though, including: Teenage Wrist - Earth Is A Black Hole Beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers Taylor Swift - Folklore and Evermore I do see the album quality with Teenage Wrist and Beabadoobee. Some good songs there. They tried for the album feel. Taylor Swift though. Taylor Swift's Folklore and Evermore in particular - those are precisely what I am writing about. Rare to find albums like these! Should I be embarrassed that I like Taylor Swift so much as a grown male? I feel like society is telling me "NO - You shouldn't like her." But I just can't quit you Taylor.
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Post by billcs on Apr 17, 2021 16:35:56 GMT -5
Right now the music industry wants indie artists to build their collection of songs and get them to whatever combination of benchmark of streams and sales they have in order to invest in them. They are also signing some artists very early (Billie Eilish was signed when she was 12) to develop them. There's no right or wrong answer, but right now the pressure is on independent artists to network and meet good people who can help them get to that benchmark (whatever it is), and its up to that artist how much they can financially invest in themselves. To me, getting signed to one of the big three labels or their subsidies means that you need to know someone to let you in through that gate. You can flourish as an indie, but we also need concerts to be back in play so that artists can meet their fans in person and also sell their merch in person.
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Post by cdncharter on Dec 9, 2021 21:45:39 GMT -5
I enjoyed reading this thread! I have a large vinyl collection but haven't purchased many albums (LP or CD) for the past few years. Three that I did purchase and think are excellent collections of music are Folklore, Thin Line, and Golden Hour. Certainly nothing there was a risky purchase and that got me thinking of the years I lived in Toronto in the late 70s and would browse the record stores on Yonge Street. I never thought twice about "taking a chance" on buying an album because I liked the lead single or because I heard a few tracks of an LP playing in the store. I just find music too expensive, nowadays, to buy on a whim. Going off topic here a little bit . . . there was a documentary on TVO (Public TV in Ontario) about people who collect vinyl. Here's the link if you want to take a look . . . www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/records . I was so envious of the shelves and shelves and shelves of records (still the best decorating tip there is) seen in the background of the interviews.
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Post by JessieLou on Dec 10, 2021 11:51:33 GMT -5
Unfortunately I have also noticed this, which sucks because I've always enjoyed the excitement of buying an album. There have been some good ones recently though, including: Chris Cornell - No One Sings Like You Anymore (duh) Pearl Jam - Gigaton Harry Styles - Fine Line Lady Gaga - Chromatica Teenage Wrist - Earth Is A Black Hole Beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers Taylor Swift - Folklore and Evermore We can add Cutie Cantrell’s “Brighten” to this 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
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