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catfood03 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 24 2009
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 Topic: Can albums be too long ??
Posted: November 13 2010 at 22:07 |
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Don't mind an CD being too long. I usually skip the tracks I don't like. As long as I get at least a solid 30 minutes worth of music out of the editing.
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American Khatru
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 19:59 |
I'm in the stages of planning an album myself, and I have to say, though there's enough material for close to 80 minutes if we wanted, we just don't want it to be that long (not without real justification anyway, like coming up with a story about a young man named Rael  ).
It brings to mind another thing I preferred about the days of vinyl. Not only was the total time shorter, but you had the available time cut in half due to the fact that the listener had to go and flip the record over (or the tape for that matter), causing a pause, a space for consideration perhaps. That interval placed a palpable severance, one that might be used to advantage by an artist, between the last track on side A and the first on side B; this was a larger and better difference than found today between, say, tracks 4 and 5 in the middle of a CD. Much is great about CDs and mp3s, but I do miss that interval.
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 Why must my spell-checker continually underline the word "prog"?
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thellama73
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 19:13 |
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It's extremely difficult to make a consistently good and thematically coherent 70 minutes of music. Most modern albums that use the entire length of a CD are just collections of songs, not really albums, and there tends to be a lot of filler. I would much rather have a great forty minutes than a decent seventy. Also, the shorter albums are nice because it's easy to listen to the whole thing at once. People are busy, we don't often have the time to listen to an hour and a half of music at once.
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The Truth
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Joined: April 19 2009
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 19:03 |
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Man Walter, you're killin tonight.
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WalterDigsTunes
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 18:55 |
 40footwolf wrote:
Of course an album can be too long if it doesn't earn its length. Francis the Mute is a great example of this-you could cut that album in half and lose absolutely nothing. |
If it were a blank CD-R, we'd all be much better off. Might be able to make something decent out of those wasted polycarbonates.
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40footwolf
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 18:46 |
Eärendil wrote:
It can absolutely be too long, but less due to length than the music. For example, some albums like The Whirlwind are perfect being 75 minutes long, others like Death Magnetic (Metallica) are good but much too drawn out. The Mars Volta comes to mind also as being too long sometimes.
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Looks like we're on the same page 
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Heaven's made a cesspool of us all.
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40footwolf
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Joined: March 08 2010
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 18:46 |
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Of course an album can be too long if it doesn't earn its length. Francis the Mute is a great example of this-you could cut that album in half and lose absolutely nothing.
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Heaven's made a cesspool of us all.
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Earendil
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Posted: November 13 2010 at 18:01 |
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It can absolutely be too long, but less due to length than the music. For example, some albums like The Whirlwind are perfect being 75 minutes long, others like Death Magnetic (Metallica) are good but much too drawn out. The Mars Volta comes to mind also as being too long sometimes.
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Lost Follower
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Joined: December 12 2008
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Posted: August 06 2009 at 10:34 |
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I think many albums are far too long now. I don't want 70 minutes to be honest. Half an hour too long. Give me 40 mins of top quality and I'm happy. Unless it's a 'Best of' or something, then just cram it all on.
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~Jump you f**ker jump~
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Henry Plainview
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Posted: August 05 2009 at 23:27 |
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Is the Ring Cycle too long? ;-)
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if you own a sodastream i hate you
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SaltyJon
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Posted: August 05 2009 at 23:18 |
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I'm on the opposite end, at least in regards to Tago Mago. If anything, it's one of those albums I wish was longer. I agree with the general consensus that what one listener may consider too long another won't, so it's really up to the listener, the band, and the album.
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Abstrakt
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 16:21 |
akamaisondufromage wrote:
^^^ Been listening to too much 'Grunge' me thinks ? 
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I've listened to the entire Halelulwah AND enjoyed it  But my ears are not infected by RIO/Avant enough to enjoy "Aumgn" & "Peking O". Apart from those 2 songs, Tago Mago is a great album!
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American Khatru
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Joined: March 28 2009
Location: New York
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 16:11 |
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Why must my spell-checker continually underline the word "prog"?
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akamaisondufromage
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 14:06 |
^^^ Been listening to too much 'Grunge' me thinks ?
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Help me I'm falling!
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American Khatru
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Joined: March 28 2009
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 13:39 |
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^ Oh, brother. Here come da flames.
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Why must my spell-checker continually underline the word "prog"?
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Abstrakt
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Joined: August 18 2005
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 09:58 |
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Yes! Just listen to Tago Mago by CAN!
It would've been much better if they cut "Aumgn" and "Peking O", and maybe shortened "Hallelulwah" a bit.
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progrules
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 14 2007
Location: Netherlands
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Points: 958
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 04:34 |
Slartibartfast wrote:
I think we're missing the more important question, can albums be too circular? And doesn't typically square outer casing disrupt this in some weird kind of way?
Or to put it another way, borrowing from George Carlin: "It's not how long you make it, it's how you make it long."
Einstein On The Beach anyone? 
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Hmm interesting perspective here ... I think this is definitely something for a new topic !! 
I think I will do a counting one day of all the posts by Slarti where he gives a SERIOUS answer  
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A day without prog is a wasted day
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tamijo
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Joined: January 06 2009
Location: Denmark
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 04:09 |
Moving to PC as standart player, giving the possibility but also the risk of jumping more easily.
I must say i dont often listen to a compleete album anymore.
I like varriation too much - jumping from one style to another after 10-15 min.
So in that context no, it cant be too long, give me as much as possible, wont listen to it all at the same time anyway.
If i LOVE an album, i sometimes listen to it all, but mostly the classics 70's stuff.
Edited by tamijo - August 01 2009 at 04:10
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Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Quasarsphere
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Joined: July 31 2009
Location: Poland
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Posted: August 01 2009 at 00:38 |
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In majority long two disc albums like The Wall, The Lamb... are sometimes competely boring, for me, but if I rewind individual tracks, this effect is less visible. The only longtime albums I hear from beginning to end with satisfaction are: Tales from Topographic Oceans, and L'Heptade from Harmonium (obviously with superb concert version Harmonium En Tournee). Thus the exceptions are exist.
Edited by Quasarsphere - August 01 2009 at 00:40
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Quasarsphere - Ambitious Music Lover.
Pozdrawiam fanów dobrego rocka z Polski.
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Slartibartfast
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Joined: April 29 2006
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Posted: July 28 2009 at 22:49 |
I think we're missing the more important question, can albums be too circular? And doesn't typically square outer casing disrupt this in some weird kind of way? Or to put it another way, borrowing from George Carlin: "It's not how long you make it, it's how you make it long." Einstein On The Beach anyone?
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Can albums be too long ??
