music Albums: Listen to it all? Or just select songs?

[Crispy 5,563]

Depends for me.  I can generally pick and choose EDM songs from different artists.  This is true for Hardcore, as well.  I usually don't do full albums unless the album was made to be listened to as a cohesive whole (see the Misery Signals discography, BTBAM's albums after Colors, Defeater's Empty Days and Sleepless Nights, etc.)

[Soundgarden 2,758]

That can't possibly be literally the dumbest thing you've ever heard. Misuse of the word "literally" is ignorant.

 

Not the dumbest thing I've ever read, but definitely the most ignorant music related statement I've ever read. So, the word "literally" wasn't misused, and even if it was, "ignorant" is a too strong word to use against a person who just misused a single word. Irony

 

 

 

 It just turns out that all the metal I like is from Europe or Brazil. It's not like I specifically boycott American bands. I admitted I was being cynical when I said a person has no taste if they select random songs from bands. It's similar to liking random episodes of a TV show without liking the rest of the show. It indicates to me that the band isn't good. It's easy to make a good song out of every 20. But try making consistently good songs. That takes real talent.

 

This is beyond the point. Did I EVER agree, disagree with or even quote this? Hint: I didn't. This is the problem:

I used to listen to crappy classic rock until I discovered fantasy metal from Europe. Now I can't even listen to crappy American music. 

 

As said, "American music" is an extremely vague term. All it implies is that the music is, well...American. But how can you judge a band purely on their nationality? How is nationality related to quality? 

 

And another thing that I previously said: It's not like every single American band ever plays a single genre. There's hundreds of genres, sub-genres and fusion genres that thousands of different bands from USA plays. The term is so vague that it's completely invalid in any context or debate

It really annoys me when people have just a couple of good songs from a band. I hate it when people say they "listen to anything." I know it's very cynical of me to say it, but if you "listen to anything" then you have no taste.

 

And this is the second thing that bothered me. What you're saying here is that a person who just isolates themselves with a single genre has better taste than someone who is willing to get out of their comfort zone to try out and appreciate other forms of music. Where's the logic?

But try making consistently good songs. That takes real talent.

 

And no American band has ever managed to do this?

 

PS: When responding, please quote my post. It's way easier for me to keep track on whether you've responded or not

[Moonlight 7,285]

I usually only listen to select songs off an album. The odds of me enjoying EVERY song on a certain album is very slim. I just skip over the ones I'm not a fan of and go directly towards the ones I like. Usually, I combine a playlist of my favorite songs...there's usually not more than 3 songs from a single band or singer in that playlist either. 

[Champion RD92 8,658]

The odds of me enjoying EVERY song on a certain album is very slim.

 

Then you're not listening to the right albums...I have lots of albums where I enjoy every song. You know an album is good when every song (or at least most of the songs) on the album is good.

[Moonlight 7,285]

Then you're not listening to the right albums...I have lots of albums where I enjoy every song. You know an album is good when every song (or at least most of the songs) on the album is good.

To be fair...I don't even keep track of what song is on what album. I find a song I like..grab it and listen. : P I literally order everything by artist/band name if that tells you how much I care about albums and such...

[Kazuki Fuse 534]

>not setting aside 3-6 hours and listening to entire discographies in a single sitting

 

You poor fools, its like you don't even enjoy music.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

Hell, I still use a CD player. I don't really even have the choice of listening to individual songs over an entire album. Not unless I want to put way more time and effort into managing it than I'd be willing to. Even if I could though, I'd rather listen to the full album. The songs on an album are often connected somehow, and it's the way that the album is meant to be listened to.

[-BleachedOne- 233]

I find myself listening to whole albums while I work or draw, so I'd say yeah, if it's a band I'm familiar with and enjoy, I'll listen to an entire album often enough. I do this noticeably with Avenged Sevenfold, As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, Blind Guardian, Dragonforce, Pendulum, and 1 hour Nightcore mixes (though the last one doesn't really count). I've tried this with a band's worst albums and I...just can't do it. There are some bands where I can only pick out one or two songs from an album, then I just delete the ones I don't listen to.

 

A notable exception to these rules would be Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold, because I started off liking only the title track, then slowly began to get used to everything else to the point that it...wasn't as bad as the first time I ran through it. I'm waiting for this to happen to Eclipse by Veil of Maya. @___@

[Away 2,077]

Sometimes, when I don't have the time to listen to an album, I'll just listen to some songs. Usually at night, when I do have the time and no one is awake to bother me, I'll then listen to a whole album. But yeah, in general, I'm definitely more of a album person. Everything in my library is part of a complete album. I literally have no individual songs, only albums.

[Music Chart Fan 818]

I listen almost exclusively to singles, together with a few non-singles that are well-known or have been played on the radio stations I listen to. There are a few artists from which I have a handful of additional album tracks, but with very few exceptions, I don't listen to albums as a whole.

 

In fact, one of the main reasons that I look up and compile Billboard singles charts from the past 5+ decades is to look up artists and songs that were popular back in the day. If I hear a song I like when I'm listening to the oldies or "play anything" stations on the radio, then I can look up that artist and see what other hit singles they had, and listen to those.

 

I have already discovered, though, that I'm pretty unique in finding music to listen to by looking up singles charts and randomly hearing songs on the radio.

[Woohoo 33,623]

I do both. I usually listen to whole albums whenever I ride the bus, exercise, or if I just want to unwind. Other times I just listen to select songs or have my player on shuffle.

 

I noticed that with some albums, you need to be in the right mood to listen to them.

Edited September 26, 2013 by woohoo

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

I listen to the entire album a lot of the time. Sometimes I need to be in the correct mood for the full album, and I'll just listen to a few select songs off of that said album.