dac

Definitely... two big examples that pop up in my head are Hail to the Thief (Radiohead, about 4 songs too long) and Octahedron (TMV, about 15 minutes too short)

__________________

Rickenbacker

Sandinista!


Just a pet peeve.

I love that album, it's one of my all time favorites.

__________________

last.fm
rym
Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

Minstrel

I can understand that, from an aesthetic point of view...it's satisfying to be able to think of an album as "perfect." To me, though, I'd rather have more good songs, even if it means getting more bad songs too. Ultimately, I can program past the bad songs on future listens and I have more enjoyable songs. An album that is "too short" leaves potential enjoyment on the table (or cutting room floor, or in the musician's head, as the case may be).

__________________
"Blow your tuneless trumpet, the choice is yours / We don't want the glamour, the pomp and the drums / The Dublin messiah scattering crumbs"

Janszoon

Hey Minstrel, where on earth have you been? It's great seeing you around again!

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Guybrush

To those who never listen to albums in their entirey, it obviously won't matter as much. However, I do think they're missing out a bit. Many albums are much more than just collections of songs and have an extra layer of appreciation that can be tapped into if you listen to and take it in as a whole. Those who occasionally do appreciate albums in their entirety will know that the best albums leave you wanting for more when the last track finishes. To me, it's not good if I get tired of the album before it's over .. For an album to be really good, I think it should be enjoyable from start to finish without being boring.

So yeah, length matters.

Close to the Edge by Yes is an example of an album which I think is way too short .. in a good way.

edit :

If I put on an album that has been rereleased with extra tracks such as proto-versions of the songs, I often leave the extras out of the playlist. I also tend to leave them out when I write reviews .. The reason is they were not intended as part of the original product and including them as part of the whole can turn an otherwise nicely timed and exciting album into a long and repetitive one.

__________________
Something Completely Different

Minstrel

Thanks! I got pretty busy in work and personal life, so had less time to devote to things like online forums, but I recently felt an urge to read and talk about music with people again. It's nice to see you again, too.

It's not about never doing so, or always doing so. I actually like to listen to full albums most of the time. But I can also enjoy extracting the best songs from certain albums, tossing them together in a playlist and hitting random play. From that "mix" perspective, getting more good songs is good, even if they come with more bad songs and make the overall album too long. IMO, anyway.

__________________
"Blow your tuneless trumpet, the choice is yours / We don't want the glamour, the pomp and the drums / The Dublin messiah scattering crumbs"

Guybrush

But if you only include a few good songs from an album into your playlist and say that's a good album because it's got 3 good tracks, then you obviously have little basis for that statement.

Did that make sense? What I'm saying is if you only like 5 songs from a double-album that has 30, of course you may get a feeling of overall positiveness from that album. You focus on what you like and why spend time on the rest? But I still think that if you review an album, you should base your final opinion on all the songs and not just the ones you like. Otherwise, what you're reviewing are really just a few songs, not an album.

I use the word review but what I really mean is whenever you wanna make up your mind about the whole thing. Some people don't care about the whole thing which is fine of course .. though they're missing out a bit I think. And when they state opinions on albums, they have a strong bias towards describing a smaller part of the album which is of course a weakness.

__________________
Something Completely Different

Minstrel

If it only has 3 good songs, I doubt I'd call it a good album. But if it's a choice (for the same price) between:

Album A: 10 songs, all of them good
Album B: 15 songs, 12 of them good

I'd take album B. Sure, it may be "too long" and have some stuff I'm not wild about...but I'm 2 good songs richer, as far as I'm concerned.

Basically, I'm okay with an artist putting more on, even if the "extra" is mostly not that good. Whatever IS good, I benefit from. Whatever isn't, I can ignore in future.

__________________
"Blow your tuneless trumpet, the choice is yours / We don't want the glamour, the pomp and the drums / The Dublin messiah scattering crumbs"

Janszoon

For me it depends a lot on what the format is. Having some crappy songs in the mix on an album I have as MP3s isn't that big a deal but on vinyl it becomes a totally different story and I would absolutely go with album A in your example. I guess because I grew up in the vinyl and cassette era have a lot of holdover feelings that filler really does detract from my listening experience quite a bit.

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Guybrush

I agree with you although I think I could possibly pick B and still say that overall, A was the stronger album. It's just nitpickings about what makes an album good and I think the parts that don't shine pull the end result down a bit. I know I do put more weight on the good tracks though (probably human nature), but I sometimes try to at least minimize that slight human error

__________________
Something Completely Different