I personally don't have an issue with length as long as its good.

Listening to GNR - November Rain right now and at nearly 9 min it does not get boring or repetitive.

I used to listen to Prince's Purple Rain a lot (when I was a kid) and it was one of the most enjoyable tracks back then for me.

Just yesterday while listening to Carolina Liar - I'm Not Over I was thinking its too short at 3:24.

With their powers combined, I feel compelled to say "/thread" although I reckon the banterin will a-continue...

OP, I truly can't understand your idea of "having to work at" a song. Of course it's all personal preferences, but you asked did people agree, so we're answering. Most don't, it would appear. This has to hold true for the reverse. I would never NOT listen to a song because it was too short (what about "Imagine" or even "October" by U2?) --- you have to allow songs their own identity and not try to file them in boxes labelled: short, I like, will listen to. Long, I don't like, won't listen to. You're really shortchanging yourself there and as Zyrada says, cutting yourself off from some potentially enjoyable music just because you've decided that this arbitary (couldn't be more arbitrary, to be honest) barrier exists, one which you've erected yourself.

It's also unfair to say that long songs are just an excuse for what I like to term "technical wankery". Some of it is, of course (Dream Theater, come on down!) but much of it is an artist trying to tell a story. But then you say you don't like them to do that either. You cite Bruce's "Rosalita"? That's a great example of an artiste just enjoying himself too much to bring the song to an end; it's not lengthened for any other reason. It's ... what's the word? Oh yeah: fun!

Honestly, the better songs all tell some sort of a story, and are usually the better for it. It's the more generic, plot-less, empty pop songs that tend to be the shorter and more mainstream, but are ultimately hollow, as they don't bother to go into any detail or take any time over their lyrics. Boy meets girl, they get married, end of song. Or they're in love. Or they want to dance. Or some other generic pap. Is that what you like? I doubt it, but you have to see that for a song to be properly written it does sometimes (not always) have to be longer than the current single length, and really, six minutes is not that long.

Doesn't of course follow that ALL long songs are great, but what about "American pie" by Don McLean, or "Stargazer" by Rainbow? How about one of the later Genesis, "Driving the last spike", or "Belfast child" by Simple Minds? Or how about Iron Maiden's "Hallowed be thy name"? Come to that, how about "The rime of the ancient mariner"? Eagles' "Hotel California"? The Doors' "Riders on the storm"? What about all those blues standards that can go on for ten minutes or more? Gary Moore's "Empty rooms"? I could go on. I will.

Dire Straits' "Telegraph Road". Alan Parsons' "The turn of a friendly card". U2's "Bad". Tom Waits' "Twenty-nine dollars". Def Leppard's "Die hard the hunter". Im deliberately choosing non-prog songs here, for the most part. You may not know all of them, but each has its own little idiosyncrasies that could not just be put down to, ahem, technical wankery. Each tells its own story, and the length of the song is appropriate to that story.

As for "If I want a story I'll read a book" --- what a narrow vision. Would you prefer NO songs told ANY story? Would you have the likes of Rhianna, Beyonce and the X-Factor crowd control the charts... oh, wait. But would you rather their sort of music was the only sort? Music is MEANT to tell a story --- even an instrumental, if done correctly and with the requisite expertise and feeling, and feel for mood and theme, can conjure up its own story, or lead you to assign your own story to the music. There is a place for "yeah-yeah-yeah-keep-rockin-my-girl-loves-me" sort of throwaway songs of course, but I much prefer something that speaks to me, tells me something and makes it obvious the artist took time and thought over the composition, and that it means something to them. Usually, that will then translate to meaning something to me.

I have Neroli and Thursday Afternoon by Brian Eno and they are both single track albums just over an hour long and definitely repetitive. Neroli especially never feels like an hour and I have even played it again when it's finished.

If the OP wants to make a pre judgement on a genre based on the length of the tracks, than that's their problem. However, they're missing out on a lot of great music.

It's hardly a prejudgment. I hear the songs and end up disliking them for length-related factors.

But I do like "Bad," and GNR did two of the best long songs ever in "November Rain" and "Estranged." That pair and [arguably, since I mean an edited version of] "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" are probably the only 7:00+ songs I enjoy. "Paradise City," to me, is not good. "Hotel California" tells a good story, and the guitar-playing is some of the 70's best - but it still feels long. "Belfast Child" is boring - although that comes from someone not interested in UK history. In my experience, Dire Straits specialized in long, dull songs - even the normal-length songs bore after a while. The long Genesis song I like is "No Son of Mine," which isn't prog at all and sticks to the story. The extended music video version of "Amazing" by Aerosmith and "Still of the Night" by Whitesnake are rare examples of songs made great by adding unusual, well-played instrumental sections.

For the record, I also usually don't enjoy very short songs. "October" probably is the shortie I enjoy the most.

So you don't like long songs and you don't like short songs. What in gods name do you listen to then?

When I have the time, or just need some wonderful sounds as background, especially when I'm at the computer, a good long song usually does the trick. Hell, when I was a kid, I usually picked the long songs on the jukebox (hey, I was not going to waste that quarter on something two minutes while I was waiting for my Pizza!)

Echoes - Pink Floyd
Curtain Call - the Damned
Sister Ray - Velvet Underground
Maldoror est Mort - Current 93 (or really anything from the first albums from Nature Unveiled to Dawn)
Shores in Flames - Bathory
Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix Experience
Many Ambient works, usually those that convey something dark.
When the Music's Over - The Doors
The Thrill is Gone - BB King

Plus one I chose as a kid:
Take Your Time - Lynyrd Skynyrd



Only a very few examples, but there's more.

There's something for every mood in my collection, and sometimes long songs do the trick.

To view things in a different light for a while, when I'm in the mood to just write long pieces of just do research, a nice long work usually does the trick, especially one that creates a mood. It's cool when musicians stretch out and try something beyond the obvious. It's half and half with the artistic success rate, but when it works, it works. Some of them fit very well into my research of 60's Cult Movies, especially the Hippie flicks - one good play of Steppenwolf's "Monster" (and, yeah, even Iron Butterfly's "In a Gadda da Vida!") takes me there when I do some of my writing about that era off-line. For NYC Roughies (films like Olga's House of Shame), it's over to "Sister Ray." Long songs help the focus out a bit. Helps with the flow of both the research and writing.

European Horror films? Some Cold Meat Industry-style ambiance does the trick!

A little indulgence does the ears and mind good. also helps with the much needed daydreaming as well when I need to stretch out and think.

I'd have to echo that, though I think what you mean is that songs that are VERY short (less than two minutes, maybe?) don't appeal to you. However, you are seriously restricting yourself by placing these, frankly ridiculous limits on what you listen to, and pre-judging a song if it's over six minutes. Do you look at playing times, and decide on that flawed basis whether to listen to the song or not?

Incidentally, "Belfast child" is based on an old traditional melody, which you probably won't like either, called "She moved through the fair" (or sometimes "She moves through the fair") --- this is All About Eve's version of it, so you can see how cleverly Simple Minds adapted it. It's only five minutes long, so you have no excuse not to give it a chance.



Incidentally, may I ask if you bother with any classical music, much of which can run to the tens or higher minutes? ;)

And sorry, but I have to say this: based on your judgement shown in this thread, your username doesn't seem very appropriate...

I bet he won't even bother with the pieces I posted on the first page.