albums

I like albums, as an art form. They're not just a convenient way to put a bunch of songs in the same place. They're cohesive collections of songs - or should be. They're songs that were meant to go together. My favorite albums are the ones that sound great all the way through, not just the ones that have the most songs I like. There are songs that I like to hear on albums, but not by themselves. On the other hand, there are artists who have albums that I don't care for, but whose compilation albums I like. And there's really nothing wrong with compilation albums anyway, it's just that I enjoy that added level of creativity.

We play CDs all the time. We have a lot of albums, and I enjoy listening to music that way. Interesting, though, that at this very moment, I'm listening to a playlist on my mp3 player. I could listen to albums on it, but that's kind of a pain. Besides, we have all these CDs.

In the past, LPs had a running time of 40 to 45 minutes, due to restrictions of the format. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but after about an hour, I find that most albums tend to get a little old. There are only a few double albums that really do it for me. These are usually concept albums, like The Wall or Quadrophenia. Also, I tend to get bored of listening to two albums in a row by the same artist, if they're at all similar.