[bryemycaz]

Now with Digital downloads to become even more commonplace (death of HMV)

Will this see the end of the Album as a complete piece of work. Albums like Dark Side, The Wall, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway all have a central theme running though them. Whilst others are different songs but have been put together as to give light and shade to the listener.

I like to listen to my albums as the artist intended them to be. am I now in the minority?

[hello.member]

Madonna's "Confessions On A Dancefloor" is one album I always like to listen to from start to finish. It flows perfectly.

[iseloid]

Yes. Singles are often the worst way of seeing it. Often as most albums only have about 4. Unless it's Thriller when you heard the epicness in all it's glory

[mimicole]

I try to listen to albums from start to finish.

[designer84]

Depends. Sometimes I play tracks in random but in the case of "Aerial" by Kate Bush then I listen to Disc 2 from start to finish as it is meant to be one continuous song. Although it is split into 9 songs, it flows so well as one and is now available as one continuous mix

[cnbcwatcher]

Depends on the album. If it's a "concept" album (eg The Defamation of Strickland Banks by Plan B) then yes it should be listened to in full. With most other albums it's not always necessary but its nice. I sometimes like to listen to albums in full on long car journeys, but when I'm walking around or at home I'll listen to individual songs most of the time.

[Eraserhead]

I don't think it's necessary with a lot of pop albums since there's not necessarily a theme throughout the album so individual tracks can be listened to in isolation or in any order (on shuffle play etc.)

I try to listen to complete albums most of the time, though, not because there's necessarily a theme but because the running order of the tracks works well. I think artists (at least those who have a say in how their music is put together) do think a lot about which track should go where and which tracks to include or omit from albums, so listening to an entire album in the correct running order gives you a better and more complete experience.

[Cloudbuster]

Not sure how to listen to a whole

[Souffle Girl]

Yes. For the most part, albums often tell a story. I tend to wait for an album release before I listen to anything new from artists I like because I want the "complete picture", as it were. Some albums are purposely designed to be listened to as a whole although I think this is getting less common, which is incredibly sad. I have always been more of an album fan than a singles fan. Nothing better than putting a brand new album on, getting comfortable, and letting your favourite artist tell you a story. It saddens me that this will probably be a lost art now that the younger generation seem to prefer to just listen to random songs and likely don't have the attention span for things like concept albums. I worry the album will die out eventually.

[Jack.Dawson.]

Yes. Listening to an album is more of an event. When you cherry pick certain songs and listen to the same few too often the shelf life is dramatically reduced. A start to finish listen ensures that you don't burn out on an album too quickly and also allows you to discover certain tracks that can only grow on you after repeated listens.

[iseloid]

Originally Posted by Souffle Girl

Yes. For the most part, albums often tell a story. I tend to wait for an album release before I listen to anything new from artists I like because I want the "complete picture", as it were. Some albums are purposely designed to be listened to as a whole although I think this is getting less common, which is incredibly sad. I have always been more of an album fan than a singles fan. Nothing better than putting a brand new album on, getting comfortable, and letting your favourite artist tell you a story. It saddens me that this will probably be a lost art now that the younger generation seem to prefer to just listen to random songs and likely don't have the attention span for things like concept albums. I worry the album will die out eventually.

Perhaps. But it's becoming bigger in r&b and hip hop.

[Jack.Dawson.]

Originally Posted by iseloid

Perhaps. But it's becoming bigger in r&b and hip hop.

True. Kendrick Lamar's new album is like a movie with dialogue at the end of each song! Amazing.

[sjp07]

I don't personally think so. My iPod is forever on shuffle. I rarely listen to an album in order after the first time I hear it.

[Rip the TV Eye]

Originally Posted by bryemycaz

Now with Digital downloads to become even more commonplace (death of HMV)

Will this see the end of the Album as a complete piece of work. Albums like Dark Side, The Wall, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway all have a central theme running though them. Whilst others are different songs but have been put together as to give light and shade to the listener.

I like to listen to my albums as the artist intended them to be. am I now in the minority?

For me it depends on the album - some I like to listen to all the way through, others I listen to only a few songs off because the rest aren't to my taste.

A few bands like Ash have chosen to only release singles and I believe most will go this way eventually, but there will still be some full albums although I expect them to be concept albums rather than collections of stand-alone songs.

[Harper_Milne]

When I get into an artist at the beginning I have to listen to an album from start to finish to see if I like them or not. Because that's their art, that's how they want you to see them y'know?

[jackbell]

Originally Posted by hello.member

Madonna's "Confessions On A Dancefloor" is one album I always like to listen to from start to finish. It flows perfectly.

As all the tracks are segued into each other it would sound abrupt if you listen to them separately.

But albums were made to listen to from beginning to end - or at least, in the days of vinyl and cassettes - the length of each side.

[Gigi4]

I think you can listen to them both ways. For me, I usually listen to an album all the way through a couple of times when I first buy it to get the feel of it. I guess I'm kind of picky, but I tent not to like every song on an album so that makes it hard for me to listen to the whole thing repeatedly. I tend to get obsessed with a couple of songs. So after I've heard the whole album a couple of times, I tend to just go back and listen to my favourite songs on it.

[CelestialElixir]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

Depends on the album. If it's a "concept" album (eg The Defamation of Strickland Banks by Plan B) then yes it should be listened to in full. With most other albums it's not always necessary but its nice. I sometimes like to listen to albums in full on long car journeys, but when I'm walking around or at home I'll listen to individual songs most of the time.

I'm pretty much the same, if it's a concept album I have to listen to the entire album from start to finish.. Also, if it's a new album I tend to listen to it in full for a few weeks until I start picking out individual tracks...

[Hav_mor91]

Depending on the album. Albums like Hounds Of Love yes definiteley but if it's an average pop album i cherry pick.

[SweetHeartHolly]

To me, an album should be listened to all the way through because sometimes what goes to radio is not a singer's best.

God bless you and my favorites always!!!

Holly

[Reem2011]

Yes like Britney Blackout, Usher Confessions. But i tend to listens to tracks through shuffle.

[Eric_Blob]

It depends on the album really. For example Calvin Harris has said his recent album is almost like a compilation album of his hits, so maybe an album like that it wouldn't be necessary to listen from start to finish. In some genres (grime, dubstep, etc.) the songs are actually mixed so they flow continuously through the whole album. So in cases like that it's good to listen through the whole thing from beginning to end. Even in like The E.N.D by the Black Eyed Peas they did that.

However, I tend to now do that. Maybe the first time I listen I listen all the way through, but from then on it's just random tracks.

[Glawster2002]

As a Progressive Music fan most of the music I listen to is intended to be listened to as a complete album.

[popprincess5678]

I usually put my favourite tracks from an album on my ipod for when I am walking but when I listen at home I will play the album fully. However I got Rihanna's Unapologetic album for Christmas and I just can't get away with the first 5 songs (apart from Diamonds) so I have been starting it from track 6.

[Eraserhead]

Also I tend to feel it's a bit of a waste of your money if you don't listen to an album but only a few songs, especially nowadays when you can listen to a whole album online and then just pick the tracks you like to download.

If the album format is to survive then artists need to either create a theme or concept to their albums or not allow individual tracks to be downloaded (if that's possible) or - heaven forbid - make sure every track on the album is great and no filler.