3 ms·

The physicality of cassettes/records/CDs/mini-disks was fun, and listening to an entire album sometimes was really cool - but almost entirely not. Most albums w

The physicality of cassettes/records/CDs/mini-disks was fun, and listening to an entire album sometimes was really cool - but almost entirely not. Most albums were padded with crap to fill it up so people didn't feel ripped off. Remember, an album in 1985 cost $40 in 2022 dollars. Sure, there were occasional albums that the artist really thought about, including the slipcase, and the physicality of that I miss. But you can still great albums and listen to them in their entirety. Revisiting that nostalgia in 2022 recently, and I've found the joy from an album isn't really what it used to be - mostly because we aren't trapped anymore. Want to listen to albums? Stop using Spotify. I honestly don't get why people choose that one. Youtube music blows it out of the water, and you can get ad-free youtube with it as well, and share all of it with your "family". Plus it has whole albums as one of the options when you search for artist/song.

allturtles 4y ago
> Most albums were padded with crap to fill it up so people didn't feel ripped off. This may be true, but you could always just buy the good albums. I owned a number of CDs/cassettes back in the day and I would listen to them and enjoy them front-to-back, over and over. Another aspect of it is that very often what's familiar sounds good, so by listening to the whole album, all of it (or more of it) would start to sound good, not just the radio tracks you were already familiar with. Finally, there are tracks on some albums that may seem odd, or not even particularly musical out of context, but still add to the overall experience (e.g. "Fitter, Happier" on OK Computer, or the instrumental filler tracks on Ill Communication).
- gilbetron 4y ago
  I 100% agree about the different experience of listening to good/great/amazing albums and the benefits of doing so. It's just that it is a pretty rare experience, particularly these days! A definite downside of our current music situation is that making an album like that is something that is really exceptional, since people rarely listen to music in that manner anymore. However, I wonder if the total number of "holistic" albums are greater now, just because there is far more music being made? :thinking-emoji: I wore out my Synchronicity tape back in the 80s :) Listened to the album randomly a couple of months ago and it is spooky how the experience re-asserted itself into my being. I just know every nook and cranny of the album.
  - javajosh 4y ago
    >I 100% agree about the different experience of listening to good/great/amazing albums and the benefits of doing so. It's just that it is a pretty rare experience, particularly these days! Yes - I suspect many kids who are happy with Spotify haven't had the experience. (It's actually a similar trade-off with broadcast TV - I'm realizing now with kids the downsides to having on-demand every episode of every show ever made, versus having to wait until next week and having to be there at a particular time. Gives you time to digest, anticipate, and enjoy. And I always muted the ad breaks, which made them tolerable.)
the_only_law 4y ago
> Want to listen to albums? Stop using Spotify. I honestly don't get why people choose that one. Youtube music blows it out of the water, and you can get ad-free youtube with it as well For me at this point it’s mostly porting. I have a ton of playlist and some are quite large and it would horribly tedious to port over by hand. I’ve tried some automated tools in the past, but YouTube doesn’t always have correct of necessary title/artist metadata and there were a lot of bad matches.
javajosh 4y ago
>Revisiting that nostalgia in 2022 recently, and I've found the joy from an album isn't really what it used to be Maybe you haven't found the right albums? You should listen to St. Vincent's first 3 albums - they are really good. More recently, Emma Ruth Rundle "On Dark Horses" is fantastic, or anything by Lisa Hannigan. Recording artists are more and more aware that people are not consuming albums in one sitting, but that's still how music is produced! Vinyl is one reason but another, I think, is that "album" is the most useful abstraction for the artist to think in when it comes to making a thing.

allturtles 4y ago

> Most albums were padded with crap to fill it up so people didn't feel ripped off. This may be true, but you could always just buy the good albums. I owned a number of CDs/cassettes back in the day and I would listen to them and enjoy them front-to-back, over and over. Another aspect of it is that very often what's familiar sounds good, so by listening to the whole album, all of it (or more of it) would start to sound good, not just the radio tracks you were already familiar with. Finally, there are tracks on some albums that may seem odd, or not even particularly musical out of context, but still add to the overall experience (e.g. "Fitter, Happier" on OK Computer, or the instrumental filler tracks on Ill Communication).

gilbetron 4y ago
I 100% agree about the different experience of listening to good/great/amazing albums and the benefits of doing so. It's just that it is a pretty rare experience, particularly these days! A definite downside of our current music situation is that making an album like that is something that is really exceptional, since people rarely listen to music in that manner anymore. However, I wonder if the total number of "holistic" albums are greater now, just because there is far more music being made? :thinking-emoji: I wore out my Synchronicity tape back in the 80s :) Listened to the album randomly a couple of months ago and it is spooky how the experience re-asserted itself into my being. I just know every nook and cranny of the album.
- javajosh 4y ago
  >I 100% agree about the different experience of listening to good/great/amazing albums and the benefits of doing so. It's just that it is a pretty rare experience, particularly these days! Yes - I suspect many kids who are happy with Spotify haven't had the experience. (It's actually a similar trade-off with broadcast TV - I'm realizing now with kids the downsides to having on-demand every episode of every show ever made, versus having to wait until next week and having to be there at a particular time. Gives you time to digest, anticipate, and enjoy. And I always muted the ad breaks, which made them tolerable.)

the_only_law 4y ago

> Want to listen to albums? Stop using Spotify. I honestly don't get why people choose that one. Youtube music blows it out of the water, and you can get ad-free youtube with it as well For me at this point it’s mostly porting. I have a ton of playlist and some are quite large and it would horribly tedious to port over by hand. I’ve tried some automated tools in the past, but YouTube doesn’t always have correct of necessary title/artist metadata and there were a lot of bad matches.

javajosh 4y ago

>Revisiting that nostalgia in 2022 recently, and I've found the joy from an album isn't really what it used to be Maybe you haven't found the right albums? You should listen to St. Vincent's first 3 albums - they are really good. More recently, Emma Ruth Rundle "On Dark Horses" is fantastic, or anything by Lisa Hannigan. Recording artists are more and more aware that people are not consuming albums in one sitting, but that's still how music is produced! Vinyl is one reason but another, I think, is that "album" is the most useful abstraction for the artist to think in when it comes to making a thing.