[Rebelbase]

Downloading as a method of delivering the music is changing the recording industry regardless of the RIAA's tactics.

[weegee]

"It's like, 'How much music can I cram on there?' and the albums just get weaker and weaker," says Joe Levy, a Rolling Stone senior editor who helped compile the magazine's recent "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" issue.

Like, aw man, dude....

That list in Rolling Stone had so much fat in it. Got to have "something" in it for everyone. Not something for all tastes but rather something so that everyone will feel that their own tastes are justified. Rolling Stone wouldn't know good music from Muzak, let alone good NEW recordings.

Additionally I've heard radio ads bragging that some Warner Bros. online service is selling all of those titles on CD.
- Does WB publish Rolling Stone?
- How many of their CDs make up the final list?
- Are there ANY great albums that are not currently available on CD and were they excluded from being "good" simply because they are unavailable?

I've challenged RS's inclusion of greatest hits "albums" since they aren't albums in the traditional sense. Might as well recommend boxed sets too if you are going to go that route.

[longtermmemmory]

It seems the album is more an accounting trick rather than an artistic expression these days. They get to spread the costs across all songs in an album vs one hit or miss. This is no different than the movie studios spreading the winning movie proffits across to the loosing movies.

[weegee]

But the psychedelic '60s turned that upside down. With the Beatles and Bob Dylan knocking out songs at a rapid-fire clip, the 33-rpm album became the best way to get them to the marketplace.

Spurred on by free-form FM radio, musicians started writing longer songs and weaving whole albums around a musical or lyrical theme: The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Who's rock opera Tommy (1969), Marvin Gaye's socially conscious What's Going On (1971).

Besides concept albums was also the addition of monster length cuts (8 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes). FM radio would play these longer cuts (and in stereo) as broadcasters went from AM only to AM and FM.

There are still concept albums today. Some performers are ridiculed for them; really it depends on the concept and the quality of the songs. Commercial radio music largely stinks today (there are very few shining examples of any risk or rock being played on commercial radio).

[weegee]

"I've never found an album - even a Beatles album - where every song on it was great," says B.B. King, who now listens to his favourite tunes on an MP3 player.

He should get out more then. What is he listening to? Covers of standards? Even Clarence Gatemouth Brown is able to incorporate new arangements of other peoples' songs into an album and turn out some pheonomenal work.

Name dropping and technology hyping but it doesn't really say much.

Should the 2 instrumental cuts be dropped from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds?

[weegee]

I put my money in vinyl. Vinyl has resale value that CDs just don't have and the resale of downloaded tracks would depend on the agreement you click when you buy.

With a CD burner, I can put my new vinyl to CD and listen to it in both formats.

I bought the new Dirtbombs album this week (and it is probably the best rock album from last year). I hit a decision when I bought it; the CD had 2 bonus cuts not on the LP. The LP had a 45 enclosed that had 2 cuts not on the CD. The LP was $8.99 while the CD was $13.99. $5 difference for 2 different cuts? No hard choice there...

[J. Byron]

""I haven't bought a newly-released album in ten years.""

"I have. Direct from the independent artists themselves."

Try: http://www.dmusic.com

[Richard Kimball]

Wow. The people on this thread sound like a bunch of geezers.

"When I was a kid, they played good music, not this crap they play today. That Brittney Spears is a little tramp. Metallica, now that was music. Whenever you want to get a girl into bed, play side 2 of Led Zeppelin 4. It's really good if she takes her teeth out."

Geez guys. Young people might want to listen to something other than the fifteen records you thought defined western culture when you were cruising the strip in your eight year old Chevette, listening to Pink Floyd on your eight track.

[Rainmist]

Oh yes, how true !! Now, my daughter will buy CD's of her fave artists even tho she has them downloaded simply because they are her fave, like Justin. I always leaned towards Greatest Hits collections of my faves because I didn't want all the other crap you get with individual albums. Now, I just download the songs I want !!!! The rapper 50 Cent said that when his latest CD came out - and I'm paraphrasing here - that out of every three people who downloaded his CD, two went out and bought it anyway - so he doesn't care if people download his music at all. Maybe this will eventually weed out the fake " artists ", like Buttney.

[steve-b]

Metallica is among a handful of acts that refuse to sell their songs a la carte over the Web. John Mayer, Linkin Park and the Beastie Boys are also bucking the 99-cent song trend by only allowing their complete albums to be downloaded for $9.99.

In their next careers, they will (attempt to) insist that the customer listen to the entire "Would you like Idaho-grown, cooked in 75% polyunsaturated vegetarian fat at 375 degrees for three minutes, fries?" speech before accepting a reply.