The Sad and Inevitable Death of the Album

I just ordered me a sweet Radiohead t-shirt featuring the lovely, disturbing artwork of Stanley Donwood. Mr. Donwood has been producing art for Radiohead’s albums since The Bends in ‘95 and he’s built the band a great visual aesthetic to match their music. Album art is one of the oft-forgotten benefits of the physical album, something that is sadly on its way out. Now, I’m no enemy of the mp3. In fact, most music I enjoy comes to me by some means through the internet. What I’m far more worried about than the death of the cd is just the death of the actual concept of an album itself.

See, thanks to the mp3 format, my generation is growing up with nothing but singles. I’m sure a lot of people my age never even bother buying cds. Singles are sometimes the best song on the album, but that’s besides the point. Artists (Well, some artists.) put a lot of thought into what goes into an album, how it’s all ordered, and what the general effect of it is. The entire album is an experience to be enjoyed, not just one catchy tune. And it’s very easy to discover that some of the least known and least popular songs by a band are actually your favorite, hidden away in the album waiting for you to give them a listen.

I’m not going to pretend that you have to do elaborate concept albums in order to be considered a great artist, and a singles only format could certainly work for some people. Like Arctic Monkeys. The band talked last year about releasing songs as they finish them rather than putting out albums, giving them a more frequent creative output. See, I endorse that. I’ve listened to Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, and I’m not impressed with it as an album, but I like parts of it, and most of those parts just happen to be its singles. Besides Sgt. Pepper’s, I’d argue that The Beatles were a lot bigger on songs than they were on albums. (Though the fact that most of their songs are instant classics might render that a moot point.)

So basically, it’s up to the artist, and perhaps the album won’t die, as long as there are artists and fans who still believe in it, like Radiohead and like myself. Now excuse me while I go listen to In Rainbows.

- Sean, just an animal trapped in your hot car.

May 08