Rush...New material may not be in album format

This makes total sense - unless you are one of the 30 or so artists that get regular airplay anymore (even then radio is also a dying format), one of the best ways to remain on the radar and keep fans interested is to release more often than an album format alone will allow...

Brian Eno compared selling albums nowadays to selling whale blubber for oil lamps after electricity...It's sad, I'll miss them, and still think buying music stopped being fun after vinyls went the way of the dodo bird, but albums are less and less relevant every day...

I'm with Henry here. Many of you seem to be going down the OMGZ ALBUMZZZZZZ R DYING OFF AND THEY WONT EXIST ANYMORE path, and it confuses me.  And quite frankly, Radiohead's already started doing the same thing. Yet I haven't noticed a single drop in quality in their music. It's entirely about the music anyway, not the format. If Rush feels this is the best way for them to release their music, I'm all for it.

Let's just remove the entire paradigm of single and album.

Digital downloads allow the artist to do whatever the hell they want, without worrying about the constraints of 70 minutes, or 40 or whatever. Radiohead and maudlin of the Well both put out very long digital albums this year. If a musician gets a sudden brainstorm and wants to do an experimental 20 min. set, they can do it. I can't think of any prog bands I like that aren't prone to long songs, often tied together over an album somehow. Prog bands aren't going to start releasing 2:30 single hits, it's just not going to happen. I'd like to see them take advantage of this- many have in some form- and start experimenting even more. There are no worries about sales, because the only investment is the artist's time. Once we get rid of the CD, we get rid of the hold labels have always had over the artists. That can only be good!

which begs the question - can't you manage to assemble a collection of a group's songs once they have releases enough of them to meet your minimum time requirement (ex - 40 minutes) ?
 I love the whole Hemispheres album. But Frankly, I would have been just as happy to get Side two separately while they might have been working on Cygbus X-1 pt I & II. 
2112 didn't need the second side to be a great piece of music.

Eapo_q42 wrote: As I have said, most albums, even by prog bands, are just an arbitrary collection of songs.

Fixed.

I go with the late, great John Lennon on this matter; whatever gets you through the night.

Edited by sigod - January 29 2010 at 08:37

Eapo_q42 wrote: I've been arguing this back and forth on this thread for ages, hehe.... But it's not just a time requirement, dangnabbit! As I have said, most albums, especially by prog bands, are not just an arbitrary collection of songs. They are songs which are presented together because they provide context for one another, and they complement and enhance eachother by virtue of where they are placed in the running order. Choosing this list of songs, and the order of them, is an art unto itself. Example: On The Run and The Great Gig In The Sky would still be fine pieces of music by themselves. But within the context of Dark Side Of The Moon, and placed as they are, they become legendary. So sure, I *can* live without the album format. But I'll miss the hell out of it.

Eapo_q42 wrote: As I have said, most albums, especially by prog bands, are not just an arbitrary collection of songs. They are songs which are presented together because they provide context for one another, and they complement and enhance eachother by virtue of where they are placed in the running order. Choosing this list of songs, and the order of them, is an art unto itself. Example: On The Run and The Great Gig In The Sky would still be fine pieces of music by themselves. But within the context of Dark Side Of The Moon, and placed as they are, they become legendary. So sure, I *can* live without the album format. But I'll miss the hell out of it.

To me it sounds like we should eliminate the album as we know it as fast as we can!!! It would probably mean less gimmicks, and it would force musicians to make pieces which actually speak to you... without the help of an army of lukewarm songs.

You can't make DSOTM an exmple to prove your point, because it's established that that particular album is "one in a million". It is considered legendary for the exact reason you love albums, unlike almost any other album!

But really, if you have to listen to a full album before you notice the music has any power, you're listening to wrong bands! Sorry for sounding nonsensical.