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cuncuna View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: What does "EP" means?...
    Posted: September 21 2007 at 23:05
I mean, I know  that the temr stands for "Extended Play"; what I really want to know si what does it means... what's the artistic definition, it is a choice to record an EP?, the songs are just extra random stuff composed by the musician?... I'm curious...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 21 2007 at 23:50
i thought it was electronic production?..

i guess they just put them out as EPs considering they dont fit into a certain album. most bands come up w/ a bunch of songs when they write. some are appropriate for the album, some arent. therefore, EPs! i think lol
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 21 2007 at 23:58
EPs are just shorter than full-length albums. It's basically too long for a single but too short to be a regular album. The material on an EP doesn't necessarily have to be comprised of "outtake" or "reject" tracks. Sometimes artists just don't have enough worthwhile material to fill up an entire album.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 03:04
Extended Play.

Edit - there is the "Stupid Questions Thread" for this, you know Wink . Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EP


Edited by andu - September 22 2007 at 03:06
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 05:13
It goes back to the early days of The Beatles and The Stone (and probably before that). The Beatles had a number of EPs which contained 2 tracks on each side, so it was longer than a single but not an LP. Magical Mystery Tour was originally a double EP.
There may have also been some restrictions on whether they counted towards the singles charts or not.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 13:31
Originally posted by andu andu wrote:


Extended Play.Edit - there is the "Stupid Questions Thread" for this, you know Wink . Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EP


As you can see up there kind sir, I'm aware of the meaning; what I'm asking for is the artistic concept behind them; if they are accidental, created as EP, just songs gathered, etc.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 13:42
Even so, it's not a stupid question.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 13:49
I think it's actually defined by its time... 20-35 minutes...I believe.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 13:53
Originally posted by cuncuna cuncuna wrote:

Originally posted by andu andu wrote:


Extended Play.Edit - there is the "Stupid Questions Thread" for this, you know Wink . Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EP


As you can see up there kind sir, I'm aware of the meaning; what I'm asking for is the artistic concept behind them; if they are accidental, created as EP, just songs gathered, etc.


I admit I replied directly to the thread title Tongue, but then again that article gives some good hints Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 14:05
Originally posted by Time Signature Time Signature wrote:

Even so, it's not a stupid question.


I remeber this time when I was in highschool. One of the inspectors gave me a look because I asked something rather obviuos about a certain event that was to take place the next day in our school. "¿Anyone has an intelligent question to ask me about tomorrow?". I¡ll never forget his expresion when I replied "uhm... but only an intelligent lifeform can make questions; therefore, every question is intelligent per se"
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 14:06
Originally posted by andu andu wrote:


Originally posted by cuncuna cuncuna wrote:

Originally posted by andu andu wrote:


Extended Play.Edit - there is the "Stupid Questions Thread" for this, you know Wink . Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EP


As you can see up there kind sir, I'm aware of the meaning; what I'm asking for is the artistic concept behind them; if they are accidental, created as EP, just songs gathered, etc.
I admit I replied directly to the thread title Tongue, but then again that article gives some good hints Smile


I'll check that info as soon as Mercedes allow me to do so (she is not very happy with me posting on weekends). Thanks.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 14:31
EP's are normally defined by the number of songs contained on the record. 

For instance, most Godspeed You! Black Emperor albums are technically considered EP's even though they contain only 2 or 3 songs each and run about an hour!

an EP doesn't necessarily mean it's comprised of 'reject' tracks from LP's, and in fact it can make for a better album.  In many cases I've thought that a full length album would have made a better EP, if they had just concentrated on the best tracks and been rid of the filler tracks.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 15:36
Originally posted by GoldenSpiral GoldenSpiral wrote:

EP's are normally defined by the number of songs contained on the record. 

For instance, most Godspeed You! Black Emperor albums are technically considered EP's even though they contain only 2 or 3 songs each and run about an hour!

According to that logic all albums with only 1 song are singles.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 15:54
EP stands for short album. if you  think about it
too much your head will explode,
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 22 2007 at 20:12
This all started with the Happy with what you have to be ahppy with EP and the following Power to believe lp... I'm puzzled.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2007 at 01:44

What I'd like to know is why some albums are considered EPs when they aren't. For example, Spock's Beard's first album "The Light" was marked as an EP by Itunes; I've always wondered why that was. Confused


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2007 at 02:07
Originally posted by cuncuna cuncuna wrote:

This all started with the Happy with what you have to be ahppy with EP and the following Power to believe lp... I'm puzzled.


Before that it was VROOOM preceding THRaK; Crimson just wanted to give their rather rabid fans (one of whom I will be this coming year!) at least some idea of where the band was going.  Neither was ever intended to be (or packaged as) a fully-thought out or well-produced work from the band, but merely an act of "throwing a bone" to the fans. 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 23 2007 at 17:36
Depends on the band. Sometimes it's rejects, sometimes a demo of sorts, sometimes it's two different versions of a single stuck together. Oftentimes they're released in Japan as extended singles to discourage imports. Best of all is when it's a short but cohesive whole.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2007 at 12:47
As I understand it and as a general rule:
 
Single:  One track per side, normally 7" vinyl at 45rpm.
 
12" single:  As above but 12" (allowed for larger groove spacing hence better quality, sometimes extended versions or re-mixes on B side).
 
EP - Extended play:  Normally 7" but with more than two tracks and usually 33 1/3 rpm.
 
Album:  12" 33 1/3 rpm with as many or few tracks as would fit or suited the artist and one two or three discs in various sleeve formats.
 
With EP and single there were also variations like the double gatefold 45 rpm single "Magical Mystery Tour" (which my parents are lucky enough to own) and also 10" singles/EPs.
 
The above are obviously vinyl versions which is where singles and albums originated.  With CD and DVD the format allows much more flexibility with track length and number and doesn't have B sides or different play speeds so the single, album and EP lables don't really mean much anymore.
 
I hope that this helpsTongue
 
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