Albums You Can/Can't Listen to The Whole Way Through

[AboutAGirl]

Hmm... That's a toughy for me. Unless it's something new or something I haven't explored extensively yet, I don't generally listen to traditional albums. What I like to do is carefully compose new albums out of my catalog, albums that create a certain mood or deal with certain themes or come from a particular vantage point. I just find it really rewarding, it forges a new kind of bond between me and the material. They haven't been officially released, but these albums to me are as real and as concrete as anything in an artist's discography. Once I compose a new album it's something I keep listening to for years on end.

It's also an extremely useful method because I can't keep playing Harvest or ZoSo forever after I overplayed them times a million when I was 13, but I can take pieces here, pieces there, and put them into new contexts that make them viable again.

But I digress! Probably the one album I still play which I never skip tracks on is Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Broken Arrow. It's not generally a favorite among the people, but for it's just one long string of amazing guitar jams, which is exactly what I like most from Neil. It has such a perfect mood and texture, and I only really got into it 4 or 5 years ago, so I never overplayed it to destruction. It's a flawless formula that requires no editing: jam, jam, jam.

On the other side, one album that ranks among my all-time favorites but I definitely can't listen to it all the way through is Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Sleeps With Angels. While I think it's the album with the best atmosphere and mood in the history of music, I really can't handle two versions of My Heart and the aptly titled "Piece of Crap," such an awful song. So my "version" of the album is only 10 tracks. Ten perfect, flawless tracks.

 

[Mr. Shadow]

I can listen to pretty much any Beatles or early Rolling Stones albums. The same with Zeppelin and Hendrix. But many "one hit wonder" bands put out overall weak albums.
I'm not wild about the Yes albums without Steve Howe playing lead.

I may be one of the few to listen to (and appreciate) Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Mucic" in it's entirity.

 

[The Wanderer]

Band On The Run - Wings, after the title track played stopped listening. I did not like the a side of the album It has been a while since I have listened to that album so I do not recall my exact reasoning for stopping.

I got halfway through Leif Garrett's debut album then I have had enough of him shredding and murdering great tunes.

 

[Jonny Come Lately]

Hmm... That's a toughy for me. Unless it's something new or something I haven't explored extensively yet, I don't generally listen to traditional albums. What I like to do is carefully compose new albums out of my catalog, albums that create a certain mood or deal with certain themes or come from a particular vantage point. I just find it really rewarding, it forges a new kind of bond between me and the material. They haven't been officially released, but these albums to me are as real and as concrete as anything in an artist's discography. Once I compose a new album it's something I keep listening to for years on end.

Although I still listen to traditional albums a lot I've actually tried some similar ideas, often as part of extended playlists which I put on in the car. I find it fun to come up with ideas for these and then play them.

Here's one Pink Floyd sequence which I've found works quite well:
Speak To Me/Breathe
Any Colour You Like
Comfortably Numb
The Show Must Go On
(I omitted In The Flesh as I'm aware others don't necessarily want to listen to lyrics like 'Are there any ****** in the theatre tonight? Get 'em up against the wall' or 'If I had my way I'd have all of you shot', and In The Flesh? doesn't fit)
Run Like Hell
Have A Cigar
Wish You Were Here
(the howling wind at the end of the song transitions into...)
One Of These Days
A Pillow Of Winds
Fearless

As Fearless ends with the chanting from the Liverpool FC fans I can put just about anything after this song so it makes a convenient end for this sequence.

Sure, some of the transitions aren't as seamless as the album ones, but it's a great set of tracks which sound even better in that order, and hey, up to and including Run Like Hell it just about works conceptually, with Any Colour You Like representing the protagonist's descent into madness.

A few other playlist ideas I've had:
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse rock tunes (essentially anything with that grunge-like sound, good for songs like When You Dance, I Can Really Love, which is surrounded on the album by mostly acoustic tracks).
- 'Light and shade' Led Zeppelin songs (Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Ramble On, Over The Hills And Far Away etc.) - basically anything that combines acoustic and electric elements.
- One song from each album I own by an artist - I really need to have at least four albums for this to work properly though.
- Songs focussing on one band member (for instance, I did one for the Eagles with Don Henley songs).
- Songs which have thematic links, e.g. Southern Man Alabama by Neil Young followed by Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd (always has to be that way round though).

Having said that I don't tend to keep them around as long as you keep yours. I do have a notepad file listing the tracks I've included on playlists I've liked so I can recreate them if necessary, though as I've added quite a lot of new songs from a small base over the last couple of years I'm not that likely to do that just yet.

 

[Sweaty]

I have quite a few that I can listen to right through, probably too many to name but I will name a couple for starters.

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

The Waterboys - Room To Roam

Fuzzy Duck - Fuzzy Duck

Chicken Shack - 40 Blue Fingers

The Cult - Love

The Cure - Head On The Door

 

[tkitna]

Albums that I can listen to all the ay through that aren't my favorite bands or singers would be -

Bad Company, Tom Petty, Allman Brothers Band, Grand Funk, etc,,,

Tons of bands and so forth that I don't like that I would be crying to have it turned off.

 

[AboutAGirl]

Although I still listen to traditional albums a lot I've actually tried some similar ideas, often as part of extended playlists which I put on in the car. I find it fun to come up with ideas for these and then play them.

Here's one Pink Floyd sequence which I've found works quite well:
Speak To Me/Breathe
Any Colour You Like
Comfortably Numb
The Show Must Go On
(I omitted In The Flesh as I'm aware others don't necessarily want to listen to lyrics like 'Are there any ****** in the theatre tonight? Get 'em up against the wall' or 'If I had my way I'd have all of you shot', and In The Flesh? doesn't fit)
Run Like Hell
Have A Cigar
Wish You Were Here
(the howling wind at the end of the song transitions into...)
One Of These Days
A Pillow Of Winds
Fearless

As Fearless ends with the chanting from the Liverpool FC fans I can put just about anything after this song so it makes a convenient end for this sequence.

Sure, some of the transitions aren't as seamless as the album ones, but it's a great set of tracks which sound even better in that order, and hey, up to and including Run Like Hell it just about works conceptually, with Any Colour You Like representing the protagonist's descent into madness.

A few other playlist ideas I've had:
- Neil Young & Crazy Horse rock tunes (essentially anything with that grunge-like sound, good for songs like When You Dance, I Can Really Love, which is surrounded on the album by mostly acoustic tracks).
- 'Light and shade' Led Zeppelin songs (Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, Ramble On, Over The Hills And Far Away etc.) - basically anything that combines acoustic and electric elements.
- One song from each album I own by an artist - I really need to have at least four albums for this to work properly though.
- Songs focussing on one band member (for instance, I did one for the Eagles with Don Henley songs).
- Songs which have thematic links, e.g. Southern Man Alabama by Neil Young followed by Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd (always has to be that way round though).

Having said that I don't tend to keep them around as long as you keep yours. I do have a notepad file listing the tracks I've included on playlists I've liked so I can recreate them if necessary, though as I've added quite a lot of new songs from a small base over the last couple of years I'm not that likely to do that just yet.

Very cool, I love it! I just finished a batch of ultimate summer playlists that I had been working on for over a year believe it or not (since last summer). Here're a few of them if you're interested. It's mostly based on nostalgia and personal experiences I've had with songs.

Piano Melancholy -- these are all sparse, piano-based tunes.

1. Summer in the City -- Regina Spektor
2. City -- Sara Bareilles
3. Parting Gift -- Fiona Apple
4. Somedays -- Regina Spektor
5. Summer's Almost Gone [Demo] -- The Doors
6. Cathedrals -- Joan Osborne
7. For the Love of a Daughter -- Demi Lovato
8. Chemo Limo -- Regina Spektor
9. Gravity -- Sara Bareilles
10. Forever & Always [Piano Version] -- Taylor Swift
11. The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightfoot) -- Taylor Swift
12. Wake Up Time -- Tom Petty

Summer Evenings -- for those bittersweet nights of drinkin' under a golden sunset.

1. Highway Don't Care (feat. Taylor Swift) -- Tim McGraw
2. Run Fast -- The Julie Ruin
3. Fate to Fatal -- The Breeders
4. All Too Well -- Taylor Swift
5. Long Hot Summer Night -- Jimi Hendrix Experience
6. The Whole Night -- Ani Difranco
7. Where Is The Highway Tonight? -- Neil Young
8. Night Moves -- Bob Seger
9. The River -- Bruce Springsteen
10. Lover of the Bayou -- Mudcrutch
11. Because the Night -- Patti Smith
12. Put Your Lights On (feat. Everlast) -- Santana
13. Good Enough -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
14. Don't Let Me Be Lonely -- The Band Perry


Supreme Midnight -- for those late night, 4am get togethers.

1. Pulse -- Ani DiFranco
2. Supernatural Radio -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
3. Full Grown Boy -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
4. No Title -- Ten Years After
5. Wake Up -- Mad Season
6. Long Gone Day -- Mad Season
7. Benighted -- Opeth
8. Electric Feel -- Katy Perry
9. Naked Glass -- Hotchacha
10. The She -- The Breeders
11. Darkness Darkness -- Robert Plant
12. Sins of My Youth -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
13. The Trip to Pirate's Cover -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers


I dunno, it's just something I enjoy. I have playlists for everything, labor day, halloween, different years, different era's in a band's career, different song structures...