In the earlier days of recorded music, listeners could only choose between the 45 rpm single and the 33 rpm album. No in-betweens. In fact, the idea of the album only came about in the late '50s, so to claim that albums were, from the beginning of time, designed to be listened to as a cohesive unit is spurious.
However, these arguments are not without merit -- when concept albums became a more regular feature and more importantly, became commercially successful, artists switched from the singles-driven market to the album-driven market. The songs became longer and less radio-friendly, while the albums became more cohesive and started to feature songs that ran right into each other. The answer to the debate of shuffle vs. "straight-through play" is one that will not quiet any message boards any time soon: it depends.
The albums which are best suited to unshuffled play are those which are constructed such. While you may be able to get through something designed to be played in a club such as Lady Gaga's The Fame [of which a review should be coming shortly] without needing any heavy context, I challenge you to keep your player on shuffle through The Decemberists' The Hazards Of Love [of which a review might be coming someday] without becoming rather confused. The same reason for this is the same reason many albums just sound better straight-though: it tells a story.
Whether it's an obvious "here's-the-fucking-story" kind of chronicle, or a more subtle "we're-just-gonna-tie-this-together-really-really-well" type, albums that feature a narrative demand to be played in order. But, then again, largely, it's up to you.
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I have never understood how people can listen to their music on shuffle all the time. It's understandable once in a while, but always? I know people who will select an album on their iPod but then play the songs shuffled. Even when I'm not in the mood to listen to an entire album, I hand pick which songs I listen to.
ReplyDeleteI'm a strong supporter of listening to complete albums. If not always, at least once in a while. If I hear a song I like on the radio, often I'll start humming the following song in my head. Nowadays, most people don't even know the order of songs - even on their favorite albums! I'm only 19, so I don't remember the days of vinyl prevalence. I do remember when kids still bought CDs on a regular basis, though, and listened to them on their Walkmans.
Times are definitely changing, and rapidly. My younger brother laughs at me for buying CDs, and he doesn't have a single full album on his iPod. I won't try too hard to persuade, though. After all, they're the ones missing out, not me.