Which LP's should be EP's? Which double albums should be single albums?

[TheMojoPin]

Great new feature up on the Onion's AV Club today: "Tighten up: 21 good albums that could have been great EPs." (http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/tighten_up_21_good_albums_that)

Pretty good selections that I mostly agree with, though the selection of the Verve's Urban Hymms could not be more fucking wrong. What albums do you guys wish had been trimmed down to something really great? Let's say that the EP can only be 6 songs long, tops.

And along those lines, which double albums would work better as single albums? Personally, I think all double albums with the exception of the White Album all fail and need to be chopped down, but what say the rest of you? Which songs would you keep? Let's say it can only be 10-12 songs long. Spill it!

[Furtherman]

I've never really thought about the difference in LPs and EPs. What gives?

[Hottub]

LP is more or less 20 minutes per side. EP is half that. Kind of a 45 on steroids.

Phisical Graffitty.
I will leave Quadrophenia in tact.

[TheMojoPin]

I've never really thought about the difference in LPs and EPs. What gives?

The general rule is that an EP is 10-25 minutes long. Anything less is a single and anything more is an LP.

It's kind of arbitrary now with CD's, so typically anything with more than 3 songs but less than 8 is an EP.

[Hottub]

Remove "Moby Dick" and "Stairway" from The Song Remains The Same, and it is an EP.

[patsopinion]

what the fuck are the old ppl talking about?

is that like a hidden song on an mp3?

[drjoek]

How do the kids of today remove the stems and seeds??

[Hottub]

How do the kids of today remove the stems and seeds??

:clap:

[GreatAmericanZero]

"the replacements" are on that list. Wheres Paulisded for his expert opinion?

[Mike Teacher]

To touch one note of Fishbone's 'Truth and Soul' is to mess w/ perfection.

Wow, the article does show the EP and LP are truly anachronistic, many are like 'what the fuck are you talking about?'

OK, once upon a time the album was king. Dead dinosaurs were pressed into discs, and little grooves were etched into them; it was a weird time.

Anyway, the area needed for the grooves limited the amount of music that could be put on one side of a dead dino disc, I think about 20 minutes for an LP; bands like Pink Floyd had to shuffle and/or delete songs and/or make Two discs instead of one to accomidate.

Unintended bad consequance of CD Technology: When the CD came around, since they could hold 70+ minutes of music, bands felt compelled to make albums with 70+ minutes of music, where before an eight song 40 minute long album sufficed.

[Hottub]

Hey Mike? Which Python album had the endless groove at the end?
"Sorry 'squire, I scratched the record."
1 side of an LP ran for 3 hours while getting more weed.:smoke:

[torker]

There should have been an album called Use Your Illusion.

[TheMojoPin]

Forget it, Torker. This poor thread was infected with old fartdom before it even had a chance to live.

[patsopinion]

How do the kids of today remove the stems and seeds??

last time we used a video projector that had broken and was sitting in my back seat

[Caseyelan]

Should have been an EP: Every Strokes record. I seriously believe they are SO GREAT in a 5-6 song dose.

[Caseyelan]

Hey mojo....

if only you'd come back to me
if you laid at my side
wouldn't need no mojo pin
to keep me satisfied

This record should have been a fucking box set.

[patsopinion]

Hey mojo....

if only you'd come back to me
if you laid at my side
wouldn't need no mojo pin
to keep me satisfied

This record should have been a fucking box set.

que the gossip music

[TheMojoPin]

Hey mojo....

if only you'd come back to me
if you laid at my side
wouldn't need no mojo pin
to keep me satisfied

This record should have been a fucking box set.

I don't care what anyone says...this lady's all class.

[patsopinion]

I don't care what anyone says...this lady's all class.

id totally Madison her

[TheMojoPin]

id totally Madison her

That's using the Ol' Hickory.

[A.J.]

Personally, I think all double albums with the exception of the White Album all fail and need to be chopped down, but what say the rest of you?

Best double album of all-time:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ca/ExileMainSt.jpg

Zep's Physical Graffitti could be an EP since most of the tracks on that album were "old" tracks from previous album sessions. I always wanted to see Jimmy reissue the Zep catalogue that way: "Down by the Seaside" an "Bron-Yr-Aur" on Zeppelin III, and "Houses of the Holy" actually on Houses of the Holy for example.

[Mike Teacher]

Hey Mike? Which Python album had the endless groove at the end?
"Sorry 'squire, I scratched the record."
1 side of an LP ran for 3 hours while getting more weed.:smoke:

I forget which Python album had an endless loop groove; there's a Peter Gabriel solo album that fades to a note that just keeps going in the end groove; if you space out...

I think Python also had an amazing idea with the two grooved record. Not sure of title, but it had two grooves on one side; so if you took the needle off and placed it back down you might get the groove you were listening to, or the other groove.

=

My stupid condescending vinyl rant above is stupid; but I remember reading a tech article on the technology of vinyl. It's very weird, if you step back, if you think about it, compared to digitally sampling the music and encoding it with ones and zeroes like today, you can get amazing fidelity with a needle tracking the squiggles in a groove set in vinyl/wax/Edison Cylinders etc.

I know a lot of people who argue vinyl is superior to any other format; and it's essentially the exact technology Edison used, but some argue it beats the best CD anyone can produce...

The one thing I really miss is Big Album Art. I wallpapered many rooms with album covers.

...a bit like how many guitarists swear by analog tubes as oppsed to solid-state amps.

[jafter]

http://www.hank-dust.com/img/galerie/cover-artwork/doubletten/london_calling.jpg.
http://www.yantz.com/YtseReviews/Images/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad.jpg

Two more great double albums. I would not get rid of any song on London Calling and just Jamaica jerkoff on Yellow Brick Road.

[donnie_darko]

now i know how ron feels when people talk about podcasts.

lp/ep, wtf?omg!LOL! mp3 ftw!

[epo]

"the replacements" are on that list. Wheres Paulisded for his expert opinion?

I saw him on the Paul Westerberg site today.

[JustJon]

nine inch nails' The Fragile

some good songs there, but a cd of filler mixed in

[paulisded]

"the replacements" are on that list. Wheres Paulisded for his expert opinion?

8. The Replacements, Don't Tell A Soul (1989)

"We ain't much to look at, so / close your eyes, here we go / We're playing at the talent show," sings Paul Westerberg's in "Talent Show," the opening track of the band's sixth album, Don't Tell A Soul. The lyric was meant to be ironic in the face of the group's growing stature, but the joke was mostly on Westerberg: While Don't Tell A Soul is an underrated batch of downbeat tunes stuffed with his effortless wordplay and wry melancholy, it's hampered by cotton-padded production and overall listlessness. The almost-anthem "We'll Inherit The Earth" would have worked better minus the Bryan Adams-sings-The Joshua Tree vibe, but the proto-alt-country of "Achin' To Be" and the classic Westerberg-ism of songs like "Back To Back" and "I'll Be You" hold enough hooks and wit to soar. That is, for about 17 minutes.

The EP version: 1. "Talent Show"; 2. "Back To Back"; 3. "Achin' To Be"; 4. "Anywhere's Better Than Here"; 5. "I'll Be You"



Well, I don't really disagree with this, as it's their weakest album. But I would have to also include "Darlin' One". The only problem is that I'd still have all of the other tracks in poorly-dubbed bootleg versions and would be complaining they hadn't been officially released.

I haven't read the entire thread, but the one album that begs to be narrowed down is the Clash's triple-disc Sandinista.

[paulisded]

I saw him on the Paul Westerberg site today.

Of course you did!

BTW, did you know that even Westerberg/Replacements messageboards have drama? When I went to see him in September I had to go to two different pre-parties because the owners of two boards hate each other.

[epo]

Of course you did!

BTW, did you know that even Westerberg/Replacements messageboards have drama? When I went to see him in September I had to go to two different pre-parties because the owners of two boards hate each other.

I just use Kathy's site. Is the other one the Color Me Impressed site? As for the drama....that just sounds funny.

[paulisded]

I just use Kathy's site. Is the other one the Color Me Impressed site? As for the drama....that just sounds funny.

Yeah, that's the other one...although the second party was actually for PaulWesterbeg.net (or something like that). Kathy's site is definitely the most informative of the bunch.

[epo]

Yeah, that's the other one...although the second party was actually for PaulWesterbeg.net (or something like that). Kathy's site is definitely the most informative of the bunch.

Well, it's good to see a fellow "Westerhead" here on RF.net.

[paulisded]

Well, it's good to see a fellow "Westerhead" here on RF.net.

I prefer the term "Westernerd". :)

One of the reasons I prefer this board to all of the other O&A/R&F boards these days is the fact that it's full of intelligent music discussions.

[epo]

I prefer the term "Westernerd". :)

One of the reasons I prefer this board to all of the other O&A/R&F boards these days is the fact that it's full of intelligent music discussions.

Either way, a Paul Westerberg fan is always good people in my book.

Question: How is the Jim Walsh book?

[paulisded]

Either way, a Paul Westerberg fan is always good people in my book.

Question: How is the Jim Walsh book?

I think it's really good. It has it's errors, especially since Paul and Tommy didn't do new interviews for it. But it really the captures early to mid-80's Minneapolis scene. There's one story about a party at Peter Jesperson's house where Paul, Alex Chilton, Freedy Johnston and others had a little "hootenanny" that blew my mind.

[Gritty]

Hey Mike? Which Python album had the endless groove at the end?
"Sorry 'squire, I scratched the record."
1 side of an LP ran for 3 hours while getting more weed.:smoke:

Matching Tie and Handkerchief, I believe. It was a 3 sided album.

[TheMojoPin]

I think it's really good. It has it's errors, especially since Paul and Tommy didn't do new interviews for it. But it really the captures early to mid-80's Minneapolis scene. There's one story about a party at Peter Jesperson's house where Paul, Alex Chilton, Freedy Johnston and others had a little "hootenanny" that blew my mind.

I'm not too impressed with the book so far. It seems to be falling into one of the most common traps of music journalism...the writer thinks that he is as interesting as the band he's covering.

Is Kathy's site the one with the mailing list? If so, I've been on that deal for a while.

I like that the Onion's list point out that DTaS has a bunch of great songs on it, since so many people just write it off. Westerberg's entire solo career could definitely be editied down into about 2 albums.

[danner1515]

Matching Tie and Handkerchief, I believe. It was a 3 sided album.

I have several 3-sided records. They're all from the CD-era.

Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins

[KnoxHarrington]

I took up George Martin's challenge and made The White Album into a single album. I set myself the following rules:

1. It must be the length of a vinyl LP, meaning no more than about 26 minutes to a side.

2. Since this album was made at the time the Beatles were at each other's throats the most viciously, you need to strike a balance between Paul and John, meaning that there probably need to be about as many of John's songs as Paul's. And you gotta keep George happy too, meaning you need to include his stuff. Ringo's probably just glad to be there.

3. "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" were also recorded in those sessions, so you can throw them in.

So here's my single album:

Side One
1. Back In the USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Martha My Dear
4. I'm So Tired
5. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
6. Blackbird
7. Julia
8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Side Two
1. Revolution
2. Helter Skelter
3. Mother Nature's Son
4. Sexy Sadie
5. Long, Long, Long
6. Hey Jude

Anyway, there ya go. I think that would have been a pretty fucking strong record.

[Freakshow]

Can I make Jar of Flies into a full album? And the S/T into an EP?

(first EP to go to #1 btw)

[danner1515]

Side One
1. Back In the USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Martha My Dear
4. I'm So Tired
5. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
6. Blackbird
7. Julia
8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Side Two
1. Revolution
2. Helter Skelter
3. Mother Nature's Son
4. Sexy Sadie
5. Long, Long, Long
6. Hey Jude

Anyway, there ya go. I think that would have been a pretty fucking strong record.

Bah, you screwed up the song order. "Long, Long, Long" has to follow "Helter Skelter." Going from "I'VE GOT BLISTERS OF ME FINGAHS!!!" to that quiet guitar intro is perfect. Also, where's "Cry Baby Cry?" That's one of my favorite songs on the album.