Decline of stereo systems & death of the album?

Rob Babcock · « **on:** 10 Dec 2003, 09:02 pm »

Interesting article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3227576.stm. Definately some good points- our obessession with "albums" is a somewhat new phenomenon. Maybe from a cultural standpoint (and not our tiny minority of lunies!

) a compilations of their own favorites does make more sense.

Me, I like the artwork and stuff. Guess I'm a product of my generation.

As far as electronics go, I don't have the figures in front of me, but I'm a bit dubious of the bleak prognosis for stereo gear. Unless somehow those stats filter out HT gear- although I can't see how you can. If someone buys a pair of speakers how can you say its for HT instead of stereo? With HT recievers it's a bit more cut and dried, of course.

Hantra · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Dec 2003, 09:54 pm »

Man, I think what sucks about this whole emerging trend is not only the death of the album from a business standpoint, but also from an art standpoint. We all must admit that ever since the music industry became big business, and hugely profitable, the quality has gone downhill. Even so, there are still a few artists, and groups who aspire to make a true album, and not just "a buncha songs so we can sell it for $18 dude!"

Now, with the changes in the industry, even this will go away. Since all the focus is on the track now, it will be impossible for us to have great albums. Think about the great albums you have that are meant to be a story from beginiing to end, and not just a collection of tracks. Even though there are few artists capable of doing that nowadays, it is still an important part of the art of music IMO.

I'm all depressed now.

Marbles · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Dec 2003, 10:15 pm »

Yea, we need more story albums like Frank Zappa's Apostrophe ... Yellow snow seemed to be the theme of that little story

(Actually I do like this LP)

No need to get your shorts in a wad over the download thing....after an artist has released 40 minutes of songs, they will put them on plastic and sell them at best buy.

nathanm · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Dec 2003, 10:17 pm »

Hmmm, definitely sounds like I don't want to read this article...

I'll try to cut my modern album cover art rant to a minimum and say that modern album cover art is really taking a dive. I dunno about the stuff you guys listen to, but metal cover art on the whole has taken a turn towards really predictable photo montages and wretched Eye Candy logos. Tools in the hands of the ignorant, that's all I have to say... I guess it's a subjective feeling, but still...overall it seems that amateur-looking work is more prevalent than professional-looking stuff. Case in point, the latest Iron Maiden album. Iron Maiden, historically the freagging ICONS of killer album covers, has churned out a piece of shit cover made with POSER!!! Poser!? The most wretched piece of 3D software ever visited upon mankind! I don't care who you are, you can't make good art with Poser. It always sucks. I'm sorry, but the lameness of this particular tool seems to be insurmountable. A bunch of bald plastic people standing around with these awful contorted joints. Please tell me Derek Riggs did not concoct this steaming pile of feces...

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Dec 2003, 10:26 pm »

Some of my favorite albums are "concept" albums; Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche is one of the best examples. The whole disc tells the same story, and while there are some songs that stand well alone, many wouldn't make sense except in the context of the whole work. Much of The Wall is that way, too.

Still, is anyone gonna try to say that it matters what order you put your Sugar Ray MP3s onto a disc? For fluff that like it doesn't matter, IMO (no knock on Sugar Ray, I actually like 'em quite a bit).

That said, I somehow doubt that the "single" or "track" will become the only way consumers identify with music. Certainly people our age and older have memories of albums, although maybe the kids that will be tomorrows audiophools will grow up with a very different understanding of and feelings about music.

There's one upshot to this; the compilation of tracks and the ordering thereof is an act of creativity in and of itself. What you include, what you omit, the order of songs and the way they flow is all very important when making your discs. That's one of the main ways the end-listener can interact with the music.

Or, uh, you could

rip 'em to MP3 and let the computer just dump them on alphabetically...

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Dec 2003, 10:30 pm »

Yeah, I pray Riggs had no role in this- if he was dead, he'd be rolling over in his grave!

Maiden has had some of the best album covers in metal history. But I also liked the 80's hairmetal tradition of getting the hottest chick(s) you could find and putting them on the cover as naked as you could get away with!

RATT was always good in this regard.

Any album covers you particulary liked lately, NathanM? As far as Me'al bands go, the new Masterplan cover is pretty cool (and the album is badass, too).

_scotty_ · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 02:30 am »

I also have to agree with the consensus expressed here. I don't think albums are entirely dead but they might be on the endangered list. The concept
album though is definitely gone. These were always considered high art
and a somewhat risky financial proposition unless you were Pink Floyd or Yes. Hawkwind albums always seemed to have an overall theme and Jon Anderson's Olias of Sunhillow has been one of my favorite story albums
from the first time I heard it. Something that may also be lacking is a story or theme that requires more than 3 or 4 minutes of time to communicate it's content.
The final nail in the coffin of the album and especially the concept album is the way a couple of generations now listen to music. Music is no longer the focus of activity it once was. It now is the accompanist instead of the soloist. I guess I've dated my self now, I can remember when Tommy came out on vinyl and the release of To Our Children's, Children's, Children by the Moody Blues

Carlman · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 02:36 am »

Will we not see art like Ohio Player's 'Honey' again? mmmmm, that was 'sweet'!

As much as I like some of the current music, there isn't much cover art that's really stood out to me. It's usually just some jumbled snapshots with no real theme.

The last good album I bought that got the theme, the story, and the cover art together and it all worked was Joshua Tree by U2. Other albums have gotten a lot right but, none (that I can think of right now) have gotten it 100% like this one.

I don't think there's a lot of thought into the cover anymore... probably because it doesn't make money and instead costs money/profit. Record companies are struggling to keep making that 100,000% profit on every sale so, things like art, themes, thought, etc., are getting the axe.

I'm not going to read the article because it'll just make me mad. Hifi is just one more thing that will lose its 'craft'. One of things I admire most in hifi or any hobby or even profession is the ability for that person to master their craft and have pride in their work. It's obvious when someone put a lot of thought and effort into a design... and I know a lot people besides myself appreciate it to the point of making it profitable to be a good craftsman.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 05:24 am »

The article is fairly short and isn't really negative at all, more observations and statistics. The conclusions of the writer could almost be considered upbeat.

nathanm · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 06:05 am »

Okay nevermind...I read it; kind of a bland, nothin' article.

I will admit to downloading iTunes and grudgingly firing up win2K to run the damn thing like a good little modern record (er, track) consumer...but overall I think it sucks at this stage. Part of that is that the software is slow (as are ANY brushed metal Mac apps) but mainly it is just really impersonal. Your money disappears and it's like you have nothing to show for it. No cover, no lyrics, you've gotta buy and burn your own CDs if you want to play them that way. I mean, if you had an iPod every album title is just reduced to this little LCD matrix font on some little gadget. 99 cents is too expensive. Paying just a couple bucks less than a real CD and getting nothing besides an e-mail from Apple saying your bank account is 30 bucks lower than it was doesn't strike me as terribly enjoyable.

CDs are a bear to store I guess, but they add to the psychological experience of the music. But not everyone cares about it the same way...most of my friends have their CDs in those little sleeve pouch things whereas mine are married to their jewel cases. I get fidgety if the two become separate or if somebody puts the wrong CD in the case.

It is perhaps logical to have such highly dense storage that you can have every song you "own" in one object, but it kinda throws out numerous other fun aspects of these damn little pieces of plastic.

Vinyl seems to be hanging on long after its eulogy has been read, and I'm sure CDs will have the same lengthy funeral.

Anytime technology makes something easier and more accessible to more people the less special it will be overall. That can be found in lots of stuff besides music too.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 07:13 am »

That neatly sums up my own irrational attachment to my little silver discs. I also can't bear to see my discs separated for long from their cases or too many cases out of their assigned, alphabetical places in the rack. Lend one out? Ha! That'd be like lending your daughter out to the village pimp!

That's what burners are for.

Everytime I read about a new technology that makes recorded media obsolete, that's the problem I keep coming back to: I like to own stuff, to collect it. There's just no fun or pride of ownership to a well stocked hard drive. Or at least not the same thrill. But we may indeed be in the minority. Someday that concept may be considered quaint to the public at large, if it isn't already.

BeeBop · « **Reply #11 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 10:32 am »

Maybe you guys should think about getting into Jazz where a group doesn't get going until they've at least had a chance to blow a few riffs. As a jazz fan, I can tell you the whole idea of buying e-tunes, i-tunes, or whatever the hell it they're selling to try to get out of the fix they got themselves into by soaking the public to put their all fat butts in Beemers and their kids in private schools... oh man, just don't get me started.

The pop music industry is getting to be a pretty old and ugly tart.

Jumpin · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 03:05 pm »

One reason I like Albums is that as I get older, I can't read all the liner notes on CD's anymore! The boxed set CD's come with fancy booklets, but the type is so small they are almost impossible to read.

8thnerve · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 03:54 pm »

On the flip side, I just picked up an album from Tower of all places by a group called "Ohio". It is a two disc set from a new group who said, well, we have two discs worth of material and not one hit. So what. So they made it a two disc set anyway. And you know what, it's great. Surprising in the way that "Hem - Rabbit Songs" is, which was described as "fragile pastoral Americana" by some music "reviewer."

It stinks that you have to look SO hard though.

Zanth · « **Reply #14 on:** 11 Dec 2003, 04:30 pm »

Although I believe many youngsters may be on the mp3 bandwagon, I don't believe we are in the presence of an album extinction. There are plenty of bands out there who are all over the album idea and concept albums have not gone the way of the dodo. One only has to look to OK Computer from Radiohead, Spiritual Machines from Our Lady Peace and () from Sigur Ros to note that they concept album is alive and well. All these albums I rhymed off the top of my head are 6 years old or younger.

The RIAA's controlled pop and poppy rock artists are certainly spewing out garbage which the youngin's soak up. But don't fret, there are PLENTY of folks still lining up for the latest and greatest Strokes album or better yet the White Stripes, both of which are testing the boundaries of modern rock, going back to rock roots and are all over AAA and AAD transfers as well as doing it all old school.

Vinyl has outsold all SACDs and DVDAs in the last few years. Vinyl has outsold MP3's. Only Redbook is king, and of course we all know why.

That said, we can rest easy. 2 channel may be a niche that will slowly decrease in size but don't fret it will last. And HT will help to keep good 2 channel alive and well. The speakers will continue to be made, the high end digital front ends will be there as well, as will be the power amps. All we need to do is make sure we have some really good 2 channel preamps and we are all set. This will stay of course as separates which include 5.1-8.1 digi processors will require the preamp...

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Dec 2003, 02:08 am »

() by Sigur Ros is fantastic. I think you could safely add Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to the list of brilliant newer concept albums.