What makes an album?

So before I actually start ranting, here's a little intro to this. I am most definitely pretentious. I am a middle class 17 year old on the internet trying to think critically about music, and failing at it so damn much. However, I'm not trying to impress anyone, I just like listening and thinking and talking a lot about music. So following that, I've a shitload of opinions so let's get this shebang going.

This topic was prompted by my dad who, though is a nice and intelligent person, can be a complete fuck-knuckle sometimes. He argued that to make a good album, you need to put weaker tracks at the beginning of an album and end with your best song. For evidence, "The Bends"-Radiohead (Fucking good album, don't try and argue now), ending on what I'd describe as the most beautiful Radiohead song to date, "Street Spirit (Fade Out). Ok, ending the album on that song was a good idea and yes, the opening song "Planet Telex" isn't exactly the best on the album. But there's a reason those two songs were put there. They were the best songs on the album to open and close the album. And that in my mind is what changes a collection of songs into an album; song placement. Put some actual thought into your song order and actually give your listener a smooth and enjoyable experience.

And yes, I get that flow is important too but it's not that hard to create, because you're keeping the same style/using the same instruments, and these similarities create flow. So unless you're desperately unimaginative and decide to stick a piano ballad next to a 20 minute prog rock epic, you've got flow hands down. So how do you get your audience to want to listen all the way through. Well, apart from making good music, invite your audience in and then leave them on a high note. Let's look at some examples...

How bout we try the greatest indie rock record ever first? How does "Funeral" start? With a light piano a catchy guitar riff, slowing bringing you into the album, which then builds into a gushing and pounding song by the end. How does it end? With loud violins, drums and guitar slowly softening to a single violin line before becoming nothing. Now, in my opinion neither song is the best on the album (that honour goes to "Wake Up"), but they open and close the album perfectly, whereas "Wake Up" would feel clunky in either position. Convinced? Cause I've got more...

Let's try last year's most acclaimed album. Bon Iver, Bon Iver, good album, good album. Its opener, "Perth" goes from one guitar to a whole menagerie of instruments at the end;its one giant crescendo mark. Its closer, "Beth/Rest" slowly gets louder until a minute from the end, then it dies out along with the album. It works. But I've got one more.

Let's do the most acclaimed album of all time, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Starting with the title track, at first all you can hear is the muttering of people and the tuning of instruments. Then, BAM, killer riff with awesome drums, that's the way to start an album. And how does it end, you may ask? "A Day In The Life", with its flurry of strings, horns and cymbals and then a final blast on a trumpet and a long held piano chord. Sex.

Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a bunch of songs put together on a cd, because you just described a mixtape, and I love mixtapes, but there's something special about a carefully crafted album which to me make it that much more enjoyable. Enough of my opinions, go out and listens to some albums.

Cook

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...

So suppose a friend comes up to you and goes, "Dude, watch this". He then flips onto his head, pulls out some ingredients and starts making a sandwich. Once he's done, he flips back onto his feet, bows, and hands you the sandwich. You think, "Wow, that was amazing, wonder how good the sandwich will be?" So you go to take a bite and you discover that this is the best sandwich ever created. You start shouting, "HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AMAZING JESUS FUCK HOT DAMN! HOW ARE YOU  SO GOOD?", and he only smiles and says, "That's because I'm *puts on glasses* DJ Shadow".

And so through that tortured analogy is the best way I'd explain his 1996 debut trip-hop album "Endtroducing...". It is an album entirely made of sampling other music/movies, along with a few spoken words of his own. Now that's impressive, as good sampling is really hard to do. The fact that all the songs are cohesive and have good flow is what really elevates this album.

Shadow likes to begin some of his songs with a single element, and then progressively add and subtract away instruments and vocals to produce the hypnotic and atmospheric sound typical of trip-hop. On "Changeling", a slow organ loop becomes overpowered by a strong drum beat, bass, distant vocals, ethereal horns, chopped up vocals and more organ. On "Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt", a piano riff becomes intertwined with guitar, drums and vocals before being eventually reduced to that one piano riff closing out the song.

He is able to expertly combine together hip-hop and electronica together on tracks like "The Number Song" and " Mutual Slump", using a pulsing beat with electric noises to create a mesmerising effect on the listeners. On others a drum beat and warped vocals are all he needs to make the song. Altogether he shows a great deal of craftsmanship and attention to detail when creating every one of these songs.

No doubt the best example of his synthesis of samples comes from the psychedelic "Midnight In A Perfect World". Beginning with a vocal sample, it falls into slow repeated organ chords, with soft female vocals behind it. Pounding drums and gentle piano are added, along with a delayed guitar and scratching. And when each of these elements appear, they appear at precisely the right moment to create the song's feeling of propulsion. The steady repeating of the word "Midnight" only reaffirms this. The song ends with the words "Now approaching midnight" being chopped up and repeated with incredible speed before finishing on a triumphant "Midnight!" and ending with the ticking of a clock. All brought together form different sources to produce a mastery of deep, hypnotic atmosphere.

The only significant problem on this album is that the songs get too similar by the end and become forgotten. But apart from that I have to recommend this album to fans of electronic music, even fans of the wub. Maybe then dubstep creators can learn how to fucking create buildups effectively so that bassdrops actually mean anything. Just sayin...

Rating: 4.5/5

Best songs: Midnight In A Perfect World/Changeling