Albums VS Singles

I often see people complain when bands release singles over singles and no album …cough Kizu

But there seems to be people who prefer singles nowadays over albums too.

So i wonder what kind of releases do you all prefer?

  • Singles
  • full-length Album
  • EP/ Mini Album
  • Anything/ Something else

0 voters

2 Likes

Bands need breaks, the second full album by Gossip became quite a disaster which fault is that they had to use all their creativity and inspiration for their previous release which also was a full album.
Maxi singles are a great way to have something easy to produce in between, with the B-Sides on there also having a very concrete charm.
The compositions feel more rawer and direct than in full albums where the complete album as full artwork is more important.

my favourite approach would be something like 3 maxi singles then one full album.

5 Likes

I chose EP but my take is a bit more nuanced than that.

It’s really a case by case situation, but some bands do better with shorter releases and others with longer. It’s no secret that KIZU is allergic to full-length releases that aren’t compilations, but I personally feel like they’re exhausting to listen to for long periods of time. The secret to their success is that they cultivate the image they sell very carefully, and they do so in bite-sized chunks. I also believe Dir en grey would do better to transition to mini-albums; while their full-length albums are solid, they are haphazardly arranged and could often use an adjustment. I also think the GazettE should explore releasing mini-albums again because MASS did not need to be a full-length.

I don’t have a problem with a band that releases mostly singles, but I cannot stand the A-TYPE/B-TYPE/C-TYPE single release pattern. Music aren’t Yu-Gi-Oh! cards so I don’t need three copies, and the smallest differences between them could have been packaged on one disc and sold as mini-album. That would be more consumer and eco-friendly, but the razor thin profit margins of visual kei speak louder. Bands wouldn’t do it if it didn’t work, but I feel confident in saying we’re slowly moving away from the obnoxious multi-type campaigns. At most I’ll settle for a regular and limited edition, but you better make those differences substantial and noticeable.

There’s a holdover expectation from yesteryear that a band needs to release an album to establish themselves. I think this is a byproduct of how music used to be consumed and how that was the most efficient way to market yourself then. Streaming changed the game and that’s not true anymore. Plenty of Western artists don’t even release physical singles CDs anymore, just throw some songs up early and call it a “single”, and for me that loses a lot of the significance of what the format is capable of. Slice up enough of the album into these e-singles before release and that takes away from the impact of the album. A lot of international artists, especially in pop and hip hop, subsist on features and don’t release albums of their own very often. Get a hook on a song that goes viral and you can eat off that for a bit.

If you want an example, look at what “Old Town Road” did for Lil Nas X. Went from a viral hit in 2018 to releasing his first full album MONTERO in 2021, and “Old Town Road” ain’t even on it! And if you look up the single itself, you’ll see 16 versions and not a single one was a mass produced CD. Most are digital files. You’d have a better luck finding the vinyl pressing to be honest. And arguably, Lil Nas X got to make MONTERO because he established himself with the single not the album, and that’s entirely backwards from how I conceived the music release process when I first walked into visual kei. That’s wild.

Even KIZU showed that the effects have reached the rather insular Japanese market as they’ve been riding the single wave for a real long time and it’s been working! Such a thing would have been inconceivable just five years ago, but I think the band came to the conclusion that long releases and crunch composing and recording music just doesn’t work for them. And that’s great! I just think that EPs provide them the ability to craft their image the same way their single spree does, and it takes less packaging, and is consumer-friendly, but the trade-off is that they get less exposure. But I think the spectre of exposure and always having to churn out new music to stay relevant is a completely different holdover expectation that doesn’t jive with the ability to stream whatever you want 4000 times if you choose, as people can entertain themselves if given the musical resources to do so.

Overall I would like to see a reduction (but not elimination) of some forms of singles, more use of mini-albums, and releasing albums when it makes sense for the band to do so.

5 Likes

I hate that song lmao

Personally I prefer singles bc idk I can’t commit to things for a long period of time if I see like a 45 min long album I get really intimidated.
I have ADHD so it’s just hard to pay attention to them. But as long as the musics good, I don’t care!

3 Likes

One of the three people who voted singles. Go Go Menshevik team.

1 Like

I voted for full-length albums, but in truth I like mini albums just as much.

Usually if a release is less than 3 tracks it just escapes my mind completely. I need an album’s or mini album’s length to get immersed in the music. I come from the mindset that a record presents a complete artistic vision and concept, not just “okay, main song then B-side” (tho that in itself is a concept, I know :smiley: ).

It’s a hard preference to have in the world of visual kei tho, as artists of the scene tend to release singles cuz that’s the most efficient and fast way to get their music out there… oh well.

7 Likes

I’m the type of person who enjoys listening to music on vinyl and tapes, so (longer) EPs and full-lenght albums are to be preferred. But when listening to music digitally I don’t mind singles or (shorter) EPs at all.

But at the end of the day I don’t really care, but as I’ve gotten older I prefer releases to be between 20 and 45 minutes, simply because it fits how live my life as an adult. Back in the days I didn’t really mind albums clocking in on 75-120 minutes (as long as they were good), because I had the time to sit through it, but I rarely have that kind of time anymore.

So personally I think 25-35 minutes is the ideal lenght of a release.

3 Likes

I’m going to go with EP length, but with a couple of caveats.

The main reason I tend to prefer full-length albums to singles is simply because, if it’s an artist I like or follow, it’s better to have more new music to listen to! However, buying physical albums these days can be an expensive business (especially in the VK scene) and it can be difficult to know when it’s worth it to make the investment. On the one hand we have some cases where half the songs were already released, whereas on the other an album of completely new music can make me apprehensive without much to go on.

Rather than the number of songs, I think the overall runtime is quite important. Unless each track is standout in its own way, or something about the whole release just kind of hits the spot, there’s usually songs I’ll skip when listening multiple times. I’d say this can’t really be helped, but if there are multiple tracks I’m not interested enough in to listen all the way through then they could have been cut altogether and the release made more streamlined - like an EP or mini-album. If a full-length album justifies listening all the way through over and over again then it’s a stellar release for me.

An example from one of my favourite bands, DEXCORE - their first full album is fantastic but at 17 tracks it’s a bit much for a single listen. In contrast, their EP -18- is more compact with each individual track doing enough to stand out for me to justify listening all the way through. (Admittedly it is on the lengthier side for a mini-album though).

3 Likes

There was a time when I preferred albums, but now (and this is no doubt partly VK’s influence) I’m okay with any kind of release. They all have their advantages. A good album that has flow and feels like a journey is amazing, but shorter releases are easier to listen to in one sitting, which is what I prefer to do.

Singles that are just one song still feel too short for me (especially if there’s not even an MV), but then again, we live in the digital age now - I can just add that single to a playlist of the band’s other stuff.

2 Likes

I like both in different contexts. I prefer singles at release time and albums afterwards.

Singles are better at release than albums because there’s less tracks. When a new release comes out, I need to listen to the songs at least 3-4 times to really get a feel for it. It’s already a long process for singles, and I usually don’t have the hours to sit and listen to each song on an album multiple times right when it comes out. All sleeper hits for me come from albums because I finally properly listened to the song and realized it’s actually amazing.

Albums are better afterwards for the exact opposite reason. I love CDs and every song released by my bands on CD, I have it there. But if I’m actually going to pick a CD and put it in the player, it’s going to be the album because I don’t want to have to change discs every 8-14 minutes. So my singles kind of just sit on the shelf collecting dust.

When I listen to the rips, I literally don’t care because I usually just pick song A that I want to listen to followed by song B and so on. Half the time they’re not even from the same band.

The only type of release I actually hate though is digital singles (especially because they’re always only one song!). If you do it, then please at least put it on the next CD as a bonus track.

2 Likes

I prefer full length/EP releases. Unless im really into the band i usually skip the singles and wait for the full lengths. Bands like The Thirteen who consistently release EPs over singles as well is good. Keeping a nice regularity to putting out new stuff with a decent amount of content is preferable as opposed to waiting ages for a full length or buying a new release every couple of months for like 15mins of music… haha.

3 Likes

I really don’t think that キズ takes well to an album so they must have figured out that singles are best for them and it lets them put out the best rather than an album of half filler. Maybe down the line they’ll do albums, but probably not any time soon. Tommy knows something.

2 Likes

Are you joking?? Haha.

I prefer albums because I am lazy af. Please don’t make me listen to one million b-sides to hear all the songs. I wanna buy a CD with all the songs. If it takes 3 years to make a new album, no problem. Singles are toture, I’d rather wait.

2 Likes

I dont often listen to songs in isolation or in playlists, I prefer to put an album or EP and listen it from beginning to end. I like concepts and visions, to listen to a song in context, that era of an artist in pretty time machine of 50 minutes.

To be fair, it doesn’t work for all acts, as some use albums more of compilations of random material than an fully fledged conceptual work

2 Likes

Makes no difference to me these days. If I like it, it’s getting saved and added to one of my playlists.

4 Likes

I’m like @Your_mum . I listen to music on mostly analog formats only, so if I buy an LP I’d rather it be an album.

Reasons being:

  1. Shelf space - This stuff ain’t limitless so i wanna make each record I collect count.
  2. Price - It can still cost up to like $30 for an LP single. If I’m paying that much I want more than just 2 songs on it. I’m not crazy about 7" singles either so wouldn’t prefer that direction. Just give me the full album.

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I’m not against the idea of LP singles entirely though. Capsule have always done some great single releases. Their single for Jelly, for example, has an extended version of the A-side that they use in the prospective album release, an extended version of another song off the same album, and a new exclusive track available just on the LP. So here I feel like it’s worth a buy for me. But like…also, still release Fruits Clipper in full already.

My preference though would be for there to just be a deluxe edition with an extra LP or two with bonus tracks. Again, I don’t wanna have to buy a single for exclusive content, and then the album again.

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Regardless of format, I also think it depends on different factors. Like @zeus said, in western media the term “single” holds a different impact nowadays. You can just put up a song on youtube and call it a day. Very different within vkei with bands putting out singles with b-sides and mutiple types. I prefer bands just put up a track or two ahead of the album release to tide fans over.

Coming from a collector’s perspective again, CDs can take up a considerable amount of space. I don’t want to have to buy a single just to have some b-sides. This is where compilations might have some value since a lot of b-sides usually end up there all in one package. But this doesn’t always happen. More often I haven’t seen these types of releases unless a band is either

A) Hitting an incredible landmark like a 10-year anniversary, or
B) Disbanding

Some bands are more active than others so the quality of their content varies. Bands like lynch. release a yearly album. Although I said I preferred albums, in their case I think a slower release schedule with some singles or an EP thrown into the middle would help with the quality of their output. So in their case, I don’t want to see an album from them

2 Likes

For most music, I’m either the full-album sort-of listener where I’ll go through most of the album in a single sitting or head straight to the playlists I curate with a unique artist for nearly every track.

BUT

I’ve always had a huge soft-spot for the vk (and kpop) 5~6 track ‘mini-album’, which is a bit of a dying breed. If I’m understanding correctly, now most releases that used to be ‘maxi-singles’ or ‘mini-albums’ are now consolidated under the ‘EP’ label since working around physical media is less of consideration nowadays and ‘EP’ has been umbrella-fied.

As for why I like the mini-album format, it’s a more focused album with less filler but enough room for multiple b-side ballads, my territory. Also (and the more realistic reason) , most of the smaller bands I liked usually disbanded before they could make a full album ;_; .

5 Likes