Albums Are Dead - Ola Englund's Thoughts

[Muddslide]

I still spin CDs mostly. I have a ton of mp3s but I burn CDs to play at home and in the car.

I just like a hard copy. I still feel that paranoiac "What if the internet goes down? What if they take it away?" Silly, and probably due to my age (50 next month.)

I don't really buy manufactured CDs anymore, and only own a few.

I used to have a very extensive collection of CDs, vinyl, shellac (old 78 rpms) and yes, cassettes. Had a lot of rare vinyl autographed copies of many things, etc.

A flood wiped all that out, along with every book and comic book I owned, all my music gear, family photos, my movie collection and other little collections of various things...old movie posters, vintage monster toys, vintage and new Halloween-related items, etc.

No way can I replace all that. Didn't even try. I just became a minimalist.

But I still love music. I don't even own a turntable currently, but I do buy vinyl by a very small list of artists whose work I care for and whose music suits the vinyl format still. I feel as though I am supporting them and the artwork, etc., can be very nice.

Most of the music I get online is older stuff I already paid for once back in the day, and as I say, I keep the files but burn my own CDs and keep them in big folders.

Three bands whose vinyl I try to always buy are High On Fire, Cyclobe and Nurse With Wound. Because the artifacts are works of art in themselves and I feel like I'm contributing.

My daughters are 19 and 20 and bygod know their Beatles! They turn me on to a lot of current stuff, a lot of which I like. They are quite discerning.

My younger daughter loves The Shins and affiliated projects, while my older daughter LOVES old Motown, early rock and roll (,big Bo Diddley fan) and old hot jazz and swing, Motorhead, Sabbath, old surf music, doo wop, etc. It's pretty awesome.

For my own stuff, I record, but have no idea how to get it out there. My best buddy puts his stuff in Bandcamp and his blog, and is considering doing a couple of cassette-only releases.

I embrace the new, but I do miss "The Before Time" and am glad I got to experience it.

 

[bearfoot]

According to the chart on the first page the OP cited, digital album sales are around 45% of the total digital sales.

So, what is the basis for the conclusion that albums are dead, when the data shows this is not true?

 

[Dean N]

LOL!!! I'm 62 and I enjoy listening to 70's-era YES music. So I guess I listen to "old people" music too! But then, that's appropriate. I'm old!

I listen to actual old people music too... I just saw YES on their current tour (and can confirm that SH is older than all of us.. like Gandalf old.)

 

[JaseyT]

Guilty? Nah. Not at all. I mostly feel lucky that I got to experience the '80s and '90s.

 

[Bassbeater]

In general, I feel that modern mainstream tracks don't take you on a journey, they only give a fleeting impression of something animalistic and undefined. I'm not trying to live in the past, but the basic messages in mainstream music seem to be getting progressively more shallow with each iteration. Sometimes it seems like "real" art has moved elsewhere.

 

[Basshappi]

In general, I feel that modern mainstream tracks don't take you on a journey, they only give a fleeting impression of something animalistic and undefined. I'm not trying to live in the past, but the basic messages in mainstream music seem to be getting progressively more shallow with each iteration. Sometimes it seems like "real" art has moved elsewhere.

AMEN!

 

[SactoBass]

I listen to actual old people music too... I just saw YES on their current tour (and can confirm that SH is older than all of us.. like Gandalf old.)

Yeah! I recall shaking Steve's hand back in 2000, and I remember it feeling very fragile! (no pun intended!)

 

[dbsfgyd1]

One man's thoughts on the state of things. I can't say I strongly disagree with him.

(a bit of NSFW language)


He's not a household name, but he's got 225K YouTube subscribers, with over 56 million video views. He's been in some decent metal bands, and he's started his own guitar company. I'd say he might be worth listening to for 5 minutes.

I agree. I think the root cause is the serious lack of good writers, even fewer arrangers, and way too much surface noise to sift through over the internet to find something you really like. It was a lot easier when you had a top 40 out maybe 100 songs that got airplay. Now, anybody with a computer and about $300 dollars worth of software can have something on the internet, and most of it I wouldn’t let out of my basement...jmo

 

[monsterthompson]

In general, I feel that modern mainstream tracks don't take you on a journey, they only give a fleeting impression of something animalistic and undefined. I'm not trying to live in the past, but the basic messages in mainstream music seem to be getting progressively more shallow with each iteration. Sometimes it seems like "real" art has moved elsewhere.

 

[somegeezer]

I don't know any Metalheads who are in it for singles over albums. There's certainly some warrant to the constantly having to be out there and developing this personality to connect with an audience in a deep and lengthy relationship. But there are better ways as a Metal musician to do so than pumping out singles. Ola is just one of the rarities who made his name doing that before the band stuff. and his guitar company lives on the back of that. Not the other way around. He made a name first, then started selling guitars. Rob Chapman has a similar story. But they also did so through a time when making it on youtube was somewhat easier. These days, you should be looking to the next thing [if you look at all]. At the moment, it's probably livestreaming on the likes of Twitch. But I may be a little behind on the times, and perhaps even that is a little late to get into. Who knows?

 

[klokker]

I don't even listen to music anymore really on a regular basis. I practice my bass and learn the stuff I need to learn to keep up. I have purchased very little music in probably 15 years, and have no real desire to.

I like being a musician, and doing the gigs. I like playing at church. But in the car I listen to talks and lectures on the stuff I'm interested in, and at home it's about the same.

What I do like is live DVD or video's of a band's performance. Put it up on the big screen and watch the band perform. I have a few DVD's from bands like Porcupine Tree, or Dream Theatre that are just great to watch. I'll sit down and just watch the whole thing, like I'm going to a concert. But I might pick up one of those a year.

I must be getting old.

 

[br1qbat]

In general, I feel that modern mainstream tracks don't take you on a journey, they only give a fleeting impression of something animalistic and undefined. I'm not trying to live in the past, but the basic messages in mainstream music seem to be getting progressively more shallow with each iteration. Sometimes it seems like "real" art has moved elsewhere.

Remember for every Beatles, theres a million Herman's Hermits. Pop music has always 95% sucked. Sure the 70s had Zeppelin. But it also had Tony Orlando.

 

[Basshappi]

Remember for every Beatles, theres a million Herman's Hermits. Pop music has always 95% sucked. Sure the 70s had Zeppelin. But it also had Tony Orlando.

True. But I would submit that any Tony Orlando & Dawn song had a higher degree of talent and musicality in every aspect of its production than 95% of pop songs produced today.

 

[40Hz]

Probably just as well. The last half dozen “up & coming” acts I listened to didn’t have enough to say to fill a two and a half minute “song” - which was really more an extended riff with the ubiquitous chug-chug-chug-chuga background and that “whoop” chorus thing - than an actual song. Boring! I couldn’t imagine sitting through a 14 song album worth of that.

 

[packhowitzer]

I actually agree with most of the comments in this thread - on both sides of the issue. but I'll say this- I can pretty much only listen to Pink Floyd albums from beginning to end- no skipping around or just listening to a song here or there.
In fact when I listen, I start with Meddle and then listen straight through to the Wall. Now I don't do it all in one sitting, but I go through the process, the evolution if you will. I love hearing how pink floyd evolved over those five albums. and there's no way to get that experience without listening to the albums as a whole. just my .02

 

[dcbluesbass]

OK, I'll be the old geezer in the room. How do you young guys clean your POT. We used a double album and a playing card!! Try using a CD case or a thumb drive? I still have 300=400 albums, 100's of cassette tapes and they all still work!!

 

[Lee Moses]

I still buy CDs. People I know who are into music still buy CDs. But I aged out of the music industry's "target audience" at least 25 years ago.

 

[RichardW]

Remember for every Beatles, theres a million Herman's Hermits.

Hey, why the crack on Herman's Hermits? They were an amazing pop band. Sure, it was cotton candy--fun to consume with no nutritive value--but few did it better in that era.

 

[SunnBass]

Thing is, people like to talk about vinyl making a comeback.
Being completely unaware that in certain circles, it never died.
Also CDs are, and always have been over-compressed garbage.
Fight me.

 

[Muddslide]

OK, I'll be the old geezer in the room. How do you young guys clean your POT. We used a double album and a playing card!!

Amen. Remember that well. Monster Magnet even has a line in a song:

"Bought another copy of Fragile...
Seeds had busted up the spine."

Pot today is pretty seed and stem free. I think a lot of young bucks use grinders though...