# How long is too long?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-too-long/412017>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 16, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-too-long/412017 "2007-07-16T18:34:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-too-long/412017/21 "2007-07-17T14:46:01Z")

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[QUOTE=I’m Ron Burgundy?]  
Just don’t split it up, ok? I hate double albums, everyone does. No one knows how to package them, and everyone hates switching CDs.  
[/QUOTE]

A lot of people have stereos that can hold more than one disc, which eliminates the need for CD changing. And a lot of the rest of us don’t care if we have to get up once to change a CD.

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**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-too-long/412017/22 "2007-07-17T14:54:09Z")

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[QUOTE=gigi]  
I’d feel cheated by something this short.  
[/QUOTE]  
What kind of music do you listen to? I’m surprised that someone could feel cheated by such acknowledged classics as, for example, The Beatles’ _Revolver_ (35 minutes), _The Who Sell Out_ (40 minutes), Weezer’s _Pinkerton_ (34 minutes), Bob Marley’s _Exodus_ (37 minutes), the Rolling Stones’ _Beggars Banquet_ (39 minutes), Gang of Four’s _Entertainment!_ (39 minutes), _The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society_ (38 minutes), Pixies’ _Surfer Rosa_ (32 minutes), Big Star’s _Radio City_ (36 minutes), R.E.M.'s _Reckoning_ (38 minutes), etc. etc. on and on blah blah blah. 🙂 My point being that it’s hardly unusual for a rock album to be south of 40 minutes.

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**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-is-too-long/412017/23 "2007-07-17T15:01:29Z")

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I’m with **AA**.

I’m still a person who buys albums and considers the “Album” as a unit of music, a complete work of art. . .not a sequence of singles that will be downloaded in varying amounts at iTunes.

I love a compact, complete, no-filler album that clocks in around 35-40 minutes.

Especially on CD. When I had tapes and records, I’d either put on an A-side or a B-side so I was sure to hear the whole album over time. With too-long CDs, I usually find myself tuning out after about track 10 or so. And, who starts their CD’s at track 5 when they put one on?

Nobody seems to have the concept of “leave them wanting more” anymore (if ever). It’s “give them their money’s worth, even if that means stretching a 90 minute movie to two hours so they don’t feel ‘short-changed’”.

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