This applies to me. I have a large collection of vinyl albums and CDs, but they’ve been collecting dust for decades. I just listen to streamed music these days. I only play choice cuts from streamed classic rock albums from the 60s and 70s, a bit of jazz and folk, too—and occasionally other genres like country and funk.
But, I listen to a lot of classical music, and symphonies typically take up an entire album. I listened to Beethoven’s 9th in its entirety last week (and #3, #5, and #7 not long before that). I also listen to Mozart’s Requiem a couple of times a year, as well as complete streamed albums by Liszt and Chopin.
The last streamed popular albums I listened to in their entirety were probably Abbey Road, Pet Sounds, and Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Wish You Were Here–but its been a while.
We did that on Thursday morning driving back in the car, We offered the kids a treat for getting through their exams and they wanted to see The Who at the O2 arena in london so they did. It was excellent apparently.
Heyworth recalled that Branson was getting impatient and pressured Oldfield to deliver the album, and to include vocals on one of the tracks so he could release it as a single. Angered by Branson’s suggestion, Oldfield returned to the Manor where he drank half a bottle of Jameson’s whiskey from the studio’s cellar and demanded that the engineer take him to the studio where, intoxicated, he “screamed his brains out for 10 minutes” into a microphone. The incident left Oldfield so hoarse that he was unable to speak for two weeks.[6] The engineer ran the tape at a higher speed during the recording, so that upon playback the tape ran at normal speed, thus dropping the pitch of the voice track and producing the “Piltdown Man” vocals listed on the credits.[[7]]
I really still love this album. And while I don’t generally go for reissues, the inclusion of Viv Stanshall’s manor tour on the box set was a delight.
I actually had the 45RPM version. Side 1 faded out with the low bass riff, side 2 faded in with the “Master of Ceremonies” bit but faded out before the solo guitar ending. I’m sorry I didn’t keep that.
I’ve got almost all my CDs and vinyl LPs ripped to mp3. I have an iPod/boom box combo in my office that I listen to on days I work from home, I have a bunch of albums loaded to my phone that I can listen to on my headset when I’m at work, and I have a thumb drive in my car. Except for when I sometimes have the car audio set to random, I pretty much always listen to albums all the way through.
The last album I listened to was as I was finishing up work on Friday afternoon. The Blues Brothers - “Briefcase Full Of Blues”.
I buy albums on iTunes all the time, at least one new one every week, and after I buy one I always listen to the whole thing, start to finish. So definitely within the last week. Most recently might be “The Good Witch” by Maisie Peters.
Yesterday: The Beths, Expert In A Dying Field The title track algorithmed its way into my notice, I played it on repeat for weeks, and yesterday decided to check out the rest of their stuff.
Usually every Sunday, when the jazz stations that we stream lose their minds and think everyone wants to listen to 1920s music. It varies, if course. Today I remember Tony Bennett and k.d. lang’s album. Quite often it’s one of our West African albums like Talking Timbuktu.
I’m sampling different streaming services, and when I do, I try to find an album that I liked a long time ago. So, today, I listened to Red Octopus by Jefferson Starship.
Today, in the car. I had a 425 mile drive, and I listened to “London Calling” by The Clash, “Stop Making Sense” by Talking Heads, and “Child is Father to the Man” by Blood Sweat & Tears.
Three days ago my 12-year-old kid was putting together a Lego set, so I played two entire albums (CDs) so he could enjoy and learn about certain music. I picked:
Bolling and Rampal, Suite for Jazz Flute and Piano (1975)
The Negro Problem, Welcome Black (2000)
I thought at the time how rarely I play whole albums. The previous time was about two months ago: Harry Belafonte live at Carnegie Hall (to celebrate his life, when he had died) — four sides, this time on vinyl.
Christmas, 2022: I listened to the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi and Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas by Ella Fitzgerald (like I do every year).
Outside of the holidays, the last album I listened to non-stop was Sam Cooke - One Night Stand - Live At The Harlem Square Club, Miami, FL - January 1963 last August. I had just received it and I always try to listen to an album non-stop and intact once before shuffling its songs into my MP3 collection.
A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector is my once-a-year holiday necessity.
On the topic, I listened to two albums today while on a bus trip to Tacoma to see the circus - Taylor Swift’s Speak Now on the ride there, and Bat Out of Hell on the ride back.
I may be the only person in history to have listened to both of those albums on the same day.
When did Alicia Keys first break out? I remember listening to her whole first album all the way through. But it didn’t feel artist-built, if you know what i mean. It’s been since the 80’s that songs felt like an artist’s work, and albums felt like the producer’s or even promoter’s bailiwick.
Yes, yes, cue 100 defensive posts with links to indy artists whose albums are cohesive works of art. But you have to understand that in the 70’s that WAS what album meant. You made time to sit and experience one, just as if you were going to a movie.
I can’t remember the last one i felt that way about, but it was probably 1980-something.
A few times a month, but much more often 15–20 years ago, when I had a CD player. Nowadays, I listen to complete albums only when I’m winding down late at night and there’s not a film or something on. I’ll either look on YouTube for artists I like or the algorithm will suggest something that catches my eye. I listen while lying on the couch and usually fall asleep before the end. More often than not, though, what I’ll look for are live performances.
The most recent whole album is titled “The Album,” featuring Art Tatum and Ben Webster. Two well-worn favorites are “Inner Vision” by Stevie Wonder and “I Got Rhythm,” which is an outstanding compilation of the works of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.
