Albums that you listen to straight through / start to finish whenever you put them on!
So I have a few albums that whenever I play them I listen to the whole thing in sequence from beginning to end. Of course some albums are meant to be that way, they are called concept albums. However, my question is not just for the obvious concept albums per se but for any album you play start to finish because it is strong throughout. All genres are included here so no limits on music preferences.
I’ll start with a few that come to mind - The Moody Blues - The Days of Future Passed Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon Alan Parsons Project- I Robot Miles Davis - In a Silent Way Weather Report - Black Market
Will play about %98 of my LPs’ front to back. cds, I tend to skip only slightly more, as it’s easier.
This is an LP talk, so most of mine get the full side and full side b, unless I’m interupted for supper, or a doorbell, or something else, the album will play through.
If not done spinning, tonearm gets lifts up, and left there, power off the TT, Then return to where I left off,
I tend to listen to the latest Springsteen album Western Stars all the way through. One night I listened to it then the live film soundtrack version.
A double Album I sometimes listen to all the way through is Sufjan Stevens Illinois.
These are both the digital versions. I have found since getting the EtherRegen in my system I listen more often to the complete album, since it seems disrespectful to interrupt the performers in my room.
Steely Dan-"Aja" Joni Mitchell-"Court and Spark" Bob Dylan-"Blood On The Tracks" Beatles-"Rubber Soul" Jethro Tull-"Thick as a Brick" Paul Simon-"Hearts and Bones" REM-"Greatest Hits" David Bowie-"Ziggy Stardust" Rolling Stones-"Through the Past, Darkly" Cat Stevens-"Tea for the Tillerman" ...just to name a few!
It's rare when I don't listen to an entire LP side. It goes down to fifty/seventy-five percent for both LP sides. Listening to an entire multi-disk opera? Rarely.
Very rare I don't listen to the whole album if vinyl. If streaming from computer, not so much. Then there is a lot of "That reminds me of this..." going on.
For me there are a few. Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin!), is one where All the cut are terrific.
Two more that come to mind are Lve Cream Vol II and Beggars Banquet by the Stones. Time Out by Dave Brubeck is another as I think of albums where I actively enjoy every cut!
Pink Floyd : Wish you were here, Animals Jethro Tull: Aqualung Supertramp : Crime of the Century, Even in the Quietest Moments Springsteen : Greetings from Asbury Park
All of it more than 90% of the time. It’s rare that I don’t.
I just received a 5 CD set of George Szell’s Decca and Philips Recordings 1951-1969, Original Masters. I began and will listen to all 5 CD’s, all the way through. May not be all in one sitting, but won’t listen to anything else until I do.
I have tendency to do that. Yesterday I finished the Solti Decca Edition Volume 6. 18 LP’s, straight through over multiple days.
And there are many others I do the same. Now, after I have listened to a set complete, I may not listen to the whole set all the time, but would never listen to a partial symphony when I go back to the set again, and typically listen to more than just one in the set. I am partial to box sets, and am more than happy to explore and enjoy them in their entirety more than once.
Beatles white Album ,+ Doors the Doors+ Steely Dan + CCR+ moody Blues + SRV+ Eric Clapton + former bands Led Zep+ Pink Floyd Larry Carlton + Simon and Garfunkel+ Bob Dylan+Miles Davis+Ottmar Lieberman+ Van Morrison+ in all honesty these are just a sample,there are are just so many great artists and albums,it just depends on the mood.
Great question.
As originally a digital/streaming/CD listener, I only buy albums that I'm going to listen to all the way through and are high quality recordings. Too many to list.
I will leave the remote on the other side of the room when listening to resist skipping. I’ve found songs that, before removing the remote from my hand, I would have skipped over because of a slow start that I listen to more than the popular songs on the recording.
All of them except sometimes I skip the demo tracks or other additions to remasters. I tend to like just the original form of the albums. Nowadays I can easily skip but other than some demos I never do.
Anything by the stooges, dire straights, Pink Floyd, the rolling stones( older stuff, nothing newer than tattoo you). The clash, big star, the police. Just a few that come to mind.
Some pop LPs (meaning not symphonies, oratorios, concerti &c) were produced for continuous listening, and sometimes playing them straight through is worth doing for its own sake. Those named above are good examples.
Yet who here doesn't have an iTunes, Spotify, Tidal etc. playlist? The medium is the message. We play LPs straight through because using the TT is a hassle. Which is why CD and why streaming and why remotes. A TT remote, if someone invented it, would cost more than the subject apparatus itself.
“Yet who here doesn’t have an iTunes, Spotify, Tidal etc. playlist?“
I have Tidal, and don’t have a playlist. I have saved some particular albums/collections so they are easy to find (Usually in my car for longer trips), but mostly use my saved artist section, and use it, and various artist albums, as I would an LP or CD. But, I will admit, that one of the reasons I have Tidal is to check out albums I don’t own, so yes, at times I won’t play them through, as I either decide to purchase the ‘hard copy’, or it isn’t to my expectations.
John Coltrane - "A Love Supreme" Ray Charles - "What'd I Say" Diana Krall - "Love Scenes" Paul Desmond - "Feeling Blue" Tom Waits - "The Heart of Saturday Night" Gerry Mulligan - "Night Lights" Quincy Jones - "Body Heat" De La Soul - "And The Anonymous Nobody"
Bob Dylan - Hard Rain Bob Dylan - Street Legal Aldous Harding - Designer Van Morrison - Wavelength Dire Straits - Communique Dire Straits - Dire Straits Chris Whitley - Living with the Law Willie DeVille - Sportin' Life
I just listened to The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker
The Beatles - Abbey Road Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon The Who - Who’s Next Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Fleetwood Mac - Rumours Supertramp - Breakfast in America Steely Dan - Can’t Buy a Thrill Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run Stevie Wonder - Innervisions Boston - 1st Album
Brian Protheroe-first 3 Chrysalis albums John McLaughlin-Electric Dreams, Adventures in Radioland, Tokyo Live Richie Cole-Bossa Nova Eyes Joni-Court And Spark ELP-Tarkus The Bearles-A Huge Melody (or my covers version) I came from reel to reel (fixed order) so I find random play usually more rewarding. Surprise me.
I listen to vinyl LPs from start to finish upward of 90% of the time; otherwise it is one complete side or, rarely, the one outstanding track for which I purchased the album. CDs and streaming are relegated to listening while driving; skipping tracks is pretty much the norm there.
@gadios “I love the MOODY Blues and most Tull stuff but the recordings are so crappy.“
This is the complete opposite of my experience. Also, in a recent thread here on A’gon concerning recordings readers recommended as “demonstration” quality, The Moody Blues “Days of Future Passed” and Tull’s “Thick as a Brick” and “Aqualung” were prominently noted. “Aqualung” has been reissued on vinyl by MFSL, DCC, Classic Records, and, I believe, Acoustic Sounds. I find it hard to believe that such highly regarded labels would waste any time and effort, not to mention the money, to reissue crappy recordings.
I listen to all straight through unless some time restraint pops up. Otherwise, it's both sides, A and B. I like to approach an album as a piece of work that the artist intended me to hear in it's entirety.
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