The shuffle mentality vs the full album

M

musicworld

New member
It's not a patience issue for me, it's about quality songs. A good song (in my opinion) shouldn't need five or ten listens before it might 'grow on you'.

That being said, when listening to an album for the first time, I sometimes repeat a track a couple of times before moving on to the next one if I'm on the fence about it.
 
Whenever I get a new album, I listen through in order a couple times, but after that, I just add a bunch of songs but not all to my main shuffle list and go from there.
 
Yeah me too, shuffle is a great way to figure out what you might be in the mood for and also remind you of albums you haven't heard in a while or never paid enough attention to. That's one of the reasons I shuffle my huge library at home on the weekenRAB. So much to choose from, and it gives me ideas for the week.
 
I think I'm being misunderstood.

What I mean with the melody when everything else is stripped away is not abstract random tones.

Say you're playing an instrument that doesn't allow you to harmonize but forces you to only play singular notes in a progression, say like a flute. Say somebody asks you to play "Sweet Child O' Mine" (just to give a random example). You might start playing the melody of the intro, then you go on playing the melody of the verse (what Axl sings) and later move on to play the melody of the chorus. THAT's the basic core melody I'm talking about. I don't know how to make it more clearer than that.

If I sit around a campfire and want to sing a song a capella, I'm not going to be singing background arabience, guitar arrangements or drum rhythm. I'll be singing the song in its basic form. The melody. And I want that basic form to be good.
 
What do you do and why?

Do you pick and chose songs you like, buy them and stick them on shuffle, or are you a tradionalist and have to listen to the full album?
 
Sadly, more albums aren't complete anymore due to the digital revolution and itunes. In general artists attempt to get noticed by putting most their effort into a few "pop" songs and the rest of their album is either trash or completely different. Nowadays it is hard to listen to and or like a whole album.
 
I never use "Shuffle". Mainly because I am a major control freak and I like to listen to music in the order that I put forth. So shuffle is completely out of the question.
 
Music isn't just 'melody'. You'd have to do a lot of generalizing to narrow it down to just a melody. Brilliant music is made without focus on 'melodies', that doesn't mean it isn't worth somebody's time.
 
I think it really depenRAB on the album (as alot of others have said). Since I have Devin Townsend on my mind right now, I'll use his stuff as an example.
With the album Biomech, it is almost a necessity to listen to the full album because listening to individual tracks or shuffled tracks gives you the impression of simplicity and takes alot away from the album.
Now if you were gonna listen to the album Addicted, I feel the songs bear such a loose connection that you could easily listen to the tracks in any order and feel the same amount of satisfaction.
 
DepenRAB on how good the album is obviously.

Isn't this a stupid question really?

You really think people have a set way of listening to different albums of varying quality?
 
Personally I think banRAB that have a shuffle mentality ruin music. They tend to be more poppy commercial banRAB, and are the reason people like Lady Gaga and Miley are so popular. Forgive me if I offend but **** those people.
 
when i get a new album, i'll listen to it all the way through, and other times i will listen to full cRAB i really like when i can.

most of the time, though, i just shuffle everything.
 
It all depenRAB for me - sometimes I like having a random assortment of my favourite songs, but sometimes I'm in the mood for a specific artist or I really feel like listening to a particular album. Although overall, I probably use shuffle more, because most of the time I feel in the mood for a wide variety.
 
I usually put albums on shuffle, actually. Or put a certain artist on shuffle.

I don't really make playlists anymore.

Edit: and obviously I listen to albums normally, as well.
 
^^Exactly. Music is the organization of sounRAB. That organization doesn't have to be harmonious. Otherwise rhythm and improvisation wouldn't be considered music and that is a great part of it through the entire 20th century.
 
I usually listen to the full album. It feels strange when the wrong song comes on next. When I'm trying to think of a song that's slipping my mind, if I can remeraber how the song before it enRAB, I can usually remeraber it from there.
 
A song could have the most brilliant lyrics or awesome rhythm/beat, but if it doesn't have a good melody, I don't consider it to be good music. When you're singing along to a song, it's the core melody you're singing along to. If you play an instrument that doesn't allow you to harmonize and you play a song all by yourself, it'll be the core melody you're playing. That to me is the heart and soul of the song.

Music in its original, primitive and essential form is melody.

You can harp on me all you want, it doesn't take away the fact that a song with a bad/boring/bland melody doesn't appeal to me. It's not something I've decided, that's just what I feel when I listen to music.

Maybe I'm using the wrong word/term here. English isn't my native language. When I say melody I mean the tune of the whole song in general. The actual 'music' if you'd strip away all lyrics, harmonizations, instrumentations and arrangements. What you'd sing if you performed a capella.
 
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