Growing up in the era of iTunes’ booming popularity, I was raised listening to songs individually rather than as part of an album. Purchasing individual songs instead of the entire album is a cheaper alternative that allows the listener to pick and choose the album’s better songs. Because of this, however, many incredible songs are often overlooked by audiences. Singles have become synonymous with the most radio-friendly song of an album. Albums are dying as an art, but it doesn’t need to be that way.
Music doesn’t require much interaction beyond listening, so many people listen to it as background noise while doing something else. Listeners miss much of the artist’s intent by doing this. Take Metallica’s “… And Justice for All.” The album has themes of war, censorship and political injustices. The musical tone remains the same throughout the album. If you were to listen to your Metallica library on shuffle, it would be easy to identify which songs belong to that album.
Sometimes, albums tell stories. Green Day’s “American Idiot” tells the tale of the “Jesus of Suburbia” wanting to escape the suburban lifestyle and moving to the city. Themes of rage and love, politics and finding one’s self are present as we travel with Jesus. This is a major reason why it was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2009. Listening to the hit “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” individually takes away from the full album experience; the ending to the previous track (“Holiday”) fades into “Boulevard’s” beginning. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong compared “Holiday” to the party while “Boulevard” is the hangover. Each song on the album flows into the next one.
Other times, however, released singles don’t match the tone of an album. Take “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns n’ Roses, off their debut album “Appetite for Destruction.” Compared to the rest of the album, “Child” sounds like a stripped down ballad. The album is praised for its raw and gritty sound, and “Child” gives the band an entirely different image. That’s not at all what you’d be getting with “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Mr. Brownstone” or “Rocket Queen” in which the band discusses the topics of surviving in the city, a heroin trip and sex.
Personally, I find driving to be the best time to listen to an album in its entirety. Since I don’t want to distract myself while driving by choosing a song on my phone or changing the radio, listening to an album is a safer alternative as well. Choosing an album before a drive makes you carefully think about what the next half hour will hold for you.
Being able to buy music individually makes it a lot easier for the listener if they only like a few songs off the album. Buying the artist’s most popular hits is not a bad idea either; greatest hits collections have been around for decades. But if you find yourself cherry-picking songs from your favorite artist, take a chance and buy the rest of the album and listen to it in full. Who knows? You might even discover your new favorite song.