Jump to content
question

How do you size up an album?


Vodka

Albums Albums Albums  

76 members have voted

  1. 1. What influences your opinion of an overall album the most?

    • Sooouuunnnd. It's all about what I feel towards the sound.
      62
    • Music vids, performances, and interviews, anything that helps form a world's view of the album
      8
    • I'm simply stanning my fave.
      2
    • wut
      3
    • Other
      1


Featured Posts

Lona Delery

It is mostly the sound, but I need good lyrics in order to enjoy it for more than only a few months.

Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind, I wanna get off but I keep riding the ride
Link to post
Share on other sites

One thing I've been curious off. Alot of people talk about overproduction and underproduction. Sorry to say but I don't know what that means. How can you tell if something has good or bad production? I guess what I'm asking is how do you determine that?

2nd question: what exactly do you consider good vs bad lyrics? Like what makes lyrics good? What makes them bad?  I've read lyrics on a site I love to visit when I don't know words to a song and honestly I don't know the difference. Anyone care to elaborate?

Edit: one more question. What exactly do people mean by cohesive? Like what exactly does that mean really. I'll hear people say that album flowedcohesive ly and I'm just thinking ok I don't know what that means. Sorry if this makes me sound ignorant but I really don't know.

P.S. I'm not trolling. I seriously dont know.

Link to post
Share on other sites

On Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 7:30 AM, Moqro said:

99% of the time the music on it's own. I rarely ever watch music videos/performances/interviews. Dunno why I just never felt compelled to. 

I'm the exact same way. I never watch MV like hardly ever or interviews that much. Like seriously I don't have time for all that. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

TimisaMonster

Music is sound at the end of the day and if the sound is terrible, but lyrics are deep...terrible sound drowns out a great message, so it's the most important thing. 

Plus, I look at themes and consistency and unique artistic expression of said theme...

TF, TFM, Cry Baby, etc I feel are great concept albums with great music

Stream my new single, 💜"Heartbeat"💜, on Spotify!
Link to post
Share on other sites

Vodka
13 minutes ago, petedagrk said:

One thing I've been curious off. Alot of people talk about overproduction and underproduction. Sorry to say but I don't know what that means. How can you tell if something has good or bad production? I guess what I'm asking is how do you determine that?

2nd question: what exactly do you consider good vs bad lyrics? Like what makes lyrics good? What makes them bad?  I've read lyrics on a site I love to visit when I don't know words to a song and honestly I don't know the difference. Anyone care to elaborate?

Edit: one more question. What exactly do people mean by cohesive? Like what exactly does that mean really. I'll hear people say that album flowedcohesive ly and I'm just thinking ok I don't know what that means. Sorry if this makes me sound ignorant but I really don't know.

P.S. I'm not trolling. I seriously dont know.

I wonder about these things too. For me, I think what determines a track being over or under produced is how it tries to translates the song's message and how the tech production works with the said song? Like, if I wanted to create a sensual song, I'd probably add some sort of slow percussion, and maybe avoid an accordion. Tie the seemingly consistent parts together to just create an atmosphere that the track humidifies...I think. If that makes any sense. 

For me, what I consider good and not so good lyrics tie directly to the story being told in the song: what it's about, how it came about, why it was that way, and how the writer shares that with her primary and probs secondary audience. Personally, I stray away from tongue-in-cheek wordage, and love more subtle yet connective lyrics that preserves that story. I guess, it all depends whether or not it adds depth to the track, for me anyway.

Cohesive....I'd like to think that if an album were cohesive, that it'd be rich in themes: imagery, messages, as well as sound. There might be multiple facets to one particular topic or theme, but after listening to the entire body of work, it all ties in together well. I usually try to connect the name of the album with each track and how they all fit in together, mixed and matched and in order too. Just a thought, not sure how much it's helped but yeah :spin:

Yes, I also do love partying in moving houses as seen in that one Bacardi tv ad.
Link to post
Share on other sites

StrawberryBlond

The sound, first and foremost. Everything else is just a bonus for me. So, it always annoyed me when some people assumed that I liked Gaga because she was flamboyant and looked weird. Ironically, these were the same people who also claimed to be 'all about the music,' so clearly, they weren't as free of superficiality as they'd like to think.

And when reviewing an album, as I frequently do, I weigh up each song on its lyrics and production value, giving it a score from 1-5 (with half marks in between) and then working out a ratio with all the tracks once I've listened to them all to determine the eventual score for the album.

10 hours ago, petedagrk said:

One thing I've been curious off. Alot of people talk about overproduction and underproduction. Sorry to say but I don't know what that means. How can you tell if something has good or bad production? I guess what I'm asking is how do you determine that?

2nd question: what exactly do you consider good vs bad lyrics? Like what makes lyrics good? What makes them bad?  I've read lyrics on a site I love to visit when I don't know words to a song and honestly I don't know the difference. Anyone care to elaborate?

Edit: one more question. What exactly do people mean by cohesive? Like what exactly does that mean really. I'll hear people say that album flowedcohesive ly and I'm just thinking ok I don't know what that means. Sorry if this makes me sound ignorant but I really don't know.

P.S. I'm not trolling. I seriously dont know.

1. I never used to understand this either. But then I realised that as an audio fetishist, I really should educate myself! And now that I have, it's something I go on about all the time. The production is purely the music's sound (and to a certain degree, any vocal sound effects), not the lyrics. You can have good lyrics with bad production or bad lyrics with good production. Good and bad production is all about taste. But I personally match my taste in production depending on the genre I'm listening to. If I'm listening to pop, I like huge, bombastic beats. If I'm listening to rock, I like lots of heavy guitar solos. If I'm listening to rap, I like catchy beats for dancing to. But this all differs depending on the tempo of the music. Of course I want something more soothing for a chill-out tune. The ultimate crime production can have is to be bland, a beat that you don't remember, a beat indecipherable from everything around right now. Dated production is also really off-putting. I also really dislike 'obnoxious' production. The kind that likes to shove its badness in your face, the kind that really disrespects the listener's ears and intelligence. The over-sampling of Baby Got Back in Anaconda from 1:58 to the end (along with Nicki's laughing and stupid rambling) is a prime example of obnoxious production to me.

2. Good and bad lyrics are the most subjective thing. Some people only like intelligent lyrics. Some people only like catchy lyrics. Some people only like silly lyrics. But I think anything of these things can be good...but they also have the potential to be bad as well. There's no subjective way of deciding if lyrics are good and bad, so there's no need to devise a way. But the best way to look at it is, if these lyrics make you feel good and motivate you in some way (artistically or emotionally), then the lyrics are likely good. But if the lyrics bore you or offend you, then they're likely bad. At least, to you. I know that I can't stand listening to lyrics that contain sexism, negative stereotypes, too much ego. I know that sounds all a bit weird considering I listen to rap but there's right and wrong ways to do these things and to different levels of excess. Childish lyrics also really get my goat, especially when they come from grown artists, some of whom are married with children. It's like, I'd feel embarrassed to sing this stuff and I'm much younger!

3. Cohesiveness is all about how an album ties together as a complete package. A cohesive album is one where all the songs sound like they come from the same concept, the same theme, the same idea. This is why it's best not to work with a huge selection of writers and producers because it can make your album sound a bit schizophrenic and like you didn't know what message you were trying to make with it. Personally, I don't care about cohesive nature at all and I'm shocked that a lot of professional critics do. As long as all the songs on an album are good, then who cares if they all sound different from one another? Good music's hard enough to come by these days, I'll happily take it however it gets served up. Gaga is frequently criticised by critics for a lack of cohesiveness in her albums and it drives me nuts. Shouldn't they understand by now that Gaga's music is a hybrid of genres and that's just the way she is? It's partly why I love her - she's always challenging herself, never gives you the same album twice and makes sure there's songs to suit all tastes.

Link to post
Share on other sites

holy scheisse

Music is sound so I'd say sound. 

Visuals don't matter if it sounds like ****. they can only enhance the experience 

Like I think lemonade is an amazing album even though I've never watched the videos. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

The sound, first and foremost. Everything else is just a bonus for me. So, it always annoyed me when some people assumed that I liked Gaga because she was flamboyant and looked weird. Ironically, these were the same people who also claimed to be 'all about the music,' so clearly, they weren't as free of superficiality as they'd like to think.

And when reviewing an album, as I frequently do, I weigh up each song on its lyrics and production value, giving it a score from 1-5 (with half marks in between) and then working out a ratio with all the tracks once I've listened to them all to determine the eventual score for the album.

1. I never used to understand this either. But then I realised that as an audio fetishist, I really should educate myself! And now that I have, it's something I go on about all the time. The production is purely the music's sound (and to a certain degree, any vocal sound effects), not the lyrics. You can have good lyrics with bad production or bad lyrics with good production. Good and bad production is all about taste. But I personally match my taste in production depending on the genre I'm listening to. If I'm listening to pop, I like huge, bombastic beats. If I'm listening to rock, I like lots of heavy guitar solos. If I'm listening to rap, I like catchy beats for dancing to. But this all differs depending on the tempo of the music. Of course I want something more soothing for a chill-out tune. The ultimate crime production can have is to be bland, a beat that you don't remember, a beat indecipherable from everything around right now. Dated production is also really off-putting. I also really dislike 'obnoxious' production. The kind that likes to shove its badness in your face, the kind that really disrespects the listener's ears and intelligence. The over-sampling of Baby Got Back in Anaconda from 1:58 to the end (along with Nicki's laughing and stupid rambling) is a prime example of obnoxious production to me.

2. Good and bad lyrics are the most subjective thing. Some people only like intelligent lyrics. Some people only like catchy lyrics. Some people only like silly lyrics. But I think anything of these things can be good...but they also have the potential to be bad as well. There's no subjective way of deciding if lyrics are good and bad, so there's no need to devise a way. But the best way to look at it is, if these lyrics make you feel good and motivate you in some way (artistically or emotionally), then the lyrics are likely good. But if the lyrics bore you or offend you, then they're likely bad. At least, to you. I know that I can't stand listening to lyrics that contain sexism, negative stereotypes, too much ego. I know that sounds all a bit weird considering I listen to rap but there's right and wrong ways to do these things and to different levels of excess. Childish lyrics also really get my goat, especially when they come from grown artists, some of whom are married with children. It's like, I'd feel embarrassed to sing this stuff and I'm much younger!

3. Cohesiveness is all about how an album ties together as a complete package. A cohesive album is one where all the songs sound like they come from the same concept, the same theme, the same idea. This is why it's best not to work with a huge selection of writers and producers because it can make your album sound a bit schizophrenic and like you didn't know what message you were trying to make with it. Personally, I don't care about cohesive nature at all and I'm shocked that a lot of professional critics do. As long as all the songs on an album are good, then who cares if they all sound different from one another? Good music's hard enough to come by these days, I'll happily take it however it gets served up. Gaga is frequently criticised by critics for a lack of cohesiveness in her albums and it drives me nuts. Shouldn't they understand by now that Gaga's music is a hybrid of genres and that's just the way she is? It's partly why I love her - she's always challenging herself, never gives you the same album twice and makes sure there's songs to suit all tastes.

What exactly is dated music tho? I mean I feel that is subjective since alot of artists use 80s, 90s sounds in 2010s music u know.

Also I prefer non cohesive albums tbh then.  I like hearing different sounds on the same album, different concepts and whatnot.  The more different each song is the more im likely to like an album.  If its the same theme/sound for like 15 tracks  then im like ok i been listening to the same song for 45 mins

Link to post
Share on other sites

StrawberryBlond
19 minutes ago, petedagrk said:

What exactly is dated music tho? I mean I feel that is subjective since alot of artists use 80s, 90s sounds in 2010s music u know.

Also I prefer non cohesive albums tbh then.  I like hearing different sounds on the same album, different concepts and whatnot.  The more different each song is the more im likely to like an album.  If its the same theme/sound for like 15 tracks  then im like ok i been listening to the same song for 45 mins

Yes, there's a throwback sound that can be welcome, but as Simon Cowell once said: "There's retro...and then there's old-fashioned." Retro is positive, old-fashioned is negative. Some of these modern dance tracks really incorporate an old-fashioned sound into their tunes. Jess Glynne did this throughout 2015, it sounded so bad. All her tracks sound so old and not in a good way. This was before a hit became harder to get in the UK but how the dated sound of Don't Be So Hard On Yourself became a #1 here is beyond me. It's so old-fashioned, so bland, so uncool. There was a reason that certain types of sound disappeared and never showed up again. Because they were fads and cringey when we look back on it. How disco made a comeback in 2014, I will never know. That was a hard time to listen to music. Everything sounded so boring and so one-note, no big vocals or amazing bridges, just dated disco.

And yeah, I prefer albums to have diversity too. Lana is about the only one who I make an exception for in that regard because I think her style is so perfect that I could listen to the same kind of song over and over. But everyone else has got to be a bit broader for me to really enjoy them. If your album is too cohesive, I can't remember it, as all the songs blur into one.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...