Robyn says that long pop albums are boring, 40 minutes is enough

[Sneaky Oliver 22,974]

I kinda agree, 12-15 songs are enough for me, 16+ tracks on the same album will always generate many fillers, it’s very hard to keep the momentum going for over 16 tracks

[Murakami27 8,472]

That’s like saying long movies and long books are boring. It’s not about the length  it’s about the quality. Not every album, book, movie needs to be long, but just because some are shorter it doesn’t mean they're better. There are plenty of sh’tty short albums out there that are more boring than longer albums.

There is an argument for longer form media and they should continue to exist for people who want it. 

[Ladle Ghoulash 52,911]

24 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I have never in my life said "I really like this album/song, I just wish there was less of it"

I'm no size queen but the longer the better

I have, however, said: “this album certainly didn’t need to be this long.” I think she’s basically making a quality over quantity argument. If you made an hour plus of great pop music? Great! If not, why not just keep the best stuff and leave the audience wanting more instead of making an album that drags?

[Ladle Ghoulash 52,911]

Just now, Murakami27 said:

That’s like saying long movies and long books are boring. It’s not about the length  it’s about the quality. Not every album, book, movie needs to be long, but just because some are shorter it doesn’t mean they're better. There are plenty of sh’tty short albums out there that are more boring than longer albums.

There is an argument for longer form media and they should continue to exist for people who want it. 

My basic argument is: for a movie, anything beyond 90 minutes needs to be earned and for an album, anything over 45 needs to be earned. There are a lot of great albums and movies that earn the extra time, but there are also plenty that, imo, drag on for no reason. 

[Lucas 31,126]

Imo 45-55 mins of GREAT music is fine

[monstertoronto 11,744]

19 minutes ago, River said:

But you give an extreme example because the whole purpose of the 31 songs is to cheese streams and be #1.. most of the songs are fillers and could have stayed in her precious vault for another round of re-release in 10 years.

 

It all depends on the album honestly, like BTW, 61 minutes, could have been shorter if Hair and others were shorter, because Hair is too long just for the sake of being long, half of the song is the same line over and over.

Chromatica on the other is 43 minutes, which feels long, but most of the songs are short, like Alice and 911 and I would have prefer them to be longer and the album could have been perfect if it hit the 60 minutes and let these songs shine.

You’re right it was an extreme example but it’s the only time I remember thinking an album was way too long.  I think an hour is fine.

i have no issue with the length of BTW I love that album. But I also loved Chromatica and don’t think it feels long at all, but would have totally welcomed longer versions of some  songs!  (Except sine from above is already long enough)  

[Omegahedron 355]

Depends if the songs are decent or not. If stuffed with filler or skips then yeah it's not doing the listening experience a service and bogs down the material that does have quality. But if it's all good quality and it hangs together, I'm totally down for a longer listening experience.

[niccolo 57]

It seems like a lot of peoples’ first reaction is to name their favorite, and definitely longer than 40min, album, but I don’t think that she’s meaning to put all of those albums under attack lol. An album by the more previous definition was a cohesive journey or story with meaning and intention, not just a compilation of songs. 
 

also, Robyn found her third (and largest) wave of success when releasing Body Talk as separate albums. Consuming that in real time as a fan was fun and I’m sure she was feeling very satisfied by being thorough and getting to give time, space and attention to them all. 

[Decodekid 30,689]

Maybe she's the one that's boring

[bpmMonkey 7,729]

Totally agree with her. I've said this many many times before here, but it's just a pain for me to connect to a 14-16+ track album. That's why Taylor lost me (not that she ever needed me, but you know what I mean), that's why I don't like BTW as an album, that's why Mayhem as an album feels overwhelming to me, tho I'm quite happy it's segmented sonically, which makes it work for me. 

I don't believe there's enough for an artist to ✨say✨ to effective tell a narrative over the course of 16+ songs that works in the context of an album. An album isn't a playlist on Spotify, just like a good techno set ain't a 4 hour flow of banger tracks. There has to be a story, a beginning, middle and conclusion to make it worth being considered as one body of work. So ja, 40 mins sound reasonable, tho I'd be more comfortable to put the weight on titles. Love me a good 7min track

[bpmMonkey 7,729]

24 minutes ago, niccolo said:

It seems like a lot of peoples’ first reaction is to name their favorite, and definitely longer than 40min, album, but I don’t think that she’s meaning to put all of those albums under attack lol. An album by the more previous definition was a cohesive journey or story with meaning and intention, not just a compilation of songs. 
 

also, Robyn found her third (and largest) wave of success when releasing Body Talk as separate albums. Consuming that in real time as a fan was fun and I’m sure she was feeling very satisfied by being thorough and getting to give time, space and attention to them all. 

omg I love you. 

[Lextyr97 20,791]

I agree that SOME albums are way too long (almost every single Taylor Swift album SORRY NOT AT ALL INNTHE SLIGHTEST SORRY. 1989 standard even is way too ****ing long). But some warrant the length. Ray of Light, Mayhem, Renaissance… all long and amazing albums

[Murakami27 8,472]

49 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

My basic argument is: for a movie, anything beyond 90 minutes needs to be earned and for an album, anything over 45 needs to be earned. There are a lot of great albums and movies that earn the extra time, but there are also plenty that, imo, drag on for no reason. 

Agreed. I think there needs to be a good reason for any media to be any certain length. Are there too many movies nowadays that have no reason to be 2.5 hours longs? Absolutely and I wish there were more 90 min movies these days. But there are also a lot of great movies that are nearly 3 hours long and that's ok too.

[pynkri 417]

I find it funny that her new album is only 29 min. Not even 40 min

[nodandsmile 11,724]

40 min is a good length to me, not short at all, 30 or less is short!

I only have a problem with a long album if a big chunk of it is fillers