The Album

  Last November, Kenny Chesney was onstage at the Country Music Awards.  He was accepting his award for “Album of the Year” for “When The Sun Goes Down.”  Now, I don’t usually go around quoting country singers—I learned long ago that it’s a good way to get yourself in trouble—but Mr. Chesney made a couple of valid points.

  Paraphrasing, he said that it was an honor in 2004 to be awarded “Album of the Year.”  With downloading—both legal and otherwise—becoming so prolific, he noted that we are in jeopardy of losing the concept of the album. 

  I recently read a quote from a music industry veteran who said, “The ‘Album of the Year’ today in all genres mostly means the collection from which the most singles were drawn.”  It hasn’t always been that way.  But I’m hesitant to dump all of the blame on the downloading teens and twentysomethings.  It seems the record industry should step up and take some responsibility as well.

  Downloaders are taking advantage of their options—options that have always been around.  Imagine someone, in 1964, standing onstage at the Grammys and saying, “With the sales of 45’s on the rise, it’s an honor…”  Before file-sharing hit the ground running (a la the glory days of Napster), there was already discontent in the hearts of music consumers.  The album was, more times than not, an exercise in mediocrity with a couple of standout singles.  Now the industry has figured out a way to rewrite history—blame the downloaders and the technology that facilitates them.

  Getting back to what Chesney said, the concept of “the album” is lost. And that’s a shame.  Whatever your taste, take a moment or two to think of the greatest albums you’ve ever heard.  It may be The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” or The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers.”  Maybe a Beatles album.  Perhaps it’s “August and Everything After,” by Counting Crows, or Nirvana’s “Nevermind.”  Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew.”  Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” or Public Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet.”

  It’s possible that, with downloading on the rise, the idea of the album can be lost.  If you can just surf over to iTunes and get the song you heard on the radio for 99 cents, why would you pay seventeen bucks for an album you may not like?  The argument could be made that buying a CD in 2005 is only for fools and gambling addicts.

  There was once something called the “concept album.”  One of the best I ever heard was Frank Sinatra’s “Watertown.”  All of the songs on the album were set in the same small town, and the songs told the story of a couple going through a divorce.  These songs lose their meaning when you hear them outside their intended context.  The same goes for some of the songs on “Pet Sounds” or most Pink Floyd albums.  As singles, they are stripped of their power and context.

  As consumers of singles rather than CD’s, we are sending the message to record companies that it’s okay to fill an album with mediocre material.  As downloaders, we make it easy for them to point the finger of blame at the technology that allows it.

 -From Pulse
   June 2, 2005