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| Most recent albums are shit and the album chart is a farce, Just constantly underwhelmed |
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 3rd October 2020, 12:29 PM
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#21
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 20 August 2009
Posts: 8,343 User: 9,481 
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Chromatica and Future Nostalgia are the only albums I’ve listened to from start to finish this year I think.
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3rd October 2020, 12:31 PM
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#22
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 I'm a paragon so don't perceive me
Joined: 3 February 2011
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find a musical niche you like, find an artist from that niche, keep listening through similar albums and you'll find loads of stuff you like, do not under any circumstances rely on the charts alone to find good music, this has been the best year in quite a few for giving me albums I've enjoyed listening through
rina sawayama definitely fits the bill of every track being fantastic, sufjan, grimes, temperance, tricot, fiona apple, all have released very good albums this year, as well as a few less mainstream names and albums from the tail end of last year that yet feel 2020 to me, never felt like I had so much music to keep going back to |
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3rd October 2020, 01:28 PM
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#23
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 22 August 2020
Posts: 365 User: 111,940
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When it comes to the album chart:
There are people listening to the albums on streaming services. And by listening to the albums I mean listening to them in full. There are Fontaines D.C. fans listening to their album in full, there are Lewis Capaldi fans listening to his album in full, Dua Lipa fans listening to 'Future Nostalgia' in full, Juice Wrld and Drake fans listening to their albums in full and (probably) even Mabel fans listening to 'High Expectations' in full. But the thing is, this is not what the streaming album chart is measuring. It doesn't reflect the streaming consumption of an actual album. For example let's take a loook at this week's streaming album chart. We have Mabel at #10 and Idles at #20. Even though Idles are not neccessarily streaming giants does anyone actually believe that last week more people streamed 'High Expectations' as a whole than 'Ultra Mono'? There might've been 300 people who streamed 'High Expectations' as a whole album and 10,000 people who streamed Idles album in full. Yet those 10,000 people who actually took their time to listen to their album have no chance when it comes to chart position with tens/hundreds of thousands people who are listening to random Mabel top 40 hits and probably don't even know the name of her album. So theoretically it would be easy to compile an actual streaming album chart. If someone streams all 14 tracks from some album then that counts as 1 streaming album. But as always the problem is with combining streaming with sales. Of course someone listening to album on Spotify can't count the same as someone buying the album on vinyl because the revenue for the artist doesn't add up at all. So there has to be some sort of ratio for streaming. But with the ratio applied if we exclude all the non-album streaming the streaming influence on the album chart would be much smaller and sales figures for albums on the chart would also be much smaller. Streaming is inflating sales on the album chart and makes them look better than they actually do. On the sales album chart you can sometimes go top 10 with less than 1,5k. So if we excluded huge part of streaming from the chart then the sales figures would look much more terrible than they do now. And I think this might be the reason OCC won't change the rules. They want to avoid situation when you would need 500 copies to have top 100 album in the UK because the chart would lose a lot of its prestige then. But maybe in 2050 when the concept of buying albums/singles will die completely and there will be no need for streaming ratios we'll finally get the actual album streaming chart where number one album will be the one that was streamed 35,000 times in full during the week and the platinum album would be the one that was streamed 300,000 times. |
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3rd October 2020, 09:09 PM
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#24
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 21 February 2008
Posts: 3,051 User: 5,457
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QUOTE(HiyaLuv @ Oct 3 2020, 02:01 AM)  Think I have definitely become a singles guy. I have been going back through loads of 2020 albums and the only things I'm giving anything above a 7/10 to are Glass Animals and Fontaines DC, neither of which are perfect. There was a lot of love for Future Nostalgia and Chromatica but I think they came out at just the right time, when uptempo melodic escapism was the order of the day. Both have several average-to-poor tracks. Also, over recent years we've had this trend of albums (not just by 'heritage acts' living off pre-orders who go 8-OUT) having laughably short runs whilst the Top 40 is full of classic albums and greatest hits that people aren't even listening to all the way through. So anyway, what was the last album you heard where you felt every song could be a single? I'm all ears! i think this year has had some of the best album releases of the last 10 years, Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware, Lady Gaga, Melanie C, & soon Kylie & Steps .....so nothing to complain about ..... a lot of disco & 80s influenced pop which is what we need during these dark times... |
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3rd October 2020, 09:23 PM
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#25
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you never forget your first time...
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 19 April 2011 Posts: 121,688 User: 13,530 
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I agree that very few albums actually contain a tracklist full of potential singles. I'd actually say most of my favourite albums of all-time don't fit that description! Kate Nash's Made of Bricks is my ultimate favourite but I couldn't imagine half of those songs having been serviced to radio at the time. That doesn't stop the full tracklist being great, though! Even my favourite album of the past few years, Fine Line by Harry Styles, has a selection of single-worthy songs and a selection of tracks that will clearly never be pushed. I still love it as a full package because it's been made to sound cohesive and flow really well regardless.
2020's been a really strong year for albums I think! I'd say these are my top faves (in alphabetical order) Alec Benjamin - These Two Windows Ava Max - Heaven & Hell Conan Gray - Kid Krow Declan McKenna - Zeros Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia Lady Gaga - Chromatica Louise - Heavy Love Melanie C - Melanie C New Hope Club - New Hope Club Reed Deming - Second Life Selena Gomez - Rare The Kid LAROI - F*CK LOVE And I'm really excited for new albums from Kylie, Shawn Mendes, The Vamps, Annie, HRVY and Astrid S to name a few! |
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3rd October 2020, 10:43 PM
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#26
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 #38BBE0 otherwise known as 'sky blue'
Joined: 27 October 2008
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There have been some really great albums out recently, but I've got to say that I absolutely HATE the album campaigns today:
Here's a track. Oh, here's another one. Didn't like that one. In ten seconds they'll be another one. Here's another one. Stop promoting your album/era like you're throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks !! Sometimes singles need space and time to grow. The album chart is indeed a joke but that is because streaming has been added, and no manipulation to that data is going to stop those Greatest Hits compilations clogging up the upper echelons because most people don't consume albums on streaming platforms. |
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3rd October 2020, 10:55 PM
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#27
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is my brain across your walls?
Joined: 14 February 2009
Posts: 115,072 User: 8,300
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I don't think having every single song sound like a single is even necessarily a good thing for an album. If you want that listen to a greatest hits.
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3rd October 2020, 11:33 PM
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#28
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FIVE YEARS OF THE TURRET 15-20
Joined: 12 March 2015
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QUOTE(Bré @ Oct 3 2020, 11:55 PM) I don't think having every single song sound like a single is even necessarily a good thing for an album. If you want that listen to a greatest hits. Good point! I sometimes had that mindset of album tracks sounding like singles back in 2015-2018, but as I looked further into the elements of music, as well as the lyrics, I realized something. It's less to do with the songs feeling like singles, and more to do with how captivating the production and instrumentation are, along with lyrics and vocals. |
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4th October 2020, 01:11 AM
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#29
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Shakin Stevens
Joined: 29 December 2007
Posts: 46,151 User: 5,138
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QUOTE(dandy* @ Oct 3 2020, 12:29 PM) There have been some great albums released this year so I can't agree with this sentiment at all. Just in the past week or so we have amazing albums from Róisín Murphy, Jónsi, Sufjan Stevens and Working Men's Club. Bar a couple of tracks, Future Nostalgia was really great and easily ranks as one of the best pop albums of recent years. The Taylor Swift album is a career highlight for me too. The Killers came back stronger than I would ever have expected (not an absolute classic but definitely a solid album) and that's before you get to great albums from Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, The Weeknd, Haim, Jessie Ware, Rufus Wainwright, Lady Gaga, Friendly Fires, Caribou and probably many more that I'm forgetting right now... Did Friendly Fires release? |
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4th October 2020, 01:39 AM
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#30
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is my brain across your walls?
Joined: 14 February 2009
Posts: 115,072 User: 8,300
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The fact that Dandy mentioned them in a post specifically about recently released albums should be a hint...
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4th October 2020, 01:43 AM
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#31
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Shakin Stevens
Joined: 29 December 2007
Posts: 46,151 User: 5,138
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Well yes but I asked because I can’t even remember them releasing - I just checked it was august last year, shows how much that album impacted on me
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4th October 2020, 01:47 AM
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#32
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 Mansonette
Joined: 7 March 2006
Posts: 35,301 User: 54
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Oooops to be fair it was... I only got around to listening in about March of this year so it feels like a 2020 album to me
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4th October 2020, 01:50 AM
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#33
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Shakin Stevens
Joined: 29 December 2007
Posts: 46,151 User: 5,138
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It’s very much a 2019 one for me and it’s not a great album, couldn’t even remember the singles!
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4th October 2020, 01:59 AM
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#34
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 A dead mouse (from my cat)
Joined: 2 March 2018
Posts: 28,495 User: 67,771
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Not even Love Like Waves
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4th October 2020, 04:22 AM
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#35
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 3 September 2009
Posts: 7,814 User: 9,543
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There have been some great albums this year: Chromatica - Lady Gaga, Meghan Trainor - Treat Myself, Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man, Black Eyed Peas - Translation.
Future Nostalgia was ok as well. So good albums are still out there, maybe just spaced out. There are lots of releases coming in the next couple of months: Little Mix, Gary Barlow, Meghan Trainor’s Xmas album so there could be some more good albums this year 
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4th October 2020, 06:36 AM
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#36
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 BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 22 December 2009
Posts: 30,348 User: 10,275
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Meghan Trainor's Xmas album coming to save the lacklustre year, we love to see it!
This post has been edited by Sour Candy: 4th October 2020, 06:36 AM |
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4th October 2020, 08:29 AM
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#37
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Shakin Stevens
Joined: 29 December 2007
Posts: 46,151 User: 5,138
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QUOTE(WhoOdyssey @ Oct 4 2020, 02:59 AM) Not even Love Like Waves Just about I remember the album being underwhelming though |
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4th October 2020, 09:10 AM
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#38
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Radical Pink Troll
Joined: 11 March 2006
Posts: 26,602 User: 177
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QUOTE(Doctor Blind @ Oct 3 2020, 11:43 PM) There have been some really great albums out recently, but I've got to say that I absolutely HATE the album campaigns today: Here's a track. Oh, here's another one. Didn't like that one. In ten seconds they'll be another one. Here's another one. Stop promoting your album/era like you're throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks !! Sometimes singles need space and time to grow. The album chart is indeed a joke but that is because streaming has been added, and no manipulation to that data is going to stop those Greatest Hits compilations clogging up the upper echelons because most people don't consume albums on streaming platforms. This, absolutely this. The likes of Rita Ora and Anne Marie are particularly guilty of this. Not confident enough to release An album until you’re sure you have enough hits. I know these days are gone but I miss when an album would have one, maybe two singles before the album release and that with each following release, the album would receive a boost and have longevity. These days you get about 7 singles before the album is out and then it still doesn’t have the legs for chart longevity. |
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4th October 2020, 09:45 AM
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#39
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 22 December 2009
Posts: 30,348 User: 10,275
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Is Rita Ora releasing an album
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4th October 2020, 11:26 AM
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#40
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 13 November 2015
Posts: 33,246 User: 22,665
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QUOTE(Tefo @ Oct 3 2020, 03:28 PM) When it comes to the album chart: There are people listening to the albums on streaming services. And by listening to the albums I mean listening to them in full. There are Fontaines D.C. fans listening to their album in full, there are Lewis Capaldi fans listening to his album in full, Dua Lipa fans listening to 'Future Nostalgia' in full, Juice Wrld and Drake fans listening to their albums in full and (probably) even Mabel fans listening to 'High Expectations' in full. But the thing is, this is not what the streaming album chart is measuring. It doesn't reflect the streaming consumption of an actual album. For example let's take a loook at this week's streaming album chart. We have Mabel at #10 and Idles at #20. Even though Idles are not neccessarily streaming giants does anyone actually believe that last week more people streamed 'High Expectations' as a whole than 'Ultra Mono'? There might've been 300 people who streamed 'High Expectations' as a whole album and 10,000 people who streamed Idles album in full. Yet those 10,000 people who actually took their time to listen to their album have no chance when it comes to chart position with tens/hundreds of thousands people who are listening to random Mabel top 40 hits and probably don't even know the name of her album. So theoretically it would be easy to compile an actual streaming album chart. If someone streams all 14 tracks from some album then that counts as 1 streaming album. But as always the problem is with combining streaming with sales. Of course someone listening to album on Spotify can't count the same as someone buying the album on vinyl because the revenue for the artist doesn't add up at all. So there has to be some sort of ratio for streaming. But with the ratio applied if we exclude all the non-album streaming the streaming influence on the album chart would be much smaller and sales figures for albums on the chart would also be much smaller. Streaming is inflating sales on the album chart and makes them look better than they actually do. On the sales album chart you can sometimes go top 10 with less than 1,5k. So if we excluded huge part of streaming from the chart then the sales figures would look much more terrible than they do now. And I think this might be the reason OCC won't change the rules. They want to avoid situation when you would need 500 copies to have top 100 album in the UK because the chart would lose a lot of its prestige then. But maybe in 2050 when the concept of buying albums/singles will die completely and there will be no need for streaming ratios we'll finally get the actual album streaming chart where number one album will be the one that was streamed 35,000 times in full during the week and the platinum album would be the one that was streamed 300,000 times. you can actually look at real album streams - excluding playlists - at Apple Music and Mabel - High Expectations is not even top 1500 |
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