What album should never be put on shuffle play?

antiram
Pete Best

Posts: 730

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 10, 2018 16:13:03 GMT

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Post by antiram on Feb 10, 2018 16:13:03 GMT

Before I even look at the thread myself (I haven't yet, we will look at it together this time

), I need to get something off my chest.

Without going into my usual long-winded rants, I will try to keep this simple: music is freedom. You can listen to it any fucking way you want, that is what freedom is all about. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to hear it. If I boiled down my whole attitude about music, that is the core of it.

So one of the many things about SHites that irritate me is their adherence to the tautology "Listening to a full album is the proper way to hear music, because the album is how the artist intended it to be heard"

Fuck listening to albums. Sure, some albums don't benefit from shuffleplay, although I think classical albums fare worse than pop or rock albums do. But I love shuffleplay. I often put my whole freakin' collection (like over a million songs) on shuffleplay, just for the adventure of it. I have discovered plenty of great music that way, that I might never have found. I get off on weird, random juxtapositions of songs. Sometimes it is a jarring experience, and sometimes it sounds great, as if shuffleplay has a mind (some advanced shuffleplay software comes close to having a mind, actually) I will shuffleplay genres, years, artists, playlists, whatever... To me, it is natural. It is random, like life is. It can be exciting, surprising, or funny...

Naturally, sometimes I am in the mood for a whole album, nothing wrong with it. But I do it far less often than I did in the pre-internet era. I no longer have to hear the same predictable song every single time. Music only gets better!

The SHite fetish for albums doesn't really make much sense anymore. Albums, in rock/pop music, were only "cohesive" (kinda) from about 1966 to the mid-90's or so, when CD lengths started resulting in padded, 60-minute albums. In other words, albums were a passing phase that were specific to the vinyl medium they used, and are irrelevant now. Not to mention, it usually was the record company, not the artist, who decided what went on an album.

Okay, so long-winded after all, sorry. Let's get to the thread. Before I look, I will predict that no fewer than five SHites will voice disdain for shuffle as a concept, and no fewer than five Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or freakin' Beach Boys albums will be nominated.

Here we go, opening the thread right now...

Lessee...

GeorgeO.Jungle said:

Abbey Road

Disdain for shuffle: 0 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 1

lesterbangs said:

Any of them...

Disdain for shuffle: 1 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 1

davebush said:

Shuffle is sinful. Don't do it.

Disdain for shuffle: 2 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 1

x2zero said:

SMiLE

Disdain for shuffle: 2 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 2

frozensoda said:

No shuffle, ever.

Disdain for shuffle: 3 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 2

BuCo said:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Disdain for shuffle: 3 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 3

Mr_Vinyl scoffed:

I listen to records, so that's kind of hard to do...

Disdain for shuffle: 4 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 3

paulisme said:

Dark Side of the Moon

The Wall

Every other album ever.

Disdain for shuffle: 5 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 4 --Mission #1 accomplished-- Still on first page...

lightbulb said:
Days Of Future Passed

- the Moody Blues

Disdain for shuffle: 5 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 5 --Mission #2 accomplished-- Still on first page...

vivatones said:

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Disdain for shuffle: 5 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 6

Psychedelic Good Trip Said:

I prefer never to shuffle any album.

Disdain for shuffle: 6 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 6

Groovy guy said (in response to lesterbangs)

Spot on !!!!

Disdain for shuffle: 7 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 6

deek57 said:

Shuffle is a criminal offence, least it should be.

Disdain for shuffle: 8 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 6

folknik said:
I remember seeing an 6-track tape of Days of Future Passed that shuffled it long before there were CDs, just to get the 4 channels of equal length. "Evening" came before "Morning", and the whole thing was a mess. Proof that the manufacturing department didn't care about the aesthetic value of the music.

Disdain for shuffle: 8 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 7

kaztor said:

Any Moody Blues album.

Disdain for shuffle: 8 Beatles, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, or Beach Boys albums: 8

Boy, that was almost as predictable as Sgt Pepper not on shuffleplay. So uptight and churlish about such meaningless things. Yes, geek57, I am a fucking criminal. But you are a fucking sheep. Go wild for a change, and shuffle an album! See if it triggers a new thought!

Fuckin' idiots are even worse than I thought...

forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/what-album-should-never-be-put-on-shuffle-play.730119/

Last Edit: Feb 10, 2018 16:18:59 GMT by antiram

"Would you like to see pictures of me before I got like this?" --Mean Mr. Mayo/jeatleboe

Wanklein
Deep Purple Mk II

Posts: 587

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 10, 2018 17:52:02 GMT

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Post by Wanklein on Feb 10, 2018 17:52:02 GMT

I often wonder what happens when the "album is sacred" SHites either go to a gig (with their carer) or listen to a live album. We know that if someone has the audacity to request a best of compilation for a certain artist they will get the full discography poated back at them and often with "on vinyl" added for good measure.

But at the gig the band do not play the album (well sometimes but...) they play a collection or "shuffle" of their songs. They do not obey the sacred order of the album as decreed by God and play a selection of hits and album tracks (deep cuts if you're a cunt). Space and time are juxtaposed and to quote Karl Marx "all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned".

However do they cope with this situation?

I have assisted a band or two with compiling the running order of an album and it was always down the pub when pissed. I don't think the SHites ever realise this is how it is done and if they did their entire belief system in the artist as sacred would be destroyed.

In the meantime they can all just fuck off.

Last Edit: Feb 10, 2018 18:00:25 GMT by Wanklein

Aural Relations
Karen Carpenter

Posts: 889

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 10, 2018 18:01:14 GMT

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Post by Aural Relations on Feb 10, 2018 18:01:14 GMT

Very sympathetic to this. Even beyond dickhead's forum, it often seems verboten to admit that even the best of albums contain a fair amount of filler. There's a reason why greatest hits compilations are not discographies, and it's the same reason why most albums contain only a small handful of singles.

I wonder why "enjoying" whole albums is construed as sophisticated whilst eschewing the obvious filler is considered amateurish. Perhaps it's as simple as signalling how serious a fan you are -- only ~~cultists~~ "true fans" know a band's C-sides, and they of course recognise the brilliance which mere mortals overlook.

I think I might start doing this:

Last Edit: Feb 10, 2018 18:09:43 GMT by Aural Relations

"One day, you'll go on up to that Beatlefest in the sky" - Jeatleboe.

hoffa_nagila
Better than Steve

Posts: 5,984

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 10, 2018 18:54:59 GMT

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Post by hoffa_nagila on Feb 10, 2018 18:54:59 GMT

I used to be a slave to the shuffle. And for me, it began to be an issue.

My commute was about 2.5 hours round trip. How much music was I actually listening to? On a good day, 2 hours. That's right, a half hour of me skipping songs. Good songs. But if the intro didn't immediately draw me, SKIP. I was listening to a lot less music, and what I was listening to was in general the same rotation of songs.

My iPod finally stopped letting me sync my whole collection (it was old and faulty and I had done a full reset, and could only manage to get a few hundred songs on it before it would give me an error.) So instead, I just began putting albums on it, listening to them, and then replacing them. And it made listening to music fun again. Old iPod bit the dust over a year ago, and I replaced it with a much smaller model (and now I think they don't even make iPods anymore?) And I've kept up with this. Now I make giant playlists of everything by a certain artist. It's fun to hear a lot of stuff I usually wouldn't play. Plenty of good stuff that simply doesn't immediately draw me in and would earn a skip were it to come up in the shuffle.

Now, I've been doing these full artist playlists for almost two years. Eventually I will have heard all my music via this method. And then what? Do it again? Perhaps once I get to that point, it will be time to go back to the shuffle.

There was a while when I was making playlists based on a word. Like "house." That was fun too.

Ask any musician/band about STeVE. Many of them would answer: Who the hell are them?

thisonehurts
Dead Beatle

Posts: 928

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 10, 2018 19:47:44 GMT

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Post by thisonehurts on Feb 10, 2018 19:47:44 GMT

I can understand why they wouldn't want to shuffle a Moody Blues album. It's quite possible the Sun would go down and the clouds all frown BEFORE Brave Helios wakes up his steeds and brings the warmth the countryside needs. Fucking catastrophe, that would be.

Repackaged and presented to each new generation so the Fab music that will always be fresh and timeless will be packaged in a new and fresh way for the new kids.

hoffa_nagila
Better than Steve

Posts: 5,984

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 11, 2018 1:11:31 GMT

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Post by hoffa_nagila on Feb 11, 2018 1:11:31 GMT

Feb 10, 2018 19:47:44 GMT thisonehurts said:

I can understand why they wouldn't want to shuffle a Moody Blues album. It's quite possible the Sun would go down and the clouds all frown BEFORE Brave Helios wakes up his steeds and brings the warmth the countryside needs. Fucking catastrophe, that would be.

You gotta admit, the sequencing is the best thing about the albums.

Ask any musician/band about STeVE. Many of them would answer: Who the hell are them?

amygrant Olivia Newton-John Posts: 349	What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 11, 2018 3:35:09 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by amygrant on Feb 11, 2018 3:35:09 GMT cant fuck with this sequence

jeatletoes
Pete Best

Posts: 710

What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 11, 2018 4:39:35 GMT

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Post by jeatletoes on Feb 11, 2018 4:39:35 GMT

SHTV -- music forum for people who hate music.

I remember people on there who who would go through entire discographies, in chronological order, and would not stray from that for any reason. That literally sounds like hell to me, why would anyone do that to themselves?

You know what I do when I'm sick of listening to a particular album or artist? I stop listening to them. The Classic Rock Gods aren't going to burn your crops or send a plague of locusts on you.

Last Edit: Feb 11, 2018 4:40:04 GMT by jeatletoes

Mediocrates Sir Macca CHOKE YOURSELF Posts: 2,278	What album should never be put on shuffle play? Feb 11, 2018 15:36:18 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Mediocrates on Feb 11, 2018 15:36:18 GMT I pity the fool who voluntarily sits through the middle four songs of side one of Abbey Road - an album where the "artists' intent" was just to get the damn thing over with.

What album should never be put on shuffle play?

Post by antiram on Feb 10, 2018 16:13:03 GMT

Post by Wanklein on Feb 10, 2018 17:52:02 GMT

Post by Aural Relations on Feb 10, 2018 18:01:14 GMT

Post by hoffa_nagila on Feb 10, 2018 18:54:59 GMT

Post by thisonehurts on Feb 10, 2018 19:47:44 GMT

Post by hoffa_nagila on Feb 11, 2018 1:11:31 GMT

Post by amygrant on Feb 11, 2018 3:35:09 GMT

Post by jeatletoes on Feb 11, 2018 4:39:35 GMT

Post by Mediocrates on Feb 11, 2018 15:36:18 GMT