Entertainment For Lively Minds
Longest Album Ever?
Posted by Stephen G on 5 March 2009 - 1:03am.
The recent thread on double albums got me thinking - what would be the longest album ever? Not counting box sets or floor-sweeping collections of outtakes of course - I mean the longest set of new recordings an artist has seen fit to release as an entity. The longest in my collection I think would be Emancipation by Prince - a triple CD set with a running time of about 3 hours. Anyone know of longer sets? Also, are there any examples of very long albums (say over 2 hours or so) that can actually justify their great length?
- More from Stephen G.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Emancipation...
... was very deliberately exactly three hours long - in fact, each of the 3 CDs is exactly 1 hour long. One assumes this was Prince's oblique way of alluding to his former label that he had so much material available he could fashion it how he wished... line up now for his forthcoming 3 disk set!
And no, can't immediately think of any super-long albums that are worth the effort... what was wrong with 44-minute albums anyway?
So far as I know it's not being recorded but...
There's the performance of John Cage's "As Slow As Possible" which started in 2001 and is expected to finish in 2640.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7880000/7880626.stm
I think I´ll wait for the box set
With all the outtakes.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_As_Possible
the next change of note will be on August 12th this year.
Presumably, somewhere around 2420, there'll be a drum solo to give the musicians a break?
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Only 2 hours, BUT, importantly, ALL GOOD!
Very few Pumpkins fans
would support the notion that *all* of Melon Collie is good!
Ah,
..They're just not trying hard enough.
Turn the lights off, open a bottle of Baileys and try again.....
intentions
I played it through a couple of times, and have been meaning to do so again for, what, 15 years? My view at the time was that there was too much of it, regardless of how good it was. Surely nearer 3 hours than 2? 1977 is one of my favourite ever tracks though.
Ahem
1979
Emancipation seems a lot longer though
I think this might be the longest:
http://366songs.com/
Sandinista
The sprawling mess by The Clash lasts about two and a half hours. A lot of it filler and crap, but with a great vibe to the whole thing. Individual tracks might not work but as a vast, sprawling statement the album does.Pete Townsend described it as the only triple album worth owning.
The vinyl Sg Pepper?
Didn't that last forever unless you stood up and turned the damn thing off by lifting the needle from the everlasting groove of Day in the Life?
Perhaps some hippy put it on 1967 and is still listening, waiting for it to end so he can finally exhale . . .
Well...
It did last forever but thats because the groove of those records looped infinitely. So it would have to be a tie between every vinyl record ever. Unless some didn't have that loop. Of course I couldn't think of another album that does that, but they all go on forever in that or similar respect. The infinitesimal multiplier is the great equalizer. That said, yes I realize I am very late to the conversation which appears to have ended.
The Flaming Lips
Zaireeka. 4 discs that can be played separately or in groups which mean the options for listening are endless. Is there a prize?
Zaireeka
I've had this for a year and a half and have yet to listen to it. The idea is incredibly enticing but I've yet to be in a room with four cd players. It's a bit like the board game Mouse Trap, by the time you've set it up, you can't be arsed to play!
The longest album
The longest "album" of all-new recordings must be Chris Rea's "Blue Guitars" - a concept album comprising 11 CDs. Plus a DVD of related paintings. All telling the story of blues music, from the early Delta Blues to the present. Mr. Rea composed, recorded and produced all this in one go.
Chris Rea - "Blue guitars"
I wouldn't exactly call myself a Chris Rea fan, but I actually own this album. I read about it, thought it sounded a magnificent folly, saw it for £23.00 on Amazon, and bought it.
What's it like? Well, quite a lot of it is very enjoyable. The four discs that I've played fairly regularly are the Louisiana one, the Memphis one, the Texas one and the 60s & 70s one.
Of course, you might say that he could've crammed all the best tracks onto a double or triple album and that would've been more compact and convenient, and I suppose there's some truth in that. But somehow it wouldn't have been the same. I love the huge, sprawling, unncessary excess of it, and I'm glad Rea had the strength and obstinacy to record it all and put it all out. Good on yer, Chris.