Album of the Year

[RedAngie]

Jay-Z was whining at the Grammys that Beyonce never won Album of the Year. Many comments on various stories claim her albums contain one or two good songs and the rest is filler. I wouldn’t know.

Comment about that if you want but my main purpose in starting this thread is:

Did you ever buy albums based on one or two hit songs only to discover the rest is basically crap or forgettable?

If you’re not too embarrassed to admit, which albums?

Even as a kid I realized my Bobby Sherman and Partridge Family albums were mostly filler, but I was a fangirl so it was OK.

Later many of my early 80s New Wave albums were the same.

A Flock of Seagulls
Kajagoogoo
Echo and the Bunnymen
Adam and the Ants
The Human League

 

[soccerdad72]

Does anyone buy (download) whole albums anymore or do they just stream the track or two they're interested in?

Honest question, as I haven't bought music in probably 20 years or more.

 

[princesscinderella]

I haven't bought CDs in a few years, ever since my kids begged for a family subscription to spotify. I feel like most of the CDs I would buy back in the day only had a few songs that became my favorites. Train, Live, Matchbox 20 and Gavin DeGraw are a few of my favorite artists where sometimes I have loved a bunch of the songs that never went mainstream or were released as a single and am happy I own the CDs. I really hate the whispery and autotuned songs that are popular today that don't even have real instruments creating the music but just computerized beats.

 

[fla4fun]

I prefer CDs so I still buy whole releases as opposed to individual songs most of the time. To be honest, I don’t think I have ever felt like a release had filler on it. I don’t usually buy until I have heard a few of the songs anyway. Oftentimes I am surprised and like the songs that weren’t released as singles better than the ones that were.

I can say that I haven’t listened to Beyonce, so I don’t have an opinion one way or the other on the quality of her music overall.

 

[Smugpugmug]

The last time I physically bought an album was when I was in Japan and the albums were for two Japanese artists that don't sell their albums in the US. Other than that, I just listen to music on my Youtube playlist.

The Grammys did teach me that I'm insanely out of touch with modern music. About 3/4 of the time, I was like, wait....who is that?

 

[BrianL]

I am a big fan of the album experience, that is listening to the full album to get the whole story. Granted not all albums tell a story, but the good ones do. Sometimes I find that a deep cut is actually better than the big hits - I mean, who decides that?

I agee with you on most of those 80's albums, but not A Flock of Seagulls. Assuming you mean their debut album, it's pretty solid throughout, at least I think so. Telecommunication is a favorite, unsung hero of that album, but you've got Space Age Love Song too. They may be a one-hit wonder, but the album is solid.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Maybe Moby Grape, 1968, vinyl of course. I liked Hey Grandma and Omaha, the others, not so much. I still have it.

 

[Micca]

Jay-Z was whining at the Grammys that Beyonce never won Album of the Year.

But hasn't Beyonce won more Grammys than anyone else ever? Odd thing to complain about IMO.

 

[xjillianpaige]

In the CD buying days, I would buy a whole CD because that was how I could listen to the songs I liked, until downloading music became a thing and my friends and I started making mix CDs for each other with just favorite songs.

Now in the time of streaming I will buy the physical copy if I like the artist enough and I've started to collect vinyl. But for 99% of the music I'm listening to, I'm streaming the entire album from top to bottom.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

I am so tired of the never enough people. She has won the MOST Grammys. So now it's just not the RIGHT ones? Does she need to win one in every category she could qualify for?

Really absurd and the more whining people do the less I like what they are whining about.

 

[soccerdad72]

From what I understand, the irony of his rant was that she wasn't even up for Album of the Year this year.

 

[RedAngie]

Does anyone buy (download) whole albums anymore or do they just stream the track or two they're interested in?

Honest question, as I haven't bought music in probably 20 years or more.

I’m really talking about 30+ years ago, way before the age of streaming or Napster. Vinyl albums, or cassettes, or heaven forbid, 8-tracks.

But hasn't Beyonce won more Grammys than anyone else ever? Odd thing to complain about IMO.

My understanding is that the majority of her Grammys are in the minor categories that don’t get televised.

 

[_19disnA]

The whole idea of awards for Grammys, Oscars or Emmys is very subjective and voted by your peers. Does he honestly think that the comments he made about her NOT winning album of the year will make people MORE likely to vote for her next time? I seriously doubt it. I also didn't follow his logic about having won so many Grammys but not for best album. It isn't like one translates to the other. Just seemed like an odd rant when accepting some sort of achievement award.

Haven't bought any albums in YEARS. Many seem to have a few songs that did well or became popular along with a lot of filler material. Those 'greatest hits' albums were good to buy once an artist had enough popular music to fill an album. With all of the online sources now for music, not sure I would ever buy an album again.

 

[Babs Johnson]

Beyoncé has only won one “Big 4” Grammy award, for Song of the Year ( Single Ladies). She never won Record of the Year, Album of the Year, or New Artist of the Year.

The bulk of her Grammys are in the R&B, rap, or Urban Contemporary categories.

 

[tony67]

Yeah I buy whole album.

Lots of bands release limited editions of there album on Vinyl, so for example I have purchased Amyl and the Sniffers Comfort to Me at least 6 times. Once as a digital download, and the rest as various vinyl special editions, as well as one band signed copy. It's a good way for a small band that tours quite a lot (and does not charge a crazy ticket price) to make a living. Almost all the tracks on it are worth buying IMO.

I also buy lots of albums on record store day. Those are not usually new releases though, reissues and special editions for the most part. They usually come with a digital download (if you want to unseal it.)

That said, for mainstream acts, I might only buy the single at most.
No doubt digital has changed the market - for the better.
If you want me to buy the whole album it has to be good.
Back in the day - I recall lots of albums with only one or two good tracks - not every album can be Blondie - Parallel Lines.

 

[fatmanatee]

I am so tired of the never enough people. She has won the MOST Grammys. So now it's just not the RIGHT ones? Does she need to win one in every category she could qualify for?

Really absurd and the more whining people do the less I like what they are whining about.

It's the crown jewel of the show. It's also the category that featured the most controversy, going back decades, I remember the blow-up when Steely Dan won in 2001, sort of wasn't on the radar for a lot of people and turned into a bit of a generational debate.

FWIW I thought she should have won it in 2015.

 

[Babs Johnson]

Sure, I bought albums back in the day that had lots of filler.

Heck, even bands like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin had albums with some clunkers.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I only buy albums I truly like from start to finish. Sure there could be lesser songs mixed in but over time I tend to love them too. Now the man was an indiscriminate music buyer. If he liked the album art he’d buy it even if he never heard one song . When his collection was sold off many tapes, cds and albums had never been opened.

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

When I was 10 I bought a Britney Spears CD. That is probably the last time I bought an entire album lol Now it's all streaming on Spotify so there are some songs I did not even know existed by certain artists.

 

[Crescent_Lake]

From what I understand, the irony of his rant was that she wasn't even up for Album of the Year this year.

She hasn't released a new album since 2022. Jay-Z's rant made less sense than his hair.