Monday, November 22, 2010

Complete albums

You know how some albums somehow seem more complete than most?  Either because of the themes running through the songs, or the clever track ordering, or some mysterious x-factor which makes the album hang together beautifully.
I surveyed my music to find which albums seem particularly 'complete' in this way.  This is not the same as looking at which albums are the best.  'Completeness' is only one aspect of what makes a good album.  You may notice the absence of excellent albums such as Californication, Viva La Vida, Silent Alarm, The Decline of British Sea Power, World Service, An End Has A Start, Origin Of Symmetry and others - great albums, but lacking this particular factor.

'Complete' albums are:
Cities - Anberlin
Beyond The Neighbourhood - Athlete
A Weekend In The City - Bloc Party
Glo - Delirious
Pushing The Senses - Feeder
Can I See Heaven - Heat
The Remote Part - Idlewild
No Name Face - Lifehouse
Sam's Town - The Killers
The Friendship And The Fear - Matt Redman
Frengers - Mew
And The Glass Handed Kites - Mew
Takk - Sigur Ros
October - U2

Albums that came close, or were just spoiled by the odd song:
Black Swan - Athlete
Lifesong - Casting Crowns
A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay
Jesus Freak - DCTalk
This I sWhere I Stand - Easyworld
A Day Without Rain - Enya
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Happiness - Hurts
100 Broken Windows - Idlewild
Absolution - Muse
Black Holes and Revelations - Muse
(What's The Story) Morning Glory - Oasis
By The Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Escape - Sabio
() - Sigur Ros
Harmonies For The Haunted - Stellastarr*
Falling Down - Steve
Empty - Tait
Tom + Olly - Tom + Olly
Achtung Baby - U2
All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
Revived - World Wide Message Tribe


Looking over these lists, I notice that I have something close to a list of my favourite albums.  Which suggests that, for me, 'completeness' in an album is a very important factor in how much I like that album.

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