Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives :: View topic - Albums that are too long or too short

I guess it's a matter of perception.. all albums are too short if you are really into them

Time I (Wintersun) - 3 real songs. Really Jari?

Off the top of my head...

Lame
Woods of Ypres - IV The Green Album
Woods of Ypres - The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues

Good
While Heaven Wept - Fear of Infinity
While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

Gorguts - Obscura

I've always felt this album, while good, was about 2 or 3 songs too long. At one hour, there seems to be a lot of things happening, and Lemay's vocals get raspier in the final quarter, I feel, so that doesn't do the length of it any justice. I like it more now than I used to, though, so it could just be a case of getting more used to it.

Krisiun - Works of Carnage

Deicide's ''Legion'' is too long. If there was a shorter, faster version of it it would be much better.

While I like Accept - Blood of the Nation, it is way too long,

Too Long
Woods of Ypres - IV The Green Album
Woods of Ypres - The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues

MikeyC wrote:

I always thought so too. They should have stuck with the traditional eight song format and cut out every song after "Clouded" except "Faceless Ones" and the instrumental. Not that the middle songs aren't good on their own, but when I'm going through the album as a whole the middle songs don't keep my attention as well. Don't forget that Steeve Hurdle (RIP) also shared vocal duties with Lemay and his voice is raspier and, I'm sorry, not very good.

Too Short(?): I feel like the last couple Anaal Nathrakh albums are pretty short, but that might be part of their genius; I always hit the reset button when the album concludes.

Too short?

Focus by CYNIC! Only 36 min.

Author:	MikeyC [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:02 am ]
Post subject:	Albums that are too long or too short
Sometimes we come across really cool albums, but the only downside is that there's either too much or not enough material on them. Too long: Destruction - Inventor of Evil This is really the only Destruction album where I encounter this problem. It just seems to keep going and going. I think "The Alliance of Hellhoundz", with the grating spelling and eight million guest vocals, peak the album too early, and it just sort of doesn't stop from there. Gorguts - Obscura I've always felt this album, while good, was about 2 or 3 songs too long. At one hour, there seems to be a lot of things happening, and Lemay's vocals get raspier in the final quarter, I feel, so that doesn't do the length of it any justice. I like it more now than I used to, though, so it could just be a case of getting more used to it. Too short: Religious Nightmare - The Junkyard of Infinity This is dubbed as an album, but with a running time of just 11 minutes, you are simply begging for more. There's a few sections in the album that I feel they could've expanded on, and if they could even just double that time, there'd be lots more room to move and become a really great and unique grind band. Krisiun - Works of Carnage This whole album feels a little more rushed than their others, which is a shame because it's still quite brutal. Clocking in at just over half an hour, including instrumentals and a cover song, there's not too much of actual Krisiun material here. I guess some of their other albums make up for that, though.

Author:	gabber [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:07 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I guess it's a matter of perception.. all albums are too short if you are really into them, although I tend to prefer 8-10 tracks (not 9 it's a symmetrical thing). However, albums that absolutely suck feel like they just go on and on and so feel like they are too long. A lot of the later Destruction ones do indeed have too many tracks on them. To me any album with more than ten tracks is too long unless it's truly something quite special and varied.

Author:	MikeyC [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:25 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
gabber wrote: I guess it's a matter of perception.. all albums are too short if you are really into them I guess you're right. I have an album with 11 tracks and 78 minutes and I reckon I could've handled another 20 minutes of it, but that's because I really get into it.

Author:	hakarl [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:53 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Indeed, Obscura is somewhat too long. If there were more songs like Nostalgia, the length would be easier to handle, but the concept starts getting old when at some point songs no longer introduce any new interesting ideas, but merely more of the same. The album needs more varity: more genuinely brutal, heavy parts, and more introspective, atmospheric parts. Death metal albums can rarely hold my attention perfectly for an hour if there isn't quite a lot of variety.

Author:	LifeDemise [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:37 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Unorthodox by Edge of Sanity comes to mind. Almost an hour is too long for a death metal album imo.

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Author:	lord_ghengis [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I have never actually felt an album is too short. Typically speaking I'm happy with the 20-30 for grind, 25-35 for thrash or fast death metal, 35 to 45 for mid paced or slow dm or power or heavy, and 40-55 for doom. Any longer than that and most bands tend to start running together for me, although that's not a total certainty.

Author:	csehszlovakze [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:13 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I've always found Dark Fortress' Ylem to be too long for its good, I get bored by it at half, even though the second half also has good songs... if it was only 45 minutes long (with the better tracks) it'd be much more enjoyable. I can't name any albums to be too short either, shorter albums I know tend to feel finished as they are.

Author:	DoomMetalAlchemist [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:43 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Reverend Bizarre's III: So Long Suckers has to be the king of too long albums. Though that just results from much too long songs, rather than too many songs. It could really benefit from having all the song lengths except for Kundalini Arisen (4:25) cut in half. Black Sabbath's Master of Reality is damn near a perfect album, but with 1 flaw: It's too short. Only 6 real songs for about 35 minutes. One or two additional real songs could've made it better. Pentagram's Day of Reckoning is also a little short. Like Master of Reality, an all time classic of doom, but not enough songs. 7 tracks at about 35 minutes. Again, could've used an additional one or two songs.

Author:	Opus [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:18 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Too long - Cage's Hell Destroyer! 21 songs! It just goes on and on and on and on.... For 1 hour and 18 minutes! Perfect length - 38 minutes. see; Wolf's Return.

Author:	Twin_guitar_attack [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:25 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Gridlink's albums, while awesome, really do feel too short, at around 12 minutes each one. I really want more stuff to be released by them to make up for it. I know grindcore is meant to be short I guess, but I usually listen to hours of it at a time when I do.

Author:	~Guest 226319 [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Deicide's ''Legion'' is too long. If there was a shorter, faster version of it it would be much better.

Author:	Subrick [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:13 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
If Legion was any shorter it'd barely qualify as an album.

Author:	Ravenlord266 [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Angra's Temple of Shadows drags on for ages near the end with 4-5 exact sounding filler songs

Author:	Subrick [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:26 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I know I've mentioned this album way too many times in the past, but Lulu is just insufferably long. It just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and ON.

Author:	MARSDUDE [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
In my opinion, an album cannot be too short. If it's that good, where I want it to keep going, I just listen to it again. Too long though, oh yeah, that's a problem for me. Ever had an album actually put you to sleep, despite your sound system being turned up fucking loud?

Author:	Subrick [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:34 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I've surprisingly never fallen asleep during an album before. I have with movies though, such as Tim Burton's (ass raping of) Alice in Wonderland.

Author:	Cloud0129 [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Too Long: The Great Execution (Krisiun) - Seriously drags on too much, a complete disappointment considering that Southern Storm was just perfect. Too Short: Time I (Wintersun) - 3 real songs. Really Jari?

Author:	Opus [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Cloud0129 wrote: Time I (Wintersun) - 3 real songs. Really Jari? How else would they be able to sell Time II?

Author:	henkkjelle [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Dämmerfarben - Herbstpfad is way to short. It's only 30 min long, and because the songs are so good it makes you yearn for more. On the other hand, it does have a lot of replay value this way.

Author:	vengefulgoat [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:17 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Too long: Naastrand - Chant's D Europe

Author:	Evoken [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Off the top of my head... Too Long Woods of Ypres - IV The Green Album Woods of Ypres - The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues Too Short While Heaven Wept - Fear of Infinity While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

Author:	Metantoine [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Evoken wrote: Off the top of my head... Lame Woods of Ypres - IV The Green Album Woods of Ypres - The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues Good While Heaven Wept - Fear of Infinity While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose Fixed! While I like Accept - Blood of the Nation, it is way too long, Stalingrad is just fine though.

Author:	RedMisanthrope [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:47 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
MikeyC wrote: Gorguts - Obscura I've always felt this album, while good, was about 2 or 3 songs too long. At one hour, there seems to be a lot of things happening, and Lemay's vocals get raspier in the final quarter, I feel, so that doesn't do the length of it any justice. I like it more now than I used to, though, so it could just be a case of getting more used to it. I always thought so too. They should have stuck with the traditional eight song format and cut out every song after "Clouded" except "Faceless Ones" and the instrumental. Not that the middle songs aren't good on their own, but when I'm going through the album as a whole the middle songs don't keep my attention as well. Don't forget that Steeve Hurdle (RIP) also shared vocal duties with Lemay and his voice is raspier and, I'm sorry, not very good. Too Short(?): I feel like the last couple Anaal Nathrakh albums are pretty short, but that might be part of their genius; I always hit the reset button when the album concludes.

Author:	enigmatech [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
MikeyC wrote: Krisiun - Works of Carnage This is the album I thought of when I saw this post. It's not a particularly memorable album, to be honest. It's only been a year or so since I last played it in my CD player, and right off the top of my head I can't really remember anything about it other than that I thought it was pretty good. As far as "too long" is concerned, I usually don't have a problem with it save for extreme cases, such as Dream Theater's "Systematic Chaos". I like the album, but 78 fucking minutes it takes up is simply too long. I can't go for more than 60 minutes without feeling like I could be spending my evening doing something more productive than sitting in my room listening to John Pettruci masturbate in my ear. The songs are not bad, they are simply too long and drawn out for me to be interested in (and I might add that the only short song, "Forsaken", sucks). A good example of a long ass fucking album that would want to listen to is "Awake", which runs for 74 minutes, but that length is divided up pretty well between songs, so nothing really feels like it overstays it's welcome. John_Sunlight wrote: Deicide's ''Legion'' is too long. If there was a shorter, faster version of it it would be much better. "Legion" is perfect, in my opinion.

Author:	Violent_Possessor [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:39 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
John_Sunlight wrote: Deicide's ''Legion'' is too long. If there was a shorter, faster version of it it would be much better. Legion is about thirty minutes long. Not long enough if you ask me. The ultimate short album would be Hate, Fear and Power by Hirax. Clocking in at 16 minutes with 8 songs, it somehow qualifies as a full-length.

Author:	Subrick [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:59 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I'd think it's best to say it's an LP in name only, kind of like how A Change of Seasons is an EP in name only.

Author:	Opus [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Metantoine wrote: While I like Accept - Blood of the Nation, it is way too long, 67 minutes!! I never realized it's that long! I can not stand overly long albums, so I guess it goes to show that this IS a perfect album.

Author:	~Guest 171512 [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:31 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I've always felt that Blind Guardian's 'Somewhere Far Beyond' was just a little too short. It's the only flaw I can find with the album. If it were five or six minutes longer, it would have been perfect... well, more perfect. =] On the other hand, Vital Remains's 'Let Us Pray' just drags on and on. It's a good album, but fuck, give it a rest already.

Author:	IdiotFlesh [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Autopsy's Macabre Eternal sounded so awesome when I put it on for the first time, but after about the 8th track I'd heard enough. There are some really great pieces on there like "Dirty Gore Whore", but the album didn't need to be an hour long. If Autopsy had put a few more tracks onto The Tomb Within and took a few away from Macabre Eternal, we'd have two fabulously balanced albums.

Author:	ShadowKamelot [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
I've gotta second Dark Fortress's "Ylem". It's such a great album that it's a shame I usually only get halfway through it. Also too long: TYR's "Ragnarock". A few less tracks and I think it would keep me fully interested.

Author:	Kveldulfr [ Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Ulver's Bergtatt it's too short, although it's flawless like that. Gorgoroth's Antichrist could have been lenghtier with a couple of more songs on it. Nargaroth's BMIK should be 25 minutes long or something.

Author:	metroplex [ Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:11 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Too long - Every damn Rage album.

Author:	HamburgerBoy [ Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:10 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Every Iron Maiden album beyond No Prayer for the Dying is pretty obligatory for this. Overly repetitive choruses, long melodic intros that are repeated again at the end (AMOLAD has several minutes of intro/outro fluff alone), and some songs that just don't have any ideas going on. Brave New World is the most unfortunate case because the peaks touch their earlier material and it has a relatively unusual sound in the Iron Maiden catalog, but the chorus' are so ridiculous and some songs so long. ~15 minutes shorter and it could have been great.

Author:	Nyaricus [ Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Albums that are too long or too short
Evoken wrote: Too Long Woods of Ypres - IV The Green Album Woods of Ypres - The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues Yup. The Green album could've finished after the first half-dozen songs + " Retrosleep in the Morning Calm " and called it solid Canadian " World Coming Down " worship. Instead we got some awful Crowbar D-sides and another couple of weird pseudo-melodic black metal songs after a nearly perfect run of songs. A confused effort, unfortunately. The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues was conceptualized over 3 years, and this lack of focus shows. Ditch " Your Ontario Town " - it's cliched and awful, also ditch the forgettable " Iron Grudge " and the 4 folk metal songs (" Years of Silence", " December in Windsor ", " Trillium ", " Song of Redemption ") put on a separate EP. Would've made way more sense, just having the melodic black metal and melodic doom metal on one album. Those songs are the strongest on it, show the new direction since their Agalloch worship on the album before it, and show the direction things are going - more doomy. Plus, it brings it down to about 45 minutes, perfect LP length, not the gargantuan 1:12:18 length as listed on the Archives. Just my two coppers, anyways.