Anyone can grab my attention, but can they keep it?
The Power of Album Sequencing
E.O. Milne
When you look at an artist’s latest album you most likely listen to a few songs that spike your interest and then you make your first judgement of the music. For many artists, this is the right way to judge them as their album was made to be listened to in any order. But with other musicians, they need you to sit down and take in every word they are saying in chronological order because by the end of the album you should have heard a whole story and been brought into the artist’s world.
This is called album sequencing and it is as the name suggests, how an album is ordered for the listener’s enjoyment. But why does it matter? Can’t I just sit down and judge an album by the songs I like and don’t like? Well, no, not always, because as it were some artists are telling a full story with their work. For example, there was an album released a few years ago by Childish Gambino called “Because the Internet”, this album not only had the music included but also a movie script to go along with the album that told a story.
I like how some people phrase it: “anyone can grab my attention, but can they keep it?” To me, that is the challenge. For many artists they can only release a few popular songs and the rest of the album is just filling in the gaps without any passion put into it.
Album sequencing doesn’t have to be a story told though because as interesting as that is not everyone wants their album to be released like that. So, for your everyday artist who has a group of songs and wants to put together an album they still have to put the songs into a correct order that keeps the listener’s attention. What I mean by this is that the pacing of the album must have some diversity: a listener cannot just listen to 20 minutes of full punk rock and then go into some slow jazz, it must be spread evenly throughout the album.
So it begins with the start, the artist comes out with a song that sets the scene telling the listener what they are about to listen to for the next few hours. Then from the start to the middle, the artist has to even it out with some hyped upbeat songs and some slow songs but in the end, it’s all about how the artist wants the listener to feel. Do they want the listener to feel hatred in their hearts or do they want them to feel happy and motivated like they could do anything after listening to their songs? We then get to the middle, the middle has to most likely be your biggest hit, a song that you know is going to make the top charts (or just be the favourite on the album). So once you’ve done that, we have, in my opinion, the most important part of an album; the end. In the end, the last song of an album has to let the listener down slowly but powerfully leaving a good taste in their mouth because if they listen to the last song and think it’s rubbish and too slow, they aren’t going to be having a good memory of the album.
Even if that last song was a great composition, this song could either make or break the album. For example, say I’ve listened to a whole album in order and it has had a good, well-paced vibe to it that makes me feel different things at various times and then I get to the last song, this is the crescendo for me. The one that at first I think will be like all the rest but will let me down slowly to get back to my day feeling slightly upbeat and hopeful, but as I listen to it, it let’s me down. It is slow and boring and doesn’t give off any message, this then ruins the vibe of the album for me.
That is why the last words of an album are the most important. It is also why the sequencing of an album means everything, not only for the artist’s creation but the appreciation of the listener. So, the next time you go and listen to your favourite artist’s latest album, instead of rushing through it on shuffle, to be safe, listen to it in order and endure every word like it’s the last. Then who knows, maybe you’ll start to get a new perspective on the work a musician puts into their albums.
Above feature image caption: Beatles white album vinyl value – Beatles white album original LP no in E14 London