opinions on album length

[Yngvai X]

So it will be instrumental? If so, the length doesn't matter that much. As there is no need of story or concept. Even Mike Oldfield's tubular bells has got only two parts and is under 30 min, heh.

Its not instrumental. There are 5 vocal tracks and one instrumental. Jens Carlsson from the bands Savage Circus and Persuader did the vocals.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Zero Hour - Towers of Avarice [44:22] and one of the best albums ive heard.
Rush's A Farewell to Kings, Fly By Night, Grace Under Pressure, Permanent Waves, and the epic Moving Pictures are all under 40 minutes.

So don't worry about length. it might turn away some prog-snobs who absolutely must have 79:59 albums every time, regardless of content, but as you can see, it truly is about quality.

 

[Yngvai X]

So don't worry about length. it might turn away some prog-snobs who absolutely must have 79:59 albums every time, regardless of content, but as you can see, it truly is about quality.

The irony in this statement is that, when the same question was posed to people over at the Blind Guardian forum, there were more people saying it is important than people over here, at a "progmetal" band's forum, are.

Maybe powermetal fans prefer quantity and progmetal fans prefer quality?

 

[Phanto]

I like the sample on your site very very much. If the whole album has that quility in it, the length should be no problem. Just remember to put a 20min epic on the next one

 

[the_satanic_rabbit]

For me, the minimum should be about 45 mins and the max should be about 65. I remember reading a Glen Benton interview (Deicide), where he said an album should never be longer than 30 mins.... BS! That just goes to show that they can't come up with anything original. 45 minutes is enough to satisfy...anything of 65 runs the risk of becoming dragging.

 

[Taliwakker]

The length wouldn't bother me. The first VH albums were all 35 mins or less and how good were they....

The only thing that would discourage me from buying a 35 minute album is the price...i guess it should be priced in $6-$9US range.
As for shopping it to labels....i'm in pretty much a similar sitauation (6 tracks/35 mins) and have discussed it with 2 label guys...both said they were not interested in ep length discs because they cost the same amount to press as full lengths but have to charge less....maybe with this one you should pay to get a couple of thousand printed yourself and look for a distribution deal....or send it to labels as a demo to try and get some cash out of them to do a full length.

 

[Powell_man]

You could always write more songs...but it's better to have a short album than a long one where the "extra" songs are half-assed because they were only written in order to make the album longer. So, only make it longer if you can record a few songs that are equally (or more) well-written than the others.

I agree, theres no point in putting in album fillers, because people won't want to listen to them, plus it saves time skipping from track to track. I'd say if your satisfied that you have given it all you've got, go ahead and release it.

+ who cares what other people think, it's what you think about the album that matters most, some artists hate their most famous songs!!!

 

[ABQShredHead]

I've been guilty of standing in the aisle and adding track times in my head to pick the longer of two CDs that I'm making a decision on. But I can't say I'd never buy something because it was too short.

 

[Xtopher]

+ who cares what other people think, it's what you think about the album that matters most, some artists hate their most famous songs!!!

like Blind Melon with "no rain"

 

[conan of skyrim]

really id have to hear it first. it can be however long it needs to be, as long as it blows me away.

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

I'd like to add that I'm pretty sure Zep II, Deep Purple's "Machine Head," Van Halen 1, and Rising Force are all under an hour. That's a lot more content than you find on many hour-long albums.

 

[conan of skyrim]

once something is complete, it cant be made more complete.

 

[nckissfan]

I wouldn't worry about the length. I feel quality outweighs quantity.

 

[Horus]

Album length is rarely an issue in my eyes. Sure, a long album is always nice, but like many people said, it's not really important. As long as it turns out good and you're happy with the songs themselves, it really doesn't matter.

 

[bastaroid]

i'm on the quality over quantity side also. but with that being said, i only have the budget to buy about 1 cd a month at most and i do find myself discouraged from buying albums less than at least 45 minutes. and i still view that as short.

 

[Chris Brooks]

I went through the same thinking process with my own debut Matt, and decided that if the story ended well I certainly wasn't going to write an extra chapter for the sake of volume.

I also think that if it becomes and issue with potential labels, the self-release route is definitely worth considering if you can get good online and wholesale sales. I've cleared $30,000 AUD with TMP and with the quantity shipped, a label deal on the known guitar labels would have sold me not much more but paid me a LOT less.

 

[!Aviso!]

Personally, I get kind of put off if I buy an album and it ends up being less than 50 minutes. That's actually one reason why I rarely buy older albums. I wait for them to go on "Super Saver" or whatever, so that I don't have shell out full price for something that's less than 40 minutes long.

I guess I'm the odd one out here, again.

 

[soulshred]

Its the content that counts.
look at bodom cds.
and any prog geek telling the opposite can go and play a 22 minute guitar solo

 

[The ytse-odyssey]

dude, i listened to your song on the website. its really good. no, i dont give a shit how long an album is... especially if its like filler shit. fuck dude, good luck, and dont worry, its ok to have an album that short. there has been WAY shorter, that is still fucking loved to this day, like you already said reign in blood, and basically every other fucking slayer cd. bodom always releases short shit, but its still fucking good. are you getting what im fucking saying?! just its fucking fine. dont worry about it!