The King of Limbs may be Radiohead's most divisive album since Kid A or perhaps ever. One of the criticisms leveled at it by its detractors (and some of its supporters) is its moderate length. It is Radiohead's shortest album (37:24) and contains 8 tracks, which is at least two fewer than any of their other albums. Fuck that. It may be short, but it has girth. The best music is all about economy, not excess. Some of the albums listed below are short because the songs make their point and then fuck off. Others have a modest number of fairly long songs. Some hark back to the days when you didn't have 80 minutes to play with, while others were recorded by bands that are smart enough to know that just because you can make an album that long doesn't mean you should. They're all shorter than The King of Limbs, and most of them are better.
The Beatles - Revolver (1966) - 14 tracks, 35:01
Can - Soundtracks (1970) - 7 tracks, 35:09
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On? (1971) - 9 tracks, 35:38
Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972) - 11 tracks, 28:22
The Clash - The Clash (1977) - 14 tracks, 35:18
Wire - Pink Flag (1977) - 21 tracks, 35:37
Robert Cray - Who's Been Talkin' (1978) - 10 tracks, 35:39
Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo (1978) - 11 tracks, 34:24
Midnight Oil - Head Injuries (1979) - 9 tracks, 34:04
The Cure - Faith (1981) - 8 tracks, 36:54
Pixies - Surfer Rosa (1988) - 13 tracks, 32:50
The Breeders - Pod (1990) - 12 tracks, 30:35
Weezer - Pinkerton (1996) - 10 tracks, 34:36
Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002) - 13 tracks, 37:18
Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (2002) - 12 tracks, 34:50
2 comments:
10 more for the ledger...
Marcy Playground - Marcy Playground (12 tracks, 34:27)
Brotherhood - New Order (9 tracks, 37:09)
Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) - Happy Mondays (11 tracks, 36:12)
Ocean Rain - Echo & The Bunnymen (9 tracks, 36:36)
Agents of Fortune - Blue Oyster Cult (10 tracks, 36:35)
Is This It - The Strokes (10 Tracks, 35:34)
Ramones - Ramones (14 tracks, 29:04)... and, should I believe wikipedia, every other pre-1990s Ramones album - their first one in the 1990s clocks in a second over at 37:25.
Van Halen - Van Halen (11 tracks, 35:13)
1984 - Van Halen (9 tracks, 33:08) ...seems like cheating listing 2 Van Halen ones, but the later is the better, though I think the former sold more.
Harvest - Neil Young (10 tracks, 37:11)
Shoulda thought of Harvest!
Neil Young - Zuma (9 tracks, 36:34)
The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane (10 tracks, 37:04)
The Stooges - The Stooges (8 tracks, 34:33 - including a ten minute psychedelic piece)
The Stooges - Raw Power (8 tracks, 34:00)
Lou Reed - Transformer (11 tracks, 36:40)
The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional (10 tracks, 35:51)
Otis Redding - Otis Blue (11 tracks, 32:22)
Funkadelic - Free Your Mind...And Your Ass Will Follow (6 tracks, 30:52)
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (7 tracks, 36:56)
All five Simon & Garfunkel albums are shorter, and the middle three are under 30 minutes.
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