Could SSK really be the last Elbow album ?

Recently read an article where Guy referred to the new album as the last in that format. (other than the B-side album expected later)
This was in response to the mp3 culture and being able to download individual tracks, and the realisation that the album may be dead as a concept.

We all love Elbow's music and I'm sure that many will agree that its the album format that enables us to enjoy some of the more intriguing tracks together with the more obvious greats.

Even if they were to start releasing shorter EP type work I'm sure anything they do would still be fantastic, but the thought of no more 12 trackers...

Hopefully this will not be the case.

That would be a shame, bands shouldn't succumb to the pressure that mp3 is putting onto them.

Yes, I'm no marketing expert, but i suppose it depends on what the majority want and the band's demographics too.

I've a pretty good idea that most current fans would continue to buy anything and probably everything that's issued in any format. But traditionally the album is what we come to expect from Elbow, and they are so damn good at it !

That would be very sad indeed. The album is an art form I don't want to die

I don't think that this will happen. This kind of thing is expected from Rihanna, Ne-yo and other crappy r'n'b / hip hop dumbasses. Elbow functions best in album format, and these idiots in singles format.

No, they all function best in a skip.

By next year, you'll be hearing that they're coming out with a new album planned for 2010 or 2011. These guys do too well with the album formula to let it go after the fourth album and a lot of people seem to agree as the reviews have been nothing but great for TSSK.

http://www.nme.com/news/elbow/35060

Guy standing up for the album format! Nice one says I

Yeah, I saw this recently and it made me think that it kind of went against the not selling albums anymore idea. Maybe Guy just has a laugh with the press sometimes.

He said something similar on the Radcliffe Maconie session he did last month for Radio 2. Like everyone else here I hope he sticks to the album format. I still love to sit down and 'listen' to music; to take it in and absorb it. Sadly I think most people these days see music as somethiong purely disposable, to be listened to a few times and then discarded without ever exploring what music really is.

God! Don't I sound like a Grumpy Old Man!!!!

I'm a grumpy old woman as well.

I always prefer having the whole record "in hand". It tells a story.

The package it all comes in is a little bonus to the music, if you will. A work of art in itself. I love to stick on some headphones, pop the c.d. in, hold the c.d. insert in my hands and look at the artwork, read the lyrics, credits, etc.

I think those who grab a song here and there from itunes are seriously missing out.

I will 'fess up and admit that I often nab single tracks from iTunes; there really are instances where I was not willing to buy an entire album but I really liked a particular song. If you look at some of the recent (within the past 10 years or so) work by REM, Elvis Costello, Prince and many others, a lot of these albums are weak. But you can find great tracks even on these records. One music critic here calls it the "diamonds in dogsh*t syndrome" and that's not a bad way to describe it.

Still, I agree with the majority here; Elbow will definitely continue to make LP's, IMO, and the album format itself may be endangered but I don't think it will become completely extinct. There are still too many artists that see the value of putting together a complete peice of work, or of using the format to do "concept" records, or records with a theme throughout (OK Computer, American Idiot, etc.).

Hotblack wrote:

He said something similar on the Radcliffe Maconie session he did last month for Radio 2. Like everyone else here I hope he sticks to the album format. I still love to sit down and 'listen' to music; to take it in and absorb it. Sadly I think most people these days see music as somethiong purely disposable, to be listened to a few times and then discarded without ever exploring what music really is.

God! Don't I sound like a Grumpy Old Man!!!!

Best way to be

Topaz wrote:

I'm a grumpy old woman as well.

I always prefer having the whole record "in hand". It tells a story.

The package it all comes in is a little bonus to the music, if you will. A work of art in itself. I love to stick on some headphones, pop the c.d. in, hold the c.d. insert in my hands and look at the artwork, read the lyrics, credits, etc.

I think those who grab a song here and there from itunes are seriously missing out.

I am right there with you, Topaz. One of my favorite things to do is settle in with a great album and my headphones. Sometimes I pore over the lyrics and artwork; more often, I get a glass of wine, close my eyes, and get lost in it (the music, not the wine...although once in a while... )

Ah, the Incredible Shrinking Human Attention Span. A sad thing, indeed.

I dunno, I reckon there's always been the divide. In say... 1975 while one guy was listening to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here for the 25th time that day, another might be tapping along to the Jackson 5's Dancing Machine and that'll do him for music that day.

I think it's important that popular music doesn't lose this double-sided coin thing it's got going!

jonny wrote:

I dunno, I reckon there's always been the divide.

I think you're right. I'm definitely an 'album' person. It just seems that there are less and less of us each year.

Times are a changin me thinks.

I know that since we put all the cd's onto the p.c and mp3 format, at home we tend not to listen to whole albums any more. It seems like you constantly skip and search looking for a better track. Whereas before either with CD or (back in the day) vinyl, you tended just to put on the album and listen to most of it before having to get off your backside and change it over.

I love listening to albums in the car, when there is just me and the road and no distractions.
Also at home if i'm cooking something up in the kitchen, big glass of red wine and some great music.... you can't beat it

ChrissyBoy wrote:

Times are a changin me thinks.

I know that since we put all the cd's onto the p.c and mp3 format, at home we tend not to listen to whole albums any more. It seems like you constantly skip and search looking for a better track.

Not me. I still play whole albums 'cos I'm too lazy to set up playlists.

I mostly listen to full albums, aye. Sometimes I push the shuffle button though, that can be fun for background music.

I like to set up a playlist which contains all music stored on my computer and then i press shuffle...This way, it sounds like my own personal radio and I never know which song is going to follow...

NEVER!! they said they have no plans to stop yet, and will make atleat one more

They did? Where, when? I wouldn't mind a bit of hard proof.

i cant remember where. it was an interview on tele. an obscure music channel. guy did say it though...

quote: "theres definitely room for atleast one more"

...

At the recent Amsterdam gig Guy dismissed the rumour that SSK would be their last album and that in future they would only release EPs.

Neat.