Drummer Tommy Lee Says "No One Buys [Complete Albums] Anymore"

I'm with Tom. I like it the way it is now. One song at a time. Just like when I was growing up in the 50s.

 

Are we all so afraid to admit that sales of complete albums are declining that we'll just knock him and his music? I'm not a Tommy Lee fan either, but let's not kill the messenger. He's right.

 

Seems that way.

 

A classic example of yacht rock

 

I still like complete albums. I believe there is an art to making an album, the cover, the sequencing, the way one song leads to another. For example, the way "Interludes" leads to "You Wear It Well" on Never A Dull Moment. I love the anticipation.

Yes, I am a believer in complete albums. I don't want to listen to just one song, any more than I merely want to watch the shower scene from Psycho. I love the development, the foreplay, that leads to a milestone like You Wear It Well.

 

“I don’t listen to anybody’s full record anymore and when I did, I don’t think I listened to the whole record. I’m sorry, and I don’t care who it is, if it’s The Beatles, I can’t listen to an hour and a half of anybody straight, so I guess that’s just my personal preference.”

aren't most albums half that length. Does he plan on shorter sets when they play live ? Or maybe they can have bands alternate on stage, play a song or two then let the next band play a couple.

 

My thought exactly.

I agree here as well.

 

Thats because Tommy Lee, and the majority of this forum, has never heard of Adele. Her latest album, released only back in January 2011, already has worldwide sales of 6.48 million.

Yep, looks like albums arent selling anymore.

 

^^^ This. I only needldrop on the lead in groove and don't pick it up till the lead out, followed by a record flip ( and repeat). Cheers !

 

There are no new albums as good as early Crue, like Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil.

 

Not every country album is as solid front to back as the best Johnny Cash, Waylon, Willie, etc. album. Not every CCM album is as solid front to back as the late 1970s-1980s Amy Grant album catalog, the classic albums of Larry Norman, the Keith Green catalog, etc.

 

Don't expect too much out of us, and you won't be disappointed, that is if we're even paying attention at all.....

Tommy Lee...the spokesman for a new generation of music fan.

 

I also only buy complete albums - unless I'm getting a "maxi-single" with remixes for songs from albums I own.

Lee's right that album sales have declined, of course, but I don't totally agree that it's because people only buy singles. Sales have been hit harder due to illegal downloading than due to the rise of the "pick and choose" system of music buying. Yeah, the latter's hurt overall album sales, but not as much as the former.

I'd hate it if full albums went away, but I don't think they will...

 

His seems longer than that.

 

Tommy Lee a drummer ? thats a stretch isn't it ? I don't think his poundings can be considered music .

 

I think Pamela would agree, but maybe i'm wrong.

 

you're right, I have no idea who that is

 

Me too. And the friends that i have who do use iTunes/Amazon digital, since they'll buy an album if they like a few songs off it.

I think what Tommy really meant was that no one buys HIS complete albums anymore.

 

As somebody who suffers from ADD and is an adult, I take offense at your comment.

ADD has nothing to do with the level of intelligence of a person.

Before using terms like this in a derogatory manner, I'd suggest you educate yourself about the subject, lest you throw terms based on ignorance around arbitrarily.

 

I'm consistent then at least. I never did!

 

Tommy Lee has spoken like a true artist. Why paint a canvas when you can fingerpaint a saltine?

 

Waaaaa! Whaaaaaaa! So, why not just make a good album with a bunch of great singles, like artists used to do in the 80s? They can make it conceptual too. Look at the great pop/rock albums of the 80s: they all had one thing in common: they all were filled with great potential singles. It just takes more work.

Instead of artists whining about the resurgence of the single, they should take the challenge.

Singles started this industry, they have maintained it, and the only reason it ever suffered is because the industry tried to get rid of them.

 

Thank you.

I am not ADD, far from it, really, but I like singles.

 

He's right and he's wrong. While the younger demographic that buys Adele and Gaga won't buy complete albums, the original fans of his band and the bands which are his contemporaries came up in the album age and are as used to buying albums as they ever were. They and the generation before them make up the majority of the (admittedly small) slice of full album sales which still exists. But they have to like what you have to sell, which longtime Dylan fans for example certainly do and which apparently Crue fans don't.