Filler-free double albums: are there any?

Plus I think we agreed not to include live albums - a whole different thing....




v

 

EXP is much better than And The Gods...

 

Don't most single albums have tunes that wouldn't make the cut if the artist were dividing up their work into separate EPs, though? And most EPhave tunes that wouldn't make the cut if the artists were only releasing singles?

Or in other words, I don't think that really works as a criterion. You need to approach each "canvas" differently, think about the pacing and variation of larger "canvases," etc. A double or triple album of tracks that would all be singles if you were only releasing singles might not work very well.

It's no different than how you approach individual songs, really. There are plenty of sections in tunes that wouldn't make the cut as choruses. But do we want tunes that are just a series of choruses? That probably wouldn't work very well.

 

Interesting point, but I am not as sure as you are I agree with it. I love Exile, one of my favorites all time by any group. But... when I listen to it I make it all the way from Rocks Off to Ventilator Blues loving all of it, and then it sort of loses something. Not that the songs ending side 3 are objectively bad. Hard to explain really. Then I love side 4. Oh well...

 

Well, I must be the only one who read the original post. Nowhere in it does it say that Live LPs or Greatest Hits packages don't count.

Says Who?

No, because some live albums have flaws (or filler).

 

If by flaws you mean drum solos then I see your point.

 

The Wall
Tales From Topographic Oceans
Electric Ladyland
The White Album
Physical Graffiti
Exile On Main St

 

If George Harrisons "ALL THINGS MUST PASS" LP was a double album (instead of a triple) it would be filler -free!

 

I can’t think of any filler on London Calling. In my mind, a double album has a different feel than a single. I expect them to meander a little, offer more variety, and take some chances. London Calling and Exile on Main Street are probably the two best examples of this.

 

I personally wouldn't call any of the "LC" songs "filler", but there are a few I'd have trouble actively defending from that label...

 

Lover’s Rock is admittedly not a high point, but still fits into the sprawling feeling of a good double album.

 

Pretty much the first 3 Chicago albums.

 

“Free Form Guitar” begs to differ.

 

Lol

 

I remember we had a discussion earlier in the thread about the semantics of "album filler". For many it's apparently a synonym for "album track I don't like".

For me at least, it's a track explicitly recorded by the artist to fill out an album, hence the term "filler".
On Ladyland, And The Gods Made Love is absolutely not filler. Hendrix laboured over it for weeks and constructed it expressly to open the album.
The filler is the (great) cover of Come On (Part 1), which was recorded to fill out the album.
Terms become meaningless when you misuse them.

 

Even then, it can be very subjective. When the Minutemen were planning recording Double Nickels on the Dime, it was going to be a single LP. Then they learned Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü was going to be a double and decided to do the same. Within about a week, they wrote another LP worth of material. Filler? Technically. Still one of the best punk albums ever, though.

 

I agree FFG is not something you listen to very often. However as a statement of innovation, it's an interesting one. Nobody was pushing the electric guitar to the absolute limits like Terry Kath was at that moment.

 

Dig, Come On is a legit good song. I'm sorry to hear that Jimi made a bad decision to open an album with And The Gods Made Love. It should be somewhere on side 3 since it sounds like a transition piece; there's no music on it. He should've spent weeks crafting a legit song.
Filler should be a synonym for bad songs, as recognized by the prudent man. Most people consider filler to be that definition. I never listen to Rush's Witch Hunt, but I wouldn't call it filler.
This isn't just a track I don't like; there's no music to it.

 

Hendrix.....?

 

Yeah not even Hendrix. Famous quote by Hendrix:

 

Mountain Jam. And god bless ‘em for that.

 

Well, all the heavyweights have been mentioned but here’s a double lp that I still enjoy listening to from front to back....
Loosen Up Naturally (1969) - The Sons of Champlin

 

Exile On Main Street
Blonde On Blonde

 

I highly doubt an artist like Hendrix would throw a "filler" track as the first song to introduce an album. It's obvious it was a well thought out plan and an important conscious decision that Hendrix used as a song to set up the album.