When I listen to a new album by someone I'm a big fan of (Radiohead, McCartney, Steely Dan, Tom Petty, etc) I rate songs based on whether they're good enough to put on a custom mix cd alongside the best of their catalog. Does anyone else do this, or am I just strange?
When I listen to albums, I always tried to pick out the possible singles based on how I heard them on the radio in my head. Sometimes I used to be disappointed by the choices of what was eventually released as singles, but felt vindicated when the singles I wouldn't have picked tanked.
