"Pop Album" vs. "Rock Album": Which Do You Prefer?

Not a poll.

"Pop album": 10+ songs that sound very different from each other, the only real common element is the singer's voice

"Rock album": 10+ songs that sound functionally alike, made by 3-5 people with a limited range of tools

Which of these two broad categories of musical artifact do you *generally* enjoy more?

What's a pop album that sounds like that?

By that standard Peggy Lee is rock.

What's a pop album that sounds like that?

Pretty much every pop album I've ever listened to has registered that way to me. Different producers/beatmakers from track to track, tracks created for different purposes (this is the dance track, this is the ballad, this is the R&B track, this is the one designed to showcase the guest vocalist)... whereas the rock album paradigm is more or less the same personnel on every song, one producer throughout, some fast songs, some slow songs but all played in a single recognizable style. Obviously there are many, many exceptions but what I'm describing, in the context of modern (read: 21st century) pop, should be clear enough.

This is an unfair characterization of rock albums; there are numerous rock albums where the songs are very diverse, especially from bands that have several lead singers and songwriters.

I tend to prefer "jazz albums", which are like both "pop albums" and "rock albums", except they play a lot of notes per second

I think unperson is using "pop" and "rock" to describe a format that either genres tend towards, of course there are exceptions.

I don't know if I prefer one over the other. I think it's easier for the "rock" style to become monotonous. Writing a sonically cohesive album that still goes to a bunch of different places is probably pretty challenging

However, most of my favorite albums fall into the "Rock" category here

I tend to prefer "jazz albums", which are like both "pop albums" and "rock albums", except they play a lot of notes per second

― imago, Thursday, 3 October 2024 15:55 (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

But they're not jazz albums, are they?

I thought people preferred pop because it was singles rather than albums they actually liked?

wolfcastle.jpg

I like to describe albums as being “single origin” vs “ecumenical”, me. Recently, my favorite albums combine the two processes— various “teams” are responsible for production from track to track, but there is an “executive producer” (oftentimes the artist themselves) who shapes the different ingredients into a unified whole. Frank Ocean, SZA, Sampha, for example

I tend to prefer "jazz albums", which are like both "pop albums" and "rock albums", except they play a lot of notes per second

I like to describe albums as being “single origin” vs “ecumenical”, me.

That's a very good way of describing what I'm getting at.

I thought people preferred pop because it was singles rather than albums they actually liked?

Which is sort of why many pop albums come across like collections of singles with a few (or, these days, a shitload) other tracks. Whereas when you listen to a rock album, the single sounds like all the other songs; it's just a little bit better in one or two ways (great riff, hookier chorus, big dramatic moment) that makes it more of a standalone, and therefore suited to radio, than the other generally similar songs on the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t48EOH4aYoQ

what are the best albums in the 'pop album' mode described here

the best pop (genre) albums i can think of are ones that generally have more stylistic cohesion even if there's a wide variety of creative personnel involved from track to track

Yeah, I am having trouble thinking of pop albums that fit that description. I’m sure they are a thing, but I guess I don’t usually listen to them?

I guess “Wrecking Ball” and “We Don’t Stop” don’t sound much like, are on the same album.

this has been on my mind lately.
I LOVE albums
but I think albums need to hurry up and die already so that music can grow wings.

No

I think the way the question is formulated sends us down the conversation on authenticity: a pop album thus defined would tend to feel superficial and boneless, borrowing and using pastiche instead of finding the true coherence only attained by the true songwriter (if that's what "single-origin" means). Actually, the rock album does not sound much more exciting, it will have more bone but it already sounds samey, authentic but with limited appeal and no genius, a collective effort where no one stands out ("ecumenical").

Probably 95% of albums fall within those two categories, but it is indeed the exceptions that transcend those categories that strike the imagination.