*A note before I begin. By "double album" I am referring to the original media format on which the album was released (and let's ignore greatest hits and live albums, because that's just cheating).*
"There's a good single album's worth of material in there somewhere." Just because it's a cliche readily thrown out by practically every reviewer of every double album ever made, doesn't mean it's not true. Why would artists open themselves up to that inevitability? Backing up, why make a double anyway? - too many ideas for a single disc? A way to make twice as much money if released separately? Aesthetic and / or artistic reasons that us mere mortals aren't meant to understand? Whatever the reason, the double-album has been around for a long time; it doesn't seem to be genre specific and nor does it seem to be going away anytime soon. Quite the opposite in fact.
I have for a long time believed that Bob Dylan's Bonde on Blonde was the first, released at it was in 1966. A quick wikipedia search has revealed, not for the first time, that I am wrong about something. It turns out that the credit should actually go to French singer-songwriter Léo Ferré's Verlaine et Rimbaud chantés par Léo Ferré, which was released in 1964. Other super famous double albums include Pink Floyd's The Wall, The Beatles' White Album, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, Guns N'Roses Use Your Illusion and The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street. Those are all old classics and we've all heard (of) them. Back then, I imagine the main driver was simply time - with LPs offering only 25-odd minutes a side, one wouldn't have to write a sprawling epic to need more than one slice of vinyl (following the advent of the compact disc, of course this was less of an issue - Blonde on Blonde fits on a single compact disc, with no obvious separation between the tracks needed). Even concept double album extraordinnaire The Wall isn't explicit about what constitutes its two halves, and only a minute or two of running time lies between it and single CD pressings.
Running time isn't the only factor, of course. System of a Down's Hypnotize and Mesmorize would have fit on a single CD, but the band shrewdly realised that their music is not exactly conducive to a 70+ minute single record (as opposed to, say, Tool). Guitarist and chief architect (of those releases) Daron Malakian explained that it would be too much music to release in one go. I happen to agree with him, and cynical thoughts of trying to make twice as much money barely entered this consumer's head (honestly). They made a effort with the packaging too - the titles, obviously, and the two CD sets are designed to fit together. Musically the two halves are very similar, so it would appear that the main driver here was a surplus of ideas (as opposed to, say, Foo Fighters' In Your Honour, where the second disc is acoustic and chilled). A more recent example of this is Stone Sour's House of Gold and Bones (the 2nd half was released earlier this year) - less imaginative in the two titles (Parts 1 and 2) but the CD sets fit together to make a house, which is pretty cool.
There are times when there are too many ideas to fit on a single slice of media. But are they always good ideas? Well no, they're not, and to be honest this is the case most of the time. However, the critics' beloved cliche is not always true. Blonde on Blonde was fairly consistent throughout, most of us wouldn't have The Wall any other way, and personally I consider last year's Christian aTunde Adjuah by Christian Scott to be a masterpiece throughout all of its two hours. (I'm listening to it right now, as I write this, as it happens.) Then of course there was the White Album. A couple of albums ago Thursday were toying with the idea of a double album but scrapped it after realising that "not even the Beatles' had enough good material for a double album". That statement is a little unfair, as Sergeant Pepper aside, The Beatles were primarily a singles band anyway, but we take the point. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium certainly had no more than a single disc's worth of decent material (most of it on the first disc) but we forgive them because they called the two sets Jupiter and Mars. Personally I adore Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile (moreso than The Downward Spiral, dare I say) but critical consesus would appear to be the usual, despite Trent Reznor having the good grace to name the two sets Left and Right. At least these three artists had the decency to release them as a single unit. Coheed and Cambria's recent double, The Afterman: Ascension and Descension, was released separately, but then that's probably just as well as the second disc is where all the good stuff is.
There is a plethora of recent double album releases. Examples other than the above include Baroness' Yellow and Green (a critical darling) last year, and Biffy Clyro's Opposites (ditto) and Soweto Kinch's The Legend of Mike Smith (sadly this doesn't earn its two-and-a-half hour running time), both released earlier this year. Personally I think this plethora might be better termed a resurgence, and the reason for it may have something to do with digitalism. If you want people to buy music in a physical format, these days you're going to need a bit of an incentive. Bonus DVD? Half-price T-shirt? Fancy artwork? If you've got a double album it just makes more sense in a tangible form. What good would Trent Reznor's Left and Right or Biffy Clyro's (take a deep breath) The Sand At The Core of Our Bones and The Land At The End Of Our Toes be as lists in iTunes? Still good maybe, but certainly less magical. Personally I find a single album less magical without the physical
thing but the feeling is exacerbated when there's a double involved.
On the other hand, maybe it's just a milestone thing. Blonde on Blonde was Dylan's seventh album, and by then he was massive enough for the record company to be comfortable asking people for more money for the two LPs (I assume that's how it worked, although I seem to recall The Clash made sure people weren't charged triple for their triple LP Sandinista! I have no idea whether Joanna Newsom said that for Have One On Me). Also, Dylan was seven albums in so probably wanted to try something different on an artistic level (Miles Davis' Bitches Brew is a particularly good instance of this, in combintation with a surfeit of ideas anyway). I imagine there are plenty of examples of double albums coming earlier in an band's career but I can't think of any and can't be bothered to look it up.
Why does no-one ever say there's a good EP's worth of material buried within an LP? Maybe they do, but the double album is rare and self-indulgent enough to openly invite categorisation of what's killer and what's filler. I suppose if ultimately consumers don't like it they don't have to buy double albums, and if worse comes to worst they can always playlist out the duffers on their digital devices. I would normally rather die than do something so classless, but with The Legend of Mike
Smith Soweto Kinch has driven me to it.
To finish, for what it's worth, here are a few of my favourite double albums (most certainly in no particular order):
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (1999)
A popular one for the critics to say there's a great single album in it, but I'm damned if I know which tracks to cut. Generally more mature, beautiful and long-lasting than The Downward Spiral, this is the album that gave us The Great Beyond and Starfuckers, Inc, and showed us how clever Trent Reznor really is. It's practically a symphony. His second double album, Ghosts I-IV (2008) is lovely too.
Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)
There is some crap on this, but we love it anyway (Vera, I'm looking at you). An enduring concept that lends itself well to the extended format, The Wall is responsible for some of the greatest live shows of all time, and in Comfortably Numb one of the greatest songs ever recorded. This may work against the idea of the double album in that "one good song an album does not make" but there's plenty of wonderful music throughout.
Christian Scott - Christian aTunde ADJuah (2012)
The best thing Mr Scott has done, in my opinion - my second favourite album of last year, a wonder and a marvel. Every single second is amazing (Well, nearly).
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)
Certainly not underserving of a snip here and there, but plenty of the album tracks hold their own against the mighty Kashmir.
Thrice - The Alchemy Index (2007/8)
Technically a quadruple EP but it was released as two LPs, so there. A clever idea, brilliantly executed. All four sections are different, but each set of six songs is all killer, no filler.
Baroness - Yellow & Green (2012)
The metal album for people who don't like metal. Too early to tell about its enduring legacy, but a common feature of 2012 end-of-year lists.
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1970)
Not every second is great, by any stretch of the imagination, but it has to be there. A work of art and a milestone in free jazz that has to be swallowed whole to be truly appreciated.
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
If Dream Theater isn't the type of band to do a double album, then, frankly, who is? Thankfully they pulled this one off with aplomb, cleverly separating the five standalone tracks on the first disc with the eponymous suite on the second.
Bob Dylan - BLonde on Blonde (1966)
Almost-but-not-quite where it all started, this is the third in Mr Zimmerman's trilogy of magnum opuses, after Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. After those two, where else could he go? All the more remarkable given how prolific he was in the 60s.
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)
Obviously.
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Not just one of the first double albums I ever bought, but one of the first albums full-stop, as the Americans wouldn't say. The album that introduced me not only to the concepts of the double album generally, the artistic separation (heavier stuff on the first disc, no?), the titles (Dawn to Dusk, Twilight to Starlight) and the inevitable filler, but also the particular gems of Tonight, Tonight, Zero, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and 1979.
System Of A Down - Mesmorize/Hypnotize (2005)
I tried for a very long time not to like these, as mini-Hitler Daron Malakian relegated Serj Tankian to the background and it still didn't sound like the first record, but ultimately I found the set to be worthy of the double album format, and consistent and high in its quality.
Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003)
No not really, but this double was very popular among those who had acquired the taste needed to enjoy what Outkast do. I've put this in here to illustrate the diversity of genre - Notorious B.I.G recorded Life After Death (released posthumously in 1997) and Tupac released several double albums in his career. I understand Nelly released a double album Sweat/Suit in 2004.
Thank you
