I was checking out the new Black Eyed Peas release, and I had to find out what the deal was with the sound. To me, the album sounds like it may have had a lot of potential at one point, but somewhere along the way, the ball bounced itself away from them (perhaps in an attempt to get the hell away?) Not hatin', just relatin' - my experience.

I then went to the wikipedia and looked them up and this was the quote that came up (from wil.i.am), as a description of the "album" (or lack thereof) (Source: wikipedia.org)

"Group front man will.i.am told Billboard that The E.N.D stands for "The Energy Never Dies", which describes his model for a project that will be living and frequently updated throughout its designated cycle. "It's a diary ... of music that at any given time, depending on the inspiration, you can add to it," the artist/producer/songwriter explains. "I'm trying to break away from the concept of an album. What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs? That's not an album. There is no album anymore." He describes the music as "a lot of dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that."

On the one hand, I can see what he's saying, but on the other hand, it sounds like such a copout. So I will ask here - is the album worth listening to from start to finish, or is it just what he says (something people will "pick at like scabs.") In other words, is album-oriented music (finally) dead?