I don't know about u guys, but I've found that a LOT of albums are poorly sequenced. One of the worst to me is Mariah's "Emancipation of Mimi" album. I like the album, but the trax don't flow like they should. Do you guys have albums that you don't like the sequencing on it?
[Edited 4/6/10 11:39am]

Well in the now-passing cd age, there are just too many filler songs on albums to begin with. Gone are the days of the 8, 9, or even 10-cut album, and 9 of them just fantastic. Then you factor in the fact that there are more than one producer on 2 or three songs each, so the vibe, or theme, tends to get lost within the album.

I was always interested in how certain song listings from albums were sequenced, and why.

I agree. I think even with different producers and writers as Motorbootyaffair mentioned, there's still the option of creating some sort of cohesion, even if you remix a couple of songs, or put in some segues to set up the song, or whatever.

Prince has almost always stuck to a relatively predictable, but working formula for sequencing. Blasting opening number, solid second track, ballad, finish up side one with a couple of more solid uptempo tracks, or even another ballad. MJ kind of had the same approach. Thriller and Bad were great examples of that. So was Janet's Control.

The bigger question is: Does bad sequencing effect the fan's view of "this is great" or "this sucks" for an album? Can the songs stand on their own, or does the album depend on the sequencing to be more listenable?

On the flip side, some albums are so cohesive and blend so well that even on shuffle, they work well. Disk One of Emancipation is that way for me. There's never really been a bad shuffle on that disk. Try it sometime.

I don't like the sequencing of Kanye West's Graduation album.

ernestsewell said:

That's a good question. For me, Mariah's albums (for the most part) are horribly sequenced. However, if you move a few songs around, you get a great "album" and not just a collection of songs.

As for Prince, almost all of his albums are sequenced well to me. He always knows how to balance how the fast/slow/mid combination while still managing to tell a story.

I fell the same way about MJ's albums from Dangerous to Invincible.

ernestsewell said:

I agree 100% that Prince and MJ both did a well job at sequencing their album effectively.

As far as poorly sequenced albums I would think that if the album has amazing songs, the sequence of the songs does not make a huge a difference.

Although having all the slow songs/ballads at the beginning and all fast/heavy songs at the end would probably ruin the experience.

Sequence of songs only matters for people who enjoy listening to albums from beginning to end, some people don't like doing that.edit: Mainly because we all often skip songs that we don't like
[Edited 4/6/10 14:58pm]

I've never liked the sequencing of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water album. Putting the title track as the opener, would be like putting 'Purple Rain' (the song) at the start of Purple Rain (the album).

The sequencing of most of The Beatles' albums is impeccable.

Joni's Blue album is sequenced so well, that I have never skipped a track when listening.

All I had to do was look at the title of this thread and I knew it was you, daPrettyman.

dannyd5050 said:

I've never cared for the sequencing of Erykah Badu's "Mama's Gun" album. First of all she changed the sequencing at the last minute AFTER the printing of the lists inside the cd booklet as well as on the cd itself (at least that's how my copy is and I bought the cd as soon as it was released), so i was forced to listen closely to each song in order to figure out what song it was but more than that I didn't think that the album flowed correctly. Just my two cents.

missfee said:

So THAT'S why it is jacked up on my ipod!!

Prince's Parade should have been reversed. There, I said it.

sosgemini said:

As in, B Side should have been A and reverse.

shorttrini said:

OMG, all these years I've been wondering WTF? I keep saying I'm going to get around to sequencing it right in iTunes but I never have. Mystery solved.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic.

It's a bad album. But even with as many turds as are on it, it could have gone up half a star with a better sequence.

errant said:

Agreed - Rave is by FAR Prince's worst sequenced album. That's something he's usually very good with.

Michael Jackson - Bad

Prince - Graffiti Bridge

U2 - All That U Can't Leave Behind


many Bob Dylan albums...

The Cure's "Wild Mood Swings" - - there is a great album in there had it been sequenced properly, trimmed by a few songs and augmented with a couple of the stellar b-sides.

JoeTyler said:

Agreed - actually I'd say the last 3 U2 albums were all very poorly sequenced, with perhaps Atomic Bomb the worst of the lot. Yet the material is so strong all 3 are still killer records.

And Dylan's albums can sometimes be sequenced perfectly(Oh Mercy, Highway 61), and sometimes totally fucked up (Infidels could have been a classic album but he left off the 2 strongest songs and left the rest a jumbled mess with no flow.)

NoVideo said:

Yeeah, in fact, 90% of Dylan's albums have no flow at all; in fact, it seems that the brand "singer/songwriter" automatically turns your records into messy collections of (strong) songs...

errant said:

The album had such great potential as a good Prince album.

"Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic"
"Undisputed" (use live drums - it worked with "Sexy MF")
"Hot Wit' U" (no rap)
"Tangerine" (use extended version)
"So Far, So Pleased" (mix Gwen's vocal higher and let her solo)
"Beautiful Strange"
"Everyday Is a Winding Road" (no Larry chant in it)
"Man'O'War"
"Prettyman"
"I Love U, but I Don't Trust U Anymore" (use extended version)
"Baby Knows" (mix Sheryl Crow's vocal higher)
"Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do"

ernestsewell said:

in 1989 or on an outtakes collection. not as the title and lead track for an album in 1999. any non-fan who happened to pick up this album on a whim when it came out probably never made it past the first track. this is one strictly for the 10%ers....



nothing could save this. the Moneyapolis mix was a valiant effort, but still didn't pull it off



Eve's rap is the only redeeming feature of this song. his voice, the lyrics, and the beat are grating.




love it. and yes, it has to be the extended. without that extended part, I'm not even sure why this song exists.




decent pop rock effort



great song. a bit meaty for this set, though.



no any of it in any of it




i actually like this one. the original version. love the guitar solo and it's catchy. it's like a very pop take on the r&b seduction ballad thing. the remix probably makes it a better song, but i like the original.



never been terribly impressed with this.



what extended version? the versions on both albums are the same.




or just go without her. not sure what the point of guest stars is if you can't tell they're there.




nice song. a bit underacheiving, but nice for the kind of thing it is.

what about Sun, Moon & Stars? one of the stronger offerings in retrospect, I think. hated it at the time, but it's aged better than most of it.

shorttrini said:

JackieBlue said:

yep

MotorBootyAffair said:

I would prefer the 8 or 9 songs an album like in the 80's provided the
artist put out an album every year but unfortunately it doesn't work
that way anymore. So if my favorite artist is only gonna release an album
every 2 and a half to 3 years i'd prefer at least 14 tracks.

I always listen to Roxy Music's Avalon album in reverse order of the LP Sides - start with side two and end with side one. A friend of mine made me a cassette running in that order, and he was right - it works better than the actual sequence.


"The Main Thing"
"Take a Chance with Me"
"To Turn You On"
"True to Life"
"Tara"(Instrumental)
"More Than This"
"The Space Between"
"Avalon"
"India"(Instrumental)
"While My Heart Is Still Beating"

Much better! I almost wonder if the pressing plant made a mistake.

bobzilla77 said:

Very cool idea. I'm gonna have to try that this weekend.

I've always felt that Peter Gabriel's So album was one of the most brillant albums with one of the worst track sequences.