What Makes An Album Good: A Personal Opinion

“Albums — remember those? Albums still matter. Albums, like books and black lives, still matter.”

Prince

I have been listening to albums with intention. I find that streaming lends to more listening of singles as opposed to albums. So I make a very intentional decision to listen to albums.

The thing is an album is a body of work that is made of parts. The parts need to work together to make the whole a good experience for those listening.

• The songs should make sense together
• The songs should have consistent mixing and mastering
• Solid Lyrics
• The order of the tracks should be such that there is no dud – a smooth transition between songs
• The featured artists have to make sense, add value
• Songs have to be worth remembering or have re-listening value.
• The album needs to be vibey
• And this is even more of a personal opinion, an album needs to say something. The different songs come together to tell the listener SOMETHING.