Track Listing

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JonPaulP

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I was a little curious, how do you guys go about arranging the track listing of songs in your album?

Do you arrange it by theme or how well the songs flow together?

Should singles be somewhere near the top?

I'm thinking that the good songs might be somewhere in the beginning/middle because that's when the listener's attention is still held.

My album is sort of a mix of genres, so I'm not sure if I should group all the similar songs together, or group them thematically.
 
I like to start off with what I think is the catchiest. That, with luck, will encourage the listener to want to listen to more.

I generally mix up fast and slow, and pay attention to the key signatures, so that there is good variation betwen tracks.

I try to find another catchy song to go about halfway. At the end, there is usually a track that sounds like it is a 'finishing off' track.

There is probably a more methodological approach. For me, it's all a bit random. However, this is assuming that there is no underlying theme behind the tracks (such as in a concept album) where there might be a definite or implied sequence of songs.
 
so, let me get this right, you, as a musician, are admitting that your album isn't ALL good songs? (if you want to put the good ones in the middle...) :D

My $0.02 is you need, as the gecko man says, to put something up front that will get the attention... now that's not necessarily "the" single, but certainly it has to be a strong track.

From there it's probably more art than science... test it with your potential customers... give out a few copies with different orders and see what people say...
 
Well, for my rock operas, I pick the song that goes first in the storyline, and make that the first song.
 
A lot of the albums on CD I listen to were originally issued on vinyl, so it's always interesting to see how they arranged it to fit the medium. The first song of each side was always either a single or something attention-grabbing, and the sides usually ended with a more low-tempo/creepy/weird/jammy/somehow different song. I think the Stooges "Raw Power" followed a formula something like "catchy" song -> "ballad" -> hard rocker -> creepy-jammy song, and it repeated that setup on both A and B-sides (8 songs total). If I were arranging a tracklisting, I'd probably follow something like that too, or at least try to think of it as two 15-to-20 minute "halves," punctuated by the "singles." But that could limit you depending on the kind of music you made.

So I've sort of contridictied myself. Woohoo. Move along. ;) Still though, I like albums sequenced like that. And I really prefer albums that are in the 30-40 minute range. Just because a CD can hold 70-something minutes doesn't mean you have to fill that space up, unless it has a double-album-esque sprawl or theme. Less is sometimes more.
 
I bring nothing to table in this topic, i usually go with what flows best. Album in its entirety is a piece of art, your creation, do ti as you see fit.

But an item worthy of note...

I once made 2 mixed cd's for a friends wedding. And as she gave me each cd to rip the songs off of i noticed a pattern. Keeping in mind she was a fan mostly of top40 pop hits and the odd alternative record from major labels i was dumbfounded by all the songs she picked that fell as Track 5? Trac k& coming in as close second ????

Seriously out of the songs i ripped that day, i can't rememeber how many lets say for arguments sake two cds with what? 35 songs all together? probably 28 would have been track 5 and track 7 ???

I don't know what to make of that but someone in the marteting department of major labels must put the singles and most popular songs in the teack 5 track 7 slots...


Crazy yea?


And if played backwards im sure there would be a diet coke or Guess jeans ad ? on aforementioned tracks.
 
Just try to keep the energy up throughout the length of the release. No good having five uptempo songs up front and the rest slow/midtempo songs...
 
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