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HAIRWOLF Album Opener plus "Ordering the Songs" - 2008/02/27 20:17
"Fortune 5,000", hands down. "Evil Eyes of the Eagle" seems more like a later-album song to me, and the rhythm/tempo of "Haunted Castle" would make a great track 3 or 4. I also think that "For Your Inconvenience" makes a great track 2.
However, I will refer you to Carpentron's dissertation on album order on his Virb blog: Ordering the Songs
Copied here:
Song order is a sort of old idea in a world where people just download singles, but I think the order in which you listen to songs creates a context that actually changes the feel of the songs. Here is my theory:
- The first song is the most important, for obvious reasons. But it doesn't have to be the best song. In many cases, it shouldn't be. It should be something that has a lot of energy or tension in it, something that will make people notice it in some way. This could be due to a fast tempo, a loud abrasiveness, a particularly catchy melody, or a variety of other reasons. It should not be a mellow mid-tempo song.
- The second song should counterbalance the first song. If the first song is tense and tiring, as I think mine is, the second should be easy on the ears. If the first song is very catchy, the second might be less so.
- There are a few different ways you can go about things from there. The third song, in my case, is another "tense" song. I think the alternation accentuates the tension and the release of the songs. I could also have put my strongest song here, but I haven't had a chance to step back and figure out which song that is.
- The middle of the album should avoid putting songs that are similar next to each other, unless the goal is to create an album that is basically background or meditative music. Songs that sound similar start to sound bland. I was careful not to put "The Legend I Was Meant to Be" and "My Sanctuary" together because I think they are similar in feel.
- As the album goes on, it can get more adventurous. Now that you've hooked people in this far, you can stretch them a bit. In my case, I didn't have something particularly out there, but I put "Cheese" late in the album because its mood is very different and it kind of goes to a different place than the other songs. I put "Biggest Bear" near the end because it's a stark deviation from the other songs and, well, the mix isn't good so I didn't want it earlier.
- The last song should give a sense of closure. It can recap the themes or something like that. The most important thing is that it doesn't leave you hanging. It's usually best to go out with a bang.
Naturally, there's no one way to put the songs together. It's more of an art than a science, but not entirely.
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