We’ve had a lot of chat on here about bloated records and double LPs that could be improved with a bit of healthy pruning, so I thought let’s celebrate the art of the short album! What are your faves? Which albums run to sub 25 mins (or 30 if you want), don’t have an ounce of fat or wasted run time?
I guess this could easily be dominated by thrash/metal/grind whatever but maybe think outside the box as well?
My absolute favourite Mt Eerie/Microphones project comes in at a trim 24 mins:
Remember a few years ago when Kanye produced a bunch of 20 min records? Anyway, this is my favourite miniature rap lp from that era (21 mins):
Listened to Talons’ ‘Rustic Bullshit’ (24 mins) last night which inspired me to make the thread in the first place. So many sad guitar albums take twice as long to convey half the heart-break:
And finally, one of my favourite albums of 2021, Mustafa’s ‘When Smoke Rises’, 23 mins:
Reign in Blood is a bit obvious but it’s a classic for a reason. Its strongest at the start and end but it’s lean and killer throughout.
I’d known Raining Blood for years before hearing the rest of the record. Would love to have had to the experience of hearing Postmortem into Raining Blood completely fresh for the first time, would have blown my poor mind.
The original release (without Mrs Robinson) of It’s A Shame About Ray clocks in at 29:46, and is one of the greatest albums ever released, so it wins this thread at a canter.