Well, I was curious to see which could be generally the listeners' preferences in this sense =), and remember that quantity would not necessarily be for you synonymous of quality or that you are satisfied with the final product. For me i will pick for 50 minutes =).

Does it really matter? As long as it's good.

I still think the optimal length is just below 15 seconds.

Irrelevant. If the album is good I don't care whether it's a five-minute demo or a 75-minute full-length.

I do prefer lengths over 40 minutes. I guess 40-60 minutes is the 'ideal' length. Certainly, there are albums that are much shorter and much longer that are great, but I just think that the approx 40 minute duration of time is a good amount of time for me to properly sink into the vibe of the music and enjoy it as a full experience. Generally speaking, I don't really like EPs because they are too short for me, even if some of the songs are really awesome.

I like my albums 2 hours long or more! NOTHING LESS! \m/ \m/

Seriously though: I voted for 50 Min...although I like albums generally around the 40-60 min (sometimes even longer depending on the band and type of metal).

Written by Troy Killjoy on 25.12.2011 at 20:26

Irrelevant. If the album is good I don't care whether it's a five-minute demo or a 75-minute full-length.

Agreed. However, a lot of my favourite metal albums are 50-60 minutes long so I gave my vote for 1 hour

I think 40 minutes is the sweet spot. 60 minutes is usually way too long (depends on the genre and concept, but 80% of the time) whereas 30 minutes of punk, folk or grindcore can be perfect but usually leaves me wanting more.

It realy depends but generaly 30-45 is OK, longer well if its good why not but doble Im not fun, well since I listen music before school at mornings its 30-40 I want including at 8:00 till 8:45 to not miss a buss, mp3 player I hardly follow to albums but generaly when Im free if its good I dont care , depends because there can be 1h crap and doble crap like DT for example or any other prog bands no thanks , lenght doesnt metter, but quality does

For me, lenght doesn't matter as long as the music is consistently good.
However, I noticed that lots of albums over 60 minutes long tend to drag and contain more boring fillers.
Most of the albums I'm listening to are between 40 and 50 minutes long.

Also, I would say that variation is required when an album is long. A 30 minutes Thrash album in which pretty much all songs sound the same can be very entertaining but if it lasts for 60 minutes, you will probably get tired of it before the end.

Depends. Apart from the "as long as the music is good blablabla", I think the genre influences alot. If it's epic atmospheric thing, can be an hour long and I'll enjoy every second. But for some grind, I don't think I'd like it to be longer than 20-25 min, it part of the genre's charm.

If I'm just getting into a band, 45ish minutes sounds okay, I voted for it... but if it's a band I ridiculously adore, I want that one hour.

At least 30 minutes. That's why I was dissapointed with Reign In Blood and Blizzard Beasts, both were less than half an hour. Too short (although in Blizzard Beast's case more mighn't have been any good).

45 - 50 minutes is the optimal time in my opinion. Not too short, but not too long.

50 minutes is okay, it depends a lot on the music however. If the same style is played across all the songs on the album, it will probably get boring sooner.

That depends on what genre, but if an album lasts longer than over one hour it got to be really interesting. I'd say 40-45 is mostly perfect, a bit less for thrash metal albums maybe

54 min

I don't think that is a right question ( at least for me ) cause it totally depends on music . maybe i prefer 40 min of old school death and 60 min of Funeral , but overall , 50 is reasonable

Well , 50 to 80 minutes

Most of my favorite albums are in the 40 minute range, so...

I prefer 40-50 mins thats medium not too long or too short

but for sure the most important thing wat in this 40 mins crap or real music

Generally about an hour, or a little more, but it mostly depends on how good and engaging the music is. For example if it's Lulu (fuck no ). However if it's Pain of Slavation's Perfect Element Pt. I (then YESS ).

Written by Vombatus on 26.12.2011 at 01:35

Depends. Apart from the "as long as the music is good blablabla", I think the genre influences alot. If it's epic atmospheric thing, can be an hour long and I'll enjoy every second. But for some grind, I don't think I'd like it to be longer than 20-25 min, it part of the genre's charm.

Excellent post. I agree on every word.

I prefer anywhere from 20-60 minutes, however I'm sure as hell not paying full price for a 20 minute album *Cough Wormrot's Dirge *Cough.

Any longer and I lose interest, unless its anything made by David Gold

Written by Boxcar Willy on 23.02.2012 at 21:37

I prefer anywhere from 20-60 minutes, however I'm sure as hell not paying full price for a 20 minute album *Cough Wormrot's Dirge *Cough.

They also offer you the choice to legally download it for free, so it's pretty fair, if you ask me.

Written by vezzy on 23.02.2012 at 22:04

Written by Boxcar Willy on 23.02.2012 at 21:37

I prefer anywhere from 20-60 minutes, however I'm sure as hell not paying full price for a 20 minute album *Cough Wormrot's Dirge *Cough.

They also offer you the choice to legally download it for free, so it's pretty fair, if you ask me.

I know, but if I'm in my local record store and It doesn't show the album length...

I hate getting screwed over by buying crappy albums at full price.

It really depends on the style of the music, but generally about an hour long (maybe more). If it's another Lou Reed/Metallica experiment, then fuck no . However if it's something like Sylvan, Porcrupine Tree, Opeth, etc, something more progressively influenced (I'm a big progressive rock/metal fan), then count me in!

Depends on a lot of things... I'd say 30-50 minutes generally? I tend to get bored of listening to the same band for a while... Even when I play two albums by the same band back to back, I usually get bored lol I'd rather have a 30 minute album with only amazing stuff than a longer album with filler. I do most of my music-listening on the hour long bus ride to school and I like to be able to finish the album in one bus ride, so I prefer to keep albums less than an hour.

I would say about an hour, mainly because i listen to metal in the car on my daily commute to college (45 minute drive + finding parking). A 1 hour album is perfect for this! Although it can depend on the genre... a one hour grindcore album might be too much! e

Written by vezzy on 25.12.2011 at 14:33

Does it really matter? As long as it's good.

I still think the optimal length is just below 15 seconds.

under 15 seconds.... i bet napalm death could do it

I like length. Nothing worse than spending ten bucks (or more!!) on an album that's under 40 min.

Reign In Blood being the ONLY exception to that.

For me, it's really "the more the merrier." I dig double CD's. More for your money. That being said, I have run into albums where they did a double CD or just packed a bunch of tracks onto one album and half of it is garbage. That's no fun either.