Is it okay not to listen to an album if you dislike its single? (1 Viewer)

[Administrator2]

When it comes to K-pop, and as a person who used to stan no groups and with no genre preferences, I used to listen to all albums regardless of the artist. I believe that every artist does have a showcase of talent they want to express. That is why I found it unjustified to listen to the single only. Nowadays, that's not really the case. With the ever-growing number of releases every day, it became a mission impossible to listen to everything with a full-time job on hand. K-pop starts feeling like a job rather than like a hobby. There are days where there are up to 5 albums released, and you simply cannot catch up to the supply. You'd think you can listen to the album the next day, and I did try that strategy, but in the end, everything would pile up. One day you have no releases, the next day there are 10, it's exhausting. This is why I have decided to listen to titles only, and if I really like it, I'd move on to the album as well.

I don't think that's wrong mainly because the title song is the one that the group decided to promote. There is a reason why a song is chosen as a title, and that is to bring popularity to the group. Sometimes it's a meaningless earworm, sometimes it's a song with a powerful message, sometimes it's a banger, sometimes a beautiful ballad, but nonetheless if that's the title that the group went for, then that's the song they want to be represented with this comeback. I figured that listening to the album is not really mandatory, especially because in industries like K-pop full albums are a rarity.

What's your view? Do you listen to titles only? Do you listen to albums of your faves?

 

[maruberry]

I mostly only listen to albums from groups I stan!
And with titles it is 50/50, I sometimes check out titles from groups I don't stan if they seem interesting, but not always!

 

[Skinnny]

Depends on the artist
If it's any artist I like, I would give the bsides a try too
But not otherwise

 

[Administrator2]

Depends on the artist
If it's any artist I like, I would give the bsides a try too
But not otherwise

How about debuts or artist you're hearing for the first time?

 

[yeji]

I usually check randomly. I tend to listen to the whole comeback if I sm intrested in the group or if the title really got to me. I also am someone who loves listening a whole discography at once do that‘s fun

 

[Skinnny]

How about debuts or artist you're hearing for the first time?

Depends on how bad the title is then lol
But mostly, no

 

[blueberries]

I don't think i have even checked all the albums from all my fav groups so.. I think it's okay

 

[NASA]

I feel like the title song should be picked to showcase the group's musical style and concept the best so I feel like they're almost made for the audience to judge the group on in a way. Like with each title you need to capture the essence of what you'll expect from the album so if I don't like a title track then that usually means I won't get along with the majority of the album either. There may be one or two standout songs in the album but if the rest of it isn't my style then there's not really much point trying to wade through a whole album of songs that just aren't my style just to find one or two that are. The title is meant to capture the audience and the album is supposed to provide further entertainment for that audience, if the title didn't do it for me, then i'm not part of that audience.

 

[Willow]

I usually check the whole album, but it depends

 

[Administrator2]

I feel like the title song should be picked to showcase the group's musical style and concept the best so I feel like they're almost made for the audience to judge the group on in a way. Like with each title you need to capture the essence of what you'll expect from the album so if I don't like a title track then that usually means I won't get along with the majority of the album either. There may be one or two standout songs in the album but if the rest of it isn't my style then there's not really much point trying to wade through a whole album of songs that just aren't my style just to find one or two that are. The title is meant to capture the audience and the album is supposed to provide further entertainment for that audience, if the title didn't do it for me, then i'm not part of that audience.

But see sometimes title can greatly differ from what album has to offer. Dreamcatcher's title songs really stand out from the rest of the album (Scream being the latest case) so sometimes groups don't really encapsulate everything that's going on in the title.

 

[Darkseid]

Unless it's one of my fav groups, I don't.

The title's job is to sell me on the rest of the album, so if it's bad, it's failed in its job. I'm just forgiving with my fav groups so for them, I'll still check the B-sides to find if I like anything.

There have been a few times when Spotify randomly played something and I liked it and ended up checking a new B-side. Most recently it happened with this GWSN B-side:

 

[NASA]

But see sometimes title can greatly differ from what album has to offer. Dreamcatcher's title songs really stand out from the rest of the album (Scream being the latest case) so sometimes groups don't really encapsulate everything that's going on in the title.

Hmm i get that but even if the title is different, it's still the song thats meant to attract listeners to want to listen to the rest of the album and so the album needs to work with the title in some way to keep the listener from being disappointed. In Dreamcatcher's case I feel like their titles next to the album arw very different but I still feel like the album and title tell a story together so it still feels cohesive to me and I feel satisfied by what I signed up for after hearing the title if that makes sense.

 

[Administrator2]

Hmm i get that but even if the title is different, it's still the song thats meant to attract listeners to want to listen to the rest of the album and so the album needs to work with the title in some way to keep the listener from being disappointed. In Dreamcatcher's case I feel like their titles next to the album arw very different but I still feel like the album and title tell a story together so it still feels cohesive to me and I feel satisfied by what I signed up for after hearing the title if that makes sense.

It does make sense, and here's another example, I just heard this mini cause it's 5 songs only:



Intro opens really bad-ass, telling you this is gonna get good and heavy. Then, the title song Sorry Mama is, in my opinion, dreadful and I can describe the chorus as "nagging singing". Then you get to Go Up, which is a PENTAGON's jjijjiri type and an amazing song. Elevator is another amazing track and in my opinion this should have been the title track. Finally, Samsung is sort of a rap-filler, but has a nice flow. For example I'm glad I heard this album, but more often than not I'll spend 20 minutes on an album that's worthless in my opinion.

 

[Myco]

If I would never check out albums if I didn't like the single I wouldn't have discovered many many bops

 

[Willow]

@notthatmarko it is more true for Japanese music, I always check new releases even from groups I only follow but don't stan

 

[Administrator2]

If I would never check out albums if I didn't like the single I wouldn't have discovered many many bops

Thus my dilemma. Plenty of releases last year had amazing b-sides and dreadful titles.

 

[NASA]

It does make sense, and here's another example, I just heard this mini cause it's 5 songs only:



Intro opens really bad-ass, telling you this is gonna get good and heavy. Then, the title song Sorry Mama is, in my opinion, dreadful and I can describe the chorus as "nagging singing". Then you get to Go Up, which is a PENTAGON's jjijjiri type and an amazing song. Elevator is another amazing track and in my opinion this should have been the title track. Finally, Samsung is sort of a rap-filler, but has a nice flow. For example I'm glad I heard this album, but more often than not I'll spend 20 minutes on an album that's worthless in my opinion.

I will set a reminder somewhere to listen to this and get back to you but im just going to bed! I'll look forward to hearing what you're talking about

 

[Abeamus]

Bsides are ultimately for a groups fans and not for casual listeners which is why groups tend to get more experimental with their bsides.

As for your dilemma specifically well how informed do you wish to be on groups? I usually just pay close attention to a groups title track and then listen to their album in the background because i'll only at most rate the album from best to worst order and not write a whole review or anything.

Kpop is coming up to being 30 years old and title tracks alone in that time can make up enough music variety to last anyone a lifetime let alone adding bsides into the mix. You simply can't listen to everything kpop has so you will have to be selective one way or another.

 

[Darkseid]

Bsides are ultimately for a groups fans and not for casual listeners which is why groups tend to get more experimental with their bsides.

As for your dilemma specifically well how informed do you wish to be on groups? I usually just pay close attention to a groups title track and then listen to their album in the background because i'll only at most rate the album from best to worst order and not write a whole review or anything.

Kpop is coming up to being 30 years old and title tracks alone in that time can make up enough music variety to last anyone a lifetime let alone adding bsides into the mix. You simply can't listen to everything kpop has so you will have to be selective one way or another.

True, my main Spotify Kpop playlist is like 370 songs, over 24 hours of runtime. And except a select few B-sides they're mostly titles lol.

I do have some albums of my faves saved so if I want to listen to B-sides I check them out separately, but most of the time I play my main playlist on shuffle so.

 

[Suzy]

I only listen to the albums of my faves. I’ll also give a listen to albums that are super hyped up. I mean, there has to be a reason everyone is so obsessed with it. With those I don’t stan though, I’ll only listen to their album if the group REALLY stood out to me. I used to try to listen to albums of everyone but I rarely actually liked anything so I stopped bothering. I’ll also listen to b-sides fans hype up on the forums.