shuffle vs. whole albums

akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
edited November 2007 in Strut Central
when youre on a computer or mp3 player or whatever, do you prefer shuffle over just listening to albums straight? i used to think shuffle was great but lately i really prefer listening to entire albums back to back, the way they were meant to be heard.

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  • i like the concept of shuffle, but on iTunes it seems to play the exact same songs in the same order

  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    I'm an album guy 90-95% of the time. Shuffling can't consistently sustain a mood, and I don't like to shuffle by genre.

  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    I'm an album guy 90-95% of the time. Shuffling can't consistently sustain a mood, and I don't like to shuffle by genre.

    i think funk is a good shuffle genre, but that might be just because half the stuff on my computer is funk 45s anyway...no real way to hear an artist back to back when they only released one two-song record. haha

  • PrimeCutsLtdPrimeCutsLtd jersey fresh 2,632 Posts
    for some reason I've been all about shuffle. It's like it's my own radio station. I like to be surprised. Whatever...mix my genre.. I don't care. If I'm not feeling the track onto the next one. Sometimes A track will come on and I will listen to the whole album.

  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    I'm an album guy 90-95% of the time. Shuffling can't consistently sustain a mood, and I don't like to shuffle by genre.

    i think funk is a good shuffle genre, but that might be just because half the stuff on my computer is funk 45s anyway...no real way to hear an artist back to back when they only released one two-song record. haha

    Even though I'm too young to remember when mainstream radio DJs had thought-out set lists, that's exactly the mentality I'm into. I'm not into random chance when it comes to my music.

  • CBearCBear 902 Posts
    I'm A.D.D. as hell and am on permanent shuffle mode. Sometimes my coworkers put a CD on repeat at work and it drives me insane. I can get through a record once, but then I have to change it.

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    I'm on shuffle probably 80% of the time. I'm usually listening to my iPod while I'm commuting so I'm usually not looking for a mood, I just want to be entertained. If I do want a certain mood I have playlists that I shuffle thru.

  • I like album shuffle, although if you restart the shuffle, Apple tends to play one album 6 times before half of the albums get played at all.

  • I'm on shuffle probably 80% of the time. I'm usually listening to my iPod while I'm commuting/studying/skating/walking to class so I'm usually not looking for a mood, I just want to be entertained. If I do want a certain mood I have playlists that I shuffle thru.

    i broke my fullass 60gig last month and have been operating on a borrowed 4 gig nano till christmas. my day to day life isn't the same without those other 56 gigs.

  • ZachDZachD 318 Posts
    when youre on a computer or mp3 player or whatever, do you prefer shuffle over just listening to albums straight? i used to think shuffle was great but lately i really prefer listening to entire albums back to back, the way they were meant to be heard.

    You are like, the thread starting guy.

    I'd have to say shuffle. I generally have so much music at my disposal that if I try and pick something I can go through hundreds of albums and nothing looks interesting. Yet if I put a thousand albums on shuffle I'm always impressed by what comes up at random and it's the only way I would probably ever hear all the variety in the collection.

    I've transported the same idea to the car and records too. I will burn a CD with random mp3's for the car. Nothing worse than being in the car and not wanting to listen to anything that's in there.

    With the records, and bear in mind this is quite geeky, we pick numbers that pick the expedit cube and then 2 more numbers to multiply and then listen to that record. Again, if I picked what I wanted to listen to at a given time, I'd probably pick the same 10 records over and over.

    On occasion I do go hybrid with winamp though.. I'll play on random until I get to something that I like and then listen to that album.

  • I very seldom rip entire CD's to my iTunes. The only time I do is when it's something I borrowed from somebody else, and even then I'll dump the dud cuts.

    That said...I don't really use the shuffle option. When I'm digging my iTunes, I usually have it playing in a different kind of order, say, songs arranged alphabetically, or songs arranged by timing. I kinda like the random-chance thing, hearing a Desmond Dekker reggae track followed by a Webb Pierce country song. Distracting, yes, but that's what makes it so cool.

  • I'll put on an album in the correct order but then skip through it after 2-3 song intervals because there are certain songs i like to hear back to back but most likely the album has some joints i'm not in the mood for.

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    I prefer whole albums, my coworker I share an office with prefers shuffle. Luckily our taste overlaps a fair amount and we both have full 80gb iPods, so there's a lot of good tunes and variety in the place.

  • I very seldom rip entire CD's to my iTunes. The only time I do is when it's something I borrowed from somebody else, and even then I'll dump the dud cuts.

    That said...I don't really use the shuffle option. When I'm digging my iTunes, I usually have it playing in a different kind of order, say, songs arranged alphabetically, or songs arranged by timing. I kinda like the random-chance thing, hearing a Desmond Dekker reggae track followed by a Webb Pierce country song. Distracting, yes, but that's what makes it so cool.

    When I wrote this back in November, I did all of my iTunes listening on the computer at my then-job.

    Since then, I've started using the personal iPod more and more, and I now use the shuffle option on a regular basis. But I still like the random selection, like a real-life version of all these Jack FM radio stations that have sprung up, claiming to simulate an iPod.

    But one thing I've noticed, and I don't know if any other iPod user has gone through this, but my shuffle option is fairly tasteful as far as segways. Just recently I heard two mindbending psych tracks (by the Mothers of Invention, from their first LP, and Crystal Chandelier) back to back with these pop-country cuts by Ray Price and Charlie Rich. Now, it's not so much the fact that it played psych and country crossover back to back, it's just the fact that it knew enough to do two of each. And I wasn't playing specific albums or songs, I just clicked on "shuffle," shook it up and let it roll...

  • waxjunkywaxjunky 1,848 Posts
    Shuffle is the key, and I think iTunes is better than it has been at not falling into familiar patterns. For me, there are very few albums that deserve to have every cut on my iPod, and I will delete anything that I feel is marginal.

    There are still a few albums, however, that I like enough to hear every track. With these, I record continuous sides. This was a lazy move at first, but I like how it turns out. I get mostly random songs with an occasional album side.

  • jaymackjaymack 5,199 Posts
    on my ipod i set up playlists of my favorite producers.
    i've got rza, pete rock, kanye, dilla, neptunes, premo, diamond, buckwild, nottz, bink, finesse, showbiz, alchemist, dre, hi-tek, large pro, just blaze, no id, and timbo playlists. then i've got genre playlists,(rock, soul, folkychillness, marina, etc.) and playlists of songs i like at the moment.
    pretty cool concept, but again, it's overwhelming when you get in the car and try to pick something. i'll usually just end up shuffling the whole ipod, cuz i dont know what the fukk tp listen to!! it's like listening to a radio station that you programmed yourself. as a kid i never could have imagined all the music i now have at my fingertips.

    and the crazy thing is, according to my itunes, i havent even played 3/4 of the songs on it.

  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts
    Ditto with the person that said it seems like shuffle on the ipod plays the same songs over and over.

    I still use that feature, but recently I've just been playing songs in alphabetical order so I can actually hear most of the tunes on my ipod.

  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    shuffle for sure, and this is in regards to portable players when you're out and about. i attribute this to the ADD mentality that has plagued me since i jumped got on the internet. i remember sinbad saying something once about the good thing about cassettes was that you pretty much had to listen to it all the way through without skipping. very true in that it gives you more of an appreciation. with mp3 players i find a lot of times i'l listen to a song i'm in the mood for just to hear a part that i want to hear it almost feels like you're at the point of dejaying for yourself, as you won't listen to the whole thing but just snippets...


    example of me listening to my mp3 player on the subway on the way to work.
    listening to the beginning of capone and norega's "invincible", I'l just listen up to the part "and i ain't wanna make music my pops just died" and then skip to the next track...

    ..."welcome to the teacher's library, lesson 2 in economics" (phuck! an audio book file) skip

    ...perfect angel by minnie...nice! (god i'm tired, i didnt have coffee this morning, need something fast tempo, i'm gonna skip a few tracks, i hope i get something like rakim's "know the ledge" skip..."

    ...some tepid funk, damn i must have downloaded this off divshare on some soulstrut posts without listening to it first skip...

    ...one of the tracks off prince pauls prince among theives...(phuck i can't listen to this midway, good tune, and its breezly, but i gotta pass, cmon, something to wake me up godamnit

    ...madonna "cherish"... at times like this, i'm glad no one next to me knows what i'm listening too...um, my sister must have uploaded this when she used my player..ya..

    ...uptown anthem naughty by nature...perfect...phuck, i'm at my stop already. i should have just selected the damn song, stupid shuffle shit

    ...time for one more track before stepping to my building..."Lesson 3 of Pimsleurs Learn to Speak Spanish Volume 2...PHUCK PHUCK PHUCK PHUCK!

  • jaymackjaymack 5,199 Posts
    the worst thing is when you put something on your ipod that you want to listen to, but when you go to listen to it on the way to work, the file doesn't work!!!

  • HamHam 872 Posts
    or when you go out in super cold weather and your ipod is under three layers of clothes and its a snowstorm and a 40-minute speech or lecture you already listened to last night comes on

  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I'm a whole album guy, and usually group similar singles. However, I don't have an Ipod.

    - spidey

  • PrimeCutsLtdPrimeCutsLtd jersey fresh 2,632 Posts
    I'm a big fan of shuffle on the ipod. When I'm listening to a track I want to delete I give it 1 star. That way it's easier to find when it comes to dumping the tracks off my ipod.

  • shuffle with playlist

    straight through with good albums

  • My laptop got stolen last week, so I'm stuck with a 2GB nano, and have been loving the shuffle mode lately. I used to only listen to albums in their entirety, but as other people point out skip the weak tracks. What I've discovered is that sometimes the "weak" tracks often work really well when put into context with the random tracks that come before and after. Who knew that 60000000 Buffalo, Whitey, Les Rallizes Denudes and Digitalism could match so well?

  • i remember sinbad saying something once about the good thing about cassettes was that you pretty much had to listen to it all the way through without skipping. very true in that it gives you more of an appreciation.

    I think he was talking about 8-track tapes, and nothing wrong with you appreciating a record more after giving it a straight-through listen, but what if it happens to be a tepid three-tracker? out of, say, 12 songs?

  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    true, i guess the lesson is with freedom(technology)comes responsibility and sinbad guilt trips
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