Thoughts On Long Albums

In a recent interview with Guitar World, Gojira guitarist Joe Duplantier warmed my heart by revealing that the band’s latest album, L’Enfant Sauvage (my review can be found here) was made deliberately short:

“(Guitar World): The Link, which is 48 minutes long, was your shortest album — until L’Enfant Sauvage. Why is that? Has your songwriting became more compact over the years?

(Joe Duplantier): We did this on purpose. We wanted a shorter album because our albums are most of the time very epic and draining. You cannot go through the entire album intact, you know [laughs]. So I wanted to keep it short because I have an experience as a listener of albums like Metallica’s Master Of Puppets. It’s so short, it’s just eight songs. And other albums like Death’s Human also has eight songs.

When I listen to these albums, it’s so good, so intense and short that you want to listen to it and experience it again right away. I wanted people to have the same kind of feeling with our new album. Sometimes when it’s too long, you get turned off. So it helps the identity of a record to have something that is a little shorter with more impact. So this was done on purpose. We had a lot of material, and we could have done this epic, long album like we do usually, but we made it short on purpose.”

L’Enfant Sauvage is still on the long side at 52 minutes, but it’s refreshing to hear an acknowledgment that albums have become too long. I’ve expressed this frustration in some album reviews. It may not be the biggest reason, but I’ve always maintained that long, drawn out albums have contributed to consumer preferences for buying singles and individual songs rather than entire albums.

With the rise of CDs in the late 80s, albums grew from being typically 35–45 minutes to 60–75 minutes long. Bands and record labels felt that since a CD could hold more music than a vinyl LP then the space had to be filled. I’ve never understood the business behind this since CD production costs are miniscule compared to recording and marketing costs. So an album length that used to be a double LP then became the new norm for a single CD. What used to be thrown away or used for B-sides or outtake releases was now being released as part of an album. I prefer to listen to eight of a band’s most killer, best songs at the time rather than a 12-song album bloated with weaker material. That isn’t value. Try this - take any typical 12- or 13-song album and remove four or five of your least favorite. Would you like this shorter album better? More often than not, you’ll find yourself answering “Yes”.

GOJIRA Album Review

Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage

Roadrunner, June 2012

10/10

Gojira is the rare French band that’s made any kind of impact on the metal scene. In fact, the only bands from France I can recall off the top of my head are Trust, Treponem Pal, and Dream Child. There’s good reason why Gojira’s profile keeps rising worldwide—they’re one of the most original and inventive bands to emerge within the last few years. Any time a band steps up to a major label from the independents there will always be a nagging dread that the corporate suits will ruin a good thing, but Gojira has stuck to their guns and delivered an album that keeps their trademark sound intact. Imagine dissonant chords, chugging rhythms, and gruff, monotonous vocals all twisted into the musical equivalent of a bulldozer that mows down everything in all directions. Admittedly, this may not sound like a recipe for success, but Gojira manages to always keep it interesting by introducing some fast elements (listen to “Planned Obsolescence”), varying the vocal style a bit, and weaving through intriguing lines, such as the short, bass-led instrumental “The Wild Healer”, the mellow start of “Born In Winter”, and the surf-sounding guitar segment about two-thirds into “Explosia”. Other high points are on the first half of the album, including the title track, “The Axe”, and “Liquid Fire”. At about 50 minutes long, L’Enfant Sauvage is the perfect length to keep the listener interested for the whole ride. For those new to Gojira, the first listen may be a bit confusing, but with a couple more spins you’ll come to appreciate and understand their bizarre, unique style. It remains to be seen whether Gojira will be able to break into more mainstream ranks, but with the right push all of the other pieces are in place. L’Enfant Sauvage firmly places Gojira atop of the current crop of rising metal bands and should propel them to new heights of success.

Gojira will perform at Knotfest alongside Slipknot, Deftones, Lamb Of God, Dethklok, Serj Tankian, Cannibal Corpse, Prong, and The Dillinger Escape Plan on Saturday, August 18 at Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin.