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Stephan Jenkins, otherwise known as “the dude from Third Eye Blind,” recently came out of semi-charmed radio obscurity to deliver the keynote address at SanFran MusicTech Summit During his chat, the man who made “doo doo doo, doo da-doo doo” forever entwined with idle thoughts about blowjobs and meth posited that the art of the “album” is a dying one: “I don’t think it’s necessary or useful… The album is an arbitrary concept. It’s not something that has to exist.”
In his broadside against the album, Jenkins also claimed that he disliked “album filler.” (That should come as little shock to those of us who believed “Narcolepsy” and “Burning Man” to be the true gems from his band’s debut.) “Everything I do, I mean it,” Jenkins says, suggesting that the band’s upcoming album Ursa Major, slated for release in February 2009, will in fact be “all killer.”
Jenkins isn’t the only moderately successful ’90s star to lend an opinion on this zeitgeist-defining issue. Joan Osborne, on a break from her search for the divine came down on the other side, saying that what was important was interaction:
“It’s so much more about the single now, but I’m still stuck in this mentality of thinking about the album as a whole. A lot of people will still sit and listen to it as a whole. The individual songs impact each other and refer to each other, and that makes it a richer listening experience….
“I was able to travel all over the world with [One Of Us],” she recalled. “People were attracted to the album ['Relish'] by the hit, but they saw that there was a lot more on the record–a lot more stuff they could be interested in. And that is the basis for becoming a fan who will stay with an artist for years, as opposed to just hearing the one single and then moving on.”
Lou Bega hasn’t weighed in on this crucial issue yet, but give him time.
Third Eye Blind vocalist: Albums unnecessary in digital age [cNet]
Putting out albums in a single-minded world [Chicago Sun-Times]
“I don’t think it’s necessary or useful… The album is an arbitrary concept. It’s not something that has to exist.”
Dear Mr. Jenkins,
Shut the fuck up.
P.S. I could make you a list of at least 100 CDs from the past three to five years that totally discredit your claim.
P.S.S. Um and I don’t if this was your intent or not going on, but the only song I can remember from that album that included ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’ is, well, ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’. The rest? All filler.
In this dude’s opinion, all their albums are pretty great. Particularly the first one, with “God Of Wine” being a true gem.
I feel for the attendees of the panel he spoke on. Bad enough hearing this ass-clown SING with that ridiculous speech impediment – but to have to sit through his yammering NOW? Oof.
I never really understand what anyone means when they say albums are unnecessary or destined to die out. These are things I feel to be as true now as ever, and probably won’t change anytime soon: musicians will always write many many songs in the process of stumbling upon that occasional “hit,” whether it’s a literal chart hit or just one particular song that connects with listeners and becomes one of that artist’s calling cards. And there will always be a number of listeners drawn to just that one song, and a subset of that number that become loyal fans and want to hear way more than just that one song, possibly everything that artist makes. Even if artists or labels attempt to release only singles, not all of them will be hits, and eventually the killer and the filler will sort themselves out. Furthermore, there will always be a certain number of consumers that want to hear the “filler,” and the artists will want to make the filler commercially available to them. And old-fashioned albums will always be more attractive, to artists and fans alike, as a way to distribute that filler, better than bonus tracks on singles, or EPs, or subscription services, or anything else the industry has tried out lately.
I’m disappointed that this isn’t the “Stephen Jenkins is totally the guy singing the Crumbelieveable jingle in those Kraft Cheese Crumbles commercials” conspiracy post i was hoping for. Missed opportunity.
Oil paintings don’t “have to exist” either, you do-do-douchnozzle.
@Al Shipley: IAWTC. Well put.
That said, the core question (which Jenkins the mouth-shooter isn’t addressing at all) is, what will be the standard unit of measure of the music business of the future?
What made the ’90s so offensive was the labels’ fronting like the album was the smallest unit of measure you should own by any artist. I agree that albums should continue to exist; I just don’t think they ever should have been the reductio ad absurdum of the business.
@Al Shipley:
Absolutely.
If anything I think the “death of the album” mentality may encourage artists to try-out other formats that have been pushed to the wayside, especially in the 90’s, that may benefit their own working methods. Some bands just don’t have it in them to produce more than an EP.
There was a time where “Stephan Jenkins is a jerk” was like currency in the music biz. Every single person I talked to at WEA just hated the guy, and they all had really bizarre stories of jerky rock star behavior.
@Al Shipley: I’m on a subscription service (I’ve been flogging it. I’ll stop). Much more than cherry picking the single that I know or heard or whatever, with universal access I find that I’m downloading more and more complete albums. Some of them are “greatest hits”, but generally I have obtained more complete works than single tracks from my subscription service.
Having said that though… I pretty much NEVER listen to an album as a cohesive unit anymore.
@Halfwit: I’ve actually said this before, but since I returned to listening to music on vinyl a couple of years ago, I’ve found that I can listen to and enjoy vinyl-length albums (sometimes one side at a time) much more often than longer cds. Without wanting to pass for a curmudgeonly vinyl fetishist, I think that there is something to be said for the album or the album side as the ideal “dose” of music to avoid filler and still get that “richer” experience Joan Osbourne is talking about.
@Halfwit: Sorry, I forgot to include my actually reply, which was that I can listen to an LP- or side-length piece of music as a cohesive unit in one sitting, but rarely anything longer.
@Halfwit: Yeah, but the question being posed to the industry these days isn’t so much if people want to listen to full albums in their intended running order, but whether it’s still worthwhile to package groups of songs as an album for retail. People have always skipped around and listened to whichever specific songs they wanted to hear, before iPods, even before CDs.
@Thierry: I set up my turntable again a few months ago. While I agree with your points, I’ve rarely had a chance to listen to music in my home at all anymore since school’s started. I’ve moved almost completely portable, and so now I’m sitting on a couple of albums of regret that I haven’t been able to replace in mp3 form (I generally don’t p2p… can’t really say why, actually).
@Al Shipley: Hmmm… I think that the album still has an impact as far as a moment of “return”. If you just trickle out singles over the course of a year, I can easily see how you would get taken for granted. Having a period of absence, followed by a complete “exhibit” still has a lot of appeal (whether it’s a cohesive statement or just a collection of songs).
I don’t care about 3EB one way or the other, I’m sure I enjoyed a few of their songs that I don’t remember. But he is in fact correct: The album doesn’t ‘have’ to exist. It’s an arbitrary construct created to maximize profits for record companies. There’s nothing wrong with that either. Some artists conceptually are wed to the idea of the album, others focus on an individual song and are perfectly happy with the single format or prefer the EP format. Whatever. Different artists view it differently, big shocker there.
I don’t believe the album as a unit of measure for music delivery is going to go away, but I think artists that prefer to focus on smaller (or larger) groupings of their creative output will have more choices in the era of digital delivery.
Whenever I think of Stephen Jenkins, I think of the time I was at a marvelous Travis concert, and he was seated in the VIP section to my right. I believe this was at the Hammerstein Ballroom. He was Gwyneth Paltrow’s boyfriend at the time.
When Fran Healy said he enjoyed the intimacy if the venue, Mr. Jenkins audibly (to those near to him) guffawed and muttered “Sure, sure”. He was enjoying quite a bit of success at the time, I suppose?
Anyway, the douchiness stuck with me. Glad to hear he’s doing “well”. :)
Señor Jenkins makes some good points, and like revmatty says, he’s not wrong about the album as we know it being a construct.
FWIW, as long as we’re keeping this discussion going, here’s a two-year-old blog post I wrote on the subject:
QUARTS OF MILK, OR PIECES OF PICASSO?
The single, or the album: what is the unit of measure for music? The industry’s attempt to limit sales of hits on iTunes is just the latest battle in an endless war.
FROM STEPHAN JENKINS:
first, to the person putting me down for having a speech impediment, I spent six years in special ed trying to learn to talk while people like you scalded me. do you know what a drag it is to be named stephan when you can’t pronounce the letter “S?” you are just mean. i bet you watch fox news!
onto albums: to me, albums are the most vital and compelling art form. i spent my childhood with headphones and liner notes, finding my identity through albums, and i have invested my adult life making them. my whole identity is invested in the art form of the album.
i still buy albums and i still intend to continue making albums. i prefer them to singles and mix tapes and playlists. i still put vinyl on my turntable and freak out about how good icky thump sounds on 16 track tape heads.
however, the album was created by the limitations of vinal–about forty five minutes and then expanded to the cd–about eighty minutes. artists like the beatles the beach boys and pink floyd made cohesive pieces of art from these limitations. great!
albums were also created so that record executives could make cash. albums require huge time commitments and budgets and then lots of promotion and album cycles and of course key tracks and hit singles, and payola, and getting signed and getting dropped, and 360 deals, and a very few people at the top of corporations who are interested in quarterly statements and emiliorate risk and who know what’s best for your band.
all i am saying is the website can now be your album, an ongoing ever-changing one that grows and changes and reflects your creative impulses as you have them. grab the moment of a song and share it the night you finished it. make art that you have for it and post it. then go play some shows and record some more. how fluid and creatively freeing. and the best part is, you don’t have to get permission form a boss in order to do it. yay!
this all seems so much more democratic to me. fewer people will become billionaires this way, but more people will make a living making music. the good old days are here.
and while we are at it. i think the hit single is arcane as well. the songs that have resonated the longest with 3EB’s audience sometimes haven’t even been on our albums (see “slow motion”).
oil paintings require oil paint in order to exist, it’s true. music can exist and thrive in all kinds of formats– not just albums or singles. maybe your best canvas is a website. maybe and album, per se, is not necessary or even useful for you. just a thought. still friends?
finally, this is not an us against them arguement. majors continue to support hugely entertaining albums and i have worked with a lot of people at majors (like WEA) who care passionately about music. they are not going away and neither is the album.
i’m saying that choices are exploding. albums are not the only way and perhaps not even the most creative and effective way. then again, they may be the way for you. i hope you have the choice and i hope you continue to find yourselves and each other through music.
FROM STEPHAN JENKINS:
first, to the person putting me down for having a speech impediment, I spent six years in special ed trying to learn to talk while people like you scalded me. do you know what a drag it is to be named stephan when you can’t pronounce the letter “S?” you are just mean. i bet you watch fox news!
onto albums: to me, albums are the most vital and compelling art form. i spent my childhood with headphones and liner notes, finding my identity through albums, and i have invested my adult life making them. my whole identity is invested in the art form of the album.
i still buy albums and i still intend to continue making albums. i prefer them to singles and mix tapes and playlists. i still put vinyl on my turntable and freak out about how good icky thump sounds on 16 track tape heads.
however, the album was created by the limitations of vinyl–about forty five minutes and then expanded to the cd–about eighty minutes. artists like the beatles the beach boys and pink floyd made cohesive pieces of art from these limitations. great!
albums were also created so that record executives could make cash. albums require huge time commitments and budgets and then lots of promotion and album cycles and of course key tracks and hit singles, and payola, and getting signed and getting dropped, and 360 deals, and a very few people at the top of corporations who are interested in quarterly statements and emiliorate risk and who know what’s best for your band.
all i am saying is the website can now be your album, an ongoing ever-changing one that grows and changes and reflects your creative impulses as you have them. grab the moment of a song and share it the night you finished it. make art that you have for it and post it. then go play some shows and record some more. how fluid and creatively freeing. and the best part is, you don’t have to get permission form a boss in order to do it. yay!
this all seems so much more democratic to me. fewer people will become billionaires this way, but more people will make a living making music. the good old days are here.
and while we are at it. i think the hit single is arcane as well. the songs that have resonated the longest with 3EB’s audience sometimes haven’t even been on our albums (see “slow motion”).
oil paintings require oil paint in order to exist, it’s true. music can exist and thrive in all kinds of formats– not just albums or singles. maybe your best canvas is a website. maybe and album, per se, is not necessary or even useful for you. just a thought. still friends?
finally, this is not an us against them argument. majors continue to support hugely entertaining albums and i have worked with a lot of people at majors (like WEA) who care passionately about music. they are not going away and neither is the album.
i’m saying that choices are exploding. albums are not the only way and perhaps not even the most creative and effective way. then again, they may be the way for you. i hope you have the choice and i hope you continue to find yourselves and each other through music.