elliotc89

i don't see why career music should be preserved. i can't think of any career pop musicians that reached their zenith late in their career. bowie was a bit rubbish after the 70s, as was dylan. morrissey's making a comeback but he's still nowhere near as good as he was in the smiths or his early solo career. The only reason these artists continued to produce was because their record labels knew that their early success would mean that people would keep buying their records. the fact is, that what they've ended up doing is fading out and cheapening their good names. it seems healthy to me to have musicians produce albums until their flair dies, or a member dies and they stop making new music.

also, i really couldn't bear the part about punk music killing off the album. image and performance is central to pop music. the idea of the rock star image has been present since the 50s (elvis), it took off in the 60s (dylan), faded in the mid 70s (yes, floyd etc) then was re-ignited by the punk movement. if anything it's been the norm.
the move from what you call the 'naive' to 'the big boys' is in fact a move from energetic and inspired to less ideas and more musical skill. i have to say though, the aftermath of punk (joy division, the fall, the cure etc) was far more interesting than anything the first wave achieved.

and anyway, who says the album's dying out? more or less every artist i listen to is an album artist. i own only a handful of singles and a silly amount of albums. the market is definitely there.