Although I am a big fan of the "album" - a collection of songs with various common threads and if done correctly, greater than the sum of its parts - I have sometimes wondered why artists don't simply release each new song as a single. It makes a certain amount of sense from a marketing standpoint. (I'm gonna let you guys run down the pros and cons.)

Apparently, the Wedding Present tried this in the early 90s, against their label's advice I might add. For some reason, the British music press disliked this band (which is weird, cos they've a sound the music rags would likely champion, eh?) and despite a rather loyal fanbase, the experiment failed*.

* I don't think we can blame the quality of the songs. I have Hit Parade 1 which is a collection of the first half of songs released initially only as singles, and I can tell you it's pretty darn good.

Singles vs Albums, the Wedding Present, fickle critics, fickle fans, or whatever the heck is remotely related to the above! DiScuss.