Do you listen to single tracks or full albums? Options

[mipadi]

When listening to music, do you typically listen to single tracks, or the full (unshuffled album)? I get the feeling that most people listen to a playlist or shuffle their entire library, but I typically listen to a full album at a time. Good albums have cohesion, and I think it's hard -- jarring, even -- to just listen to a track at a time. Take Radiohead, for example: In Rainbows or OK Computer just fits together like a puzzle, and makes more sense when heard together. And I can't imagine listening to a single track from a Dream Theater album.

The flipside is that most mainstream albums consist of one or two good singles and 10-12 crappy songs, and have no cohesion whatsoever.

[sixfive]

I can listen to Dream Theater singles. Well, I could. I was really into them, but I saw them live a couple years ago and it killed it a bit for me :( I can still listen to some songs like change of seasons or pull me under on their own.

Anyway, I tend to find songs I like, torrent the album, and give it a shot. That's a whole lot more miss than hit though with the genres I listen to, though. Trance has a lot of good singles and a lot less good albums. Stuff like Pink Floyd, though, I have to listen to albums, or at least 2-3 songs linked together.

[Joanne]

I tend to find songs I like, torrent the album, and give it a shot.

This. But I usually listen to my music on shuffle, unless I am in the mood for just one artist. In that case, I would listen to the entire albums.