Singles, Albums, EPs, and LPs
Let's talk singles, albums, EPs, and LPs and listen to some examples.
Let's define some terms, and then I'll link some examples at the end.
The word "album" is like 300 years old. For our purposes, an album is a collection of songs. Any collection of songs. The original word from the 1700s refers to pages of sheet music (or anything else flat like photos or stamps) stored in a book.
"Singles" are a single-released song, sans an accompanying album. It's not that simple, though. Modern singles are often released with a few other tracks. This is a holdover from when music was produced and distributed on seven-inch vinyl records to be spun at 45 rpm for playback. Records have two sides, an "A" and a "B". Printing and shipping a physical record with a blank side was wasteful in terms of materials, cost, and opportunity. So singles were usually released with a "B-Side" complementary track. B-sides are often filler tracks, something that would otherwise not be released, or an alternate version of the more substantial single release.
There are notable times when a B-side release matched or superseded the A-side release in stature.
- We will Rock You by Queen (A-side: We are The Champions)
- You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones (A-Side: Honky Tonk Women)
- Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day (A-Side: Brain Stew)
- Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam (A-Side: Jeremy)
"EPs" were the result of innovation in vinyl recording and production. It was possible to fit two songs on each side of a seven-inch record with better pressing techniques, but you had to spin it at 33 rpm. These are called extended play records or EPs.
Finally, we got LPs or long-play records from Columbia in 1938. An LP is the iconic twelve-inch record played at 33 rpm.
This all got upended by 8-track cartridges in the 1960s. Those got upended by cassettes in the 1970s. Note that the 4-inch compact cassette, as we know it, was also invented and released around 1963–the same year as the modern 8-track cartridge, but the sound quality of cassettes couldn't beat out 8-tracks. Compact cassette sound quality caught up to and surpassed 8 tracks in the early 70s. Then CDs came along in the early 80s and ate everyone's lunch because they could reproduce a sound with perfect fidelity to 99% of human ears.
In modern practice, "album" and an "LP" are used interchangeably. "Singles" are literal singles, sometimes with a bonus B-Side track. An "EP" is anything larger than a single but smaller than an album. EPs are often released in support of a single. So you would have a single come out with a B-side. The single is promoted. Then an EP is released, possibly with the B-side again, and a few more complimentary tracks such as remixes, a radio edit, an extended version, etc.
Examples
Here are a few examples of each type of release from different times, decades, and genres. I've linked streaming sources where I could find them.
Singles
EPs
- Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
- Aphex Twin - "Window Licker"
- The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations"*
- David Bowie - "Space Oddity / Moonage Daydream / Life on Mars / It Ain't Easy"*
- Nine Inch Nails - "Broken"
*I can't find a streaming link on Apple Music or Tidal
LPs
- Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet
- Lyle Lovett - Pontiac
- Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
- Aretha Franklin - Aretha in Paris (Live)
What Now?
In 2024, the vast majority of music is streamed, and the number of songs in your album and the length of time they take up is (mostly) divorced from production and distribution. Terms like "EP," "B-Side," and "single" exist almost entirely for the vibes. This isn't to say these terms are no longer valid. The vibes are valid, man.
Just like sitting down to a meal in a nice restaurant with excellent service vs. on a cinder block with a paper plate can genuinely affect the taste of the food, a listening experience significantly affects perception. Therefore, the names of things, even when anachronistic or outdated, provide us with signals regarding the artist's intent and other factors, all affecting our experience with a piece of art. Using a term like "LP" instead of "album" can signal a more severe or old-school approach. It lets us know that someone is paying time and attention to what came before and respecting the history of their craft. Or maybe it's signalling pretentious douche-baggery. You decide.
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