music Does an album need to be cohesive in order to be good?

[jordeezy river red]

So nowadays YouTube album reviews are raking in numbers. These reviews are fans, rather than musicians, and they always bring up the word "cohesive". In the past, I never really expected or wanted every song to sound similar on an album as long as the volume leveling was even throughout the record. Do you feel that an album needs to be "cohesive" to be good? 

[Micce_InBut Black Out]

No for me. the songs need to be good. besides, nowadays i listen to whole album in a row less and less frequently. and what i do is making my custom preferred compilations/playlists of songs, Britney included. i prefer this much more.

[The JayTawndre Show]

I don't think so. The project is in it's entirety so you can shuffle and bop or play start to finish, or just play your favorite songs 

[jordeezy river red]

3 hours ago, The JayTawndre Show said:

I don't think so. The project is in it's entirety so you can shuffle and bop or play start to finish, or just play your favorite songs 

I agree!

[jordeezy river red]

3 hours ago, AZaal8IPKEEGLI1177773 said:

No for me. the songs need to be good. besides, nowadays i listen to whole album in a row less and less frequently. and what i do is making my custom preferred compilations/playlists of songs, Britney included. i prefer this much more.

I actually usually modify the album playlist myself lol

[The JayTawndre Show]

Just now, jordeezy said:

I agree!

[Adriannn]

Not necessarily. If the songs are good, I’m cool with it. For critics, though, this is very important.

Many albums by Shakira are not cohesive and they’re good. ‘In The Zone’ is not cohesive, and it’s just the sonic variety what makes it a masterpiece. 

Creating a cohesive album is a double-edge sword, it can be awesome like the way Taylor, The Weeknd, many rock bands, etc. craft their albums. ‘Blackout’ is a perfect instance. On the other hand, it can become a tiring experience… (Adele’s 30)

[ObsessedBritFan1]

Only if it's too varied. I think what people mean by "cohesive" is a polite way of saying Private Show shouldn't be on an album tracklist filled with melodic and euphoric bops. 

[jonloch1]

You know what, people say the album is 'cohesive' as a compliment, but the more i think about it, i dont think its necessarily a good thing. for example, Glory is a cohesive album because its all midtempo. as much as i like Glory and think it was a good album, it has aged like milk because there's no light and shade and songs pretty much sound silimiar. Taylor Swift's new album is 'cohesive' because every song sounds the same, by the end of listening to it i was bored. even the bonus tracks sound the same. i like 3 songs out of what 18? songs. and i love TS but i felt like i was listening to the same song the whole time, whereas her last album Lover i loved because it had upbeat songs like ME!, London Boy, ballads like Soon You'll Get Better, Death By  A Thousand Cuts etc. so tbh i dont think an album being 'cohesive' is a good thing

[i sometimes sing live]

It's a fine line, to be honest - I don't want an album that's a complete mess / sounds like a playlist, but it's also possible to be too cohesive (e.g., Solar Power). It doesn't have to be super cohesive if there's a solid overarching theme (that isn't just love or break-ups).

[aoki.loid]

it depends 2 me 🤭

bc on 1 hand a body of work doesn’t need 2 be cohesive 2 work 😂😂

but it could be if that’s what the artist is going 4, it just depends on the album/ep/mixtape 😍