Albums that are almost all filler...

Not necessarily a bad thing... I think Radioactivity might be my favourite Kraftwerk album, and that's got about three proper tunes on it. The rest is all strange little sketches and atmospheres.

Wings - Wild Life

"the band the beatles could have been"

I'm Alan Partridge, so much to answer for.

Sonic Youth's Bad Moon Rising sometimes feels to me like the "Death Valley '69" b/w "Brave Men Run" single with a bunch of boring loose jams stuck between those 2 awesome songs.

that's sort of true except boring loose jams are good in the right context and in another way "DV 69" lets the side down a bit

like "get yr catchy riffs out of my boring loose jam album"

isn't the definition of filler just kinda like thoughtlessly throwing on songs that have little or no relation to the album as a whole in order to fill up space? i don't think Kraftwerk were guilty of this at all on Radioactivity

what you describe as "strange little sketches and atmospheres" seem to me to be just as meaningfully crafted and deliberate as the "proper tunes". they are a crucial part of the album as a whole, a concept

anything by Panda Bear.

isn't the definition of filler just kinda like thoughtlessly throwing on songs that have little or no relation to the album as a whole in order to fill up space?

this is why "filler" is kind of an aggravating concept to begin with, nobody ever seems to agree on whether it means the artist is deliberately including inferior material to fill out the album or whether it's an eye of the beholder thing where the listener can make the call that a song the artist might love is actually filler

except even when the artist is deliberately including inferior material to fill out the album, some listeners might still love it, so it's still an eye of the beholder thing

As the one guy said, it's in your head.

Filler to me is stuff like Fitter, Happier i.e. sketches and interludes etc.

robert pollard

The Faust Tapes

Cheap Trick: One on One

If You Want My Love & She's Tight are killer. The rest, filler.

i was thinking of Faust yeah, in terms of the definition of filler posited in this thread being "anything that isn't bang bang instant joy" - not that that's not a reasonable definition

Sketches and interludes are "joiners" rather than "filler". There are several "filler" threads where the concept is discussed at serious length; I remember Dr C being very particular about "filler".

But yeah, Yellow Submarine. Magical Mystery Tour.

Van Morrison's contractual obligation album, which is pretty much the definition of filler.

Beach Boys' Party!

IIRC, the Spin Doctors had three catchy songs (the three hit singles), and everything else on it sounded like filler.

"the Spin Doctors album"

Three?????????

Squeeze's Domino to thread

Three?????????

Yeah, they had three hit songs, the other two went something like this:

"Skiddleme, skiddleme, skiddleme, dah de doh."

and

"I, I got pocket full of Kryptonite."

"Skiddleme, skiddleme, skiddleme, dah de doh."

Only included as a Finnish-language bonus track IIRC.

Sonic Youth's Bad Moon Rising sometimes feels to me like the "Death Valley '69" b/w "Brave Men Run" single with a bunch of boring loose jams stuck between those 2 awesome songs.

― steendriving is very bad - but I got a fake ID though! (some dude), Monday, April 18, 2011 9:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookma

^I'd agree with this

I most certainly would not.

also, Plastic Beach

Prince's come. the whole album is filler. he was just releasing it as a way to get out of his contract.

Filler to me is stuff like Fitter, Happier i.e. sketches and interludes etc.

Wrong definition of filler. Filler is when a band or whoever's releasing the album obviously can't be arsed and are just throwing a load of shit on to get up to the quota for an actual album. Struggling to think of an example but there's probably a posthumous 2pac album or five that qualify here.

The next three or four Michael Jackson albums are going to redefine this concept.

Madonna's True Blue but I love the whole thing anyway

xxpost fair dos. always led to understand it meant the comedy track or the instrumental break or the skit or what have you.

I mean Fitter Happier obviously has a point sat as it is within the middle of OK Computer, it's not like Radiohead went "shit, we haven't got enough songs, stick that Steven Hawking thing we did for a laugh in the middle of it".

"Fitter Happier" by Radiohead
From "Ok Computer"
Transcribed by Steven McGovern

There is actually only piano is this but this is it for guitar

e-------------------------8--6----------------------6---6-----------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--6---5---6----6--5--6---------5---6---5---6--5------------5----6----5----6--5--6--5-
D-------------------------------------------------3-----------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starts at "a patient better driver......

e--6---------------------------6----------------------------8---6-----------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----5---6---5----6--5--6--5--6----5----6----5----6--5--6---------5----6----5-----6--5--6--5-
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

e--6------------------------------6------------------------8---6-----------------------6-
B----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--5----5---6---5----6--5--6--5-------7---8---7---8--7--8---------7---8---7---8--7--8----
D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

e--5------------------------6---5---------------------------6--------------------------6-
B----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----5---7---5----7--5--7---------5---7---5----8--7--5--7------7----8----7---8--7--8----
D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

e--6-----------------------6--5---------------------------6--6--------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----7---8---7---8--7--8--------5---7---5----7--8--7--5-----7---5---7---5---7--8--7--5-
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

e--6----------------------------8---6------------------------------------------
B--6---------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--6---5---6---5------6--5--6-------6------------------------------------------
D-----------------3------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------------------------
....calm, fitter, healthier......

ROFL at Thom and Co cracking each other up in the studio doing lousy "It. Amazes. Me. What. Mankind. Has. Achieved. In. My. Lifetime." voices.

You just know before they made Fitter Happier, they spent a good three hours playing variations on "Phil is a shit eating leper who eats shit" over the studio speakers.

Prince's come. the whole album is filler. he was just releasing it as a way to get out of his contract.

― allmypulp, Monday, April 18, 2011 10:22 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

thought this would be a seperate category, but if it counts Teenage Fanclub- The King

What contract were they getting out of releasing that, it came out on Creation didn't it?

it satisfied their contract with matador allowing them to realease Bandwagonesqe on DGC. In America at least, don't know about the UK

from wiki: The King is the second album by British alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, deleted on its day of release in 1991. The album is often derided as a hastily assembled contractual obligation to US label Matador (allowing the group to sign to Geffen without penalty).

Sonic Youth's Bad Moon Rising sometimes feels to me like the "Death Valley '69" b/w "Brave Men Run" single with a bunch of boring loose jams stuck between those 2 awesome songs.

― steendriving is very bad - but I got a fake ID though! (some dude), Monday, April 18, 2011 9:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookma

^I'd agree with this

― music loves drugs (Drugs A. Money), Monday, April 18, 2011 10:21 AM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I most certainly would not.

― a fucking stove just fell on my foot. (Colonel Poo), Monday, April 18, 2011 10:21 AM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark

if you think most of bad moon rising is filler then you fundamentally don't get that record

oh i'm totally fine with not 'getting' that album

Wrong definition of filler. Filler is when a band or whoever's releasing the album obviously can't be arsed and are just throwing a load of shit on to get up to the quota for an actual album. Struggling to think of an example but there's probably a posthumous 2pac album or five that qualify here.

― Matt DC, Monday, April 18, 2011 10:23 AM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The next three or four Michael Jackson albums are going to redefine this concept.

― Matt DC, Monday, April 18, 2011 10:24 AM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so you affirm that it's about the intent and motivation of the artist, and then start talking about things slapped together by a label after the artist's death?

the entirety of king of limbs would qualify had the tracks been placed anywhere else. but i guess that's their new ~aesthetic~

I said artist or whoever's releasing the album, ie obviously not the artist in those cases.

Again:

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/09/van_morrisons_c.html

I think contractual obligation records would be the best objective examples. Otherwise it's just a matter of what songs you think are dull.

Side 2 of Neu! 2?

Of course there are tons of albums (especially from the 50s and 60s) that are just one or two singles and a bunch of covers. Depends on the artist usually as to whether this filler is interesting.

the entirety of king of limbs would qualify had the tracks been placed anywhere else. but i guess that's their new ~aesthetic~

Agree with this 100%. Just listened to this for the first time this weekend and it's one of the most nonessential records I've ever heard.

Teenage Fanclub's The King was also due to be a very limited pressing in the UK, but apparently they pressed tens of thousands more. Possibly something to do with Kevin Shelids and the label's dire financial position at the time.