Music Monday: I Heart Liner Notes

Posted on 07.20.08 in Music Monday Music and there are 11 comments.

(This post is a part of Music Monday. Join the fun. Write a post about music and add your link below.)

Liner Notes: My Long Lost Friends...

Does anyone else out there miss liner notes? You know, the little booklets that came in cd’s?

Whenever I’d buy a new album, I’d study the cover, pull out the liner notes and pour over them. I’d imagine how the music might sound (I bought albums blindly - just because I liked the artists - so often I never heard the music before I bought it.). Then, once I knew who all the players were, who produced each song and who wrote each song, I’d finally put the cd in and listen to it.

I miss that. I buy almost all my music on iTunes now. I realize I could buy cd’s, but 1) I’m too impatient to wait to have a cd mailed to me and 2) I worked in radio for years + I’m a packrat = I DO NOT NEED MORE CD’S IN MY HOUSE.

I know some artists are releasing digital booklets with their cd’s but very few of the albums I’ve bought have come with one of those.

So sad.

Anyone else out there miss liner notes? Any favorites?

Music Recommendation

I can’t let a Music Monday go by without recommending great music, so today I’m going to recommend Jimmy Needham’s new EP - Not Without Love.

If his name looks familiar, it’s because I’ve featured him before on Music Monday. Back when he was an indie. Now he’s signed. Coincidence? I think not.

Even though he’s an Aggie, he makes some incredible music. He’s a phenomenal singer and a solid guitar player with songs that have a definite bluesy edge. Here is a song called “Come Around” from his upcoming album.

Your Turn

Join the Music Monday fun. Write a post about music and add your link below.

The Comments:

Skip to comment form

Yes, I love liner notes too! I’m glad to see I’m not alone. More then liner notes though I love toread your blog. I’m going to have TSLOK Withdrawal when I return to Roamnaia this fall.

Liner notes are the only reason I still buy CDs at all.  If I can, I will buy a CD through a musicians website rather than iTunes because they often include the notes - get with the program, iTunes, this is your one great fault!  I don’t think the people at the labels realize how many people out there want the notes, either.  Whenever I get in pre-releases for me to review they are just the CD, maybe with a sheet of paper with cover art and a song list, but never with liner notes.  I always have to go back and request they e-mail it to me.

I like Jimmy Needham, and not just because he’s an Aggie (WHOOP!).  I’ve been looking forward to hearing something from his new release.  I read an interview with him the other day and he talked about the album titles.  The last one, Speak, he felt came out of a time when he was perhaps a bit harsh toward people out there who are not accepting Christ and following Him.  So this album turns a little on the aspect of loving them, thus Speak but Not Without Love.  Nice.

I’ll try to have a post up this afternoon for MM.  If I have time.

I do the same thing.  When I get an album, I’ll read through the liner notes and see who played on each song and who wrote the string arrangements before I start listening to it.  I almost never buy music online because of that.

I did the same thing back when I worked for a Christian radio station, and can still remember who played on a lot of albums.  So since I’m working with a lot of those same people now, there’s a joke that when we’re talking about a certain album, they’ll ask me if they played on it.  And the other side is that I’ll ask them about an album I know they’ve worked on, and more often than not they have some stories from the sessions.

Do you know about ArtistDirect.com, Kat?  They have all the liner notes for most major releases (but not lyrics).  And you can click on one musician’s name and see all the projects they’ve worked on.  For some reason, I’ve got this page bookmarked. 

I love liner notes, but I also find that they can be a source of clutter.

This weekend, I just threw out tons of them, but only after I scoured them to see what kind of pictures I could keep for creating collages.

I totally miss liner notes. One of my favorite things about buying a new album back in the day.

Liner notes from actual vinyl albums were the best!  They were big enough to actually read and to fully appreciate the artwork.

Yeah.  I miss ‘em.

Liner notes is why I still buy CDs. I love to read them, especially now that I know some of the players. Makes me appreciate listening to the CD much more to know who contributed.

I too miss liner notes.  A lot of albums I’ve bought with iTunes came with a digital booklet, but it’s just not the same when you look at a pdf file.

Yes, it seems about 1/3 of my most recent iTunes albums have come with the pdf liner notes, which is cool.  However, the liner notes prime has passed, probably due to downloading.  It seems way too many booklets don’t have lyrics or any significant commentary or photos anymore.  My most recent favorite liner notes has to be “Wide-Eyed and Mystified” by Downhere.  I’ve read the lyrics and biblical references numerous times, and it’s one of my favorite albums of all-time.

Regarding Jimmy Needham, I LOVE the new song “Hurricane” and I’m looking foward to the whole album.  I also love “Stand On Grace” from “Speak”.

Kat,
I never pictured you as a pack rat.  Interesting tid bit there!

I like to read liner notes, but I don’t get much music these days.

I am a fan of the liner notes as well.  I always thought it was cool to see who an artist was friends with.

One of my top 10 life moments was to have my name appear in the liner notes for 2 different CD’s

Share Your Comments:

Name:

Email:

URL (optional):

Smileys

Remember me.

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below:

My Twitter Posts