A Genre-Hopping Album?

kylelazaroo

kylelazaroo

New member
Hey Guys!

I've been writing music for a little bit now, and I'm working on putting together my first album!
So my question is thus, what do you think of having multiple genre's on an album?
I've got funk, punk-rock, reggae, hip-hop and blues tracks but I'm not sure how these different styles would sit together in one album.
Whats your take on this?
 
why do you care
if the passion, quality and all that other 7 chakra unfolding aspects are there, smart people who love music will overlook that simple one dimensional bs. just do it
 
It would work man without a doubt im talking from experince.
I done a project a couple of years of ago and produced 2 tracks for a compilation album,
it had everything from an mellow acoustic singer-songwriter to a screamo death meatl band and
it seemed to work.
Good luck on your project anyway man!
 
I agree with the other posters. If the project represents you and you have put your all into it, people will recognize it, regardless of how many different directions the albums may go. What might be more important in this case though is deciding what order your tracklist will be to best paint the picture of the evolving/genre transitioning album concept (imo).
 
I'll be brave and speak out against the herd. I'm not so sure that it would work.

I view an album like a novel. A novel has many chapters for different purposes that tell different segments of the story. But they all come together. They all flow together. Sure, an author could choose to throw a fantasy chapter into his sci-fi book. I think his audience would notice.

I can't think of a single album I like that switches genres too rapidly. Yet many great albums switch up on the subtleties of the genre they're in.

I won't say Ariana Grande's album My Everything is a great album, but I admit it tickles me. Her overall genre is R&B, like an evolved Mariah Carey clone. But depending on the song, Grande swings her R&B to include elements of funk, EDM, pop, PBRNB, rap, and even ballads. But ... it's all in the context of R&B, and all variations on R&B.

(I suspect it's Grande's producers that I like, not necessarily her.)

I think it's very healthy to have some genre swing within an album. But it shouldn't swing too far from the core genre of the album, or the whole will feel disjointed and scattered.
 
Jhene Aiko was producing a lot of songs that she thought didn't fit together very well. She found that her tastes were changing mid production. So she actually split them into two separate albums. She finished up the album she felt encapsulated her old style and named it Sailed Out. Then she finished the album that best embraced her new style and called it Souled Out.

You could do the same.
 
@milo Burke, that was my original concern. That the album would sound too scattered and wouldn't flow well.
I like the idea of a split album, I might end up doing that.
 
I think at this amateur level the majority of people who make multi-genre albums are just exploring what their 'sound' is and haven't settled into their niche yet. The majority of people make better music once they've decided on a basic style then slowly develop it over time.

BUT

It's important you go through this exploration process to discover your sound. You can't expect a multi-genre album to be sucessful- but then again in music you can never expect to be sucessful so it doesn't matter. Make what you like and you'll find your niche eventually
 
Personally a good album to me is one that has fluidity and can be played through in one sitting without skipping. If the tracks are too different it might just sound cloggy but it definitely can be accomplished. Contain consistent elements throughout the album and it should be good.
 
I agree Zacific, the song order would be very important on an album like this.
I think I'll give it a go, I've been thinking of doing like a few link songs that tie the genre's together; like design an outro that goes from say blue to reggae?
 
My first thoughts were similar to Mylo. For me, it boils down to what you want to accomplish with your music. If you're exploring all possible avenues with your music and doing it simply for art's sake, by all means, throw whatever genre in there that inspires you. Studio or virtuoso musicians get away with this the easiest, since their audience tends to be more interested in what they're playing rather than the style in which they're playing.

On the other hand, if you're wanting to sell a lot of records, or if songwriting is your focus, a more cohesive album is probably your best bet. That audience tends to focus on songs that sound similar to one another.

The compromise, as others have stated, is to relegate styles to different albums. Depending on your success, you may lose some of your audience as you go along as you deviate from what drew them to your music at first, but others will listen.
 
Agreeing with Milo on this one, an album should flow together and keep the listener interested. If you draw someone in with your awesome reggae song, and then the next track is brootal death metal track, they'll be turned off of the album. Try the separate project approach. Everyone has several musical sides to them, why not expand on all of them.
 
It has a low possibility of working so it may or may not, Why?
Because different genres could outshine the main composer and
send people to the other artists unless you did each of the songs.
However it can work to your advantage if each song has a related topic
because most listeners respect artists that have a storyline that correlates throughout the entire album.
But my advice to you is if you are try to approach it like the Gorillaz and see it how it goes. GOOD LUCK!
 
It would definitely be something to remember if it is a very cohesive project well detailed and organized.. Bridging the gap is one of the best ways to be remarkable. It reminds me so much of the late 80's when run dmc & aerosmith teamed up to make a classic hit. That's something people will always discuss. Definately go for it....
 
It's rare that I find myself interested by single-genre artists. If you're an eclectic individual, there's no reason that a compilation of some of your works shouldn't reflect that, especially in an album (which I personally think should be a journey from beginning to end, not just a collection of songs)
 
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