I really miss those days when it was all about the album. In fact, I don't remember ever buying a single after I was 13 yrs old, that is, until itunes started ruling the world.
It's true-especially when you were young and had limited resources--that you better be sure you were going to like the majority of songs on the album. If not, it was a real bummer haha. There were certain artists that I knew I would love whatever they put out. So, those were no brainer purchases. You could also go to the record store and listen to it before hand. Mostly, I remember just hearing music over a friend's house and then deciding if I wanted it. A great resource was always my friends' older brothers or sisters' music collection. (I was the oldest in my family) I found out about a lot of slightly older cool albums that way--including all the Beatles stuff.
It was also fun to read the liner notes and check out which studio musicians were playing on the songs/albums. That was big thing for me.
Listening to the entire Dark Side of the Moon album every day after school was practically a requirement in 10th or 11th grade.
I feel sorry for the kids these days. I think they are missing out. I think the quality of music would be so much better if it wasn't all about the single. There would be better artists making a living.
