Why do bands release E.P.'s?

musicismylife78

I own thousands of cd’s, collected over many years. Not a single one of them is an E.P. Whats the deal with bands releasing E.P.’s? Why not release a full album? Maybe I am odd here. Does anyone else here not buy E.P.’s? I also cant think of any good E.P.’s beyond maybe Jars of Flies by Alice in Chains. Beyond that, I cant think of anything else worthwhile. In fact, it seems to me, I avoid buying E.P.’s, in my mind they are a waste of money. A band should release only LP’s. Its always frustrating, especially with non label bands, non signed bands, you go to a local show, and they are an awesome band, and you go to their merch table, and they only have E.P’s.

JOEJOEJOE

radiohead33 wrote:

I own thousands of cd’s, collected over many years. Not a single one of them is an E.P. Whats the deal with bands releasing E.P.’s? Why not release a full album? Maybe I am odd here. Does anyone else here not buy E.P.’s? I also cant think of any good E.P.’s beyond maybe Jars of Flies by Alice in Chains. Beyond that, I cant think of anything else worthwhile. In fact, it seems to me, I avoid buying E.P.’s, in my mind they are a waste of money. A band should release only LP’s. Its always frustrating, especially with non label bands, non signed bands, you go to a local show, and they are an awesome band, and you go to their merch table, and they only have E.P’s.

Some bands may not have the dough to record a full cd, or, they don't have enough material.

In the old days, record labels often released EPs so that they could get a feel for how well a band may sell before they provided a budget for an entire lp.

Also, if a band is between albums, and they really want to get a few new songs released, EPS are a great method.

surferdude

I wish more bands would release EP's. I find the time between albums now to be ridiculous. It's hard to grow with a band when they're trhe and four years between albums. I'd gladly accept a 6 song EP every 6-9 months with maybe 3 or 4 new tracks and some live tracks.

In the Stones, Zeppelin and Beatles hey days they were putting out albums every 6-9 months. Are the new bands so bad that they need 3-4 years to make new music?

norm

surferdude wrote:

Are the new bands so bad that they need 3-4 years to make new music?

yes....:)


i miss 7" and 12" vinyl ep's....:)

transplant

I wish bands would put more out as well. I like the focus of putting out 4 songs as opposed to putting out 14 with a couple fillers here and there.

I always finish an EP wanting MORE. Seldom do I feel that way after sitting through a whole album, which I rarely do anymore.

I mean, Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown. 4 songs 4:04 seconds later, I got my fix in, move on to something else. I like that.

I also like the fact there are usually cover songs on them. (new Ryan Adams for example). In fact, I wish all artists took a page from him in musical output.

intodeep

Good ep's-

Alice in Chains- Jar of Flies
Alice in Chains- Sap

Ryan Adams- Follow the Light

The Mars Volta-Tremulant

Minus the Bear- They Make Beer Commercials Like this

Radiohead- My Iron Lung

Those are the one's that jump to mind immediatly

The Severed Hand

All time fave E.P. is Tool - Opiate

Their first release which included a couple live tracks and the song "Opiate" Which never appeared anywhere else and is one of my favorite songs.

itsevobaby

alice in chains - sap
tool - opiate
smashing pumpkins - zero
polyphonic spree - wait
nada surf - karmic
jimmy eat world - stay on my side tonight
pearl jam - merkinball
pearl jam - live at easy street
tripping daisy - the tops of our head
radiohead - itch
radiohead - my iron lung
radiohead - comlag

and those are just off the top of my head (excuse the TD pun )

most of these are compilations of work that don't quite fit anywhere else, or bands are tieing up loose ends from a specific recording period before embarking on a full studio effort.

facepollution

You say they are a waste of money, but they are usually cheaper than an album, so what's the issue?

Rhinocerous Surprise

Don't forget A Stitch in Time, by the Twilight Singers. Not just an excellent piece of work in and of itself, but it's also something of a preview for the Gutter Twins, which is probably one of the most exciting things ever.:D

facepollution

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

Don't forget A Stitch in Time, by the Twilight Singers. Not just an excellent piece of work in and of itself, but it's also something of a preview for the Gutter Twins, which is probably one of the most exciting things ever.:D

Oh hell yeah! That record really can't come soon enough.

Blind Melon

Guster - "Satellite EP"
Sigur Rós - "Sæglópur EP"
Arcade Fire - "Arcade Fire [EP]"
At the Drive-In - "Vaya (EP)"
Incubus - "Enjoy Incubus [EP]"
Modest Mouse - "Everywhere and his Nasty Parlour Tricks (EP)"

EPs are amazing... they might be too short, but usually, all the tracks are stand-out tracks, to which all of the ones above, have.

soulsinging

tv on the radio- young liars

catefrances

i like that bands release EPs. i'd rather fork out the money for an EP than a single. though i do buy singles too. and as someone mentioned, sometimes at merch stands EPs are all the band can afford to produce.

mattosborne

I love EP's. If done correctly, they can really provide an album like experience. Ryan Adam's last EP is some great stuff. I think the idea behind the EP is like someone mentioned above me, maybe the artist couldn't afford an entire release. The more likely scenario is the artist felt some inspiration in between sessions, recorded 4 or 5 tunes on a whim and decided they had enough charactar to merit release.

reznors edge

favorate EP ever: NIN's Broken
It may not have much, but it sure kicks butt. Serves as a prequel to Downward Spiral while Trent was having contract problems with his label.
I consider it some of his best work, ever. It's as loud and angry as any of the overhyped "grunge" albums during that era.

allforcarrie

The Severed Hand wrote:

All time fave E.P. is Tool - Opiate

Their first release which included a couple live tracks and the song "Opiate" Which never appeared anywhere else and is one of my favorite songs.

Indeed totaly awesome!

catefrances

allforcarrie wrote:

Indeed totaly awesome!

yeah! throw those bob marley wannabe motherfuckers out of here.

JPS79

nin-broken
aic-sap,jof
gnr-lies
tool-opiate
all great ep's

bayleaf

the EP is my favourite format for music to be in actually :-)

Blyss

The ones i have i think are all made from bands starting out and i think they didn't have enough material, i don't understand why not wait and put out an album really though.

Bangers_n_mash

radiohead33 wrote:

I own thousands of cd’s, collected over many years. Not a single one of them is an E.P. Whats the deal with bands releasing E.P.’s? Why not release a full album? Maybe I am odd here. Does anyone else here not buy E.P.’s? I also cant think of any good E.P.’s beyond maybe Jars of Flies by Alice in Chains. Beyond that, I cant think of anything else worthwhile. In fact, it seems to me, I avoid buying E.P.’s, in my mind they are a waste of money. A band should release only LP’s. Its always frustrating, especially with non label bands, non signed bands, you go to a local show, and they are an awesome band, and you go to their merch table, and they only have E.P’s.

I take it you're a Radiohead fan? The My Iron Lung, Airbag and Com Lag eps have already been mentioned. They're collections of b-sides for the most part, very good b-sides that otherwise you'd have to fork out for each single seperately to get. So they save you money, they play very well and they tend to have nice artwork. What's the problem?

fada

My two favourite ones would be the brillant "who the fuck are arctic monkeys" and "whatever" by oasis.
Taster of things to come but mainly overlying material

deadnote

i love eps especially when i save them

FinsburyParkCarrots

Well, think back to the days of vinyl. Records were aimed at a teen (or even pre-teen) market, who usually bought singles and often couldn't afford albums. EPs were a way of giving this target audience something a bit more substantial than your usual single: an EP could fit three to four tracks.

Record companies then hit on the idea of serialising albums such as Beatles For Sale in 7 inch format. You'd get a few songs from the album on each disc, Beatles For Sale No.1, No.2, etc.. Whether this ended up as a bit of a rip off or not, I don't know. I'm sure a lot of collectors with a few extra pounds in their pocket bought the EPs and the LPs at the time.

In the UK, Magical Mystery Tour was a double 7 inch EP (I have a copy of the original, with its booklet). There wasn't enough material for an album. In the US, where the album version was released, side two comprised 1967 singles and B sides.


Nowadays, they serve as handy samplers for pluggers and radio people, and work the same way as a first chapter and synopsis do, for budding authors going to agencies and publishers.


And some artists just like releasing EPs for the hell of it.

Skitch Patterson

Digital Underground- This is an EP release is utterly fantastic.

Angus

I wish more bands would release EP's instead of full albums with 3-4 utterly shite filler songs.

PearlJamaholic

didnt see yeah yeah yeahs isis ep. i liked that one alot. it was nice for fans cause they were basically live only tracks. it was cool to hear the tracks in studio form and see that they got released. it was/is a nice hold over until the next album too.

and i saw it mentioned but nin broken is an awesome ep and just ever so slightly better than aic jar of flies.

i really like eps though i think bands should release them more often. how often have we read interviews from out favorite bands that they are working on an album and then they mention some songs and 3 years later the album comes out and not one of those tracks is on the album. that always sucks.

Trailer

I'm recording an EP as we speak. The reason that I am recording an EP instead of an LP has nothing to do with material (fuck I've got enough for two albums), but rather to do with time and budget. Considering I write all the music and vocal melodies, play every instrument, and have a lot of layers in the songs... it takes me a lot longer to perfect it in the studio. Compared with a full band that has polished the songs live and can cruise through them in the stduio in a few takes. If I had the money to camp out in the studio for 2 months straight then I would be releasing an LP, but I don't so deal with it!

KBaxter74

Queens of the Stone Age- Stone Age Complications

gleemonex

Death From Above 1979's EP - Heads Up is wicked. I also like Merkinball, Jar of Flies, Sap, QOTSA's Complications, and Tremulant by Mars Volta