Why do bands release E.P.'s?

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

LONGRD

surferdude wrote:

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?

I think it more to do the business.
More corporate/business involvement today than ever was.
I'm not too positive on that. Plus, some bands releasing EP through their websites too.

dcne200

gleemonex wrote:

Death From Above 1979's EP - Heads Up is wicked.

I second that and add Iron & Wine's "Woman King".

Evacuation Rules

Who can forget The Frogs' "Starjob" EP which includes "I Only Play For Money", "Starboy" and "Lord Grunge".

Anon

trail of dead-secrets of elana's tomb
jesu-silver, lifeline
Isis-Sgnl 05, Red Sea, Mosquito Control
Nirvana-Hormoning, Blew
Alice-Sap, Jar of Flies
Milligram-Hello Motherfucker!, Black & White Rainbow
Scissorfight-Piscataqua, Potential New Agent For Unconventional Warfare, Death Chants Breakdowns and Military Waltzes Vol.2
Ministry-In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (live)
David Lee Roth-Crazy From The Heat