"There was this discussion to know how long the human ear was really receptive to the music. A 74 minute CD is too long. We thought about making two CDs, 35 minutes each... But the songs need to breathe"
About this Quote
Ed O'Brien is smuggling an argument about attention into what sounds like a nerdy format debate. The “74 minute CD is too long” line isn’t just about plastic discs; it’s a quiet indictment of an era that equates more minutes with more value. He’s naming a physical limit - the ear gets tired, the mind wanders - and treating it as an artistic constraint rather than a market problem. That’s a musician insisting that the body is part of the listening technology.
The specific intent is practical: defend pacing. Two 35-minute discs would solve the stamina issue on paper, but it would also impose an intermission, a literal break that turns a record into “content blocks.” When he says “the songs need to breathe,” he’s talking about negative space: sequencing, decay, silence, the afterimage of a chord. It’s a reminder that albums aren’t playlists; they’re environments. “Breathe” also implies trust - trust that listeners will sit with a mood instead of demanding constant payoff.
Context matters. O'Brien comes from Radiohead, a band that lived through the CD’s bloat years and then helped explode the album’s old business model in the download/streaming shift. His quote lands as a bridge between formats: the CD enabled overlong records; streaming punishes long arcs by rewarding skips. Against both, he’s arguing for duration as a compositional choice. The subtext is almost defiant: attention isn’t infinite, and good art shouldn’t pretend it is.
The specific intent is practical: defend pacing. Two 35-minute discs would solve the stamina issue on paper, but it would also impose an intermission, a literal break that turns a record into “content blocks.” When he says “the songs need to breathe,” he’s talking about negative space: sequencing, decay, silence, the afterimage of a chord. It’s a reminder that albums aren’t playlists; they’re environments. “Breathe” also implies trust - trust that listeners will sit with a mood instead of demanding constant payoff.
Context matters. O'Brien comes from Radiohead, a band that lived through the CD’s bloat years and then helped explode the album’s old business model in the download/streaming shift. His quote lands as a bridge between formats: the CD enabled overlong records; streaming punishes long arcs by rewarding skips. Against both, he’s arguing for duration as a compositional choice. The subtext is almost defiant: attention isn’t infinite, and good art shouldn’t pretend it is.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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