The perfect length of a rock album is really a matter of personal taste. Some albums are made even better by the fact that they clock in at over an hour long. Others, though, could have benefited from some good ol’ cutting. Let’s take a look at a few super-long rock albums that we think could have been trimmed down a bit.
1. ‘Sandinista!’ by The Clash
London Calling is an excellent double album that definitely needed that over-an-hour-long runtime. Sandinista!, on the other hand, didn’t need to be a triple album. It didn’t need to clock in at over 144 minutes long. While we appreciate how The Clash hit a number of different genres on the head with this record, it’s simply full of too many filler tracks to warrant that hefty runtime.
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2. ‘Load/Reload’ by Metallica
Metallica is no stranger to super-long rock albums. The band had a ton of success with The Black Album, so it only makes sense that they would put out another album that ran over an hour long. However, Load/Reload wasn’t really what fans were expecting.
It’s an incredibly mainstream piece of work, and that long runtime feels more like a chore than anything. We would have kept the stripped-down, intimate tracks and cut out songs like “Wasting My Hate”, as well as some of the filler tracks that are still considered pretty unremarkable today.
3. ‘Long Road Out Of Eden’ by Eagles
Well, this album title is apt. Long Road Out Of Eden by Eagles is certainly a long road to get through. This album is about 90 minutes long, and it could have stood to be trimmed down a bit.
It’s the band’s only double album, but the composition of it all needed more work than it got. There are some great songs on this record, as well as some downright awful tracks. The harmonies are on point throughout the album, though.
4. ‘Appetite For Destruction’ by Guns N’ Roses
Super-long rock albums are a dime a dozen, but few are as legendary as Guns N’ Roses’ debut record Appetite For Destruction from 1987. This record features massive hits like “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, and “Paradise City”. However, it also features quite a bit of filler. And with a runtime of almost 54 minutes, a couple of those filler tracks could definitely have been trimmed off.
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