I realized if I'm not really making an album, I don't have to be concerned about things like stylistic consistency, pacing, a coherent mood. All that stuff goes out the window.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When creating an album, one of the first things you have to think about is what you want your production style to be.
The consistency - either the theme from record to record, or the band, the different musicians - it really varies. So if I get criticism, I don't worry about that, because I'm still being creative.
Albums are like diaries. You go through phases, technically and emotionally, and they reflect the state that you're in at the time.
A lot of my albums that I've done, a lot of the songs have been the first take. It's before you mess with it too much - you can take away all the spontaneity and the emotion of something by trying to make it sound perfect.
To be honest, making albums is really never easy. It's always a bit excruciating because there's always this fight to make it great, and then you hit these stumbling blocks along the way.
Making an album should be an honest experience. It shouldn't be about trying to gauge where popular music is today; it should be about artistic expression and putting down what you want to put down.
To record an album and stick to one specific style isn't really my thing.
When you have a reputation for making not only good songs but great albums, that in itself creates added artistic pressure. But, at the end of the day, I guess that pressure is something I welcome.
I'll probably never put out another album because I'm a tough critic of my work, and I don't think I could come up to those standards any more.
My main objective with every album is to capture a moment in time, which usually makes the whole process very relaxing. I only discover in retrospect when looking back at the songs how my life is going!