Visual album
{{Short description|Type of concept album}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
A visual album is a type of concept album in which the album is accompanied by a feature-length film or individual music videos for every song. Usually, the film, or "visuals", emphasize the album's overall theme and serve as the "visual vehicle" that enhances the experience.{{Cite web |last=Krishnamurthy |first=Chaitra |date=2022-10-22 |title=Midnights is Taylor Swift's first visual album with a series of music movies |url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/10/22/what-is-a-visual-album-as-taylor-swift-announces-music-movies-for-midnights/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=HITC |language=en-GB}}
Though music films and videos accompanying albums are not new in popular culture, the term achieved prominence in modern usage after the release of American singer-songwriter Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled album.{{Cite magazine |last=Danton |first=Eric R. |date=2013-12-13 |title=Surprise: There's a New Beyonce Album |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beyonce-surprises-with-new-album-release-185773/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/culture/23301452/beyonce-renaissance-rise-self-titled-lemonade-homecoming|title=How Beyoncé turned herself into a pop god|date=2022-08-15|access-date=2023-01-27|website=Vox Media}} Prior to Beyoncé, she had also released music videos for thirteen tracks from her second studio album B'Day (2006); all videos were included in B'Day Anthology Video Album (2007).{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/beyonce-bday-album-at-15-collaborators-remember-1235056285/|title=Beyonce's 'B'Day' Turns 15: Collaborators Remember the Music, Moves and Visuals|date=2021-09-04|access-date=2023-01-27|last=Gonzalez|first=Alex}}{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-04-05-beyonce-video-album_N.htm |title=Beyonce releases 'B'Day' video album |work=USA Today |publisher=Gannett Company |date=April 5, 2007 |access-date=January 27, 2023}} Jonna Lee's project iamamiwhoami is said to have been promoting the "audio-visual album" format since 2009,{{Cite web |date=2014-11-09 |title=iamamiwhoami - Blue |url=https://diymag.com/review/album/iamamiwhoami-blue-album-review |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=DIY |language=en}} and the band Animal Collective had similarly earlier described their experimental 2010 album ODDSAC as a "visual record".{{Cite web |date=2008-12-04 |title=Hey, It's an Animal Collective Film Project Quasi-Update |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/34189-hey-its-an-animal-collective-film-project-quasi-update/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}
Definitions
The definition of what constitutes a visual album remains a subject of debate. Being a largely experimental medium, its execution varies from artist to artist. According to Screen Rant's Megan Summers, "visual albums are linked music videos or films released in conjunction with a record".{{Cite web |last=Summers |first=Megan |date=2020-08-03 |title=Beyoncé's Black Is King & 9 Other Visual Albums That Redefine Cinema |url=https://screenrant.com/redefining-cinema-visual-albums-like-beyonce-black-king/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}} In one of the first articles written about the artform, Landon Palmer of Film School Rejects notes that "visual albums stage, sometimes with interruptions, the majority of a musician or band’s LP ... cohesive works of musical artistry rather than conveniently divisible bits of audio information".{{Cite web |last=Palmer |first=Landon |date=2012-08-21 |title=How Visual Albums Are Changing the Way We Think of Movies and Music Videos |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/how-visual-albums-are-changing-the-way-we-think-of-movies-and-music-videos-db2620501765/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Film School Rejects |language=en-US}} According to Judy Berman of Pitchfork, visual albums result from the "synergistic connection between music and cinema that dates back to the latter art form’s birth".{{Cite web |date=2016-09-13 |title=What Does It Mean to Experience an Album for the First Time as a Film? |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1289-what-does-it-mean-to-experience-an-album-for-the-first-time-as-a-film/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} While films like Purple Rain and A Hard Day's Night are classics that combine music and long-form visuals, Kylie Lynne of AllMusic argues that such films "had the corresponding album as a soundtrack with the majority of focus on the storyline and dialogue when the music was not playing", separating them from visual albums in which the music is the primary audio component.{{Cite web |title=Listening with Eyes Wide Open — The Rise of the Visual Album |url=https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/listening-with-eyes-wide-open-the-rise-of-the-visual-album |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}
History and development
= Pre-MTV era =
The synergy between music and cinema has existed since cinema's early history, with the first talkie in 1927, The Jazz Singer, being a musical. When it became clear that talkies were to become the dominant form of cinema, there was a significant rise in musicians making use of the visual medium to bring their music to new audiences. Artists like Bessie Smith and Fred Astaire took advantage of this and appeared on television performing their songs. Soon enough, the music film as a concept would become a cultural phenomenon in 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, when the Beatles released A Hard Day's Night.{{Cite web |title=The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13422-a-hard-days-night/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} The following decade saw a massive leap in the music industry's use of visual media, with Blondie's Eat to the Beat, released in 1979, being the first album in the rock era to be accompanied by videos for every song.
= MTV era and the longform film =
The rise of MTV and the popularity of Michael Jackson in the 1980s cemented the status of music videos as integral to the music industry.{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/sughnenyongo/2024/12/18/why-beyonc-has-inherited-michael-jacksons-title-of-pop-royalty/ | title=Why Beyoncé Has Inherited Michael Jackson's Title of Pop Royalty | website=Forbes }} Jackson would eventually stretch his cinematic ambitions to feature-film length with 1988's Moonwalker, just as Prince had done four years earlier with Purple Rain.{{cite web | url=https://screenrant.com/redefining-cinema-visual-albums-like-beyonce-black-king/ | title=Beyoncé's Black is King & 9 Other Visual Albums That Redefine Cinema | website=Screen Rant | date=3 August 2020 }} In 1986, British band The The made music videos for each track to promote their album Infected. In 1985, for Pete Townshend's album White City: A Novel was a film based on the album, directed and "adapted for longform video" by Richard Lowenstein. Janet Jackson also released a similar form of visual album with her Rhythm Nation 1814 film short in 1989. Lemon Jelly's 2005 album '64-'95 and Beck's 2006 album The Information were both released with videos for each track. Beyoncé's B'Day Anthology Video Album marked another significant release in this era, which companioned the deluxe edition of 2006's B'Day and featured videos for every song.{{Cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Da'Shan |last2=Smith |first2=Da'Shan |date=2017-04-03 |title=10 Years Later: A Definitive Ranking Of Beyonce's 'B' Day Video Anthology Album' |url=https://www.vibe.com/features/editorial/beyonce-bday-video-anthology-album-10-year-anniversary-500865/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=VIBE.com |language=en-US}}
= Streaming era =
The beginning of the streaming era offered artists several options of making their musical projects easily accessible to fans. The Swedish electropop group iamamiwhoami published a series of music videos in 2010. Described as an audiovisual project,{{Cite web |title=Iamamiwhoami – The Vogue |url=https://thevogue.com/artists/iamamiwhoami/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |language=en}} it was later released on their "audiovisual album" Bounty.{{Cite web |last=Benjamin |first=Mark |date=2020-07-17 |title=An interview with ionnalee behind closed doors |url=https://rain-mag.com/an-interview-with-ionnalee-behind-closed-doors/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Rain |language=en-US}} The band continued the tradition, releasing Kin in 2012, Blue in 2014, and their subsequent albums in an audiovisual format.{{Cite web |last=Hannaford·News· |first=Luke |date=2012-06-29 |title=Iamamiwhoami Wins MTV Digital Genius Award - God Is In The TV |url=https://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2012/06/29/iamamiwhoami-wins-mtv-digital-genius-award/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-06-08 |title=Time Is iamamiwhoamis Worst Enemy and Best Friend |url=https://www.popmatters.com/jonna-lee-iamamiwhoami-2022-interview |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=PopMatters |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2014-11-06 |title=Vogue Exclusive: Stream iamamiwhoami's New Audio-Visual Album, Blue |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/iamamiwhoami-blue-album-stream |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}} R.E.M.'s final studio album, 2011's Collapse into Now'' also featured at least one music video for every song, spearheaded by vocalist Michael Stipe.{{cite news |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/pop-song-2011-the-video-for-r-e-m-s-it-happened-today/?src=tptw |title=Pop Song 2011: The Video for R.E.M.'s 'It Happened Today' |date=2011-03-03 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2011-03-06 |first=Dave |last=Itzkoff}}
The next instance of a visual album was Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled release. Having started recording the album in the summer of 2012, she had the idea to make it a visual album in early 2013{{cite news|last=Dobbins|first=Amanda|title=Beyoncé's Creative Director Todd Tourso on Her New Album and Keeping Secrets|url=https://www.vulture.com/2013/12/creative-director-todd-tourso-on-beyonc.html|access-date=January 27, 2023|newspaper=Vulture|date=December 18, 2013|archive-date=August 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830093132/http://www.vulture.com/2013/12/creative-director-todd-tourso-on-beyonc.html|url-status=live}} and hence began filming videos for every song secretly across the globe as she embarked on The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beyonce-available-worldwide-now-235687181.html|title=BEYONCÉ Available Worldwide Now |publisher=Parkwood Entertainment, Columbia Records|agency=PR Newswire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125101800/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beyonce-available-worldwide-now-235687181.html|archive-date=November 25, 2014|url-status=live|date=December 13, 2013|access-date=January 27, 2023}} The album, having had no prior announcement or promotion, was then released as a complete surprise in the early hours of December 13, 2013. Unlike B'day's year-long wait for a complete visual companion in 2007, Beyoncé and its 17 videos were made available exclusively through the iTunes Store immediately upon release. The music and videos were "designed to be consumed as a comprehensive audio/visual piece".
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| source = —Peabody Entertainment Awards on "Lemonade"
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Beyoncé would reinvent the visual album format again with her following studio album Lemonade in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/beyonce-lemonade-discussion.html|title=Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' Makes a Statement. Discuss.|date=2016-04-27|access-date=2023-01-27|website=The New York Times}} Instead of filming separate videos for every song, she opted to create an hour-long feature film to companion the album. Releasing a cryptic trailer 6 days before the film's exclusive premiere on HBO, Lemonade was described as a "world premiere event".{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/18/beyonce-lemonade-trailer-video-hbo-world-premiere|title=Beyoncé stokes anticipation with Lemonade trailer|date=2016-04-18|access-date=2023-01-27|last=Jamieson|first=Amber|website=The Guardian}} The project's true purpose as a companion film for Beyoncé's sixth studio album was revealed on April 23, 2016 as the film premiered.{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2016/04/who-directed-lemonade-the-7-filmmakers-behind-beyonces-visual-album-289339/|title=Who Directed 'Lemonade'? The 7 Filmmakers Behind Beyoncé's Visual Album|last=Ehrlich|first=David|date=2016-04-24|access-date=2023-01-27}} The film has since exclusively streamed on Tidal.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/music/news/beyonce-to-release-audio-of-lemonade-film-across-all-music-streaming-platforms-exclusive-1203191643/|publisher=Variety|first=Marc|last=Malkin|date=2019-04-17|access-date=2023-01-27|title=Beyonce to Release Audio of 'Lemonade' Film Across All Music Streaming Platforms (EXCLUSIVE)}} It was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards{{Cite web|title=Lemonade|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/lemonade|access-date=2023-01-27|website=Television Academy|language=en|archive-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020084739/https://www.emmys.com/shows/lemonade|url-status=live}} and won a Peabody Award for its "contributions to the greater cultural landscape."{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/04/beyoncs-lemonade-is-a-peabody-award-winner.html|title=Hold Up: Beyoncé's Lemonade Is Now a Peabody Award Winner|date=2017-04-20|access-date=2023-01-27|website=Vulture}}
The third studio album by the English musician Thom Yorke, Anima, was released on 27 June 2019 in conjunction with a 15-minute visual album of the same name on Netflix.{{cite web |last=Russell |first=Max |date=10 August 2019 |title=Album Review: Thom Yorke – "ANIMA" |url=https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/135375/album-review-thom-yorke-anima/ |access-date=11 April 2023 |publisher=theyoungfolks.com}} Ed Sheeran's sixth studio album, - ("Subtract"), was released on 5 May 2023 with music videos for every song.
Other artists like Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Solange, Halsey, Twenty One Pilots,{{Cite web |last=Sinha |first=Charu |date=2021-07-14 |title=Halsey Braves a Witch Hunt in New Trailer for IMAX Visual Album |url=https://www.vulture.com/2021/07/watch-halsey-drops-new-trailer-for-imax-visual-album.html |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Vulture |language=en-us}} Travis Scott and Sia{{Cite magazine |last=Mamo |first=Heran |date=2021-01-13 |title=Everything We Know About Sia's 'Music' Movie & Album (So Far) |url=https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/sia-music-movie-album-everything-we-know-9510346/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}} have all released projects described as visual albums to different streaming services. Though the films often accompany the albums, the visuals are at times released at a later date, as in the case of Black Is King (2020), the visual accompaniment to Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift (2019).{{Cite web |last=Billboard |first=Gab Ginsberg |date=2020-07-30 |title=Beyonce Releases 'Black Is King' Visual Album |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/beyonce-releases-black-is-king-visual-album-1305320/ |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}