"Filler" and Brian Free's Philosophy of Song Selection

"Filler" and Brian Free's Philosophy of Song Selection March 15, 2012

During an NQC interview with BFA, Brian was asked how he goes about choosing songs for an album. This was his answer:

We don’t pick “filler” songs. A lot of groups will pick 2-3 good songs and then… they’ll need 7 others to fill the album. We don’t do that. I don’t want a filler song. I will not stage a filler song. We try to pick ten singles, knowing that any one of those songs could be a single. And if you don’t do that, you’re shorting the people, number one, when they buy a CD, ‘cuz you get a couple, three good songs, the rest of it’s junk. And besides that, we want to be able to say something. We want the message to be the whole CD, the whole project. And we have to choose carefully.

I for one applaud Brian for this approach. I must confess that even though I may prefer how some other groups in the industry sound (not that BFA is anything to sneeze at in that category by a long shot), BFA stands head and shoulders above virtually everyone else when it comes to consistent, strong songs.
Do you agree or disagree? Is Brian’s evaluation of the rest of the industry pretty much spot-on in your view? If so, what do you think of his choice to break from the pattern?


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