Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums

Note: Anybody wishing to take part in WikiProject:Albums is welcome to do so. Feel free to ask questions here. Below is a basic guide to writing an article on a specific album of music; this is only a guide and you should feel free to personalize an article as you see fit, though others may change it to fit our standards. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums/List has an extensive list of notable albums from the last thirty years or so, if you would like some suggestions on which albums to write about.

Stylistic note: Songs are placed in quotation marks, albums are italicized and artists are left alone (i.e. The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" comes from their Xth album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).

On song linkages: Don't link to a song that has no article unless you believe that the song most certainly deserves an article and/or you are willing to write it.

Please try and add the year in parentheses after mentioning an album for the first time in an article or paragraph (unless the year is contained within the sentence) as in: "Nirvana's next album was the breakthrough classic Nevermind (1992).

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• The basics should be in the first paragraph: title, artist, release date, record label and a word or two about genre and critical reception
• Describe or upload copy of the album cover (under fair use).
• Describe history, trivia, themes (musical or lyrical), a consideration of its specific influences, specific followers, where it fits in its genre and what leanings it may have toward others, reasons for the order of tracks (if any), etc. Also, synthesize the general critical reception of the album, being as detailed as possible. Be sure to note minority opinions as well, properly attributed (preferably with an external link). Also, any way the album affected the cultural consciousness of a society or culture.
  • There are various methods for writing this; it should be the bulk of the article. In the course of writing these, it has become apparent that there are two distinct styles of articles (that are actually opposite ends of a spectrum), either of which may be appropriate, depending on the album in question.
    • Include a paragraph on each song, describing its critical reception and relevance to the article as a whole. This may be more appropriate for concept albums, however loose, or albums written by people known for their songwriting. See Ziggy Stardust or Aquemini for examples.
    • Focus on the album as a whole, mentioning specific songs only in as much as one song provides an example of a topic of interest to the entire album. This may be more appropriate for albums that are largely musical, without lyrics to explain, such as much of prog rock (i.e. Styx, Deep Purple, King Crimson), dance music (Donna Summers, Paul Oakenfold, 'N Sync) or other symphonic bands like Metallica or Pink Floyd. See Highway 61 Revisited or The Violent Femmes for examples.
• Add a paragraph or two on how the album fits in the development of music. What sound similar to? What inspired the artists? Who listened to this album, then started a band of their own and became famous ten years later? An example from Ziggy Stardust is below.

The glam rock sound on Ziggy Stardust comes from early pioneers in the field of gender-bending, heroin-drenched hard rock powered by climactic guitar riffs and bass-heavy beats. Bands like Mott the Hoople (Mott the Hoople[?] - 1969) and T. Rex (Prophets Seers & Sages the Angels of the Ages[?] - 1968) helped to create the sound of glam rock, contributing a heavy metal and folk aspect, respectively, along with Deep Purple's (Deep Purple[?] - 1969) metallic prog rock. Bowie mixed this early combination with the frenetic proto-punk of the Stooges (The Stooges[?] - 1969) and the contemplative, dark and melodic proto-punk of the Velvet Underground (White Light/White Heat[?] - 1967). Dark psychedelia, like the Doors (The Doors - 1967) and early concept albums like Tommy (1969; the Who) influenced the lyrical direction of the album.

Ziggy Stardust was a monumental album in music history. Its sound has changed the way heavy metal, punk music, hard rock, glam rock and prog rock sound. The direct progenitors were later glam musicians like the glam-metal of Alice Cooper (Billion Dollar Babies - 1973), the glam-disco of Labelle (Nightbirds[?] - 1974) and the glam-pop of Gary Glitter (Touch Me[?] - 1973). Heavy metal began with bands like Blue Cheer (Vincebus Eruptum - 1968) and the Yardbirds (Five Live Yardbirds[?] - 1964); in the post Ziggy Stardust world, heavy metal evolved towards glam metal bands like Mötley Crüe (Too Fast For Love[?] - 1981) and Van Halen (Van Halen - 1978) through the occult bands of the mid to late 1970s, like Blue Öyster Cult (Tyranny and Mutation[?] - 1973) and Black Sabbath (Sabotage[?] - 1975), and metallic prog rock like Yes (Tales From Topographic Oceans[?] - 1974). Ziggy Stardust (along with other notable albums, such as The New York Dolls - 1973) also combined the two types of proto-punk, the energetic power of the Stooges and the avante-garde lyrical and musical aspects of the Velvet Underground, resulting in early punk musicians like Elvis Costello & the Attractions (My Aim Is True[?] - 1977), Adam & the Ants (Kings of the Wild Frontier - 1980) and Graham Parker[?] (Howlin' Wind[?] - 1976) before the first wave of true hardcore punk music, with the Jam (In the City[?] - 1977), the Clash (The Clash[?] - 1977) and the Ramones (The Ramones - 1976), as well as the more artistic punk of Patti Smith (Horses[?] - 1975) and Television (Marquee Moon[?] - 1977). In the 1990s, shoegazing and Britpop bands like Suede (Dog Man Star[?] - 1994), Morrissey (Viva Hate[?] - 1988) and My Bloody Valentine (Isn't Anything[?] - 1988) showed a strong Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie influence.

• Track Listing: (Note: Particularly for rap albums, it is helpful to list which members of a group (or guests) rap on which verses as well as mentioning sampling sources)
  • "complete song title[?]" (John Doe, Brian Smith)
    • First Verse: Name of rapper
    • Second Verse: Name of rapper
    • Samples: Name of sample source (preferably, artist, song, album)
  • "complete song title[?]" (Doe, Kelly Kalamazoo)
  • "complete song title[?]" (Doe, Kalamazoo, Smith, David Whitman)
  • Note the standard method of attributing songwriters--write (and link) the full name the first time it appears, and then just give the last name (unless the first initial is necessary to disambiguate it, as in the Gallagher brothers of Oasis). If all songs were written by the same person/team, this can be stated at the top as in "(all songs written by Gordon Gano[?])"
• Personnel: (names and instruments, link to instrument on first occurrence)
  • Johnny Poe - guitar
  • Sally Morris - glockenspiel, guitar, organ, kazoo
• Other external links:
  • [chords]
  • [lyrics]
  • [parodies]
  • [anything else relevant]

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I moved the list of albums to List of albums. Tuf-Kat

see also Wikipedia:Filmographies and Discographies