Analbum is a collection of sound recordings. It is usually made by amusician, and is sold in stores. Albums were originally a collection ofgramophone records, each having one or two songs. Today an album is usually in the form of acompact disc, although many artists also release their albums onvinyl records.LP or Album in digital format in the21st century it is increasingly normal to releasemusic.
There are two main types of albums, studio albums and live albums. Studio albums are recorded at arecording studio. Live albums are normally recorded while the musicians are performing for anaudience. Live albums are usually recorded atconcerts.
Other types of albums include:
Compilation album: Compilation albums are usually made of songs that first came from many different albums. These songs can all be from the same musicians (often called "Greatest Hits" albums) or they can each be from different musicians.
Debut album: the first album from a musician or musical group.
Solo album - A solo album is an album by a single musician. This often happens when asinger or musician who is a part of aband creates an album without the rest of the band. It may also happen when the person leaves the band and startsperforming alone. For example, most ofBeyoncé's albums after she stopped performing withDestiny's Child are solo albums.
Tribute album: Tribute albums or "cover albums" are albums where a second group or musician plays songs which were first played by another, often more famous, group or musician. The second group is usually called a "Tribute band" when most or all of the music they play is from anotherband. For example, aSlipknot tribute band would mostly play songs that were written and played by the band Slipknot.
Live album: Live albums are made from songs that are performed live, such as during tour.
Albums are normally separated intotracks. Each track is a part of the album which has one song in it. The term is often used to mean a specific song on the album by number. For example, the "fourth track" or "track four" from an album is the fourth song on the album when it is played from the beginning.
