Thoughts On Naming Albums
Naming an album is one of the hardest things to do as a musician. You’ve been working for months if not years on a body of work and now the time has come to actually give it a name, to title it after something relevant and interesting. This is a really hard thing to do since it relies so heavily on the branding of this record. If it comes off as cheeseball then people are just going to ignore it. If it is a cool name but wrong for the genre it’s not going to work either. I actually was inspired to create this article after a really long conversation with a great friend about naming his next album. Outside of the pure honor of getting invited to be a part of this project on that level, it really got some wheels turning. There are a variety of approaches when going to name a record and it’s going to vary from band to band. That’s part of what’s so interesting, there isn’t a clear formula, but I’m sure we can discuss some thoughts on the do’s and do not’s.
The key is of course to remember the classic approaches to titling a record, the shit that was popular in the 70s. I’m talking stuff like Led Zeppelin I-IV or naming a record after a song title or the band itself. I think that these ideas are generally pretty safe if not always the most creative or valuable. Still they get the job done. They can feel authoritative too, especially in the case of the numerical titles. If named after a song or the band it can feel like the focus is more on the brand of that specific facet of the project. That is also really valuable and I can back both options. It needs to be in the right context though. I think that records have stopped being named after song titles for a reason. If you’re trying to create something that is truly album oriented it makes zero sense to basically tell your audience ‘Well this is the song that REALLY matters’. In the streaming age you gotta maximize the value of every song, not just the one you really like.
One approach that has been rather interesting to me and which has had quite a bit of traction over the last few decades is naming your record after a specific lyric. This has seen success for everyone from Nirvana to Katy Perry. This is an interesting approach because it can draw focus to a specific song without calling it out. It also can be the basis of a ‘brand’ a bit more than your normal song title can. For example, with Nevermind Nirvana were able to really call attention to the sort of ‘anti image’ they had cultivated. Not only that but they were able to subtly comment on the absurdity of their album cover at the same time. With Teenage Dream, Katy Perry was able to create a much larger and almost transcendental thing that captured the entire ethos of a cultural moment. If you look deeper into your lyrics you are likely to find more useful potential album titles then you might have thought possible. Pretty damn handy if you ask me.
Then we start to get into some of the more intangible ways to name your record. Remember that when naming an album the key is always to create something that immediately generates interest. Think about how most people consume music. They are looking on Spotify and Apple Music. If they see an immediately fascinating album title they are going to latch onto it and check it out. That’s why something like Municipal Waste’s The Art of Partying is such a compelling title. It immediately tells you what the record is going to be about and lets you dig into that. You want your record title to immediately give off the vibe of your album. So often I see party bands try to give their record a serious album title or vice versa. Your album title needs to be compelling of its own merit, not because it was a joke you thought was funny. The album title needs to be, in a way, the extension of the band name. It needs to generate interest in the same way and communicate what the record is about.
This is a big part of why it’s important to read a lot of books if you want to be an effective band. You want to title your record the same way you might title a book a lot of the time. Authors will tell you when titling a novel they often think about the hook in the book title. You’re going to be interested by a book with a mysterious, exciting or quirky title. One with a generic title not so much. This is also why it’s good to have a few different options and ideas for album titles you can run by friends. Don’t worry either about things being too serious, as long as the imagery is cool and it reflects something your band could conceivably be on about you’re going to have success. For example with the friend who I mentioned earlier in this article their record title actually came from the misheard lyrics. That’s kind of silly to be sure, but if that’s what gets you a great album title then why the fuck not?
Again, none of these rules are set in stone, maybe you really do have the key to the next great album title in a simple little formula. All I will say is that if you look at patterns within your genre you will get some clear ideas. Successful patterns are there for a reason. It is up to you to play on them, develop on them and create something unique that is going to make jaded old fucks like ya boy writing this piece think you are cool, interesting and worth taking another step into checking out. Don’t take any of this for granted but embrace it and hope that the world decides to follow you for the adventure. If they don’t. At least you got to create some great art along the way.