Okay, I've always wondered if anyone out there had the same problem as me, so think of this as kind of an AA meeting if you will.

When it comes to listening to new music, I always seem to have a problem conquering the whole album. It usually takes me weeks, sometimes months to finally getting around to listening to every single song. Sometimes, I'll burn it on a CD and force myself to listen to it in the car, but even then I'll take the CD out.

If anyone could help me with this, that would be greatly fantastic.

This might seem kind of odd, but I've taken to Audiosurfing new material, where appropriate

It keeps you simultaneously occupied yet focused on nuances of the music.

I’ve had the same problem with many albums. Aenmia by Tool is a great example. I’d listen to it on the way to school and get about 2/3rds of the way through it, or I’d listen at work but not finish it and have to go to a meeting or something and when I got back I wasn’t really in the mood for it. I would feel kind of guilty because I would feel like I never really knew that work as much as I wanted to.

What works for me is slowing down a bit. I used to over consume music, so I’d hear a ton of stuff but I would never get to know anything really intimately. Generally, I try to limit myself to one new album a week, or longer if the music is complex enough to demand more time. It lets me focus and take in all the details of the music, and it also allows me to revisit older stuff that I may never have given a fair shake. So I may not ever hear everything I want to hear, but I’m enjoying music a lot more now.

My problem is that I just don't have the time to solely devote to listening to music. I listen mainly at work, but I can't devote myself fully to it ('cause, you know, I do have to work a little) so I don't feel like I've really listened properly to much of anything.

It doesn't really bother me anymore. I enjoy what i can when I can however I feel like it. If listening starts to feel like a chore, don't force yourself to listen to the whole album. Here's a secret: A great song is a great song whether you listen to it in the context of the album or in a playlist. Shhh. Don't tell anybody.

What exactly is making you stop listening to the album? That is seems too much to take in at once, that you can't remember anything about it when it's over? I had a vaguely similar thing quite a while ago, and I would listen to new albums in songs at a time. I'm not sure how I got over it really, but these days I just listen through new albums fully, except when I run out of time. I think maybe finding a good balance of attention is the trick. What I mean is, I usually listen to music with something to distract me, but not too much. Something I can think about, but not requrie too much serious thought and brain activity, such as reading and posting on this forum. That way, 80% of the mind is taking in the music, and the other 20% can do whatever it pleases.

Man, I have nothing but time to listen to albums. Driving to and from work for an hour and a half a day, and then sitting at my computer all day creating spreadsheets. I really don't have much time to make playlists. It's so much nicer just to slide on a nice album and let it wash over me. It makes the day go faster too.

Some albums just have weak second halves even if they have a great beginning. I find that I enjoy songs at the beginning of albums more than the end. A couple of examples of albums that I have trouble getting through, even though I love the beginning and middle are:

Deer Tick - "War Elephant"
Langhorne Slim - s/t
Songs: Ohia - "Didn't It Rain"

Just to name a few...

I frequently lose patience with albums, and never hear the end. An album longer than 40-45 minutes has to be uniformly exceptional to prevent me becoming bored and listening to something else. I could probably count on one hand the number of hour long plus albums I could listen to in one sitting.

Too many bands have no capacity to self-edit, and mistakenly believe that everything they write is genius, leading to a Stadium Arcadium-style fillerama. Hip hop and R n B are partcularly susceptible.

Paul Weller's recent 22 Dreams is another example. He called it that because it's possible to have 22 dreams in the time it takes to listen to it. I've heard it's a decent album, but it's difficult to muster the motivation to face 70 minutes listening to every single song Weller has written in the last 4 years.

For me it's hard to listen to an album that is 70+ minutes (the "+" for those double albums). Maybe you feel that when you put on an album you'd like to listen to the whole thing but you know you wont have enough time so you turn it off. OR you're just not in the mood for what you're listening to. OR you're a person that doesn't like listening to albums all the way through. Maybe you're not a dedicated fellow. You fear commitment. This stuff may be deep seeded. Go see a psychiatrist ^_^.

I think I'm usually intimidated by those long albums. It took me two months to finally listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor's - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to the Heavens.

Man, that would suck if after all that time you ended up hating it. Took me about an hour and a half by the way. Sorry.

If an album is really long, just listen to chunks of it at a time, say 4 songs or so. That way you can listen to the whole thing a couple of times, but not all at once.