EP = Extended play.
It is “extended” because it was considered more than just a 2-song single but less than an album that would generally have 10, 12, or 14 songs. In the old days, an EP was considered anything more than two songs but less than 26 minutes and 58 seconds. The moment your piece of work was 26:59 or 27 minutes even, that classified as an album. Fortunately, many artists these days still obey the old rules, even if some will say “that’s stupid.”
Anyway, the EP is a way for an artist to release new music but without having to create something that functions as a “full length”. An album has often been stigmatizing because some feel an album should be an “event” of sorts. In fact, that’s how many musicians and songwriters used to design an album, as a substitute for not being able to go to their actual performance. An album was meant to be “since you can’t come to see and hear us, this is our audio presentation of that show.” An EP is a nice, content way to provide a few new songs without going overboard. In the 80’s, EP’s were often done as “in between” releases, giving fans something to “fill the void” before the next big event was to happen, a rest period during or after a tour for the album. In the last five to ten years, EP’s have become stronger and you’ll see more people release EP’s as nothing more than just a set of songs that’s “more than just an MP3” but “less than the occasional burden of hearing an album.”
I got my share of EP’s throughout 2015 but oddly enough, I didn’t review a lot of them. I did post a handful for visitors to listen to but most I did not review them. I love the EP and perhaps I need to try to dedicate myself to more in 2016. This is the reason why this list is so brief: five titles. It’s unlike my album lists that can be jampacked with anything and everything but maybe this list is like the EP itself: nice and content. This is my list of what I feel were the Best “extended plays” of 2015.
This Is Book's Music 