Which records do you consider "proper" Melvins albums?

[Bigval]

Also unsure about Mike and The Melvins - Three Men And A Baby. Is this a fully qualified album or rather a way late release of an album that never happened?

Actually yes, that is a tricky one. Tricky in the sense that it wasn't ALL old material. The band said 80% of the record was done but they added a few bits and did the vocals at the time it was released. So it is this strange concoction of old and new together.

It's previously unreleased though. Recorded in the studio? Yes, New material? Yes, Album length? Yes.

[Bigval]

Just saw this and could be relevant to this discussion.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, the upcoming NINE INCH NAILS release, "Bad Witch", will be issued as a full-length album and not an EP. This is happening despite the fact that it is relatively brief and is the third entry, following 2016's "Not The Actual Events" and 2017's "Add Violence", in what was originally billed as a trilogy of EPs.

Posting in a NINE INCH NAILS fan forum under the name "teitan," NIN mainman Trent Reznor responded to a user named "Quantum550," who wrote that an album consists of seven tracks at minimum and runs over 30 minutes in length. Reznor replied: "Want to know why it's being labeled an LP instead of an EP? EPs show up with singles in Spotify and other streaming services = they get lost easier. EPs feel less important in today's music-isn't-as-important-as-it-once-was world. Why make it easier to ignore? We're not charging any more for it so why get worked up about it?"

Also apparently answering Quantum550's comment that the EP was delayed by a "lack of inspiration," Reznor retorted, "Quantum550: suck my entire cock."

"Bad Witch" in fact contains six tracks and runs 30 minutes and 11 seconds. It arrives on June 22.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/new-nine-inch-nails-record-will-be-marketed-as-album-not-ep/

[DToxico]

The EPs vs LPs semantics arguments are beyond pointless and arbitrary

Reign in Blood is like 25 minutes long and I've never seen anyone try to argue that it's an EP in spite of its number of tracks

Wish You Were Here only has 5 tracks and I've never seen anyone try to argue that it's an EP in spite of its runtime

[Captain CoryCory]

IMO it's the artist's jurisdiction whether an album or EP is just that, not the listener. End of story. On the flip to a Reign in Blood, Candlemass put out an EP that was 75 minutes (3 studio songs and 9 live songs) and Reverend Bizarre put out two EPs that were as long as their albums.

As far as short albums not meeting the quota? Listen to it twice!

[BERZERKER]

They were all sold as records, for the price of a record, cd or vinyl, so therefore they all count as releases. Some I've only have listened through once, most many times.

[DToxico]

IMO it's the artist's jurisdiction whether an album or EP is just that, not the listener. End of story. On the flip to a Reign in Blood, Candlemass put out an EP that was 75 minutes (3 studio songs and 9 live songs) and Reverend Bizarre put out two EPs that were as long as their albums.

As far as short albums not meeting the quota? Listen to it twice!

Plus there's Suicidal Tendencies' Controlled By Hatred, Feel Like Shit... Deja Vu which the band officially considers an EP despite being 9 tracks clocking at 40 minutes, because it's covers and outtakes.

Mars Volta split the 5 tracks on Frances the Mute into 12, sort of Maggot-style, because their label was going to classify it as an EP and only pay the band accordingly despite the bastard being almost 80 minutes long.

Really should just be up to the artist.