I love good double albums, but as they are naturally more expensive, i tend to think a lot more if i should buy it opposed to a single LP. If i buy a double album my musical standard is way higher. So if possible i would say split it up into two releases, but of course if the concept works for you and it makes sense musically, go for it! I bet it’s an awsome feeling to have a douple album in your hands that you made yourself:)
I hate the current trend of small formats, and hate streaming sites even more, Bandcamp being the exception. I much prefer an album. Even better a CD album. But I was born in the 70s so… probably not the present, certainly not the future.
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Despite my love for the album format, I’m fully ready to admit if an album goes much beyond 40 to 45 minutes I struggle to make it through, even if I really like the music. Some of my favorite albums push an hour or more, and for some reason I find it really hard to finish them even when all of the tracks are good.
As the double album vs multiple albums, as a listener I prefer multiple separate albums released as volume 1, 2, etc. But if you feel like it needs to be a double album I’m release it that way. It’s your art, after all.
Maybe I’m being too pedantic here (it happens) but if it’s a strictly online release I don’t see how it can be a double album. Wouldn’t it just be a long album? If something like songs in the key of love was released today exclusively on streaming services we wouldn’t think of it as a double album. The term is intrinsically linked to the mediums that require it.
As for your release, whatever suits your artistic vision is the correct choice whether that’s one double length release or a series of releases.
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I don’t even know if this need be a “sadly” situation. OP might look at it as an opportunity. Releasing what will, in sum, be a double album a little at a time could be an interesting marketing strategy. Bring back the serial! Provide the 22 tracks in 4 parts over time and then offer it as a package deal (maybe with extras) as a fifth and final release.
This might work especially well if there is some kind of narrative to the tracks. Release them in “chapters” – they need not be equal in track count or total time even.
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Even when they were relevant most were full of ponderous bloat.
The best double album in my opinion was the Staring At the Sea singles collection on cassette with all the b-sides on the flipside.
Anyone remember that uber pretentious Flaming Lips album that was 4 discs meant to be listened to on 4 record players at the same time?
…some rules that never got old…
reduce to max…
no fillers, just killers…
BUT…sure, the fine art of storytelling, deiivering a conclusive mainframe concept…
remains an essential thing to this/our overall artform…
especially in these times of average single song length kept under 3 minutes due to average attention span down to goldfish consumer level…
i always loved concept albums…and if there was a filler, it was appreciated if it really supported the overall concept/narrative anyways…
BUT…no matter how huuge and heavy and deep any conceptional mainframe was, it never carried the size of a double album…that’s really just making sense for rare collectors items, bootlegs, live show cuts…
my solution to all this was always and will be always…the EP…
u still got the storytelling factor and full length listening feel…
it’s way less heavy lifting for u as the creator and ur listener…
AND u can even lock into more suitable modern release politics by separating in parts/chapters to be release scheduled over a certain amount of time…
so, if u really wanna fight against the windmills of actual playlists and mixtape zeitgeist…go for it…
but don’t torture all ur artist approach with such heavy loads as double albums…
vast majority of those sucked, even back in the days…
Compilations are a different matter. There you often get a chronological narrative arc. It’s a lot harder when sufficient material has to be produced in a short amount of time.
Zaireeka is a single album in a very unusual format. And I think they were too fried to be considered pretentious. Demented, maybe. (I haven’t heard it, but I love The Soft Bulletin… and nothing since.)
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Wayne is way too much of shrewd opertating megalomaniac to be all that fried and I’m sure the truly fried Butthole Surfers would agree.
I watched the documentary on him and it totally ruined listening to the soft bulletin and yoshi albums for me. At least I still have Mercury Rev.
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Yeah, I was going by the impression I got from the documentary. Still hard to believe Warner released it.
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What’s weird about it is the director was pretty much enamored with him, no? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it. Also, those albums are too strongly tied to a past relationship of mine, and just bring me overwhelming anguish when I hear more than 10 seconds.
I guess London Calling is a pretty good example of a great double album but I find Sandinista to be mostly filler surrounding some exceptional songs.
I hated Sandinista from first listen, all of it. Utterly indulgent. Even London Calling is starting to deteriorate for me. The Montgomery Clift song came up on iPhone shuffle just last night and I thought, “You know, there’s not much here.” UK edition of the first album still rules.
What is the equivalent of an editor for a book? Someone who can say, “You need to make the following cuts, or we won’t publish it.”
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Well I can’t really listen to either anymore likely due to over listening but songs like Stay Free still give me the frisson.
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I believe those are called record producers
loud booing from the crowd
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Double albums…incoming by a swedish artist called Procs.
First part released…second coming soon.
Im a bit biased as i times and he been one of my favorite artist frim sweden since i was a teen.
Higly recommend if ur into odd n good music 
Procs ”Sol nedupp Gången”
*edit seems to be a triple alpum