10 Perfect '90s Rock Albums That Are Ridiculously Long

Every great rock song that has reached the top of the charts tends to revolve around love. Even if it's not the most uplifting track in the world, there's something about affairs of the heart that keep people coming back again and again to see whether or not things will actually work out for their favorite performers. Love is also complicated, and Magnetic Fields know just how rough that one emotion can feel.

That's not to say that 69 Love Songs is all sunshine and rainbows throughout its runtime. Even though the record is exactly what is advertised on the sleeve, these songs can be melodramatic, abrasive, and soft often within the span of just a few minutes. All planned out in the mind of Steven Merritt, this entire project actually expands to feature length throughout all 3 volumes, coming down to over 2 hours of lonesomeness and heartbreak.

For as long as it sounds on paper though, there's never a moment where it loses you in the mix, with additional musicians like LD Beghtol and Claudia Gonson assuming vocal duties to give a slightly different side of the story from what you're hearing from Steven. By the end of this record, you still might not understand all of the power behind love, but you do start to understand why it makes you do crazy things. Emotions demand to be felt, and Merritt clearly had to put some miles on his soul before making this.