Lp "side Breaks"...?

[Aluminumfalcone]

My question is, in regard to the recent vinyl renaissance, where the placement of "side breaks" on a vinyl LP should occur.  A "side break" is a point between two intermediate tracks on an album's track listing where the listener must flip the disc over to continue.  Here is what I know so far:

 

During the heyday of vinyl (and even now) the album is usually given an even number of tracks, which means the tracks are evenly distributed among both sides of the disc.  For example, if your album has a total of 10 tracks, the "side break" would naturally come between tracks 5 and 6.  But what do you do when, due to other circumstances, the total track listing has an odd number of tracks?  The end result is that, supposing an album had 9 tracks, one side will have 4 tracks while the other has 5.  This makes the side break placement more difficult.  What is the protocol as to which side gets more tracks?  Running time I guess. 

 

Another thing I would like to bring up--while browsing the new wave of recent vinyl pop-music releases at the local Barnes & Noble, I have come across what seem to be "double albums" with as few as 3 tracks per side.  The Decemberists' recent release goes as far as leaving the second side of the second disc ("Side 4") completely blank.  I can see why this could have been done--ordinarily each side of an LP can hold an average of 20-25 minutes (in the heyday of vinyl, single-disc LP's rarely had more than 10 tracks total), but IMO the use of only 3 tracks per side (depending on the running time of the tracks) is wasted space, as it is technically not impossible to exceed the customary 25 minute sound barrier.

 

What are your folks' thoughts on this?

Edited March 10, 2015 by Aluminumfalcone

[Rudi]

It doesnt matter. I still have all of my old LPs and could cite a thousand examples.

 

Whatever will fit onto a side is what goes. Some albums had 1 big track on one side and perhaps 3 on the other.

 

The Beatles tried to fit 6 on each side, but that was long before other artists became ambitious in scope and this sometimes manifested itself in very long tracks.