There are a *ton* of albums where you need to hear the whole thing in order to feel the full effect of the songs. A favourite example of mine is Radiohead's In Rainbows (though you can apply this to any of their albums). If you listen to one of the songs, sure it's good...but taken in as an album, that is to say as an entire piece of art is much different.
A more "top 40" example would be Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, m.A.A.d City. That album is *definitely* a front to back listen. The hit single from that album "Swimming Pools" was catchy, but as a single there is no context whatsoever. I heard this song being played at parties because people took it as a celebration of drinking and getting wasted, when in reality, in the context of the album, it is exactly the opposite. It is not a happy song, it is a song about turning to alcohol to solve problems and the disastrous things that can accompany that lifestyle.
Albums >>> Singles.
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