The iPod by default declares this deliberation null and void. Pick and choose.
The iPod has regressed pop music back to the pre-album days when most (young) people bought singles. No cover art or words, just a couple of songs. But it hardly maters anymore. Is it really important which Lady Gaga song you hear first? Or any of the cool rock bands whose songs are interchangeable anyway?
The best song on an album used to be well into the first side (the 3rd or 4th song a lot of time for whatever reason they did those things), but around the time CDs took over the record companies started putting the big song first. As if to admit that, "Hey, this is about it. The rest is inconsequential." You lose the flow, but look at the bright side; you can eject most modern CDs after the first two songs.
A lot of the young rock bands are trying to recapture some of that old vibe with vintage equipment and vinyl releases, but they are fighting a tide that will eventually drag them out to sea. The late 60s/early 70s were the heyday for The Album You Had To Really Listen To (preferably on big, high quality headphones, yes). But that all started changing well before CD shuffle or iPod randomness. Technology just speeded up the change.
It's spazz culture - "Hey, it's been more than two minutes and nothing has
changed! Do something!" - and it's what we have now. It's not likely to ever move in the other direction.