I don't really understand how torrents are the answer. Sure albums are easy but what if you want to make a cd of like 15 random songs that you don't have yet, or if a friend wants you to make a cd for them and gives you a list of songs. With Limewire you could get those 15 songs searched for and downloaded in like 5 minutes or less and burned to a cd about 2 minutes after that.
( The replies stating the alternative programs that still use those kinds of networks are the answer, not torrents or even google searches. Limewire was good at what it did and the most popular, now the question is where will everyone move to next. Napster -> Kazaa -> Morpheus -> LimeWire -> ? )