Classic Albums With Not-So-Classic Opening Tracks

Are there many of these? Reason I ask is because I was listening to the Notorious Byrd Bros. and the opener, "Artificial Energy" struck me as maybe the worst song on the album. I like it ok, but compared to what follows, it seems like a b-side.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wOCu__LA5yE/ScNyR6OVaCI/AAAAAAAAAD4/YCffw78eKpw/s200/Songs_in_the_key_of_life.jpg

"Axis: Bold as Love" - opening track "EXP"

I feel this way about "Christine's Tune" on The Gilded Palace of Sin, but this is really tricky since I love "Artificial Energy" so I'm guessing we're just gonna argue about what's classic (side two of The Notorious Byrd Brothers has several stinkers if you ask me, e.g.)

yeah, don't get me wrong -- i like "artificial energy", but it seems wrong as a mood setter for what follows on the rest of the album.

Disagree on both! (xp)

Aw, I love Artifical Energy. The album's meant to roam all over the place.

Recently got into Kristofferson and the opener, Blame It on the Stones, is the only really weak track on it.

yeah, that's a good one -- "stones" is very skip-worthy.

Damn, I love BOTH the Stevie Wonder and Flying Burrito Bros leadoff tracks!

"We're Only In it For the Money" - opening track, "Are You Hung Up?" (works great in context tho)

Eric H is in need of love today.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DvFrN1cDVWE/Sb2qKbCr7GI/AAAAAAAAAnU/g4OEwj9T-fc/s320/john_lennon_imagine-FrontBlog.jpg

haha, come on, you might not like it or it's been overplayed, but that is a pretty classic opening track.

Ain't Got You from

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mMNdOTh0LLo/SyRDoUPi-ZI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/Nifm1aTbhpw/s400/bruce-springsteen-tunnel-of-love.jpg

I like Blame it On The Stones. I guess maybe the lyrics feel a little easy with hindsight; wonder if it did at the time.

In re the whole making fun of stodgy middle class people who blame rock music.

All hiphop albums with 'intros'.

^^^the intro to Wu Tang Forever is like the most unnecessary, lame thing on the album (next to Black Shampoo and Dog Shit)

otoh the intros to the first four Ice Cube solo albums are awesome

"Loves In Need" is so over-modulated, over-preachy and over-long. What is people's deal with that song?

I mean, I think its reputation has been inflated simply by its being the opening track of a classic album.

I'm saddened by the fact that Nation of Millions opens with the voice of "Dangerous" Dave Pearce - and the general oddness of starting with a London show - but I've learned to live with it.

because america didn't care for them as much as the uk did when bum rush came out?

plus there was once a time when dave pearce was cool, honest!

just read whiney's book.

Also Nation without "London England...consider yourself...WAAAAAAAARNNNNNED" wd be a lesser, crippled thing.

Most of the first side of Abbey Road is perfectly disposable.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LlKfMCMML._SL500_AA300_.jpg

I'll agree with seandalai tho, the A side of Abbey Road is pretty much disposable for me. Then again, it opens with 'Come together' followed by 'Something' which are two of the best songs in there so probably the wrong thread. I'd definitely rep for it on a 'Not-So-Classic Albums With Classic Opening Tracks' thread.

Beach Boys Summer Days (and Summer Nights) kicks off with "Girl From New York City" which is kind of a dud.

And really, it's not a challenging second opinion considering ILM voted almost exclusively for side A on the worst song on Abbey Road thread:

Worst Beatles song on Abbey Road

^^^the intro to Wu Tang Forever is like the most unnecessary, lame thing on the album (next to Black Shampoo and Dog Shit)

I'd say that "Bring tha Ruckus" is a much worse opening track than this. It's gotta be by far the worst thing on the first Wu-Tang album.

most of that is for maxwell's tho. dunno, "come together", "something", and "i want you" are pretty essential beatles imo. xpost

I like 'Come Together' for it's restraint in the chorus. Feels like it's going to blow up anytime but never actually does. Frustrated me as hell when I first heard it but eventually grew very fond of it.
'Something' I've heard in so many wedding receptions it has lost some of its luster but love the subtle cynical approach in the lyrics.
'I Want You' is ILM's favorite song here according to that one poll but is one of the Beatles songs I hate the most. In this case it's the lack of restraint that gets me, it's too ambitious for the Beatles to pull off succesfully. I do love the sort of 'surf rock' interludes in it tho.

If you listened to the old cassette version of Abbey Road, you're used to hearing it open with "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something".

Kinda weak, but "Come Together" fading off before the harpsichord starts on "Because" is pretty cool.

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is the quintessential example of this phenomenon for me. i mean, fun song and all, i like it fine in isolation or out of context -- but I almost universally skip straight to "Pledging My Time" when playing Blonde on Blonde.

conversely: tylerw, i totally know what you mean about "Artificial Energy"...but i kind of love how it works as a bait-and-switch, that harsh up-tempo freak-out leading into the the gorgeous comedown of the next few tracks.

^co-sign

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is the quintessential example of this phenomenon for me. i mean, fun song and all, i like it fine in isolation or out of context -- but I almost universally skip straight to "Pledging My Time" when playing Blonde on Blonde.

― swvl, Friday, October 8, 2010 7:34 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

oft-cited red herring imo

yeah, i mean, there's a good case for making the opening track kind of a curveball stylistically -- the element of surprise, I guess. especially if you're an established act with an audience that expects one thing, and the opening track takes the sound in an entirely different direction. Rainy Day Women -- yeah, that must've been a shock to people expecting another "like a rolling stone".

"Love's In Need Of Love Today" is a fantastic song. And there has never ever been such a thing as "over modulated". The more modulations, the better.

I'd say "Drive My Car" is a bit underwhelming compared with most of the rest of "Rubber Soul".

"Woodface" also leaves better stuff for later by opening with "Chocolate Cake".

i agree with geir

mainly about "drive my car"

Architecture & Morality - The New Stone Age suuucks

US avoided that problem by having the album open up with the far superior I've Just Seen a Face

Neil Young - Trans, opening track is the completely forgettable "Little Thing Called Love". It's a classic album to me!

Excitable Boy. "Johnny Strikes Up the Band" is great but the rest of the record dwarfs it in swagger and dread.

The track sequence for Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers has as many variations as there are releases, but the (supposedly) Chilton-sanctioned order leads off with "Kizza Me", which I always skip.

^^^the intro to Wu Tang Forever is like the most unnecessary, lame thing on the album (next to Black Shampoo and Dog Shit)

― crude interloper of a once august profession (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, October 8, 2010 1:13 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

rmde

Dog Shit is fucking classic beyond classic beyond classic, Shakey Moron

i always found it weirder that some versions of Third start with "For You". xxpost

"Vine Street" on Nilsson Sings Newman is eminently skippable as an opener (& hate it on Song Cycle too which some consider a classic, but I don't)

man, i love vine st. on both of those albums -- and that intro to it on Nilsson is awesome!

haha it's really the opening on the Nilsson album that I hate the most; it gets better after that, but not enough....

Third is exempt, there's no official tracklisting imho

lol Whiney I love dirt dog too but gimme a break even I have my limits

^^^
Why do you think they both started with it then?

xpost re: Nilsson and VDP

re Nilsson/VDP: just no accounting for taste, I guess

Pulp Fiction Soundtrack, diner dialogue.

I have to disagree on "Kizza Me" not working as the album's opener. That C-chord banging off as soon as you hit play and Chilton declaring that he wants to white out, coming after the band's previous two albums flopped and before he really starts cutting some veins open.

kizza me was the first big star song i heard, and it was *not* how i expected big star to sound after having read various reviews/articles.

"Planet Telex" for me.

heresy! 'planet telex' is one of my fav album-openers. those ominously floating keys, followed by that thunderous electric riff!

Goat's Head Soup, It's Only Rock N Roll, and Tattoo You all fit this for me.

xp I've never liked it. Then again maybe I'm being unfair, I'm not a huge fan of the album.

Only one I can think of is Party Line on Face to Face, OK, but hardly essential - especially compared to David Watts and We are the VGPS

For a long time I ignored "Zoo-Music Girl" from The Birthday Party's 'Prayers On Fire'.

heresy! 'planet telex' is one of my fav album-openers. those ominously floating keys, followed by that thunderous electric riff!

Agreed. "Planet Telex" is my fave song from that album by far!

"Harbourcoat" from Reckoning is so rote R.E.M. that I always skip over it. Always wished it started with "Pretty Persuasion."

Goat's Head Soup, It's Only Rock N Roll, and Tattoo You all fit this for me.

But are they classic albums?

(Besides, "Start Me Up" is probably among their Top 5 post-"Sticky Fingers" songs)

Regarding intros, such as the genius one on "Axis Bold As Love" I usually like them, not so much for themselves as for their actual part in the album. Starting the album with an intro is a clear sign to the listener that this album should be taken as cohesive artistic whole and listened to in its entirety as one cohesive piece of art rather than a collection of songs. And I like that approach.

Goat's Head Soup, It's Only Rock N Roll, and Tattoo You all fit this for me.

― Loup-Garou G (The Yellow Kid), Friday, October 8, 2010 5:39 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

^^^^^^^^^^^

And yes, Geir, IMHO, two of those are stone cold classics.

"Tattoo You" is a good album in a lot of ways, but classic? I dunno. It's very much Stones by numbers, just a better go at Stones-by-numbers than most of the rest of their post-1971 albums.

"Heaven" is Stones-by-the-numbers? You crazy.

He's right: it IS by numbers, but they're mostly awesome numbers.

xpost. Yeah, Kizza Me has always struck me as the *perfect* opener. Like if you're not paying attention it sounds like a real song but then it keeps sort of stopping and regrouping, and then the album starts to get weird...

"Airbag" on OK Computer plods.

Most of the first side of Abbey Road is perfectly disposable.

― seandalai, Friday, 8 October 2010 18:30 (Yesterday)

OTMFM

also wtf Planet Telex haters that's like the best track, also Soto, cmooooon

my answer is Blur's album 13. Tender is the christ end already

"Axis: Bold as Love" - opening track "EXP"

― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Friday, 8 October 2010 17:31 (Yesterday)

Wtf at "Bring the Ruckus" being a weak track. It's a solid opener and a classic

I think the obvious Beatles choice is "Taxman" on Revolver

"Riding with Gabriel Greenburg" on
http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-51701-1110614258.gif

It's like, "OK I'll give you four EPs worth of beautiful acoustic indie-pop loveliness, but first you have to prove to me that you can suffer through three minutes of unlistenable noise."

I wanna change my vote to Who Loves The Sun of the VU Loaded album. It's not a bad song, but definitely less than classic, unlike almost everything else on that record.

Axis: Bold as Love and Rubber Soul are kind of shit all the way through, guys. In fact, Drive My Car is one of the jauntiest songs in that snoozfest.

Kizza Me is a structurally unsound tower of awesomeness!

there are actually some great examples of this but the only one coming to mind at this time is A Thousand Leaves.

maybe Amnesiac.

so much on this thread is like WAHT starting w/ the second post

pointless little instrumentals such as the ones that kickstart Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and This Nation's Saving Grace are great ways to start your classic album off on the wrong foot

As you were posting that, I was about to post this:

Heh, I got two for you, both from fourth grade:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/ShoutattheDevilCD2.jpg/220px-ShoutattheDevilCD2.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/VanHalen_1984_fcover.jpg/220px-VanHalen_1984_fcover.jpg

gosh I wish I was cool enough to listen to heavy metal in the fourth grade...

Both Shout at the Devil and 1984 have awesome openers! You crazy. And apparently the same age as me with similar childhood listening habits.

xp I think this was my favorite album back then:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/Wilson_Phillips_Debut.jpg

(^first song is the best imo btw)

I always skip track one of Disco Volante.

sorry PP I didn't realize that both your albums had pointless instrumentals at the beginning as well...

When was the last time anyone put "In the Beginning" or "1984" on a mixtape? Or "playlist"?

Besides, any hescher worth his salt will tell you that neither Mötley Crüe nor Van Halen were really "heavy metal".

I don't care if they're crap on playlists or mix tapes; they set the tone for their respective albums perfectly.

Has iTunes effectively killed the 'intro,' 'outro' and 'skit?'

If so, good fucking riddance. I guess all hip hop albums will be clocking in at like 23 minutes now.

there are lots of great albums with boring intro tracks that could fit here

fror example:

game theory - lolita nation

pointless little instrumentals such as the ones that kickstart Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

I think this is easily one of the best songs on the album. Way better than all that faceless generic pseudo-metal riffage that makes up a good 50% of the album.

The first two parts of "Hypnotic Underworld" on the Ghost album.

HAY GUYZ MAY I REMIND YOU THE THREAD IS CLASSIC ALBUMS WITH 'NOT-SO-CLASSIC' OPENING TRACKS, THINK SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THAT

'kizza me' is phenomenal and doesn't deserve any kind of association with this thread.

interestingly though, i routinely skip 'o my soul' when playing radio city. i always cut straight to the chase of the sheer thrill of 'life is white'. the announcement "don't what to see your face" always sets the precedent for a stretch of mindless grinning for me.

"don't want to see your face"

i actually hate 'baba o'riley' and love half the songs from that same album.

"Vine Street" on Nilsson Sings Newman is eminently skippable as an opener (& hate it on Song Cycle too which some consider a classic, but I don't

This is sheer insanity

It's one of my favourite albums of all time but I'm going to nominate Technique by New Order. Fine Time is a good song but easily my least favourite song on there and it doesn't really fit with the rest of the album. I've never understood why it was the lead single instead of Vanishing Point or All the way.

Another one would be Stereolab's Emperor Tomato Ketchup. The first song goes on about three minutes too long, whenever I play it I'm just willing it to end especially as Cybele's Reverie is such a perfect song and would probably work as a good opener.

Introducing the Band on Suede's Dog Man Star works as a decent intro but is hardly a great song.

^^ ha, same here. I wouldn't call the opener 'not-so-classic', but I don't like to listen to it as the first one, Cybele's Reverie kind of draws my attention to the album better

well maybe I just don't like it very much when album starts with a track that's significantly longer than the succeeding ones, for instance: PiL's Metal Box

rmde

So many 0.0 on here.

But I gotto say that 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' is the wrongest answer on here. That's the Stereolab track that even people who don't like Sterolab love. Could only be improved by being a long locked groove before switching to the second part.

I mean, a longer locked groove.

xpost Yeah I totally agree it's not that Metronomic Underground is a bad song it's more the placing on the album, I'm sure if I heard it on a compilation or some other way I wouldn't consider it to be a weak song at all. From Cybele's Reverie onwards the album is totally perfect. Metal Box is a great example, I just think why would a band start off an album with a song so long, especially when the second tracks are both so good.

Having said all this I don't have this problem with Kraftwerk's Autobahn it's actually the opposite, the long opening track is the best part of the album.

That's the Stereolab track that even people who don't like Sterolab love.

― Chewshabadoo, Saturday, October 9, 2010 12:15 PM

Really? Wouldn't that be French Disko?

It doesn't spoil the album completely I'd still rate it a ten but it's by far my least favourite song and way too long.

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/11_03/ritalinDM1811_468x301.jpg

xp I didn't say Metronomic is bad, I just don't like to start the album from this particular song, I'm not even sure ETK fits the premise of this thread

Re: Big Star suggests itt, O My Soul and Kizza Me are like, the perfectest openers for both those albums imo

"Bathtub (Skit)"

so much on this thread is like WAHT starting w/ the second post

― love the way you loi (The Reverend), Friday, October 8, 2010 10:37 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

^^^^^ I mean "Taxman?" Are you shitting me here?

i know!

and alfred, "airbag" is like one of the best songs on that record!

"Airbag" is amazing. fuck, Radiohead almost have a perfect record with openers on their post-Pablo Honey albums, the only opener I don't like is the one on Amnesiac, which just also happens to be the only post-Pablo Honey album of theirs that I really don't like.

^^^^^ I mean "Taxman?" Are you shitting me here?

Not at all. There are at least 11 better songs out of the 13 others on the album. It's just not a very interesting song.

oh ffs this thread is almost as bad as that one Worst Directors thread.

xp amnesiac is their best album and "packt like sardinnes" is a great song

best? I don't see it. With The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Hail to the Thief, and In Rainbows, there's maybe 5-6 songs I dislike across all of those albums combined.

On Amnesiac, I dislike "packt like sardines" (nondescript melody, not a strong opener), Pulk/Pull (Revolving Doors), also didn't like the updated version of Morning Bell, and there was at least two more i didn't like. the highlights for me were "Pyramid Song", "Knives Out", and a few others (it's been so long since I played it I can't even remember which ones werre the ones I didn't like).

I don't think too many would call this a classic, but for me, the Flaming Lips' Hit To Death In The Future Head has a bad opening track. I just can't stand the "womp womps"

the guitar solo on taxman is one of the best things on revolver. and the BASSLINE. such a cool song.

Since I can't stand Radiohead, I'm still put off by how "Airbag" is such a tentative introduction to the only album of theirs I really like.

I think 2+2=5 is not-so-classic but I think it works very well in the context of that album.

wow some crazy talk going on here re. emperor tomato ketchup. i love the band to pieces, but find 'metronomic underground' to be far and away their finest achievement.

I wanna change my vote to Who Loves The Sun of the VU Loaded album. It's not a bad song, but definitely less than classic, unlike almost everything else on that record.

That one is my favourite "Loaded" track, just like "Sunday Morning" is my favourite on "The Velvet Underground & Nico".

To list some on albums that I personally consider to be classic:
The Beach Boys: Not just "Summer Days" but also "Today". Never liked "Do You Wanna Dance"
The Zombies: Begin Here ("Roadrunner" is underwhelming to say the least)
The Kinks: Something Else ("David Watts" may be the weakest track on the album)
Small Faces: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake (the title track being a pointless instrumental kicking off an otherwise amazing album)
King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King (you guys might think I'm crazy here, but "21th Century Scizoid Man" doesn't represent the kind of King Crimson that I prefer)
Beach Boys: Sunflower ("Slip On Through" is a pointless "disco" song, not on level with the masterpieces that will follow)
Queen: Sheer Heart Attack (OK, I guess their "rock" fans may like "Brighton Rock" better)
10cc: How Dare You (the instrumental title track was hardly on level with what followed)
Yes: Going For The One (I love this album, but the title track is a pretty much failed attempt at "rocking out" which never worked)
Split Enz: True Colours ("Shark Attack" is this really fast and furious song that stylistically is a perfect opening track. The problem being, it sucked...)
Ultravox: Vienna ("Astradyne" is hardly a highlight here - on the other hand, the highlights on this album were on side 2 anyway)
Squeeze: East Side Story (Why open such a great album with such a boring opener as "Inquintessence"?)
Michael Jackson: Thriller (I know a lot of ILM'ers love it, and it's a fine song and all, but I still consider "I Wanna Be Startin' Something" as one of the lesser tracks on this album)
XTC: Mummer (Early XTC weren't always so good with opening tracks, and "Beating Of Hearts" is hardly a highlight on this otherwise very fine album)
Split Enz: Conflicting Emotions ("Straight Ol Line" is another example of Split Enz not always nailing their opening tracks very well)
Crowded House: Crowded House ("Mean To Me" secured an amazing output started in a not-so-amazing way)
Erasure: Chorus (The title track may have been a big hit and all, but I have never liked it)
Ocean Colour Scene: Moseley Shoals ("The Riverboat Song" may be the worst thing they've ever done)
XTC: Apple Venus ("River Of Orchids" returns to their earlier mishabit of starting albums with an ugly, dissonant track)
Oasis: Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants (I may be alone in the world in considering this album a classic. I agree, however, that "Fucking In The Bushes" is a horrible track)

I also second "Partyline", "The New Stone Age" and not least "Come Together"

It seems, in the mid 60s, the importance of a great opening track was not so obvious, so it was more usual to fail with the opening track then. The opening track on side 2 was also of importance in the album age, and The Beatles failed even more with the opening tracks of side 2 of both their 1965 classic albums.

Michael Jackson: Thriller (I know a lot of ILM'ers love it, and it's a fine song and all, but I still consider "I Wanna Be Startin' Something" as one of the lesser tracks on this album)

o_O

"Bodhisattva" off Steely Dan's Countdown To Ecstasy
"Precious" off The Pretenders' self-titled
"Tom Violence" off Sonic Youth's Evol
"Christopher Tracy's Parade" off Prince's Parade

If you mean: "Precious" and "Christopher Tracy's Parade" are merely awesome instead of mind-blowing, then yeah, sure.

King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King (you guys might think I'm crazy here, but "21th Century Scizoid Man" doesn't represent the kind of King Crimson that I prefer)

Oh Geir. Never change. :D

aw man I love Tom Violence :(

There are people who don't like Come Together?

hai

as I've previously said, lop the first five tracks off Abbey Road and it becomes a thing of perfection

Such an amazing album opener, don't understand.

But I agree that I Want You-Her Majesty is faultless.

Come Together is the strongest of the first five - perhaps it could stay and then we plunge straight into the Riff

"Bodhisattva" & "Precious" as not classic just blows me away.

what about Oh Darling, LJ? That's a great song!

nahhhh

maybe I need to return to it but it's never really hit me

I think it's worth noting that many songs that function well as album openers fall short of "classic" status when heard out of context. Just sayin'! But enough of my yakkin'...

i'm half convinced that 'oh darling' and 'i want you' are two of the most lazily-penned tracks to ever receive widespread adulation. first two tracks on the album, however = phenomenal. also, 'because' onwards is very special.

"Wowee Zowee" starts with the just-OK "We Dance."

haha, i guess there will never be a consensus on this.

oh Darling is easily in my McCartney top 5; seems to me that the adjective "lazily-penned" couldapplyt o a lot of Beatles songs, esp. the pastiche ones.

Lady Madonna
Martha My Dear
I Will
Oh Darling
Helter Skelter

(side 2 of Abbey Road-past Here Comes the Sun-to me is just one long composite song, else She Came in Through the Bathroom Window & Carry That Weight would def. be in there.)

I used to skip Oh Darling all the time, but one day I 'got' it and now I love it. Some of McCartney's best ever singing.

"Wowee Zowee" starts with the just-OK "We Dance."

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, October 10, 2010 1:51 PM (1 hour ago)

get. the. fuck. out.

(just going along with the other incredulous responses itt. but seriously "we dance" is one of the best songs on that record and one of SM's best, fuiud)

Is there a less than stellar opener on the classic Bowie run? I can't think of one.

"Future Legend" is pretty silly.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I really count Diamond Dogs as the opener.

There are people who don't like Come Together?

"Come Together" = John Lennon not realizing that the world has moved on since Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and that he himself was among the ones who had helped it move on (harmonically and melodically) in the meantime.

Maybe, but it sounds really good. And there's no way it could've been recorded ten years earlier (apologies for arguing with Geir).

yeah Come Together could def. be one of the lazily-penned pastiche songs: didn't like Timothy Leary commission it and then didn't like it, or something like it?

Geir on David Watts - completely crazy.

Electric Ladyland begins with two totally shit songs, and then side two starts with a shit song too.

Still an unbelievably awesome album though.

nah man 'and the gods made love' is totally whacked-out cool shit you just don't see

also one of the better double-entendres in rock history

And there's no way it could've been recorded ten years earlier

Well, the bass and drums would have been been less powerful, but bass, drums and recording technique is of less importance than the actual tune, which could have been composed by Little Richard in 1955. Which means it was dated in 1969.

It sounds like Fat Harry White off Mark & Lard. xp

Electric Ladyland begins with two totally shit songs

They may be shit songs, but the production is amazing. The songs themselves on that album weren't all that good, but the production and his guitar playing alone make them worthy, even though I usually don't like bluesy music.

oh and Rainy Day, Dream Away is a vehicle for some goddamn poetic soloing ffs

First track on side two of the vinyl = Little Miss Strange

oh hahahahahahahaha

I guess Geir's gonna defend that one - he'll be alone mind :D

the actual tune, which could have been composed by Little Richard in 1955.

It's not that good.

Architecture & Morality - The New Stone Age suuucks

― MyFatherWillGuideMeUpARopeToYourMum (MaresNest), Friday, October 8, 2010 4:15 PM (2 days ago)

totally agree, idk wtf they were thinking putting that song on the album, it just doesn't fit at all.

i know i'm gonna get shit for this, but "Do the Strand" has always annoyed me. i love the rest of the album, but could never stand that song.

Got to make an apology about my post above, I'd remembered 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' to be the opening track on the album. Metronomic Undergound is still a quality track though.

First track on side two of the vinyl = Little Miss Strange

As a song, stripped off the production and guitar playing and vocals and all, this is actually among the better things on the album. Because it sounds (and is...) English.

I love 'Country Life', but I never liked 'The Thrill Of It All'.

Well, the bass and drums would have been been less powerful, but bass, drums and recording technique is of less importance than the actual tune . . .

They may be shit songs, but the production is amazing.

¯\(°_o)/¯

Already stated, but this thread is really bringing out the crazy people.

David Watts? Tom Violence? We Dance? Seriously, we can't find better examples...

I bring this album up too much already, but "Amerykan Promise" is easily the worst song off of Nu Amerykah Part One.

the only one listed that I can agree with ITT far is Beach Boy's "The Girl from New York City". it doesn't sonically resemble much of anything on the rest of the album, sets no tone, does not have a memorable melody, and is mostly forgettable.

Well, the bass and drums would have been been less powerful, but bass, drums and recording technique is of less importance than the actual tune . . .

They may be shit songs, but the production is amazing.

¯\(°_o)/¯

I might have liked "Come Together" too if it was crowded with electronic sound effects, weird stereo effects with guitars wandering from left to right to left to right and lots of phasing.

Split Enz: True Colours ("Shark Attack" is this really fast and furious song that stylistically is a perfect opening track. The problem being, it sucked...)

The version I had (US release) had "I Got You" as the opener, which was easily the best track on the album. That said, I don't rank that album as a classic. Not bad, but not a classic.

XTC: Apple Venus ("River Of Orchids" returns to their earlier mishabit of starting albums with an ugly, dissonant track)

No, "River of Orchids" sets the mood perfectly. "We've got an orchestra, we're gonna use it, and we're gonna use it to expand our sonic palette beyond anything you've ever heard from us." The arrangement on that song is gorgeous.

"Precious" off The Pretenders' self-titled

I'll second that. Meh track, topped by almost everything after it. For my money, the rule of thumb with that album is that every track is better than the one preceding it.

My additions to the list:
"Absolutely Cuckoo" from Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs (though I guess it made sense to start the album with a seeming throwaway, the throwaways were sort of the point)
"I'm Gonna See You" from that dog's Retreat from the Sun (maybe the best power-pop album of the '90s, there I said it; the opener does not help this claim)
"Big in Japan" from Tom Waits' Mule Variations (most of the songs sound timeless and/or eternal; that one does not)
"Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" from Talking Heads' Remain in Light (every song on that album is an object lesson in using studio mixing to create coherence, except that track, where it only creates incoherence)

"Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" from Talking Heads' Remain in Light (every song on that album is an object lesson in using studio mixing to create coherence, except that track, where it only creates incoherence)

― Dodo Lurker (Slim and Slam), Sunday, October 10, 2010 11:38 PM (Yesterday)

i don't even know what to say to this.

"Big in Japan", though -- I'm down with that as a good example.

No, "River of Orchids" sets the mood perfectly. "We've got an orchestra, we're gonna use it, and we're gonna use it to expand our sonic palette beyond anything you've ever heard from us." The arrangement on that song is gorgeous.

Using an orchestra is OK, but the arrangement is just too dissonant in places, not least in the intro.
"Ballet For a Rainy Day" is my least favourite track on "Skylarking" too, for the same reason (you see, they had done that dissonent orchestra thing before!)

but geir the middle-eight of BFARD is one of the most melodically triumphant things they ever did!

It's OK. The rest of "Skylarking" is perfect though, so it doesn't take much dissonance to become my least favourite track on such a wonderful and cohesive album. :)

Geir you should find a better word to describe what you don't like about the orchestral arrangements than 'dissonant'. Maybe the brass in ROO is creating tension a little, but I'm certain there's nothing unstable about Ballet's arrangement.

Mind you AP's vocals on ROO are pretty crazy in parts. :)

"Floppy Boot Stomp" is my least favourite track on "Shiny Beast" but I'm aware I might be alone in this belief

^I agree with you actually.

(xp to comment way upthread)

it's hardly the best track on the album, but ain't got you is a good table-setter for the sound and theme of tunnel-of-love. i like how it announces that this disc wil be a stark departure from born-in-the-usa, and it's (relatively) light, upbeat lyrics ease me into a very dark album.

The Times' "Pirate Playlist 66" has a whole album's worth of classic sort-of-britpop which was put out with minimal fanfare dring Creation Records' last months, with a load of spurious song titles... Anyway, the first track "Heart of Steel" or whatever wacky title it got, is um, one.

Mind you AP's vocals on ROO are pretty crazy in parts. :)

Well... He sings a bit too fast at times, but misses the notes no less than he always does (on purpose). :)

no more, I mean

wow, looking at Geir's post from above is pure WTF, I disagree with nearly everything there.

my picks:

Nick Lowe, Jesus of Cool: Music for Money - boring and one note, nothing like the rest

The Police, Ghost in the Machine: Spirits in the Material World - never liked this tune because it's basically a callback to their old stuff but without the guitar. the rest of the album is surprisingly great though!

The Who, Quadrophenia - "I Am The Sea."

"Love Vigilantes" off New Order's 'Low Life' (my favorite album of theirs fwiw).

Nick Lowe, Jesus of Cool: Music for Money - boring and one note, nothing like the rest

Here's one instance where U.S. record company meddling actually improved things--it's sequenced so much better:

U.K. - "Jesus of Cool"
Music for Money
I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass
Little Hitler
Shake and Pop
Tonight
So It Goes
No Reason
36 Inches High
Marie Provost
Nutted by Reality
Heart of the City (live version)

U.S. - "Pure Pop for Now People"
So It Goes
I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass
Tonight
Marie Provost
Heart of the City (studio version)
Rollers Show
They Call It Rock (rockin'-er version of "Shake and Pop")
No Reason
Little Hitler
Nutted by Reality
36 Inches High
Music for Money

"Music for Money" works as the final cut. And the studio version of "Heart of the City" kicks the live version in the balls.

I have the new version w/ the bonus tracks, that U.S. version does look so much better. I loved "They Call It Rock" (IMO "Shake and Pop" felt watered down every since I heard it) and never understood why "Rollers Show" wasnt on the album.

Always thought Armenia City in the Sky one of the weakest things on The Who Sellout, and an odd opener

should be Armenia

I also think Rael at the end is a bit of a letdown too. That album's all about the middle, like a bell curve

Dog Shit is fucking classic beyond classic beyond classic

Always thought Armenia City in the Sky one of the weakest things on The Who Sellout, and an odd opener

Armenia's one of the best songs on Sell Out.

Which is to say, it's one of the best songs.

i always skip 'Love Is The Drug' on Siren.

^ ? waht

i mean, it is classic, i've just heard it too much, and i'm antsy to get to the 1-2-3 punch of End of the Line/Sentimental Fool/Whirlwind