Tracks Which Should Have Been Bands' Swansongs?

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A band's final release is often embarassing tosh recorded by one egomaniac member and a bunch of anonymous sessioneers. Here's your chance to rewrite history and have artists go out on a high - or at least creatively appropriate - note. Which tracks should have been the last before a split? (And obviously, the bands in question do not need to have split).

― Tom, Sunday, 19 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

Stone Roses - Fool's Gold

Madonna - Like A Prayer

Human League - Dare

― Venga, Sunday, 19 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ride -- Going Blank Again (after that, eurgh)

Cheap Trick -- Dream Police, one or two songs aside

AR Kane -- i (New Clear Child is so go-nowhere in comparison)

Guns 'n' Roses -- Appetite For Destruction (clearly)

The Ramones -- It's Alive (fulfilled the Foghat rule, more or less, and would have allowed everybody a chance to rest)

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 19 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The thread was prompted by my listening to the Beatles "A Day In The Life" and thinking how much better it - and they - would have been if the context was "last-thing-they-ever-recorded" rather than "end-of- album-blowout". They did some OK tracks after that but I suppose what I'm talking about isn't the moment when a band 'gets bad' but also moments where no matter what else the band does it'll be a bit of a letdown even if quite good, and moments where a single track just seems to sum up a band perfectly and lay things to rest nicely (which the Beatles one kind of half-does).

― Tom, Sunday, 19 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Can - Soon Over Babaluma

Miles Davis - Get Up With It (And actually, it could have just been a one sided LP with "He Loved Him Madly" and it would have still been perfect.)

Godspeed - Lift Yr Blah Blah Blah (They need to stop NOW before they become self-parody, if they haven't already.)

Tortoise - Millions Now Living Blah Blah Blah (It's obvious that they shoe horned whatever ideas they had into this one.)

Porter Ricks - Hong Kong (Ditto for all the Chain Reaction/heroin house stuff.)

Special genre extra! Jungle - Dillinja "The Angels Fell" - The peak. After this is it was just breakbeat burnout, "Oh Mickey Your So Fine" beats, techstep funklessness, farting bass lines and "sinister" FX.

― Jess, Sunday, 19 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime" Wire, "Once Is Enough"

Obviously.

― Curt, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mazzy Star - 'Fade Into You',

the only such realization of the MS 'manifesto', the reoccurring slide-guitar motif, ambient strumming, ambiguous breathy vocals, etc. the perfectly 'genre defining/exhausting' track.

― Michael Dieter, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

mercury rev - see you on the other side
sonic youth - daydream nation
stereolab - emperor tomato ketchup (well, actually flourescences)

― gareth, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think i answered this question wrong.

2nd attempt (after having read the question properly):

Jonny L - Hurt You So.

― gareth, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Beatles - 'My Bonnie'

― dave q, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Pavement could have gone off very nicely with "Starlings of the Slipstream."

― Nitsuh, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Re: Gareth's suggestion of Mercury Rev, even though I liked Deserter's Songs, you gotta say if they had tacked on "Holes" to the end of See You On The Other Side and quit afterwards, it would have been a perfect end:

"Bands... those funny little plans... that never work quite right..."

And out.

― Ian White, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Also: "The End" should have been the end for Jim M.

― Ian White, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I actually think that Terror Twilight was a fitting end to Pavement, with Carrot Rope being the perfect "last song".

The horrible accident that was 'Fold Yr Hands Child..' should have never ever happened.

― alex in montreal, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Smashing Pumpkins - Farewell and goodnight

― jel, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not "Once In A Lifetime". No. "This Must Be the Place", at LEAST. Though they'd probably have a better reputation had they not released Naked and just released "Nothing But Flowers" as a single. Air - "Radio #1" My Bloody Valentine - Right where they are.

― Keiko, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Personally I'd put the endpoint earlier: the wonderful "Fillmore Jive" would have been the perfect way for Pavement to finish. Say goodnight to the rock'n'roll era and go to sleep. We don't need you anymore.

― Ian White, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

XTC "Funk Pop A Roll"

Because they wrote it thinking it *would* be their swan song. Nice little scathing number about the music industry that sadly rings just as true today as back in 1983 when Andy wrote it.

― Brian MacDonald, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Pale Saints with In Ribbons.

Slow Buildings should have NEVER been released.

― JC, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Manics' P.C.P. Duh, hello.

― Ally, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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