How To Finish A Record

Worse still: finishing with a long one, then sneaking in surprise quickie number (see ABBEY ROAD and BLOODSUGARSEXMAGIC)

Some fav albums have the long one two thirds of the way through and then a more downbeat, intimate one to sign off. It possibly a more rounded and sophisticated approach to track pacing.

Anyway these days its the bonus tracks or the hidden track of the remix at the end of the CD, all of which is less classic than the long

probably just as cliched, but a different way round is to have the long one as penultimate, and then a little sad and simple one at the end, a la the gasoline age

While Gareth's 'calm after the storm' solution is always a good'un, the 'Help Yourself' by Death In Vegas is the best closing song I've heard on an album this year... and that's ten minutes long.

I like it when the last track is something brisk and sharp, such that when the CD grinds to a halt the appropriate reaction is "YEAAAAH!"

Maybe the last song should be CD credits, like in movies. "Bass: Sir Paul McCartney; drums: Richard Starkey..." All to the tune of Happy Trails or something.

Piss off the public AND your record label, all in one stroke, hooray!

you mean like Layla, Tom? (just an example that sprang to mind)

i like abrupt, upbeat endings, but it has to be the right kind of upbeat tune, with still some kind of finality to it, be it in the melody or the lyrics or whatever. the loooong slooow ending only works if they know the exact moment to bow out, otherwise they're just wearing out their welcome. and hidden/throwaway tracks are just a big mistake all around, fuck em.

ideally i just want something that if i choose to sit in silence for a minute after it ends, i'll be left with something still in my head, even if it's just a certain tone more than a melody, just something that makes me feel good about what i just heard, maybe better than on the whole it actually was.

The Fire Show did this on their second record.

I'm in favor of the long/slow/epic as the penultimate track, followed by a shorter, softer epilogue. Two albums I've loved this year, the Wilco (yeah, I know) and the Radar Brothers, have sort of pulled this.

Well, if you buy what E says, that was a record company move more or less outside of his control.

The story may have been that "...Blues" was an afterthought, E being sent back to "write a single," so its catchiness a product of cynicism and its placement as a bonus track a protest against the business side of music.

Or I might've just made all that up.

or perhaps "Dark", at the end of Low's "Curtain Hits The Cast". The shortest and quietest song on the record.

Jim O'Rourke - Eureka
Pavement - Wowee Zowee
Pavement - Terror Twilight
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

liek YaY Indie! ^_^

When the long one is last, it often seems like the band is ashamed of it, you know? And I also hate slower last numbers, because ballads are something to always be ashamed of anyway.

The guiding rule should be: put the song with the best ending at the end.

My current favorite ending track is Gouge Away, which has nothing to do with anything I've just said, but damn is it great.

I'm thinking BTS opening There's Nothing Wrong With Love, all upbeat-sounding and "in the morning..." Or the Radar Brothers closing their record, "when the morning comes/All demons will be gone." Seems like an appropriate sendoff to me.

Or (more "classically" speaking) Revolver's closing "of the beginning/ of the beginning," which seems to implore you to play the album again (like you need them to tell you...).

A note.... According to Mark L's various books on the subject, Side One and Side Two of "Abbey Road" were the other way around, so that originally the album would end with "I want you", which in my book is a far better end to an album than "The end".

As to how to end records, I like big long loud ones followed by short ones to close - "Poem of the river" does this perfectly (but then it's only got six songs anyway), as does "Red House Painters" - both of which I've been playing a lot recently. Basically albums should either end on a melancholy note or an exultant (?) note - I've always liked albums that get darker as they go on, but albums that get darker then end with a huge cry of "Look at life, ain't it grand?" works for me too - I'm thinking of "Heaven up here" for some reason, or even "Porcupine". Let's face it, some people are better at ending albums than others.

wl: There's Nothing Wrong With Love seems to have the best opening ever, based on that little bit of preparatory sound before Martsch starts: it's like the rock-band equivalent of a throat-clearing noise.

I was going to mention In The Aeroplane Over The Sea as well. But, basically, any closer that makes me feel like it was worth listening to the whole record. This usually reveals itself after a couple listens - I either find myself tuning out before it's over or waiting for the end. Some examples of the latter:
Joel Phelps, "Landslide" (Blackbird)
Slint, "Good Morning, Captain" (Spiderland)

bleah can't think of any others will revisit maybe or not.

I can't think of a single rap album with a good ending track.

I bought the Fog album this week and I like it, but I'm not sure about how I like the ending, which is about two minutes of keyboard noise.

Just to let you know, I am stealing this idea.

New Order's BROTHERHOOD has a bizarre and compelling ending that's sort of hard to describe. I always liked "Every Little Counts" all out of proportion.

How do you rewind a record?

subthread: the fade in pop - necessary evil or just evil?

actually I do not think it is possible for rock to exist without fadouts. but it is usually terrible for ending of records. end on a nice gooey chord.

I am the Resurrection and Tomorrow Never Dies are the exceptions. The first because guitar wig outs had been outlawed post-punk, and it was usch a thrilling statement of intent to resurrect them; the second because at the time it was a new idea. Plus in both cases they are the album's high points.

"the grand finale" - the DOC

Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die ('Unbelievable' followed by 'Suicidal Thoughts')
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory ('Scenario')
Roots Manuva - Run Come Save Me ('Dreamy Days')
Outkast - Aquemini ('Liberation' followed by 'Chonkyfire.' OK so i know i've mentioned this album about 10 times in my 15 posts here ever but it is that good)
Nas - Illmatic ('It Ain't Hard To Tell')
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ('Heaven & Hell' followed by 'North Star')
Mobb Deep - The Infamous... ('Shook Ones Pt.2' followed by 'Party Over')
The Roots - Do You Want More? ('The Lesson' followed by 'The Unlocking')

do you want more?

But excepting the Ox, what do you notice about the above list? all from the golden age. I don't think I'd be missing abything if i never got to side 2 of Ludacris's new one or Too $hort's new one.

I don't think it was 'obligatory' until Tribe did it, so no points off.

hey - whatever happened to Dinco D?

and Charlie Brown's solo album? Did that ever come out?

I'm sure those dudes are working at the DQ now, being all " I used to be in a group with Busta" and their 15 year old manager is all "suuuure you were. We're outta sprinkles." Ha!

If the long one is just a piece of pointless wank, then putting it at the end is a good idea, as people could then just turn the record off without waiting for the wank to finish.

Songs For The Deaf, kinda.

By the way, an excerpt from that interview can be heard on the upcoming For The Dead In Space : A Tribute to Tom Rapp Volume 2 compilation. I covered City of Gold and sampled the original interview tape.