Classic Albums With Not-So-Classic Opening Tracks

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)