Classic Albums With Not-So-Classic Opening Tracks

"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.