Classic Albums With Not-So-Classic Opening Tracks

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