Albums that you know are going to be brilliant within the opening 20 seconds of the first track

a custard cream

I'd actually argue that In Utero is a better choice for this than Nevermind.

I was going to say that the obvious one is Kick Out The Jams - but that's track two

2112

SIAMESE DREAM?

http://www.metrolyrics.com/images/albums/8900thesundays_reading.jpg

Reign In Blood

that Sundays album is faceless except for one track though

and that track is not the opener!

Whoever said Dragnet upthread is totally OTM.

Is there anybody there???? Yeeeeeesssssssss!!!!!!

Absolutely joyful.

I'd say Definitely Maybe fits the bill.

http://www.merryswankster.com/images/Blur_Parklife_large.jpg

of albums that you know will be awful without having to listen to them, sure. xp.

richard d. james
silent alarm

Definitely Maybe is a good album! But, alas, Oasis is a band whose legacy has been sullied by every subsequent album they put out. If everyone had died in a fiery plane crash right after that album, it would be held up as the classic that it is. It doesn't even sound like the same band that put out that "Wonderwall" crap.

No.

joy division - closer

I started listening from side 2, but 20 seconds into Haert & Soul I knew it was everything I was searching for.

wtf at the oreo shit

fastest I ever figured this out was with Loveless

No.

how familiar are you with this album. Be honest.

The oreo shit was a bit of stupid wordplay on my part, basically referring to Matos' suggestion.

Yeah, corny indie fuxor whatever, but Arcade Fire's Funeral did this to me, immediately. Also, Pulp's Different Class and The Smiths' Hatful Of Hollow.

Disintegration was the first thing that came to mind. Also, AMC's "mercury"

i think my first 20 seconds with loveless was spent trying to figure out what was wrong with my headphones

Wasn't talking about you, LJ, more res and his unnecessary Vanilla Ice comment.

Sorry Black Seinfeld. My bad.

LOL

hahaha okay, apology accepted

I never knew the words "Sorry Black Seinfeld" could bring so much joy into my life

:D

^ slightly compressed

Most of my favorite albums are like this...

Priest = Aura
A Storm In Heaven
The Perfect Prescription
etc...

Priest = Aura is always like 20 quid when I find it in record shops ;_;

The Low End Theory

Brian Eno - "Here Come The Warm Jets"
Kraftwerk - "Trans Europe Express"

David Bowie - "Ziggy Stardust"

Can's "Ege Bamyasi" was like this for me. I first heard it when I was about sixteen, ten seconds into Pinch I had already decided that this was my favourite album ever. (Which it isn't, but I still love it.)

Marquee Moon fits the bill too.

Nation of Millions

I would argue against that, at least from the perspective of a US listener. "Huh? Hammersmith Odeon? What the fuck? What is this, a live album? What the hell's going on?"

The Who Sell Out (horn blasts alternating with computer-voiced days of the week)

And while we're at it, Live At Leeds.

And The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, McCoy Tyner's forbodingly dissonant voicings of the "Chim Chim Cheree" chords.

And any and all Dumitrescu.

Priest = Aura is always like 20 quid when I find it in record shops ;_;

good lord, there were dozens of these laying around for .99 cents last year in the bay area

"The Hoople" - Mott The Hoople

In fact, there are four tracks on that album that would make cracking openers, apart from the actually opening number.

how familiar are you with this album. Be honest.

I need not be familiar with the album to know that it is not great, however, I say No not to your album in particular but the conceit of the thread in general.

I think it works with Mott, too. I love that piano riff on "All the Way from Memphis." And its just so nice when the rest of the band kicks in.

Pretenders
In Color

Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"

AC/DC-If You Want Blood You Got It

Amps buzzing leading into Riff Raff, crowd out of control

Pretty sure I could easier think of albums that couldn't (and didn't) follow through after an initially exhilarating opening. Most of my long-term favourites required at least 3-5 playings to announce themselves as stunners. And as for albums that I rightly recognized as stunners on first playing, the realization generally takes 2 1/2 songs to kick in. I'm sure there's some kind of semi-conscious "rule-of-three"-awareness instinct involved.

The Low End Theory

― a hoy hoy, Monday, November 10, 2008 8:17 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

oh fuck how did i not think of this

i have been known to just rewind to hear the bass and opening lines multiple times

http://www.student.uib.no/~ane041/1%20-%20Fotoprosjekt/homegrown-dodgy.jpg

"Have mercy on me, sir/ allow me to impose on you"

among others

R.E.M. - Reckoning
Aphex Twin - RDJ Album (...prob others too)

Royal Trux - Sweet Sixteen

Opening 20 seconds: Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend - swirling guitar effects resolve to a confident psychedelic blues. It had my number.

Opening 2 seconds: Tom Waits, Rain Dogs - (Squawk!)

Royal Trux - Sweet Sixteen

the Pussy Galore is better :D ;)

Opening 5 seconds: Destroyer - Streethawk

Opening 90 seconds: Can - Future days

Rain Dogs yes. I can remember the moment! My friend slapping it on the turntable, me vaguely aware of Waits as a seventies singer songwriter of some kind, maybe like Randy Newman. The squawk like a closet door opening, all these strange tools stuffed inside clattering to the floor