Thread for listing album spoilers (like, movie-type spoilers)

The Quietus/spookytune thread made me think of this, specifically "The Escape" by Scott Walker. The ending is terrifying of course but I feel like a lot of people (myself included) have already heard about it. I always wondered what that bit was like for people who did not know it was coming. I linked that one to a friend of mine during a discussion about unsettling music and his response was "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ENDING"...kinda the reaction I would've had, had I not known about it already.

Been thinking about that idea, parts of albums whose effect is blunted because they get mentioned in the reviews and discussion, and therefore don't get the reaction they're supposed to get.

Two come to mind for me. One is "Peking 0" by Can. I had no idea how off the rails the band was going to get so hearing that for the first time was truly a shock. I knew the band had a rap for being experimental and a little crazy but stuff like "Augmn" was what I was expecting, not this.

The other is the last track on Nmesh's Dream Sequins, which gives the vaporwave treatment to an Anthony Fantano review of a vaporware album. That sounds pretty lame on paper but it's pretty hilarious, especially when you finally realize what's happening (especially since Fantano isn't exactly a fan). I laughed out loud at that one, and most likely would not have had I knew in advance that it was coming.

You??

The last chord of Sgt. Pepper goes on for about, like, a minute.

also ported over from quietus thread: the protagonist of "she's a jar" is a woman-beater

"Her Majesty" and a lot of 90s CD "bonus track after a long silence" albums probably qualify, though not exactly what I think you're getting at...

In some sense all reviews are spoilers in terms of setting you up with any kind of framework or expectation before you hear the thing... once you read that Song X is the powerful churning centerpiece of the album or w/e, it's gonna be hard not to prick up your ears when that one arrives on first listen.

i think peter gabriel intended the end of "in the rapids" to be a shock twist ending but the intent was slightly undercut by the fact that the entire plot of the album made no fucking sense whatsoever

anytime i see a review single out a song as "the centerpiece of the album" or whatever my reaction is "cool i don't have to listen to all the other songs"

One moment of total surprise listening for me was when vocals from The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" mash with the solo from' "Hey Jude" on Residents' "Third Reich N' Roll". Would never want to spoil that for someone going in cold.

xxp - that's kind of a different thing - for example I read a few times that "How Do You Sleep?" was the big epic on the new LCD album but it didn't really change how it played for me

on the other hand knowing about the big jump on "Dance Yrself Clean" instead of cranking the volume up and having your head taken off kinda changes how I think the tune was meant to be heard. for the first time at least.

One moment of total surprise listening for me was when vocals from The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" mash with the solo from' "Hey Jude" on Residents' "Third Reich N' Roll". Would never want to spoil that for someone going in cold.

yea mash-up albums in general are a good candidate for this. Neil Cicierega's Mouth Silence came with a text file that listed all the samples, which I clicked on before I heard it, and I really wish I hadn't. when Mouth Moods came out I deliberately avoided even looking at the tracklisting and it made the first playthrough way more fun

oh yeah...the death metal screaming on "Fall From Grace" by Future Islands. a bunch of advance reviews spoiled that.

I suppose one could own Mr Bungle's "Disco Volante" LP and not know there's a track hidden on side one that the stylus needs to be physically placed into for playback, that runs alongside the normal groove of track three. I discovered this on my own shortly after release, and if the intended effect was to scare the shit out of me and make me doubt my own memory of what I thought track three sounded like, then, mission accomplished.

Optiganally Yours had an unnamed bonus track with offkey, highly distorted singing over a dreary minor key groove - took me until the end of the song to realize that it was a cover of "I Will Always Love You"

I think of some of the Super Furry Animal tracks like "Mountain People" like this too, in that they start as normal songs and devolve into weird loops and noise. After you hear that trick a couple times, you wonder which songs they're gonna do that to

And yeah mashups too rely a lot on the surprise

Maybe the sudden ending of "Virginia Plain" qualifies. Think that would be a bit of a jarring moment to someone who hadn't heard it before.

The EP version of Mogwai's Xmas Steps.

the first time you listen to Tortoise's "Djed" is pretty funny

Autechre and Aphex must have dozens of these.

The brass band coming in at the end of 'Happy Trails' on O'Rourke's Bad Timing alb.

Kate Bush - 'All We Ever Look For' ... I won't spoil it, but headphones are a must.

Autechre and Aphex must have dozens of these

Boards of Canada too.

The Cure - 'Subway Song'

Mike Skinner's money was down the back of the telly.

Maybe the sudden ending of "Virginia Plain" qualifies. Think that would be a bit of a jarring moment to someone who hadn't heard it before.

― heaven parker (anagram), Thursday, September 28, 2017 9:14 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dinosaur Jr's version of 'Just Like Heaven' is the definitive one of these.

I think vaporwave in general is kinda like this. Floral Shoppe is way more intriguing if you have no clue what it is. When I first heard it, all I knew was the cover art, had no idea what kind of music it was or that there was actually a genre that sprung up around it.

Future Islands - Fall From Grace

Cornelius's "69/96" CD finishes at track 15. then there is ambient ocean waves on all tracks until track 69 which has a bonus track. then there is silence on all tracks until track 96 which has another bonus track.

Spoiler: that Future Islands album is crap.

Mike Skinner's money was down the back of the telly.

― chap, Thursday, September 28, 2017 12:14 PM (eight hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LOL!

Julian Cope - 'Reynard The Fox'

not sure if this really fits but the cawing crow that turns up at the end of Max Richter's "Shadow Journal" has made me jump more than a few times

the tv is broken at the end of tv party and they cant watch tv :(