Great LPs with crappy openers

[tinnitus photography]

this is probably tougher to come up w/ good examples, but i'll start

 

Joy Division - Atrocity Exhibition (Closer)

Husker Du - Crystal (Candy Apple Grey)

The Replacements - IOU (Pleased To Meet Me)

[jff]

The old me would have said

 

The Beatles/White Album: Back in the USSR.

 

But Back in the USSR, while still not one of my favorites, eventually won me over.

[nodep5]

Ryan Adams Political Scientist (LOVE IS HELL)

 

top 10 all time record for me and that song is atroscious

[Maggie]

Ryan Adams Political Scientist (LOVE IS HELL)

 

top 10 all time record for me and that song is atroscious

 

Yes!! I thought I was the only person who felt this way.

 

Love is Hell seems to a favorite of many fans, but for me Political Scientist has always held it back from being the best it could be. If the song was somewhere in the middle it wouldn't be such a big deal, but when an album starts off with such a bad song it alters the whole listening experience for me. I don't want to press play and hear a song I don't like right off the bat.

[PopTodd]

Beastie Boys - "To All the Girls" (Paul's Boutique)

 

Although, to be fair, while it isn't much of a song, per se... it does set the stoner kinda mood for the record. So: crappy song as an opener, but it works in it's own way. (I always kinda consider "Shake Your Rump" to be the real first song on the album, anyway. And that would qualify as one of the BEST.)

[jff]

Beastie Boys - "To All the Girls" (Paul's Boutique)

 

Although, to be fair, while it isn't much of a song, per se... it does set the stoner kinda mood for the record. So: crappy song as an opener, but it works in it's own way. (I always kinda consider "Shake Your Rump" to be the real first song on the album, anyway. And that would qualify as one of the BEST.)

 

I thought about posting this one, but I sort of like To all the Girls. Your post mirrors my feelings towards the album.

 

I just read the 33 & 1/3 book on Paul's Boutique. I learned a lot about them and their friends/associates, that time period and the making of the record. Somehow I got it into my head a long time ago that the Beasties were playing the instruments on that tune. Turns out that's not the case. It's an Idris Muhammed drum sample and a Bob James electric piano sample.

[Vacant Horizon]

how about great albums with terrible second songs. Led Zep III. i hate that song Friends.

[Lammycat]

The old me would have said

 

The Beatles/White Album: Back in the USSR.

 

But Back in the USSR, while still not one of my favorites, eventually won me over.

Took me a looong time to warm to this tune, too. I think I was just too young to appreciate the playing on it when I was a kid....

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Not really a song, but I wish Grandaddy's Just Like The Fambly Cat didn't have the opening "what happened to the family cat?" audio bit. Great album, and I do like how the end segues into Jeez Louise so perfectly, but still. I'd like it a lot more cut in half, or ditched entirely.

[Moss]

Stone Roses - Second coming - Breaking into heaven

[myboyblue]

Paul Westerberg - Jingle (Folker)

[froggie]

i'm waiting for someone to mention Wiggle Wiggle from Dylan's Under the red sky.... so i can disagree

 

on the other hand, Self Portrait!

[Vacant Horizon]

Paul Westerberg - Jingle (Folker)

 

i actually like that tune.

[Scalzunfield]

i actually like that tune.

 

Really, you gotta love PW anytime he's being tongue-in-cheek like he is in that song.

 

That song always makes me laugh a little bit just realizing he's goofing around.

[Sir Stewart]

Beastie Boys - "To All the Girls" (Paul's Boutique)

 

Although, to be fair, while it isn't much of a song, per se... it does set the stoner kinda mood for the record. So: crappy song as an opener, but it works in it's own way. (I always kinda consider "Shake Your Rump" to be the real first song on the album, anyway. And that would qualify as one of the BEST.)

 

Funny, I think To All The Girls is maybe the best opener (and coda) ever.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

i'm waiting for someone to mention Wiggle Wiggle from Dylan's Under the red sky.... so i can disagree

 

on the other hand, Self Portrait!

 

Are you ACTUALLY saying that you thing Self Portrait is a great album?

 

Really?

[Synthesizer Patel]

Are you ACTUALLY saying that you thing Self Portrait is a great album?

 

Really?

 

i love it. i really wish dylan would put out a bootleg series from this period. but, i think if you, like me, love it too; you'll probably love All The Wild Horses as much as everything else on it.

[ih8music]

Paul Westerberg - Jingle (Folker)

I half-agree.

 

Jingle is indeed a crappy intro, but Folker isn't what I'd call a great album. It's an ok album with a couple of great songs and a lot of bleah in between, imo.

[Tweedling]

Beastie Boys - "To All the Girls" (Paul's Boutique)

 

Although, to be fair, while it isn't much of a song, per se... it does set the stoner kinda mood for the record. So: crappy song as an opener, but it works in it's own way. (I always kinda consider "Shake Your Rump" to be the real first song on the album, anyway. And that would qualify as one of the BEST.)

There's a point during that intro where the needle is picked up and placed back on the record for longer playing time. If you pay attention you can tell when it happens. I can't remember how I know that but I do.

I believe PB is one of the best albums in the entire history of music and it wouldn't be complete without that opener (and closer).

My vote would have to be for The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) off of Skeletons From The Closet. I know, it's a Best Of but that's the first one that came to me.

[Oil Can Boyd]

I wouldn't call it a crappy song but I usually skip Brown Sugar when I listen to Sticky Fingers. I don't think it's a great song but I mostly skip it because I can't wait to get to Sway.

[Wild Frank]

Not really a song, but I wish Grandaddy's Just Like The Fambly Cat didn't have the opening "what happened to the family cat?" audio bit. Great album, and I do like how the end segues into Jeez Louise so perfectly, but still. I'd like it a lot more cut in half, or ditched entirely.

I like that opening. I'm one of the few that actually seems to like that whole album. It seemed to get slated abit upon release but I think it stands up well.

[Wild Frank]

i'm waiting for someone to mention Wiggle Wiggle from Dylan's Under the red sky.... so i can disagree

 

on the other hand, Self Portrait!

O.K. I'll bite: 'Wiggle Wiggle' is a crap song.

 

'All the tired horses' is a good song.

 

Other Dylan opening tracks that don't impress me much:

 

* On A Night Like This;

* Political World;

* Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum;

[bigshoulders]

I never liked "Radio Song" from REM's "Out of Time". It just never grabbed me. Ever.

[uncool2pillow]

I never liked "Radio Song" from REM's "Out of Time". It just never grabbed me. Ever.

Wrong thread. This belongs in the Mediocre LPs with crappy openers thread.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

I like that opening. I'm one of the few that actually seems to like that whole album. It seemed to get slated abit upon release but I think it stands up well.

I love the album. It's fantastic. And the intro isn't crappy or anything. I just wish it was shorter.