Bored on a Monday night, I have listed a fairly random slection of classic opening album tracks, (none of which, I think, feature in the same list in High Fidelity). Fatuous commentary occasionally included.
1. Irk The Purists - Half Man Half Biscuit
from the tremendous Trouble over Bridgwater LP, and a rallying cry to anyone whose record collection includes 'Husker Du, Captain Beefheart, ELO, Chris de Burgh, Sun Ra, Del Amitri ,John Coltrane'
2. Get Ready For Love - Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues...a statement of intent for an album if ever there was one. Almost had to choose 'Papa Won't Leave You Henry' from Henry's Dream.
3. Back In Black - AC/DC
Had to be a good start to the first LP recorded without Bon Scott...
4. The Concept - Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque including a special mention for Status Quo...
5. Misunderstood - Wilco - Being There.
Racked and ragged start to a beautiful track which starts an album when Jeff Tweedy 'still loved rock n roll'.
6. Rocks Off - Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
Now, this is the best track one side one tune ever put on plastic, filthy guitars, rowdy horns, rude lyrics, and lots of ridiculous Jagger growling and hooting... 'the sunshine bores the daylights out of me..'
7. New Day Rising - Husker Du
From the LP of the same name, teeth grinding guitar shredding, as Husker Du started to mutate from hardcore into more melodic song writing.
8. Prayer To God - Shellac - 1000 Hurts
'Him, just fuckin' kill him'. Steve Albini has had some good album opening tracks, the problem being that the LPs often deteriorate as they go on...Jordan Minnsota from Atomizer is scary, and The Model from Songs About Fucking is even more bleak and cold than the Kraftwerk original.
9. Return of The Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
sorry, just realised that this one is in the book...
10. Gloria - Patti Smith - Horses
My second favourite opening track after the Stones. Dunno what Van the Man makes of it though...
11. I Feel Alright - Steve Earle
From the first LP he recorded more or less clean, with songs written when he was more or less clean. Most junkies go on to make dull records after they clean up, but Steve Earle made many terrific LPs, quickly too, after quitting heroin and crack.
12. Close Your Eyes - Micah P Hinson - Gospel of Progress
the best debut LP from anyone anywhere for ages.
13. If I Should Fall From Grace With God - The Pogues
A bloody exciting album, and I am a lucky bastard to have seen them live around this time, though even by the following LP MacGowan had pissed on his own parade.
14. Station Approach - Elbow - Leaders of The Free World
if only the rest of the LP was as good.
15. Holidays in The Sun - Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
The sound of a hundred multi-layered guitars...I wonder if Steve Jones had anything to do with this whatsover.
16. Big Exit - PJ Harvey - Stories from The City, Stories From The Sea
Took me a while to get into this LP, but it's probably her best. She's so patchy, I wish she would just rock out more often.
17. Astronomy Domine - Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn
As Peel would say, this one fades in. Sgt Pepper can bollocks, this was the real English psychedelia.
18. I Wanna Be Adored - Stone Roses
over rated LP, but the best tracks are still thrilling.
19. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
The only song on this list which I have played on stage (anyone with a bass guitar and 5 mins to spare can learn this song). hey ho! let's go!
20. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
increasingly rare combination of brilliant guitar playing with brilliant lyric writing. And only yesterday, the Observer was comparing the Libertines to the Smiths - it makes me weep...
3 comments:
I'll give this some thought. But an artist who consistently opens albums with a strong track is Billy Bragg -
Milkman of Human Kindness
It Says Here
Greetings to the New Brunette
Shes Got A New Spell
Accident Waiting To Happen -
all effectively announce what the album will be like, and are all belters.
It falls to pieces a bit after that - From Red to Blue is not bad, but Upfield would have been a better opener. And as for St Monday, no worse than the rest of what is an unfortunately crap album.
can't fault you with Bragg...he did occur to me after the original list. Milkman of Human Kindness would get my vote.
OK, here goes with my offering. Haven’t looked at High Fidelity in a while – but I’m erring on the side of caution here. So no Like a Rolling Stone or London Calling.
1) Debaser - Pixies from Doolittle
A few of these may be opening tracks from favourite albums. And this is one of those.
got me a movie
i want you to know
slicing up eyeballs
i want you to know
girlie so groovy
i want you to know
don't know about you
but i am un chien andalusia"
What an opening verse.
2) Chan Chan - Buena Vista Social Club
They may have gone on to record about 10 more albums between them, and I'm privileged to have seen most of the major players live, but they never topped this. An absolutely gorgeous - and slightly bawdy - song, beautifully played, wonderfully produced.
3) Dogwood Rust - Comets on Fire from Avatar
The rest of the album can't quite keep it up, but this piece of dirty psychedelia has blown me away all summer.
4) Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes from Elephant
Could they come close to matching White Blood Cells? With one seven note riff, you knew the answer.
5) First We Take Manhattan – Leonard Cohen from I’m Your Man
I know that I’m Your Man is criticized for its’ 1980’s cheesy production, but it contains some of Cohen’s best poetry – and the upbeat Madonna-lite poppiness just makes it even more sinister. “They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom for trying to change the system from within”
6) Come All Ye – Fairport Convention from Liege and Lief.
OK, not my favourite Fairport track – not even my favourite Fairport opening track – that would be Genesis Hall. But as a manifesto of what could be done with folk music, I’d (just) pick this over. the opening track of Fisherman’s Blues. Plus a great Sandy Denny vocal too.
7) The Things That Dreams Are Made Of – Human League from Dare.
Perfect 80’s pop. Didn’t think this album could possibly age as well as it has. New York, Travel, TV, Ice Cream, Good Times. Norman Wisdom, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Good Times.
8) Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen from Born to Run.
Is this in the book? Great harmonica opening. I have a soft spot for the opening to Born in the USA too – a very different opening.
9) Right in Time – Lucinda Williams from Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
What’s that you say? Best album of the last 10 years? Quite possibly. Certainly one of the sexiest songs.
10) Don’t Kill – Hammell on Trial from Tough Love
Another album that doesn’t save it’s best til last. Maybe Hammell should have thrown in two or three more tracks to soften us up for this one.
11) Highway Star – Deep Purple from Machine Head.
I’ll take your Back in Black (and your War Pigs, Welcome to the Jungle, even your Immigrant Song) for this, unsurpassed as an opening heavy rock song.
12) Changing Opinion – Philip Glass from Songs from Liquid Days
Listening to a lot of minimalism at the moment, and come back to this one – from the first minimalist album I owned. A scoring of bizarre – not to say pretentious – lyrics from an assortment of songwriters. Strange beauty.
13) Just Like Honey – The Jesus & Mary Chain from Psychocandy
Isn’t it great that Desert Island Discs is now presented by someone who would take this to her own desert island? Roy Plumley would turn in his grave.
14) Wake up and Make Love with me – Ian Dury from New Boots and Panties!
Pure, glorious, filth. Wonderful.
15) Delia’s Gone – Johnny Cash from American Recordings
Because everyone needs a good murder ballad
16) He Lays in the Reins – Calexico and Iron & Wine from Lays in the Reins
Am I allowed an EP? One of my favourite recordings of last year, this tops El Picador from Hot Rail as my favourite Calexico track.
17) Mysteries – Beth Gibbons and Rustin’ Man
Could have picked any number of Bristol trip hop albums, but this one edges it. Again though, considerably stronger than much of what follows
18) Perfect Skin – Lloyd Cole from Rattlesnakes
Louise is the girl with the perfect skin
She says turn on the light, otherwise it can't be seen
Which described in my minds eye every seemingly unattainable girl I fell in love with between 1980 and 1986. And probably one or two who weren’t unattainable as well.
19) Converted – Alabama 3 – from Exile on Coldharbour Lane
Don’t need to justify this one
20) Accident Waiting to Happen – Billy Bragg from Don’t Try This At Home
It was 1991, last year at University, Thatcher was history, and the future belonged to democratic socialism –
Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken
Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken
Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion
You're an accident waiting to happen
Hmmm, could be an obituary for Blair.
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