Following the rules of my previous "Favorite Album Openers" list, I've decided to post a continuance. If a band was listed before then they won't be listed on here because of the "one track per band" rule.
- I Got a Line on You (The Family That Plays Together) / Spirit
- Transmaniacon MC (Blue Oyster Cult) / Blue Oyster Cult
- Draw the Line (Draw the Line) / Aerosmith
- Badlands (Darkness on the Edge of Town) / Bruce Springsteen
- Rock the Nation (Montrose) / Montrose
- We Die Young (Facelift) / Alice in Chains
- Princess of the Night (Denim and Leather) / Saxon - Metallica actually used part of this song in their song Seek & Destroy.
- Into Money (B.L.T.) - Jack Bruce, Bill Lordan, Robin Trower
- Lightning to the Nations (Lightning to the Nations) / Diamond Head
- Back in the USSR (The Beatles) / The Beatles - Okay, it's tough to choose one and you really can't go wrong with any of them. But this one is one of my favorite songs, period.
- Driving Rain (Driving Rain) / Paul McCartney - I think that Lennon's solo work is a bit more hit or miss than Paul McCartney's and that McCartney has a much better catalog. Of course, Lennon dying in 1980 had something to do with that, but based solely on the material released while Lennon was alive I'd still say that McCartney has the better catalog.
- Don't Take Me for a Loser (Corridors of Power) / Gary Moore - The late Gary Moore had tremendous talent and it's a shame that his work isn't more widely heralded. Much like Ronnie Montrose.
- Fire and Water (Fire and Water) / Free - Free is criminally underrated just like Montrose. More people should have this album.
- Aqualung (Aqualung) / Jethro Tull - It was this or Thick as a Brick.
- Rusty Cage (Badmotorfinger) / Soundgarden
- Band on the Run (Band on the Run) / Wings (Yeah, it's got Paul McCartney in it, but Wings is considered a separate band from Paul's solo band.)
- Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air) (Captain Beyond) / Captain Beyond
- Mind Games (Mind Games) / John Lennon - I think Mind Games is a much better song than Imagine. Maybe that's just me, though.
- Eye of the Witch (The Eye) / King Diamond
- Go (Vs.) / Pearl Jam
- Unchain Your Brain (Glory Road) / Gillan
- Burnin' Sky (Burnin' Sky) / Bad Company
- Baba O'Riley (Who's Next) / The Who - Run Run Run is a "runner-up" for me.
- Sympathy for the Devil (Beggars Banquet) / Rolling Stones
A few more for my list:
ReplyDeleteSonic Youth - Teen Age Riot
The Pretenders - The Adultress
Tom Petty - Refugee
The Clash - London Calling
Lynyrd Skynyrd _ Sweet Home Alabama (although I've heard it a few too many times)
Another good list would be great album closers. This would probably apply more to the vinyl era. And it would also have to apply to the original release, not one with added tracks. Songs like:
Led Zeppelin - when The Levee Breaks
Sabbath - Into The Void
Yeah, I've heard Sweet Home Alabama a bit too many times for my taste, too. I forgot about London Calling. But then, there are a lot of songs and bands I've forgotten about.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I think I'll get started on a closer list. Have to think on it because other than the two songs you mentioned I'm kind of drawing blanks. Guess I'll have to check out my CD catalog and do some research to see if the line-up of songs changed any since it has been out. Like you said, I'll have to remember to not include any bonus tracks or re-issue tracks. If nothing else I'll dig out my dad's vinyl stuff.
Today, most releases are front loaded with the good stuff being on the first half of the cd. I think the reason for this is the length of the cd being up to 80 minutes and a side of vinyl being 15-22 minutes. In the vinyl era, if you went over 22 minutes (and a certain amount of seconds - I forget the exact number), the sound quality went down. So if a band recorded 14 songs, they had to axe 3-5 of them to make them fit. Today, a band just puts them on the cd which can water down a release if those extra songs were not as good. I think the ones they would have eliminated in 1977 are tacked on the end of the cd, so I don't think the closers are good today like they used to be. When you start looking through your collection, you will find a lot of great closers in the vinyl era.
ReplyDeleteHow about
Space Truckin' - Deep Purple
Brain Damage - Pink Floyd
Diary Of A Madman - Ozzy
I forgot a biggie. The big daddy of album openers, Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone. Bruce Springsteen said when he put on this album and heard the opening snare-drum beat, "it sounded like someone was kicking open the door to my mind."
ReplyDelete