Top 50 Album Openers - 50 - 41
Digital downloading has fully come into its own, making it easier than ever to just grab the single, not having to put up with an entire album's worth of material. What easier way to avoid having to listen even once to the full album, than by just clicking on the track you're really after? It seems more and more these days that attention spans are waning, and the work put into so many great records goes uncelebrated and unappreciated. Worried that this apathy toward the beloved album is a quickly-growing affliction that will soon grow to plague-sized proportions, we here at Indie Workshop will be working to reverse it. We will be bringing several features that pay tribute to this not-quite lost format, and to the some of the works that enthrall us, and why.
A fantastic album is more than a simple collection of songs. It is a cohesive statement that often adds up to more than the sum of its parts. The truth still is however, that even if you are the most patient, open-minded listener on Earth, it takes a special sort of full-length to really captivate you from beginning to end. Luring the listener into that suite of songs that makes up a little world of its own is arguably the first important step when approaching the long-player format. Appropriately then, our first of hopefully many forays into the world of the album begins with a list of our favorite record openers. There are no doubt a variety of ways to accomplish this, and we believe what we have put together is a nice sampling of brilliant tracks that ease us in, blow us away, and always dazzle and intrigue us into continuing the journey with the artist into the rest of the record. – Robert Ferdman
50. Randy Described Eternity - Built To Spill (Perfect From Now On)
With Randy Described Eternity, Doug Martsch and company lay the foundation for what is arguably the text-book way for a band to sign to a major label and not sell out. The songs main character expounds on what eternity is by comparing it to wearing down a metal sphere (ten times the size of Jupiter!) with a feather. Lyrically it is pleasant enough, but sonically it is overwhelming. It crawls along for six minutes almost weighted down by the layer upon layer of sound. It is Neil Young meets indie rock and it is a brilliant way to start a record. – Travis Hutzell
49. Disorder - Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures)
When the echoed drums hit and the flapping bass rolls in, it is immediately intriguing. Then the jangly guitars hit and into the saloon walks Ian Curtis, with his voice from down the hall and robot movements. This is 1979 and I'm barely 6 months old, but across the planet Joy Division is capturing crowds with its undefiable sounds and intriguing lead singer. As an opener, Disorder epitomizes Joy Division. Boxed-in vocals, treble-heavy bass, and guitars that bend and turn on a dime. When Curtis finally yells, "I got the spirit"," even the stupidest of listeners couldn't hear the anguish. Sadly, Unknown Pleasures was the only album Curtis saw the releace of, taking his own life months before Closer was released. – Darren Susin
48. Things Done Changed - The Notorious B.I.G. (Ready To Die)
When Ready To Die came out I was in the height of my hip-hop phase, yes, I had Timberland boots, baggy jean shorts, and the rest of it and the album was in high rotation. Ready To Die was the soundtrack for driving around with my friends in high school looking for house parties and stupid shit to get into. Things Done Changed, after the brief story of Biggie's life set you up for his raw and rough delivery, dealing out stories of drugs, life, and death on the streets of New York. I could go on and on about Christopher Wallace's evocative lyrics, lifestyle and dark, obsessive foresight, but everyone knows the story. This is one of the albums that changed hip hop for the second half of the nineties and even up to now. The streets went across the nation to people who had no clue about it, Ready To Die was a vehicle for countless other albums to reach audiences all over the states. – Phil Del Costello
47. Battery – Metallica (Master of Puppets)
Master of Puppets may be the greatest album Metallica has ever recorded. I mean, we certainly don't need to worry about them topping it now that we've seen what they think "going back to their roots" means (St. Anger is so bad it makes me physically angry). Five minutes of pure brutality, the songs title says it all. It was tight, it was fast, it still remains one of the untouchable masterpiece in thrash. All that palm muting, all those triplets, the song is out of control. Not only does it prepare you for the rest of this magnificent album, but the sheer force of it leaves you in a state of shock… twitching in your chair as the first notes of Master of Puppets rings out. – Jake Haselman
46. Contract on the World Love Jam/Brothers Gonna Work It Out - Public Enemy (Fear of a Black Planet)
The Bomb-bastic opener to Public Enemy's greatest record begins with what sounds like a clock bell chiming: it's time. The Squad comes out of the gates showing all that they can do at the height of their powers. Terminator X's scratches are melodic as well as percussive. The perfectly-chosen politically-leaning vocal samples are as relevant as ever and the laid-back funk rhythm over which it is all laid doesn't sound the least bit dated.
The transition between this opening collage and the first rap of the record is absolutely, literally, breathtaking. We explode into the maniacal guitar soloing just behind and the hyper-propulsive, anything-but-laid-back beat out front that makes you pay attention. Most of all, Chuck D's commanding call to the black community to get involved and reach the "goal, indestructible soul" so that "one day, the brothers gonna work it out" is as compelling and vital as it gets. This still blows my mind each time I hear it. The rest of the record would have a really hard time keeping up. But it does -- it still does. – Robert Ferdman
45. New York State of Mind – Nas (Illmatic)
First of all, just to get this out of the way, I hate Billy Joel. We will not discuss Billy Joel here today. We are here to talk about Nas and "New York State of Mind", the first track on his 1994 debut, Illmatic. Nas spins tales of NYC street crime, vacillating from the fear and indecision of a shooter caught behind a jammed gun, to a young thug dreaming of the glamorous life of real gangsters. Illmatic was a big part of the resurgence of the storyteller MC, as was Liquid Swords by fellow New Yorker the GZA, but slick, jazz-heavy production by DJ Premier (along with Large Professor, Pete Rock, and others on the rest of the album) propelled Nas to superstardom and Illmatic to platinum status. The album, while brief, is from note one an unqualified masterpiece of hip-hop, and can easily function as a party jam or as serious discussion material. Now that is gangsta! - Geddes Gengres
44. He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot - Grandaddy (The Sophtware Slump)
Yeah, it's nine minutes long. But it's like three songs in one. So being nine minutes long needs to be pretty good, because it's nine minutes that you can't get back, yeah? Well, once the cottony warmth of Grandaddy's synths and Jason Lytle's candy-assed vocals pop up around you like a fire in a log cabin, you'll want those nine minutes to last forever. Lytle's trademark elevation of ridiculous subjects to a level of massive emotional importance is rather dumbed down, but it is still clearly framed on the song's journey from wonky ditty through breezy ballad and culminating in an expansive electro-folk mantra of 'Are you giving in, 2000 man?'. A magical atmosphere. – Daniel Ross
43. Maggot Brain - Funkadelic (Maggot Brain)
Remember the first time you heard Eruption. You probably thought, "Oh my God, how does he do that? Finger tapping is amazing. I want to learn to shred just like Eddie." But now that we're all out of the 4th grade, finger tapping (and the greater metal metropolitan area) is more campy than quality. But never fear, egregiously long, unnecessary, pretentious guitar solos still exist (see: Maggot Brain). Take all of the oversized pants, hair gel, stage antics, and, let's face it, booze out of Eruption and add some soul, and you have yourself one fine solo. Funkadelic is often touted as the best black rock band ever. Maggot Brain is a sworn testament. So next time you want to jump around like a 12 year-old, take a step back, turn the lights off, turn on Maggot Brain and soak it in. – Chris Gaerig
42. Care of Cell 44 - The Zombies (Odyssey and Oracle)
What other decade but the 1960's would produce a song about an old sweetheart returning from a prison term? It's an introduction to the beautiful, posthumous album from the kings of baroque pop. It's a shame that the other tracks on the record are overlooked in the shadow of Time of the Season, because the real soul of this "Odyssey" lies in the 10+ tracks preceding it. To quote: "Saved you the room you used to stay in every Sunday. The one that is warmed by sunshine every day." Could you ask for a more appropriate invitation into an equally sunny and warm recording? – Paul Bredenberg
41. Serve the Servants - Nirvana (In Utero)
In Utero is the best Nirvana album. Period. We won't be entertaining debate on this subject because there's no point. By '93, the world weary Cobain (all of 26 years old at the time) was a full-blown rock star, able to proclaim with his album-opening breath "Teenage Angst has paid off well/Now I'm bored and old" . Hiring Steve Albini has been interpreted by many as a desperate attempt to regain lost credibility with the punk scene that they simultaneously left in the dust and brought to the mainstream, but I think Kurt knew who could get the sounds down the way he wanted. Albini's production turns Dave Grohl's (his favorite Nirvana member) drumming into something akin to nuclear bombardment, rooting Novoselic's bass firmly in the melody and turning Kurt's guitar into nails on a chalkboard. The solo drags itself across the floor only to be picked up again by Kurt's gentle chorus vocals. The great thing about this album is being able to hear the air between the band, being pushed around by the bass drum and cut through with guitars. The combination of Albini's deadly production and the forces of the worlds greatest punk band at the height of their powers makes for one of the all time great opening tracks. – Geddes Gengres
| 50 - 41 | | 40 - 31 |
- IW Staff | 2006-09-18
