Top 50 Album Openers - 10 - 1
10. My Name is Jonas – Weezer (Blue Album)
Man, how far have these guys fallen? When they first hit the scene in 1994 they seemed like the mop-headed saviors of pop/rock. Time has proven that they (or Rivers) only had two good albums in them before the wheels came completely off… might have something to do with Matt Sharp leaving too… but who knows. Either way, the opening track to their debut album was glorious and foreign to my teenage mind. It didn't fallow the rules as I knew them for a pop song. It wasn't cased in easy to swallow gel-coating, it was an odd mixture of quickly plucked acoustic guitars and full forced waves of fuzzy guitars. It was straightforward drumming and thick-as-paste bass lines. And to top it all off, the unique and oddly soothing voice of Rivers Cuomo. It was different, it was original… and then it was copied by every geeky doof with a guitar for years to come. – Jake Haselman
9. First Breath After Coma - Explosions in the Sky (The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place)
I first have to tip my hat to Explosions in the Sky for giving this song its title. When those first few picks ring out in the early seconds of The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, the first thing I picture is a closed eye suddenly opening accompanied by a waking gasp. At times this song is lifting, at other times it's grounding, it has so many effects on you, you can't help but stay glued to your headphones. This song paved the way for a record that made almost anyone's top ten list of 2003 and still remains in my rotation to this day. – Phil Del Costello
8. Wouldn't It Be Nice - Beach Boys (Pet Sounds)
If you were (or are) an abstinent, conservative youth, this would be your theme song. Keeping in step with Brian Wilson was never an easy task for many, yet the opening track from Pet Sounds proved beyond a doubt that he had uncovered a gold mine of pop lushness. Nothing quite like it had ever been released before. Certainly, the drugs helped, but to churn out something that's struck a bass chord somewhere deep in the recesses of so many generations speaks volumes about the talent behind this dusty track one groove. – Paul Bredenburg
7. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N' Roses (Appetite for Destrustion)
I mean, come on. This song, hell, this ALBUM changed the face of the West Coast's thriving hard rock scene. When every other big hair band was putting on make up and playing pretty for the cameras, Axl Rose and the rest of Guns N' Roses knocked down the door to their fairytale sexcapades, bringing in the streetwalkers, heroin addicts and fistfuls of Jack Daniels. And thanks to that channel that used to play music videos, G N' R also scared the crap out of a nation full of parents who weren't aware of how the other side of the tracks lived out their nights. This is the ultimate in 'strap-yourself-in' opening tracks. – Jake Haselman
6. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited)
It took Dylan 6 and one-half minutes to change the shape of popular music and he did it with one of the most vitriolic, chest-pounding songs. Gone is the Dylan of ‘Blowing in the Wind' and the Greenwich Village folkie. Here was a young man who was disillusioned by phonies and hangers-on. He managed to put all of his emotion into one rollicking song. Like a Rolling Stone is said to have begun with lyrics that stretched 20 pages and borrows from Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, and, according to Dylan, Ritchie Valens. It may be about Edie Sedgewick, it may be the leftist folk-movement, and it may just be about himself. The truly amazing thing is that this is only the first song on an album that would challenge just about every popular music performer to come afterwards. – Travis Hutzell
5. Only Shallow - My Bloody Valentine (Loveless)
When my brother found out I didn't own Loveless nearly six years ago, he took me to our favorite record shop, grabbed the CD, and brought it to the front of the store. When he was asked if it was for him, he immediately called out his "idiot brother" and everyone had a good laugh. Except me. We got in the car and he said, "This is the best first note ever, as long as it's loud enough." And it was. From the first spec of hazy distortion on Only Shallow, Loveless is encapsulating in its effervescence and subduing in its warmth. So turn up your stereos. – Chris Gaerig
4. Black Dog – Led Zeppelin (IV)
While it may be one of the most overplayed albums on classic rock radio today, Led Zeppelin's fourth album, released in 1971, is the Godfather of its genre. Its opener, Black Dog, starts the launch sequence in every possible way. From Robert Plant's first holler of "Hey Hey Mama…" the song is both raw and complex, sexual foreplay in and of itself. That this mysterious untitled album would become one of the top selling albums of all time is actually no mystery. Just listen to that opening line over and over… - Steph Haselman
3. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (Astral Weeks)
At the tender age of 23, Van Morrison recorded what is a near perfect album. Kicking it off, the title track lushly rains wheat field guitars, Morrison's wild voice, and ethereal flutes for over 7 minutes. A miniature, but overwhelming orchestra, flirts with the other instruments as the songs rises and dips effortlessly like some sort of sped-up celestial calendar. As a flourishing violin brings the song to a close, Morrison's voice hangs behind, softly singing, "In another time, in another place." Such is the environment in which this song (and justifiably the entire album) rests, completely beyond anything before or after. When it is all finished, 8 songs and 46 minutes later, there is only one option: press play again. – Darren Susin
2. Silence Kit - Pavement (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
Silence Kit is Pavement personified. All their shambolic wit and subversive anti-instrumentalism is jammed together and squashed uncomfortably till it turns magically into a classic pop song. Stephen Malkmus's yelping is restrained just enough to wrangle out a beautiful melody and the mashed guitars combine miraculously to carve the weirdest and most backwards harmonies imaginable. 'Come on now, taaaaalk about yer faaamly…' is a particularly lovable yelp that will stay with you permanently. 'Silence Kit' is what people mean when they talk about 'the Pavement sound', completely deranged but making the most sense possible from a pop band. – Daniel Ross
1. Cherub Rock – Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream)
The drum roll that launched one of this generations finest guitar rock albums. It might not be the hippest choice for a publication that has the word "indie" in the title… but you can't deny this track. Like most of the other music loving high school freshman in 1993, I wasn't immersed in underground music. But I was about to have my mind blown by a Chicago foursome with a simple but powerful open to their second album. When that drum roll starts everyone knows what's coming next. Then the guitars quietly introduce some melody and build until the distortion pedal is practically BEGGING to be stomped on. The 4:58 song not only serves as a perfect opener, but it also typifies a whole genre and moment in time. – Jake Haselman
| 50 - 41 | | 40 - 31 | | 30 - 21 | | 20 - 11 | | 10 - 1 |
- IW Staff | 2006-09-22
