Side One, Track One.

[Kensterberg]

As promised/threatened, I said that I'd have a new and very specific poll after that all too broad and waaaaay too difficult "best recording artists ever" poll. So this one is very clear: give us the top ten twenty-five(*) opening tracks on albums.

One restriction -- these need to be from studio albums: no live records (unless it's some kind of hybrid "live" recording like Jackson Browne's Running on Empty or R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, both of which were recorded backstage, on-stage, at sound checks, etc. and consisted entirely of new material). In other words, even though "Corduroy" is a killer kick-off for Live On Two Legs or "Heaven and Hell" is absolutely perfect for Live at Leeds, they don't qualify for this competition, but "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" would.

So post your ten favorites here -- I'll plan on keeping the poll open for the next week or two. Depending on what kind of results it gets, maybe I'll then do a run-off among the top five or ten vote getters to determine the "winner."

(*) This was gonna be a top ten, but as I state in the third post on this thread, it's just too friggin' hard to narrow it down to ten. So it's a top 25, plus however many "honorable mentions" you want to give out.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

1.New Order-Age of Consent off of "Power, Corruption, and Lies"
2.Nirvana-Serve the Servants off of "In Utero"
3.The Pixies-Debaser off of "Doolittle"
4.The Band-Tears of Rage off of "Music from Big Pink"
5.Black Flag-Rise Above off of "Damaged"
6.Sonic Youth-Teenage Riot off of "Daydream Nation"
7.Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Do You Love Me off of "Let Love In"
8.Bob Dylan-Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 off of "Blonde on Blonde"
9.The Rolling Stones-Sympathy for the Devil off of "Beggars Banquet"
10. N.W.A-Straight Outta Comptom from the album of the same name

[rockysigman]

Excellent. This will appease my High Fidelity style nerdiness for a little while. Might take me a bit to come up with my list...

[Kensterberg]

Change 1: after looking at Skvor's excellent top ten list, I think this should be a top twenty-five instead. There's just too many great candidates to limit each poster to ten (wouldn't be enough overlap and so the "winners" would be absolutely meaningless). So go ahead and post your top 25 faves.

[Galactus]

I'm going to have to figure on it a while...you can't just pick albums where the first track is great, you have to pick albums where the first track sets up the whole album.

[rockysigman]

Do EPs count?

[rockysigman]

Also, what about live albums that are entirely new material? I'm thinking specifically of using John Cale's "Mercenaries (Ready for War)" from his Sabotage/Live album if this is allowed. That particular song actually does have a studio version that was released as a b-side later on, but the live version came out first, and as far as I know that's the only song on the album that has any studio version at all.

[Kensterberg]

Yeah, EPs count.

If the live album is entirely new material (i.e. it's all songs that hadn't appeared in studio versions at that time) then it counts. So that John Cale disc would count, but you couldn't use Cheap Trick's "Hello There" from Live at Budokan.

Does that clarify things, Rocky?

And I think DED's right when he says that it can't just be a single great song, it has to be one that sets up a killer album. IMHO. That's not a rule, like the no live albums (and no compilitions just goes without saying), just my perspective.

[rockysigman]

Thanks Ken. I've already got a ton of them to sort through. This will keep me busy today.

[luke]

skvorisdeadsorta said:

1.New Order-Age of Consent off of "Power, Corruption, and Lies"
2.Nirvana-Serve the Servants off of "In Utero"
3.The Pixies-Debaser off of "Doolittle"
4.The Band-Tears of Rage off of "Music from Big Pink"
5.Black Flag-Rise Above off of "Damaged"
6.Sonic Youth-Teenage Riot off of "Daydream Nation"
7.Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Do You Love Me off of "Let Love In"
8.Bob Dylan-Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 off of "Blonde on Blonde"
9.The Rolling Stones-Sympathy for the Devil off of "Beggars Banquet"
10. N.W.A-Straight Outta Comptom from the album of the same name

Holy shit bet no one tops this list.

[rockysigman]

I'm imposing a limit of two per artist (total, list + honorable mentions) on myself. Came up with a whole lot of candidates.

The list:
1) Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot" - Daydream Nation
2) Mission of Burma - "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" - Signals, Calls and Marches
3) Wilco - "Misunderstood" - Being There
4) The Pixies - "Debaser" - Doolittle
5) X - "The New World" - More Fun In the New World
6) The Clash - "London Calling" - London Calling
7) The White Stripes - "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" - White Blood Cells
8) Nirvana - "Serve the Servents" - In Utero
9) John Cale - "Mercenaries (Ready for War)" - Sabotage/Live
10) The Clash - "The Magnificent Seven" - Sandinista!
11) The Beatles - "Come Together" - Abbey Road
12) Iggy & the Stooges - "Search & Destroy" - Raw Power
13) The Velvet Underground - "White Light/White Heat" - White Light/White Heat
14) Radiohead - "Everything In It's Right Place" - Kid A
15) Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone" - Highway 61 Revisited
16) Thunderbirds Are Now! - "Better Safe Than Safari" - Justamustache
17) The Modern Lovers - "Roadrunner" - The Modern Lovers
18) The White Stripes - "Jimmy the Exploder" - The White Stripes
19) Jeff Buckley - "Mojo Pin" - Grace
20) Neko Case - "Things That Scare Me" - Blacklisted
21) Mission of Burma - "2wice" - The Obliterati
22) The Stooges - "Down On the Street" - Funhouse
23) Joy Division - "Atrocity Exhibition" - Closer
24) Elvis Costello - "Accidents Will Happen" - Armed Forces
25) David Bowie - "Five Years" - Ziggy Stardust





Honorable mentions:
Antony & the Johnsons - "Hope There's Someone" - I Am a Bird Now
The Arcade Fire - "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - Funeral
Chris Bell - "I Am the Cosmos" - I Am the Cosmos
Big Star - "Feel" - #1 Record
Big Star - "Kizza Me" - Third/Sister Lovers
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Stop" - Take Them On, On Your Own
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Shuffle Your Feet" - Howl
John Cale - "Fear (Is a Man's Best Friend)" - Fear
Neko Case - "Margaret Vs. Pauline" - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Elvis Costello - "Welcome to the Working Week" - My Aim Is True"
Nick Drake - "Pink Moon" - Pink Moon
Bob Dylan - "Tangled Up in Blue" - Blood on the Tracks
Galaxie 500 - "Fourth of July" - This Is Our Music
The Go - "Meet Me At the Movies" - Whatcha Doin'
Richard Hell & the Voidoids - "Love Comes In Spurts" - Blank Generation
Hüsker Dü - "Something I Learned Today" - Zen Arcade
Loose Fur - "Laminated Cat" - Loose Fur
Luna - "Chinatown" - Penthouse
The Mars Volta - "Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus" - Frances the Mute
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nevermind
Pearl Jam - "Last Exit" - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - "Life Wasted" - Pearl Jam
Pere Ubu - "Non-alignment Pact" - The Modern Dance
The Pixies - "Trompe Le Monde" - Trompe Le Monde
Radiohead - "Planet Telex" - The Bends
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Warped" - One Hot Minute
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Around the World" - Californication
R.E.M. - "Radio Free Europe" - Murmur
R.E.M. - "Drive" - Automatic for the People
The Replacements - "I Will Dare" - Let It Be
The Smiths - "The Queen Is Dead" - The Queen Is Dead
Sonic Youth - "Tom Violence" - EVOL
Soundgarden - "Rusty Cage" - Badmotorfinger
Soundgarden - "Pretty Noose" - Down On the Upside
Stone Temple Pilots - "Meatplow" - Purple
Stone Temple Pilots - "Down" - No. 4
The Strokes - "Is This It" - Is This It
The Strokes - "What Ever Happened?" - Room On Fire
Television - "See No Evil" - Marquee Moon
The Toadies - "Mexican Hairless" - Rubberneck
TOOL - "Stinkfist" - Aenima
U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - War
Weezer - "Tired of Sex" - Pinkerton
Wilco - "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
X - "The Hungry Wolf" - Under the Big Black Sun
Yo La Tengo - "Barnaby, Hardly Working" - President Yo La Tengo

[Kensterberg]

Shit, I've got about 80 candidates on my prelim list ... this may take a while longer.

[Kensterberg]

OK, I had to limit myself to one per artist. And if I did this from scratch in a week, it'd probably look very different, except for the top four or so. So for whatever it's worth, here's my top 25 side one, track one picks:

1. The Clash, “London Calling” – London Calling
2. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, “Thunder Road” – Born to Run
3. The Who, “Baba O’Reilly” – Who’s Next
4. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” – Highway 61 Revisited
5. David Bowie, “Station to Station” – Station to Station
6. Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nevermind
7. The Beatles, “I Saw Her Standing There” – Please Please Me
8. U2, “Where the Streets Have No Name” – The Joshua Tree
9. Midnight Oil, “Beds Are Burning” – Diesel and Dust
10. New Order, “Age of Consent” – Power, Corruption and Lies
11. Peter Gabriel, “The Rythym of the Heat” – Peter Gabriel 4 (Security)
12. The Replacements, “Hold My Life” – Tim
13. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, “No Action” – This Year’s Model
14. Pearl Jam, “Life Wasted” – Pearl Jam
15. Counting Crows, “Round Here” – August and Everything After
16. Pete Townshend, “Rough Boys” – Empty Glass
17. Waterboys, “Church Not Made With Hands” – A Pagan Place
18. Wilco, “Misunderstood” – Being There
19. X, “The Hungry Wolf” – Under the Big Black Sun
20. Don Henley, “The Boys of Summer” – Building the Perfect Beast
21. R.E.M., “Radio Free Europe” – Murmer
22. The Jam, “All Mod Cons” – All Mod Cons
23. Gang of Four, “Ether” – Entertainment!
24. Oasis, “Rock and Roll Star” – Definitely Maybe
25. The Velvet Underground, “Candy Says” – The Velvet Underground

And the rest of my "short" list, in alphabetical order by artist:

1. Bob Dylan, “Love Sick” – Time Out of Mind
2. Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue” – Blood on the Tracks
3. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, “Badlands” – Darkness on the Edge of Town
4. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, “Lonesome Day” – The Rising
5. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, “The Ties That Bind” – The River
6. Crowded House, “Mean to Me” – Crowded House
7. David Bowie, “Five Years” – The Decline and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
8. David Bowie, “It’s No Game” – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
9. David Bowie, “Speed of Life” – Low
10. David Bowie, “Watch That Man” – Aladin Sane
11. Dire Straits, “Tunnel of Love” – Making Movies
12. Don Henley, “The End of the Innocence” – The End of the Innocence
13. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, “Accidents Will Happen” – Armed Forces
14. Elvis Costello, “Welcome to the Working Week” – My Aim is True
15. Graham Parker and the Rumour, “Discovering Japan” – Squeezing Out Sparks
16. Husker Du, “New Day Rising” – New Day Rising
17. Husker Du, “These Important Years” – Warehouse: Songs and Stories
18. John Lennon, “Mother” – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
19. Midnight Oil, “Blue Sky Mine” – Blue Sky Mining
20. Paul Simon, “The Boy in the Bubble” – Graceland
21. Paul Westerberg, “It’s a Wonderful Lie” – Suicaine Gratifaction
22. Peter Gabriel, “Intruder” – Peter Gabriel 3
23. R.E.M., “Begin the Begin” – Lifes Rich Pageant
24. Radiohead, “2+2=5 (The Lukewarm)” – Hail to the Thief
25. Radiohead, “Airbag” – OK Computer
26. Sleater-Kinney, “Dig Me Out” – Dig Me Out
27. Sugar, “Gift” – File Under Easy Listening
28. Talking Heads, “Burning Down the House” – Speaking in Tongues
29. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “Me and Mia” – Shake the Sheets
30. Television, “See No Evil” – Marquee Moon
31. The (English) Beat, “I Confess” – Special Beat Service
32. The Band, “Across the Great Divide” – The Band
33. The Beatles, “Back in the U.S.S.R.” – The Beatles (the white album)
34. The Beatles, “Come Together” – Abbey Road
35. The Beatles, “Help!” – Help!
36. The Beatles, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
37. The Beatles, “Taxman” – Revolver
38. The Clash, “Safe European Home” – Give ‘Em Enough Rope
39. The Clash, “The Magnificent Seven” – Sandinista!
40. The Replacements, “I Will Dare” – Let It Be
41. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” – Let It Bleed
42. The Rolling Stones, “Miss You” – Some Girls
43. The Sex Pistols, “Holidays in the Sun” – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
44. The Strokes, “Is This It?” – Is This It?
45. Thunderbirds Are Now!, “Better Safe Than Safari” – Justamoustache
46. Tim Finn, “Couldn’t Be Done” – Imaginary Kingdom
47. Todd Rundgren, “I Saw the Light” – Something/Anything?
48. U2, “I Will Follow” – Boy
49. U2, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – War
50. U2, “Zoo Station” – Achtung Baby!
51. U2, “Zooropa” – Zooropa
52. White Stripes, “Seven Nation Army” – Elephant
53. X, “Your Phone’s Off the Hook (but you’re not)” – Los Angeles

[rockysigman]

Ah crap, I totally forgot about EC. I guess I'll have to go back and squeeze him in there somewhere.

[Galactus]

Welcome To The Working Week is pretty good song by it self but opening that album it's great, it really gets things moving. It's on my list for sure.