April Collective Collaborative Blog: Best Album Openers

Design by Andres Duarte

All great albums have to start somewhere, and that's with the essential "opening track". For the April collab blog, the collective discuss the album openers that aren't just killer stand alone tracks, but set the tone for the rest of the album. 

Randy's Picks
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Song: “Walk Slowly”
Album: Jump Up (1999)
Artist: Supercar
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It begins with a stylus dropping onto a record. Faint muted electronic sounds kick in, then you hear rhythmic drums on top of the glittering effects. Then the gentle strums of a guitar, then the bass. The sound begins to build on top of each other. Then the faraway vocals come in. Each instrument builds layers until everything comes crashing down and the crunching guitar kicks the doors wide open, lifts the veil, and introduces you to the floating, drenched world of Supercar. In many respects, the Japanese alternative rock scene was both cultivated and reborn with this song,

Supercar had an interesting career beginning with their debut in 1998, Three-Out Change, a guitar-driven shoegaze sound that propelled them to popularity with the young alternative crowd. They went into a unique direction with their second album, Jump Up, by experimenting with a more ambient, dream-pop sound that would continue until their disbandment in 2005. "Walk Slowly" signifies their unique combination of an electronic and guitar driven soundscape that signified the beginnings of other popular “underground” bands such as Quruli and Number Girl. The Japanese music scene, going into the 2000’s, was greatly influenced by this genre defining album.
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Song: “Fan Karano Okurimono”
Album: Single Man (1976)
Artist: RC Succession

The song begins with a lone funk keyboard before the melody bursts open into a soulful explosion with the addition of a band, lead by the American band Tower of Power. The sudden shift in tone for the influential Japanese band was surprising as they began years before in the early 70’s basing their sound around pure folk with no trace of an electric guitar. It’s akin to Dylan opening Bringing It All Back Home with “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” The title translates to “Gifts from Fans”, a track that displays a level of snark that would pervade most of the album and their career, something that was almost unheard of in Japanese music at the time of its release in 1976. By choosing this song to introduce their album, Single Man, they are forcing the listeners to rethink the band’s approach to songwriting and blindside them with a catchy melody combined with ironic lyrics. Throughout the album there is a thin line between humor and diligence.

The lyrics convey biting sarcasm about receiving unwanted gifts from fans and either giving them to their girlfriends or throwing them away. The tone is bright, but they contrast the gratefulness to their fans with a spiteful attitude that works only because there is earnestness in their musical abilities. RC Succession would later go on to become an arena rock band with leader Kiyoshiro Imawano paving the way for outspoken political songs that would lead the band to getting banished from its record label with the release of their 1988 album, Covers (which is an incredible work of art that used English and Japanese cover songs as social commentary). Although the band would find success with an accessible sound in the mid-80’s, the seed of the 1988 Covers album can be traced back to this song.
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Andres' Picks
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Song: “2 Morro Morro land”
Album: Hypermagic Mountain (2005)
Artist: Lightning Bolt

"2 Morro Morro Land" is not only a great opener, but probably one of the best gateways to introduce someone to Lightning Bolt and this genre.

The song opens up with a roaring bass, sounding like some angry revving engines, bringing you up just enough to fall head down into this swirling mayhem that for some reason feels like you’re part of some dystopian chase scene, being blasted on every flank by layers of pounding bass riffs, gun-machine-like drumming and frantic battle cries, which is, in a nutshell, the band’s formula.

This track just over-delivers in getting you pumped to endure the thrill of a ride that Hypermagic Mountain is without losing momentum, and it’s easily one of the best albums LB’s has put out yet. Extremely visual, primal yet playful, and full of bangers back to back.

Song: “Information and Belief”
Album: Four Great Points (1998)
Artist: June of 44

One of June of 44’s most iconic and perhaps most accessible songs in their discography. 

The melodic gentle build up of the intro has this “first rays of the morning sun coming through the shades” feel to it, that is undeniably soothing, and so are the breathy and almost whispery vocals that mimic the music’s temper. When Jeff Mueller exhales the mantra on the first verse: “This is the greatest place on Earth”, it creates a sense of comfort and warmth that permeates the song all throughout. The addition of violins halfway through the song glues this ballad together, and also gives you a glimpse of the explorations with instrumentation the band added to the recipe on this record, like the use of muted trumpets and typewriters. The explosive riffs and progressive shift to a more alarming sound towards the end, bring a different edge and complexity to the track, balancing the nostalgic and introspective themes, with the louder and more in your face side of their repertoire.

Besides being an amazing song, this track eases you into the album in a welcoming way, giving you a good taste of the amalgam June of 44 achieved on this release.

Honorable mentions:

Song: “Mystery Language”
Album: Witchcraft rebellion (2000)
Artist: Old Time Relijun

Song: “Thunderstruck Blues”
Album: Mudbird Shivers (1995)
Artist: The Ex
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Song: “Stag Party”
Album: Heroin Man (1994)
Artist: Cherubs

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Parisa's Picks
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Song: “Arise”
Album: Arise (1991)
Artist: Sepultura

While it’s generally the norm to save the best for last, Sepultura really just went ahead and started off their seminal 1991 album Arise with what can be argued as one of the greatest thrash metal songs of all time. The track starts off with an ominous, almost industrial soundscape that builds up the anticipation for a full 30 seconds, and then with no segue, comes in with an obliterating double-bass drum. It has a decapitating effect, only to be followed by annihilating riffs and death metal-crossover vocals, which forever changed the landscape of thrash metal. Lyrically, the song presents visions of a dying world, filled with terror and chaos, with a political subtext insinuating that authorities have turned a blind eye. Septultura offers their lens with one of my favorite chants in any song:

“I see the world...old! (old!)
I see the world...dead! (dead!)”

Fittingly, they named their album after this star track. It’s not to say that the rest of the album lacks or that it only goes downhill from there. Rather, if you’re going to make one of the best thrash metal albums of all time, you might as well set the standard right up top.

Song: “From Out of Nowhere”
Album: The Real Thing (1989)
Artist: Faith No More

Not only does this opener crash down the gates for this proto-alternative metal landmark album, but also acts as the introduction for Mike Patton into Faith No More, and ultimately our everyday lexicon in the '90s. Prior to The Real Thing, Faith No More was fronted by Chuck Mosley and was fired due to his erratic behavior (including falling asleep on stage and punching the bassist during a show.) Patton’s debut on this album really does seem to come “from out of nowhere”, but he sticks the landing with his legendarily unique vocals. He’s backed by a driving rhythm section and a thick orchestrational keyboard arrangement, creating a truly unique pop-by-way-of-punk type of sound that they became so well known for. This opener is then followed by “Epic, and then “Falling to Pieces”...damn, one of the best 1-2-3 run of songs of that whole era!

(I should also mention that this album then went on to create my favorite musical rivalry, Anthony Kiedis vs. Mike Patton. But more on that in the next ‘90s themed episode of The Melody Feed podcast!)

Song: “Care of Cell 44”
Album: Odyssey and Oracle (1968)
Artist: The Zombies

It’s a popularly discussed album opener, as A. Iwasa notes below in his write-ups, but “Care of Cell 44” really does still stand as one of the best. Not only does the track set the bright, polished and tender tone for what’s now considered to be one of the top albums in pop music history, but it does so even within the first ten seconds of the song. The “sprightly piano jingle” followed by the first line, “Morning to you, I hope you’re feeling better baby!” It’s all right there in the first line; it’s impossible to not feel a burst of bright, bubbly sunshine when you hear it! There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said about this song, but man, I’ve probably heard this album at least a hundred times and “Care of Cell 44” never ceases to make me excited to hear it all over again.

Song: “Only Shallow”
Album: Loveless (1991)
Artist: My Bloody Valentine

While this album is less concerned about the individual tracks and more about achieving an overall atmosphere, “Only Shallow” is still one hell of a song to introduce listeners to this pioneering shoegaze record. The 1-2-3-4 snare drum count opens up the album before this massive wall of feedback comes crashing in like a tidal wave. It defies the notion of what an “inviting” album opener should be; it’s thick, dense, and leaves you in this pink fog that disorients any familiar sound. It surges between these heavy riffs (that wouldn’t be out of place in a metal song) and these hypnotic, inscrutable verses. This ebb and flow brings a sense of life into a song, imitating a breathing pulse that is carried through the rest of the album, and shines through even the most dense walls of sound. “Only Shallow”, and Loveless in general, created this particular style that hadn’t been done quite like that ever before, but has been ceaselessly imitated since. 
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A. Iwasa's Picks

Song:  “Ton of Bricks”
Album:  The Dark (1986)
Artist:  Metal Church

When I first think of the best first track on albums, I think of the long list of tracks that set the tone for albums I don't want to put on unless I have the time to listen to it all the way through.

“Ton of Bricks” is one of my all time favorite, purely metal songs.  By the time I started to get into metal, I was definitely a fan of bands from very specific subgenres.  I was a fan of some of the older, straight up metal acts and some of them should be on this list like “Sinner” by Judas Priest on Sin After Sin and “Caught Somewhere in Time” by Iron Maiden on Somewhere in Time.
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But Metal Church was one of those bands that for years I was only dimly aware of for having helped set the stage for the later, and much larger Pacific Northwest bands.  Relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, I've seen them as a footnote to scene histories for there too.  But as far as tracks kicking off albums on the highest note possible?  This is a song that delivers.
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Song:  “Heat Lightnin'”
Album:  The Pink Album (1996)
Artist:  Tuscadero

I think Tuscadero might be one of the ‘90s best kept secrets.  I actually completely missed out on them at the time, but discovered them through a passing reference in the Art Babe comics by Jessica Able.  Other punk influenced indie rockers have gotten their due, and songs like “Dig Me Out,” the title track that kicks off Sleater-Kinney’s best album, and “Rock 'n' Roll Machine” by The Donnas, which starts off American Teenage Rock ‘n’ Roll Machine,  come to mind.  But both of those bands got their due and became stars for years, with Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney also making a career of writing.
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Song:  “Soup is Good Food”
Album:  Frankenchrist (1985)
Artist:  Dead Kennedys

Frankenchrist is my favorite DK album, and the slow, surfy guitar twang, walloping bass lines, thought provoking lyrics, and group chants really set the tone for the rest of the album, including the more hardcore punk tracks.

There is a lot to this album I didn't get when I was 14 and first getting into DK, like how this album provoked their big fight with the state for obscenity charges, or that the title “Soup is Good Food” was part of the slam of consumer culture that Jello Biafra also took his assumed first name to critique and juxtapose.  I lost my shit when I heard the slogan on The Price is Right years after I got this tape. 

Though there are more anthemic and infamous punk songs that kick off albums like “Holidays in the Sun” from The Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, more artsy yet  intellectual album starters in punkdom such as “Asylum” by Crass from Feeding the 5000, and of course more hardcore but still punk like “You Can't Bring Me Down” by Suicidal Tendencies from Lights... Camera... Revolution!, but I think there is too much hype about DK as personalities, and not enough on what actually made their music so great in the first place, as happens a little too often in punk.
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Song:  “Faster Than the Speed of Life”
Album:  The Second (1968)
Artist:  Steppenwolf

Growing up frequently listening to classic rock and oldies stations in the 1990s, there were a lot of rock acts you knew one or two songs by but never had a sense about what was up with the rest of the band's career, if they had much of one, and sometimes you didn't even know who the songs were by since young people weren't exactly their target audiences.

Every once in a while I would spring for one of these albums if I liked the song I knew or two, and was bummed to find out I only liked the hit(s).  Then there were albums like The Second by Steppenwolf, where every song was an absolute banger, and quickly the hits became my least favorite songs.  This album starts off strong and never lets up.  Sure there are some mellow parts, but they are still either funky or beautiful.

There were plenty of other old albums that started off strong with tracks like “Second Hand News” by Fleetwood Mac from Rumors or the title tracks of “Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles that were well known when I was in Junior and Senior High in the '90s that as far as I can tell, maintained some staying power among the youth.  I wonder why some bands like Thin Lizzy and T. Rex find a hipster niche long after their front men die but others like Steppenwolf get relegated to being a couple FM radio staples without much more love?  This album ROCKS, start to finish. 
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Song:  “Tell All the People”
Album:  The Soft Parade (1969)
Artist:  The Doors

When I first started to brainstorm for this write up, "Break On Through" by The Doors was one of the tracks that came to mind.  But when I thought about it more, I decided The Doors' self-titled debut album suffers from no shortage of appreciation.  The Soft Parade on the other hand, I think is their most underrated album with Morrison.  There seems to be something sort of darker yet still celebratory about the album

This track actually was released as a single, but peaked at #57 on Billboard.  In fact, out of four album tracks from The Soft Parade released as A Side singles, only "Touch Me" broke the top ten.  I think there is a long list of well and deservedly appreciated albums, with killer first tracks from the era.  But I wanted to bring attention to some of the acts or albums that I don't think have gotten the full respect they deserve like “Care of Cell 44” by The Zombies on Odyssey and Oracle and “See the Light” by Hot Tuna on Phosphorescent Rat.

Song:  “Numb/Blind to Faith”
Album:  The Promise (2003)
Artist:  Ringworm

For years this was Ringworm's only album, and as a 13 year old recovering Catholic in West suburban Clevo?  This was exactly the sort of pissed off metalcore I was dying to find when I first heard it as I was getting into their scene.

A bit sloppy compared to later albums, The Promise in general and “Numb/Blind to Faith” in particular was a great way to set the stage for everything to come for years with this act.  In fact, the first two times I saw this band, they opened with this!

Tighter first tracks on better albums and more prominent bands such as “We Gotta Know” by Cro-Mags from Age of Quarrel and “All Out War,” the title track that kick’s off of Earth Crisis’s debut EP certainly exist, but I'm not sure how many of these bands I would have gotten into later if Ringworm wasn't one of the first metal-hardcore bands I ever got into.