Excellent Bookends (Great Album Opening Tracks/Closing Tracks)

Music
1

Which albums have brilliant first and last tracks which elevate the album?

In the words of the mighty Mitch Hedberg:
"As a comedian, you have to start the show strong and you have to end the show strong. Those are the two key elements. You can’t be like pancakes. You’re all happy at first, but then by the end, you’re sick of ’em.”

I agree. A great album should start strong and end strong. This can elevate a good album to a great one and a great one to a classic.

Examples:

  • Slayer: Reign in Blood. Best tracks are at the start and end. Starts with Angel of Death, ends with Raining Blood. The stuff in the middle runs along like a freight train and you’re over in fewer than 30 minutes. Result= perfect thrash album.
  • Songs: Ohia: Magnolia Electric Company. Farewell Transmission/ Hold On, Magnolia. Incredible rousing and poetic opening track, heartbreaking closing track. Awesome.
  • Converge: Jane Doe. Concubine/Jane Doe. Blast of energy for the start, then an epic closer. Perfectly sequenced record.
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:zap: Starman: the David Bowie Listening Club - Heathen (2002) - from post 1993
2

August and Everything After with Round Here and A Murder of One. Two of the greatest songs ever written.

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3

I’m a sucker for albums that have a blast of energy for track one and a big mournful number, often orchestral, to close. Examples:

  • Malcolm Middleton’s A Brighter Beat starting with We’re All Going To Die and closing with Superhero Songwriters
  • The Divine Comedy’s Casanova starting with Something For The Weekend and closing with The Dogs And The Horses
  • Parklife starting with Girls and Boys and ending with This Is A Low

(I really like how the first word on Casanova is a whispered “hello” and the last word is a faltering “goodbye”)

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4

Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night: Tonight’s the Night / Tonight’s the Night

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6

First thing that sprang to mind was Welcome To Sky Valley
Gardenia as an opener and Whitewater as a closer is pretty tough to beat

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7

Best one. EOT

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8

Ride - Going Blank Again

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10

The long tracks at the start and end (with the long ambient track in the middle) - one of the reasons why it’s their second best album!

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11

Thunder Road & Jungleland.

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12

Elastica

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13

Oh yeah this is my favourite of these

Could be absolutely nothing in between them and it would still be an 8/10 album

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14

would go for big day coming (quiet) & I heard you looking personally!

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15

Great shout

16

Arcarsenal & Catacombs

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17

Meddle is the definitive one of these for me. Two of their best tracks, bookending some other stuff that I pretty much always skip:

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18

Still trying to get Fontaines to properly click with me, and while I’m not there yet with the full album, it’s got a great pair of bookends.

An atmospheric, mood setting opener & perfect stadium singalong closer

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19

Really like when a record almost literally does this, with opening and closing tracks sharing lyrics, motifs etc. Dimensional Bleed by Holy Fawn as an example.

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360
365

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