Subjective Album Geography Survey

this is difficult because duh, i love lots of songs on each of my favorite albums, but i have found that the albums i consider great usually have something special on the 2nd to last track

I think we discussed the topography of album tracks at length in some early ILM thread. Lots of people (myself included) tend to skip to track 2 as a preview to get the overall 'feel' of the record. In my head, track 5 tends to be the one I like least; track 6 is always great.

voted last track on side 1, this seems in a lot of cases to be the fulcrum of an album. they want to frontload the good stuff on side 1 and want to give a strong signoff at the end of the side. by the end of side 2 they have run out of steam.

some albums switch gears at the beginning of the 2nd side in an interesting way, "On Some Faraway Beach" on Warm Jets for example

For a couple of my teenage years it was pretty reliably track 4 for some reason.

CDs don't have that required change dynamic and maybe they get frontloaded more than LP based collections did

Track 7

Between 1989 and 2001, I put together a 110 minute cassette mixtape of my faves from each year, for a total of 373 songs. Going by their CD (not LP) track numbers, here's how many there are of each:

1.) 74 - Track 2's
2.) 67 - Track 1's
3.) 55 - Track 5's
4.) 44 - Track 3's
5.) 39 - Track 4's
6.) 24 - Track 6's
7.) 20 - Track 7's
8.) 20 - Track 8's
9.) 13 - Track 10's
10.) 12 - Track 9's
11.) 9 - Track 11's
12.) 8 - Track 13's
13.) 8 - Track 14's
14.) 7 - Track 12's
15.) 3 - Track 16's
16.) 1 - Track 20's
17.) 1 - Track 21's
18.) 1 - Track 37's

Pretty much confirms the concept of front-loading. Interesting that Track 2 edges out Track 1, which I like to think proves I'm not shallow.

I've long thought the second track was U&K. You need a strong opener to draw you into the album, then knock it out of the park with a killer track 2 to drive it home.

Nonetheless, if I were making a 10-track LP with 5 songs a side, I'd put my best song in the middle of side 2, so track 8 for me.

1 - immediate track with lesser lasting returns.
2 - filler/intro
3 - acknowledged gem
4 - track that wouldn't fit with the thematic suite on side B
5 - guitarist fucking around with tape loops while everyone else is sleeping
...

Voted track 2. Feel like lots of albums I love have the good track 1 followed by great track 2 progression.

Track 7 is almost always awesome

voted track 2 on behalf of my ex-wife

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

wondering if 1st track will get shut out?

Just thinking off the top of my head of old acclaimed lps with 1st tracks that regularly get called the favorite song, I get Highway 61, Maggot Brain, Exile on Main St., Who's Next, What's Goin On, Funhouse, Kick Out the Jams, New York Dolls, Astral Weeks, some Neil Young, Joni Mitchell & several Roxy Music & Steely Dan records, In A Silent Way (wait, that's the last song on side one)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

more voters than I expected and some surprises in the results, thanks for playing and goodbye

First wuz robbed!