Great albums with terrible last songs

Apologies if this has been done before, I did a search and couldn't find anything. What are some albums that are great all the way through and then have a stinker of a song at the end that you don't bother listening to?

I thought we had as well. Protection was a notable entry

Me likewise, but I too can't find it.

Anyway, Dire Straits' Making Movies wins this thread.

Gilded Palace of Sin

Moving Pictures, kind of.

New Skin for the Old Ceremony

I thought we had as well. Protection was a notable entry

― loud horn beeping jazzsplaining arse (dog latin)

The live Doors cover? I don't think of that as part of the album.

Piper at the Gates of Dawn (UK version) ends with 'Bike', which I find somewhat in-your-face annoying and not a very good album closer.

You crazy.

Les Boys is the only Dire Straits song I like

The Beach Boys 'Today'

Piper at the Gates of Dawn (UK version) ends with 'Bike', which I find somewhat in-your-face annoying and not a very good album closer.

― Valentijn, Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:34 (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

close thread

da capo springs to mind for me, but it's been a long old time since i listened to revelation so maybe it's just me

Three that spring to mind:

You're Living All Over Me

The Notorius Byrd Brothers

Fun House

Agree with The Gided Palace of Sin, Hippy Boy is a bit of a stinker!

Beach Boys - Friends

"Remain In Light" for me. Not that the Overload is bad, it clearly isn't. It just doesn't fit the mood of the record to have a big drawn out downer drone at the end.

yeah not my fave

Signals - "Countdown" promises an epic closer but the tune never really gets going

Most albums where I feel this way, it's bonus tracks. Love vs Money for example, Kelly's 12 Play is the perfect logical way to end that album, and then a second later Let Me See the Booty ruins it.

people seem to say that about "The Overload" a lot but idgi, if anything "Once in a Lifetime" is the sticky out track to me, it's not an album of party jams

not that "OiaL" is a party jam either but you get my point

"Listening Wind" into "Overload" fits fine, texturally and moodwise

Lilys - A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns

Daydream Nation. I hate 'Eliminator Jr.'

The Soft Machine (first LP) is the closest thing I can think of to a perfect album, but the last track "Box 25/4 Lid" is just 49 seconds of nothing much going on, it doesn't ruin it but if they deleted it nobody would care.

Damn, Vital Signs, Countdown, and Bike are all jams. Y'all cray.

Noodle Vague, how is RiL not a party album when it's got Crosseyed & Painless on it?

Three comments against mine, but I don't know, when I listen to Piper I'm really eager to hear all of that psychedelic wonderful greatness of Interstellar Overdrive, Astronomy Domine, Flaming, Lucifer Sam... anything really, but Bike sounds so different to me. Do people really think of it as just as good as all those other album tracks/a standout/a Pink Floyd classic/fitting in well with the album?

Yes. You actually think "Take Up They Stethoscope" is better?

how is RiL not a party album when it's got Crosseyed & Painless on it?

well for one thing David Byrne is singing on it

put listening wind on and dance to it. feels slinky, right? then dance to the overload. Now you're doing the zombie shuffle. Thats why it doesn't work.

THREAD WINNER.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iisYw0epV_Q

yes Joni, definitely end your best album and one of the best albums of all time with a guest spot from Cheech & Chong

weirdly, that was the first song i got into the first time i heard Court & Spark (and Joni in general) but the joke wore thin by like the second go round

i hear RiL as paranoid and twitchy and bummed and "The Overload" as its logical conclusion, the overload, the comedown

"Soul Survivor" feels sort of like an afterthought at the end of Exile On Main Street

I used to think so too, but the drumming! the riff!

yeah no way, "soul survivor rips," less afterthought than condensed culmination. "it's gonna be the death of me" always gives me chills

shift quotation mark one word to the left

New York I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down

"Compton" is the only song I don't like on Good Kid Maad City, sticks out like a sore thumb

Yes. You actually think "Take Up They Stethoscope" is better?

Um... no, indeed, that one isn't great. I do notice more of a contrast with Bike in regards to the rest of the album though (Stethoscope is also shorter and sounds more like a filler to me). And I definitely wouldn't rank it alongside all those tracks that truly stand out to me. Do you?

Aladdin Sane ends with Lady Grinning Soul, which is not a good song.

And maybe the quintessential example, Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s excellent, overlooked album Broken Arrow ends with a pointless cover of Baby What You Want Me To Do that sounds like it was recorded on a Walkman from the back of a tiny club.

REM’s Document ends with Oddfellows Local 151 which is nobody’s idea of a good song.

"Lady Grinning Soul" is not a good song, it's a great song

you're also fairly wrong about "Oddfellows"

i know ILM is the wrong place to say this but what a wonderful thing consciousness is that it can diverge so wildly between essentially similar creatures

After "Bike" I'm expecting someone to come along and post "After Hours" from The Velvet Underground.

yeah but this is still the wrongest thing in the thread

how is RiL not a party album when it's got Crosseyed & Painless on it?

well for one thing David Byrne is singing on it

― vermicious kid (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, April 10, 2018 7:29 AM (forty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'Soul Survivor' makes perfect sense as a closer. It's a new beginning after an hour spent wading in delicious muck. Whether it's believable or not is another matter.

I was almost going to include Court and Spark too, but didn't because while I don't find the lightweight, jokey, "Twisted" to be an appropriate album closer, it's not *that* awful a song; it may have gone unnoticed if the other tracks weren't so great. I disqualified The Beach Boys Today because "Bull Session with the Big Daddy" isn't a song, and "In the Back of my Mind" is an excellent album closer. Ending Friends with "Transcendental Meditation" is a headscratcher though given that "I Went to Sleep" was recorded during the same sessions and would have closed the album perfectly.

"Bike" is a fine closer for Piper IMO.

As for 'Bike', I hated it at first but I was still wrapping my mind around Barrett-era Floyd at the time. Can't imagine the album without it at this point, thanks to the tape loop in particular.

dunno if I'd call it terrible but I've always found "Equator" on Kimono My House to be pretty obnoxious

seems like if you like zany sing song whimsy like "Lucifer Sam" or "The Gnome" then "Bike" isn't really far off. idgi maybe there are Syd fans that are "Vegetable Man was a little too far, dude should've reigned it in" but personally anytime i hear a new Syd track no matter how shambolic im like please sir i'd like some more

― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau)

Ha this are my 3 favorite songs from Piper. My favorite Syd Barrett song is See Emily Play though... whoever decided to leave it out of piper made the wrong choice.

Is Hot Rats really considered more accessible than Freak Out? Freak Out is the only Zappa album I've heard that I like. Hot Rats was just endless noodling.

depends who you ask I guess. I don't think people are really coming to Zappa for 'accessibility', if you wanted that then you'd be better off with, I dunno, Over-nite Sensation or something. I think it's accessible in that it doesn't do anything to turn the listener off.

xp to self I suppose Absolutely Free is OK and I like My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama off Weasels Ripped My Flesh, but that's about it.

Ha this are my 3 favorite songs from Piper. My favorite Syd Barrett song is See Emily Play though... whoever decided to leave it out of piper made the wrong choice.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, April 12, 2018 9:12 AM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The original US version had See Emily Play on it. It was apparently considered bad form in the UK at the time to put hit singles on your album, whereas in the US it was expected that a new album would have the current single(s) on it, with the presence of hit singles used to promote albums. I like "Emily" as well as "Arnold Layne" and "Apples and Oranges" better than anything on Piper.

xposts
It’s funny ‘cuz I like a lot of stuff that seems “Zappa adjacent,” both in style and approach... I read about Zappa music, and it sounds like something I would like... but then when I listen to it, I’m basically “Oh HELL no....”

I gave “Freak Out” a good chance, and I thought I might dig the all-guitar album (I like good playing...)

when I started listening to Zappa I found Hot Rats to be one of the more accessible albums mainly because it has no Frank Zappa vocals or comedy monologues on it

A common reason given for liking certain Zappa albums. Personally, I find those the instrumental jazz-rock of Zappa dull as ditchwater.

those instrumental jazz-rock albums. Jesus, my typing.

Hot Rats has the massive advantage of Beefheart singing on the only track w/ lyrics.

yea that was kind of my experience with him too. the first one I got was Sheik Yerbouti (it was the only one the store had) and when "Broken Hearts are For Assholes" came on my jaw hit the floor. like, seriously, this is the guy who a bunch of hardcore prog-heads say is the greatest ever? that wasn't actually a turn-off, I thought it was kinda fascinating, even though I really wished that the dude who was often praised for his sense of humor was actually *funny* and not just crass. he's like a middle schooler who thinks "put it in your ASS!!!" is the funniest thing ever.

later I came to realize that this was basically his entire shtick. as though the pinnacle of artistic achievement was drawing a big ol' dick on the Mona Lisa. the early days were full of whining about "awww they won't let me say FUCK on a record!" and then when his style of crassness was no longer considered "shocking" (was it back then?) he became even more bitter and desperate. the last straw for me was "Jumbo Go Away" on You Are What You Is (which I'd heard was his best 80's record), even my 17-year old idiot edgelord self thought it was too needlessly cruel and hateful. it singlehandedly made me afraid of getting old.

I guess this is a bit OT

It feels to me like maybe he doesn’t actually like rock ’n’ roll, and is only using it strategically/sarcastically (but maybe that’s not accurate or fair).

nah he loves rock n roll. listen to Crusin With Ruben and the Jets.

Imagos post was a joke right

;)

Zappa is weird and freaky in an incredibly irritating way. He's obviously a cunt - fine - but his music is just the worst kind of fucking around. It has a really vile energy. Whenever Cardiacs get compared to him it makes me literally puke. I'm puking right now

Also I've thought of another example, kind of! The Mars Volta's album Frances The Mute is properly amazing right up until the half-hour closing track, of which maybe eight minutes are required

if you don't like Bike, you hate life

I don't know why, I call him Gerald

Bike is life, alright!

Also I've thought of another example, kind of! The Mars Volta's album Frances The Mute is properly amazing right up until the half-hour closing track, of which maybe eight minutes are required

― imago, Thursday, April 12, 2018 7:18 AM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ok sure but like... idk, the hook for "cassandra gemini" is the best hook of their discography. when they get back around to it after 15 minutes of whatever it's so awesome that i don't care how long it is

That's fair

OK listening to CG and it hasn't gotten dull yet after like 15 minutes, maybe I've misjudged it

Oh no wait here's the bit they should have cut haha

nah he loves rock n roll. listen to Crusin With Ruben and the Jets.

I'm 2/3 into this, and not hating it! He clearly does have a real affinity for '50s R'n'R and doo-wop.

I feel like I'd rather listen to "the real thing" -- or the Lou Reed songs where he goes deep into those styles and creates something new -- than this album, which feels like sort of a "genre exercise"; but I concede it's my first time thru and I'm just listening on the computer.

Cruising is such an anomaly in his catalogue - it's weirdly earnest, you don't get the sense he's just mocking it the way you do with all those hard-rock 70s records. He never did another record quite like it.

Weasels ripped my flesh is wonderful morris

Check out directly from my heart to you

Thanks, will dial that up next!

Why are you bothering with Zappa, so much better stuff to listen to out there? There is quite a bit of mocking going on on "Cruising With Ruben & the Jets" btw.

Though the main problem with "Cruising With Ruben & the Jets" is it sounds like Zappa spent about 5 minutes on the arrangements and 30 minutes on the recording.

Eh, I've got Spotify and nothing but time while I work...

There is quite a bit of mocking going on on "Cruising With Ruben & the Jets" btw

it was made when all the serious rock bands were doing "back to the basics" and ripping off blues records. those are the targets of the mockery, not the doo wop itself (which is a style he has played his entire career)

anyways theres a lot of mockery in rock. Bob Dylan's entire career is built on sneering at conventions.

it was made when all the serious rock bands were doing "back to the basics" and ripping off blues records. those are the targets of the mockery, not the doo wop itself (which is a style he has played his entire career)

That's a bizarre theory, I must say. The lyrics of doo wop songs are definitely mocked and played for laughs by Zappa. Not all of the album is even doo wop anyway!

sure like usual there are many layers to the satire. but i don't think "doo wop music/50s rock is stupid" itself was one of the intend takes. like he hates lovey dovey lyrics but loves the music.

well yeah

the fact that you have to unwrap it a bit to figure out what he's making fun is what makes it unique. usually Frank ain't so subtle. (though lol @ Cruising with Ruben & the Jets being "subtle")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv6AiaaOOnY

i like "Charva", an early one he did in 1963. same wheelhouse but more Ramones (via singing about sniffing glue)

you can mock something that you like, even have affection for. see also MST3K

Well, I listened to Weasels... I dug the track "Get a Little" (it's too short, in fact!) -- both the lead gtr and bassline are very to my taste. The rest of the LP seems too noodly / chord-changey / listener-antagonistic to jell w/me.

"Get a Little" reminds me of the stuff on Plays That Good Old Rock And Roll, the 2002 album my main man Neil Hagerty (& crew)...

Weasels gets pretty skronky. It has some good stuff tho.

I tried and tried with Zappa but he's just fucking terrible

otm

decided to relisten to "Jumbo Go Away" just to see if it's as vile as I remember. it's actually much worse, though there is a crazy and brilliant middle section that sounds like the Residents on steroids. then afterwards "Jumbo better get back, or your eye will get black, once I give you a smack", filled by a minute of crying noises. anyway, long story short, I hate Frank Zappa now

Hard to think of a major figure who had such little sense of taste as to how to present his talent attractively

There's legends who alienate and rub fans the wrong way but it's hardly ever done as cheaply and as pointlessly

A Ghost is Born shouldn't end with the Late Greats right after the great Less Than You Think, which was the perfect ending.

BIKE IS FUCKING DOPE

I thought I was going to have to vouch hard for “Cassandra Gemini”, but as it is I just want to make the case that an 8-minute funereal jam session is a great final indulgence for a song that’s managed to maintain its energy so well for so long, esp. (as mentioned) when the chorus comes soaring back one last time at the end.

"shut up and play your guitar" is the other zappa album i like, just 3 CDs of guitar solos

Yeah that's one of the ones I owned once. Thought I would dig it! Maybe I'll try dipping back in.

probably doesn't count as it's a hidden track but "Hit to Death in the Future Head" has a nearly 30 minute harsh noise loop as a final track. i've never been able to listen to this great album all the way through.

my patience with songwriters who are either unable or unwilling to write a love song grows shorter as i grow older