Now that records are gone for the most part, and cassettes, too, we miss knowing what side of the album the various tracks were suppossed to be on; but since alot of the music we have been listening to lately was from that era, it is cool to really dig into why the artist put that track there and why. (We is me and Steve and we are listening to MP3s and such...this is what we do most evenings/into the wee hours/wasting the hours gladly that the little ones are asleep/I hope there are listening parties in the afterlife, but I worry/So I gladly skip on sleeping and try to live instead/clock be damned)
So, there is the opening track, track one. This is the one they want you to pop in, and go yeah, ok, sweet, here we go, I love this album.......then the second song is like the debut of their 'new sound' if it isnt a first album...seems like track three and four can often be where the radio single is buried, if applicable, and then you have some sort of meaningful 'last track of the side one' song--which may be a dying or already dead art form. Next to the lable, on purpose. (In recordville, where I still live)
Opening track, side 2. this sets off the whole 'feel' for exactly where this album is going. Where the band sees themselves now. Oftentimes a superjam, unless it is meant to be 'the slow/makeout side of the album. Side 2 is usually cool, more story-telling, sometimes more raw or experimental. Last track, side 2--a big shebang, a Purple Rain, a Diamond Sea, a 7-8 minute behemoth that you can easily skip by simply leaving it out, turning it off. Cheesy, classic, awesome. Sometimes. But sometimes, the trash tracks get buried here, the concept and feel of the album starts to get weaker, or they throw on the random effort by the guy or girl who "doesnt usually write the songs".
So this is what we do late at night. we sit and go "THIS is your opening track? THIS? Who do you think you are???" Its really fun. we have also been watching alot of concert footage and discussing what is up with bands and how they act onstage. What are these bands about, you know--producing recorded song, or jamming together, or creating masterpeices, soundtracks, or partying and entertaining? Some or all of the above?
albums to revisit and think about what was up with all that track placement:
In Utero-Nirvana
Life's Rich Pageant- REM
Fables of the Reconstruction-REM
Bizzare Ride II--the Pharcyde
Rubber Soul- the Beatles
Paranoid- Black Sabbath
Chocolate and Cheese-Ween
2 comments:
One of my favorite albums sides, is side two of Pieces, Aquarius, Capricorn, And Jones Limited by he Monkees. However, the first song "Hard to Believe" is misplaced - it would have been better off ending side one and "Words" would have been the perfect kick-off to side two. But as misplaced as "Hard To Believe" is, the six songs that come after it are amazing. "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round", then "Peter Patterson's Pet Pig Porky" straight into the most scathing indictment of suburbia ever put to wax, "Pleasant Valley Sunday". But it doesn't stop there, after "PVS" comes "Daily Nightly", followed by "Don't Call On Me", and the grand finale of "Star Collector". What a great album side, regardless of the first track - which actually isn't all that bad, it just feels out of place to me. Come to think of it, there isn't a single song on that whole album I don't like.
PS: Don't forget THE PERFECT ALBUM - Revolver.
Revolver is absolutely perfect, total agreement--I was trying to list some newer ones to my re-listening-in-the-track-arrangement-theme!
I must hear that Monkees album! Do you have it?? Dumbest question ever, right??
:)
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