To some of us, the conception of "sides" has disappeared, if it has existed at all. The coming of CD pushed it into the shadows and the speedy development of MP3 has all but obliterated it in some cases. The return of vinyl in late days has clued some people up but the condition is in the same family as "mixtape", an archaic saying used as a custom more so than any practical reason.
Regardless, opening tracks on LPs are important. It`s all about setting the scene. A duff first track can destroy an album, or at least put the listener on the second foot. Audio Apocalypse is offering up its own choices for that esteemed position of top five/ten LP openers and their relevancy to music.
Click on the song titles to be interpreted to the videos.
Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf
The reverb-laden cough, the crashing riff and Ozzy`s demand of "Won`t you listen?" Really, what`s not to care about this song? Sabbath`s paean to the demon weed stakes its title as one of the most exciting opening tracks in history on the epic LP Master Of Reality.
Treating his issue like a misbegotten lover ("When I first met you/you didn`t realise/I can`t forget you/or your surprise) Ozzy`s demonic howl is a crunching tribute to the art of getting stoned.
With guitar sounds like waves crashing upon a land and a monumental jam midway through, it's the kick start for what was Sabbath`s most realised, complete and competent LP.
"Ozzy, when you said you wanted some green..." Tom Waits - Alice
Recently voted Lyric Of The Workweek by the esteemed American Song Writer Magazine, Waits` album documenting the kinship between Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell (the brainchild behind Alice In Wonderland) is haunting, majestic and subtly sinister.
Aided immeasurably by this opener, Waits sets the view with lines like "You waved your crooked wand/Along an icy pond with a frosty moon" and the altogether chilling "How does the ocean rock the boat?/How did the razor find my throat?/The only strings that make me here/Are tangled up round the pier."
The sparse instrumentation and soft, insecure piano drive the lyric, and Waits` trademark low-growl speak of more issues lying underneath. The balance of the album is an aural treat that demands repeated listens.
The Fall - Touch Sensitive
To some, it`s remarkable this call and the resulting album even saw the fall of day. With The Fall disintegrating on level in New York in 1998 and Mark E. Smith carted off to the notorious Riker`s Island prison, the group looked no more.
With the assistance of Julia Nagle and a frame of hired hands Smith was cajoled back into the studio to read the patchy but groovy Marshall Suite. One of the results was this ultra-catchy track. A lot of mass may know it from "_that Vauxhall ad off the television" but to fans it represents a return of one of music`s greatest forces.
As if he`s never been away, Smith is second to doing what he does best; casting aspersions on all and mixed with that trademark sneer of his ("They say `What almost the meek?`/I say `They`ve got a bloody cheek!`"). Nagle`s memorable two-chord riff gives the song immediate gravitas and the football terrace chant of "Hey! Hey! Hey!" gave The Pin a more obvious and immediate commercial in-road.
As common with The Fall, it never came up smelling of roses. Smith later derided the action of marketing your songs to the marketing departments in 2003`s The Terminal Commands Of Xyralothrep Via M.E.S.
"For the final time, we're not going to play Sit Down, alright?" Slayer - Angel Of Death
An infamous song dealing with such light subject matter as the "_infamous butcher_" Josef Mengele. Slayer has never been a lot to let a ballad get in the way of good horror story.
Legend has it that Prevail In Line was recorded at such a race that the rehearsed time of 35 minutes was hacked down to an even more intense 28 minute burst of jagged riffs, blast beasts and the harsh barks provided by vocalist Tom Araya.
Araya`s high pitched scream a bare 20 seconds in and the opening couplet "Auschwitz, the import of pain/The way that I wish you to die" are pure and unforgiving. The imagery used throughout is graphic and hellish. The call in no way condones or glorifies the actions of the Nazi human experiments, instead touching upon subject matter that mainstream music shies away from as quickly as is possible.
Angel Of Destruction is a bona-fide heavy metal classic and a guaranteed floor-filler at any rock club.
Metallica - Battery
Some say this era was Metallica at their peak. Cliff Burton, in all of his frenzied, hairy glory, was the director of the reckless but majestic beast that was Metallica. After popularising thrash metal they sought to dispose of it and created Master Of Puppets.
Battery is loaded with the work of Burton; the classical acoustic intro and the thunderous riffing. Hetfield`s lyrics speak of the plus and negative energies that permeate life and their consequences, core ideals for Hetfield`s lyrics.
It lay the foundations for what comes after. Not a chord is put wrong on what is an excellent LP and possibly the height of what Metallica were trying to accomplish in those other days.
"It burns, burns, burns.my ring of fire!" Is this a classical list or do you believe you make better choices? Let us live in the comments or by email. A choice of reader`s choices will be listed and discussed in the next as well as further considerations from Audio Apocalypse.