# Albums with songs you HAVE to skip **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065 "2010-05-02T21:17:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/1 "2010-05-02T21:17:29Z")
Inspired by [MTCicero’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=561733), this is about otherwise perfect albums that have one glaring, awful song that you have to skip. I’m not talking about a weak song, or a song that you’ve just gotten tired of from overplay. I’m talking about the proverbial turd in the punchbowl. The song that you are grateful to iTunes for letting you delete the song from the album and pretend that it never existed in the first place. Mine is “Dixie It Up”, a Dixieland band song stuck right in the middle of Two Loons for Tea’s otherwise perfect dream-pop album _Nine Lucid Dreams_. The album flows beautifully, wonderfully aurally caressing your ears…then this **thing** happens with trombones. I’m not damning Dixieland. It’s a perfectly fine type of Jazz music. Just NOT in the middle of this album! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/2 "2010-05-02T21:23:24Z")
Blackhole, and IIRC, Ramshackle by Beck. They have a decent song in their beginning, but at the and after a couple moments of fadeout they devolve into random radio-tuningesque noises that last for several minutes. Not a very good thing to pop up when you are randomly playing songs. I wonder if he would still do this in the era of MP3s. I always skip them well before they come up, and were I to play the albums, I’d turn off the album well before the songs end. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/3 "2010-05-02T21:24:16Z")
_Brave Little Soldier_ from Dolly Parton’s _Heartsongs_. The rest of the album is great. It showcases the folk / roots side of her music. This song in the middle a) doesn’t fit stylistically and b) is a sucky piece of glurge. It’s one that always gets skipped by me. C’mon, Miss Dolly, we all know you can do better. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/4 "2010-05-02T21:34:49Z")
The only album that has a song I skip – out of the hundreds I have – is **Beatles 1**. “The Long and Winding Road” is one of their worst songs and it’s sad that it was the last we heard from them. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/5 "2010-05-02T21:40:07Z")
I’ve got one for ya. Madonna has a nearly flawless album called _Erotica_. Features some of her absolute best work, such as, _Erotica, Thief of Hearts, Bad Girl, In This Life, Rain, Secret Garden_, etc. It features one hideous song called, ‘‘Did you do it?’’, a pseudo-rap by some guy which is not only boring, but features such moving lyrics as: > [@](#): > > Tick tick tock, Mo is on the jock > I did her in the limo as we went around the block > Sucked the mole on her hip, licked the lipstick off her lip > > … > I said just relax, yo chill Mo > We made a right turn onto Central Park West > One hand gripped the car, the other on her breast It goes on… explicitly. I think it’s supposed to be some kind of parody. I don’t care. Awful. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/6 "2010-05-02T21:46:45Z")
My ancient _It’s a Beautiful Day_ LP has a yank-the-needle-off scratch before _Wasted Union Blues_ (which gives me a headache). I also skip _Red, Black & Green_ on Pharoah Sanders _Thembi_ record. It’s just too discordant after the beautiful [Astral Traveling](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmL1da8VhiE). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/7 "2010-05-02T21:50:33Z")
Leonard Cohen’s _I’m Your Man_ goes along nicely until “Jazz Police” leaps out and assaults you like a rabid turd-badger. Then it resumes and pretends nothing happened. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/8 "2010-05-02T22:01:36Z")
Garth Brook’s The Chase is different from his earlier stuff in that it’s got a darker theme going through it. Overall, I like it, but there’s one song called Dixie Chicken that’s just terrible. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/9 "2010-05-02T22:25:31Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > My ancient _It’s a Beautiful Day_ LP has a yank-the-needle-off scratch before _Wasted Union Blues_ (which gives me a headache). Life’s too short to put up with that… [http://rapidshare.com/files/138534603/It\_s\_a\_Beautiful\_Day\_-\_1969.rar](http://rapidshare.com/files/138534603/It_s_a_Beautiful_Day_-_1969.rar) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/10 "2010-05-02T22:28:42Z")
Joe Cocker’s _Mad Dogs and Englishmen_ is one of my top ten favorite albums ever – except for a truly painful version of “Superstar” by Rita Coolidge that I always skip. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/11 "2010-05-02T22:29:57Z")
Benny the Bouncer from Brain Salad Surgery by ELP. That song taught me how to program my first cd player! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/12 "2010-05-02T23:00:09Z")
_Blood on the Tracks_ by Bob Dylan - I cannot listen to _Idiot Wind_, but the rest of the album is superb. \*\*twickster \*\*- Rita Coolidge’s \*Superstar \*is one of the many songs I used to really like on _Mad Dogs and Englishmen_. I’ll have to listen again and see how it’s held up. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/13 "2010-05-02T23:19:55Z")
[Join Hands By Souxsie & The Banshees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join_Hands) A very good album but really could have done without the "Lord’s Ptayer " - a recreation of their first live appearance with (originally with Sid Vicious on Drums) . [Queen II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_ii) Some great tracks but a real downer with Roger Taylor’s clumsy attempt at songwriting - “Loser in the End” - ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/14 "2010-05-02T23:25:04Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > \*\*twickster \*\*- Rita Coolidge’s \*Superstar \*is one of the many songs I used to really like on _Mad Dogs and Englishmen_. I’ll have to listen again and see how it’s held up. The song, as a song, doesn’t hold up all that well – and her vibrato-drenched, slightly off-key version … **shudder** ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/15 "2010-05-02T23:27:34Z")
**Chicago Transit Authority** is a fantastic specimen of well-crafted horn-backed rock, and a great album from its era. And then there’s “Free Form Guitar” right in the middle of it. I wish someone would have told the band “You know, guys, I don’t think your audience is going to want to hear seven minutes of Terry Kath masturbating with a guitar.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/16 "2010-05-03T00:19:33Z")
When I listen to _The Blue Mask_ by Lou Reed I skip the first two tracks. “My House” is a sweet and sentimental tribute to his late friend and mentor. And Lou Reed just doesn’t do sweet and sentimental well. “Women” I just don’t like. The rest of the album kicks serious ass, though. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/17 "2010-05-03T01:19:31Z")
A lot of albums/CDs I love are guilty of this, but the worst could be Bruce Springsteen’s _The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle_, where “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” takes up space as an unlistenable dirge among several classic songs. A different type of example is on the Pat Metheny Group’s W_e Live Here_, where “The Girls Next Door” seems like it was included as a way to get airplay on “smooth jazz” stations, but it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the CD. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/18 "2010-05-03T01:24:20Z")
The Beatles, on the “Help!” album. Ringo Starr, “Act Naturally”. Can. Not. Bear. It. Sticks out like a cow flop in a flower bed. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/19 "2010-05-03T01:32:55Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > The Beatles, on the “Help!” album. Ringo Starr, “Act Naturally”. Can. Not. Bear. It. Sticks out like a cow flop in a flower bed. Yeah, that was one case where the Capitol album made more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/20 "2010-05-03T01:38:53Z")
“Mother” on The Police’s _Synchronicity_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065.md?page=2)