# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/21 "2010-05-03T02:00:23Z")
**Genius Loves Company** by **Ray Charles** , an album full of great cuts\* except one: _ **Hey Girl** _, his duet with **Micheal McDonald**. It’s never been a song I cared for, it’s out of Ray’s range, and it just doesn’t fit. I skip it every time. \*_ **Sinner’s Prayer** _ with **B.B. King** , _ **Heaven Help Us All** _ with **Gladys Knight** , and _ **Fever** _ with **Natalie Cole** are nothing less than terrific! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/22 "2010-05-03T02:20:46Z")
Wilco’s [A Ghost Is Born](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Ghost_Is_Born): I skip “Less Than You Think.” 15-minute track; the first three minutes is a song, and the rest is an electronic whine/buzz. No thanks. Similarly, Tool’s [Ænima](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86nima): I skip “(-) Ions.” Sounds like a big piece of sheet metal being rippled, mixed with the sound of an electric Jacob’s Ladder apparatus. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/23 "2010-05-03T02:21:21Z")
This might not count, but there are a number of hip-hop albums with tracks that I skip either because the track is a skit or a song that contains a skit. I can’t stand hip-hop skits. This is probably blasphemy, but despite having listened to _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_ approximately seven billion times, I _still_ hate “Within You Without You.” Not only do I not like it, I think it stops the (obviously otherwise perfect) album dead in its tracks. I always skip “I Kissed a Girl” on Katy Perry’s _One of the Boys_. Lame single, but I love the rest of the album. I usually skip “The What” on Biggie’s _Ready 2 Die_. Otherwise one of my favorite albums (although I also skip the blowjob skit because the slurping noises literally make me ill), but neither Biggie nor Meth are very good on the song, and the beat is just okay. The number of albums I otherwise like that are burdened by a couple crappy tracks tacked on to the very end are too numerous to mention. There are tons of albums I stop a couple tracks early. ---
**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 3, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/24 "2010-05-03T02:30:10Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Life’s too short to put up with that… I did replace the thing with a CD a few years ago, but you’re still a mensch, **In Winnipeg**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/25 "2010-05-03T04:00:27Z")
[Drawing Dead](http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/midnight-crew-drawing-dead-2) is both smooth and sublime, with the jazzy feelings just sort of washing through the music as it flows from track to track, if that made any sense. Except for Livin’ it Up. That song just gives me a headache. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/26 "2010-05-03T04:13:54Z")
> [@Parenchyma](#): > > “Mother” on The Police’s _Synchronicity_. Agreed. First time I heard it I was convinced someone was skinning a cat alive while playing a bagpipe. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/27 "2010-05-03T04:26:21Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > **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.” I am soooo with you on that one! A giant clunker in an otherwise brilliant album. I’ll add one more: “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” on _Abbey Road_. If they had pared it down to four, or three, or even two minutes, I might tolerate it. As it is, I just skip it…TRM ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/28 "2010-05-03T09:27:38Z")
**The Stone Roses** by, err, **The Stone Roses** is awesome. Truly, truly awesome. Possibly the best debut ever. However, The Roses had this annoying tendency to “experiment” with backwards tracks. Loads of their singles had crappy attempts at this, but you kind of hoped they’d have left it there. But no, after the majesty of “Waterfall” comes “Don’t Stop”, where two of the tracks from “Waterfall” are replayed backwards and they try to make a song from it. And predictably, it is awful. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/29 "2010-05-03T10:38:45Z")
**Al Stewart** ’s _ **Life Between the Wars** _. A wonderful album, full of songs ranging from melancholic to exuberant to vitriolic to chilling. But in the midst of all that, there are two instrumental tracks by Lawrence Juber that are just … bad. Really, really bad. I can listen to the album again and again, but I have to skip those tracks. (Okay, that’s two tracks instead of one – but there’s a powerful common thread between the two: they’re the only tracks that aren’t actually by Al Stewart himself.) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/30 "2010-05-03T12:04:17Z")
Another **Queen** one - _Bring Back That Leroy Brown_, IMHO, detracts from the otherwise brilliant _Sheer Heart Attack._ ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/31 "2010-05-03T12:09:48Z")
I’m not usually into folk music, but I find the \*O Brother, Where Art Thou \*soundtrack great listening. EXCEPT the whiny, nasal children singing _In the Highways_. It’s making my teeth itch just thinking of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/32 "2010-05-03T12:13:17Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > **The Stone Roses** by, err, **The Stone Roses** […snip…] Don’t own that album but what I’ve heard from it is good. But whatever the backwards track is has to be better than the hidden track from _Second Coming_. I almost mentioned it here, especially since I used to love the rest of the tracks on that album, but thought hidden tracks went against the spirit (Beck notwithstanding, since his are appended to the last track rather than separate and come very close to the end of the real song.) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/33 "2010-05-03T13:04:17Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > _Blood on the Tracks_ by Bob Dylan - I cannot listen to _Idiot Wind_, but the rest of the album is superb. There is a better, more evenhanded and more soulful cut of that song on one of the boxed sets (I think it’s Biograph but I’m not sure). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/34 "2010-05-03T14:00:47Z")
J-Tull Dot Com Hot Mango Flush Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/35 "2010-05-03T14:03:08Z")
Frank Black has a bunch of awesome songs on _Teenager of the Year_, but he’s got a few bursts of sheer noise I’m not usually in the mood for. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/36 "2010-05-03T14:10:06Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Wilco’s [A Ghost Is Born](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Ghost_Is_Born): I skip “Less Than You Think.” 15-minute track; the first three minutes is a song, and the rest is an electronic whine/buzz. No thanks. I came in to mention this one. I usually skip “Less Than You Think” once the noise starts in, and then I play “The Late Greats” twice to make up for it. Also on Wilco’s **A.M.** album, I have to skip the one track where John Stirratt does the vocals - he sounds like he’s trying too hard to be Neil Young (and failing miserably). ---
**Author:** ![docandjean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7993a0/32.png) [@docandjean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/docandjean)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/37 "2010-05-03T14:59:58Z")
Weird Al Yankovic’s _Straight Outa Lynwood_ “I’ll Sue Ya”. yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/38 "2010-05-03T15:19:12Z")
The Beatles _White Album_ is brilliant, except for “Revolution 9”. Back before MP3’s, when everyone made cassette mix tapes, everyone left that piece of crap off. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/39 "2010-05-03T15:26:51Z")
Ry Cooder’s _Paris, Texas_ is too short to begin with if you’re in the mood for moody, melancholy atmospheric slide guitar, but Track 9 - I Know These People - just doesn’t fit at all. I know it’s of vital significance to the movie, but it’s out of place in the soundtrack and deserves to be skipped. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065/40 "2010-05-03T15:40:29Z")
The Nields are (were) a folk group that’s pretty popular in the New England area. Their first(?) album, “Bob on the Ceiling” was a mix of catchy harmonies, sort of poppy songwriting and existential angst with a bit of social commentary. Very listenable. With the exception of the truly vile “Boys will be boys”. It’s kind of hard to describe, but you can read the lyrics [here.](http://www.nields.com/bob.html) Think “Excitable Boy”, but without the whimsy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/albums-with-songs-you-have-to-skip/538065.md?page=3)