The hit song that doesn't sound like the rest of the album

The reason why many one-hit wonders are just that…

Most egregious examples?

I liked Chemical Brothers “Let Forever Be” and bought the CD.

Did I mention I liked “Let Forever Be”?

Well they’re no one-hit wonders, but I always felt that the Beastie Boys threw in one straight-to-radio song that IMO was always the worst one from the album:

License to Ill:
Fight for your Right to Party

Paul’s Boutique:
Hey Ladies

Check your Head:
So watcha Want?

Ill Communication:
Sabotage

Hello Nasty:
Intergalactic

YMMV…

Fly by ** Sugar Ray**
<rant>
I didn’t buy the cd for that song, I bought it for RPM and a couple of others. Everyone else, though, bought it for Fly and was unhappy that the rest of their songs were hard. So then they change their style to pander to the pop crowd. I wanted more songs like 10 seconds down! not Every Morning It’s a sad state of affairs…
</rant>

Sly Fox’s “Let’s Go All The Way” was a hit, but after listening to the rest of the album the general comment was “Sly Fox’s ‘Let’s Go All The Way’ is a hit…”

Animotion’s “Obsession” was funky/sexy/cool in it’s time.
What was the rest of the crap they put on The Language Of Attraction? The rest of the album really couldn’t hold up to the bloody album title for Pete’s sake!

Hey, I forgot to mention the inspiration for this in the OP.

“Steal My Sunshine” by Len. Addictive, happy, pop song. Rest of album: rap, hip-hop, funk, German techno(!). I guess that just means they’re ecletic, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

BNL’s “One Week” off Stunt was like that. “Alcohol” and “It’s All Been Done” came closest to it, matching its tempo and mood, but were more techno/dance and rock (respectively) than “OW”'s nongangsta-rap rap.

In fact, unless I’m overlooking a song or two, “OW” is BNL’s only non-improvised, on-album rap song.

I’d say “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” is nothing like the rest of Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” album. Luckily, the album is better.

“All Right Now” is much different from the rest of Free’s album (which is still good).

“Beth” by Kiss is nowhere near representative of the group.

‘Tainted Love’

I first heard “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove” by Dead Can Dance on the radio (this was also the first time I’d ever heard of DCD) and loved it. So, I went out and bought the album, Into the Labyrinth. The rest of the songs had a very different style and feel, IMO. I was somewhat disappointed at first.

However: I grew to enjoy the rest of the album as well. I later went out and bought all of their other albums, as well as everything associated with either Brendan Perry or Lisa Gerrard.

How Bizarre by OMC

Placebo, Pure Morning.
Alien Ant Farm, Smooth Criminal.

I really liked Pure Morning.

Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor

Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
It’s the “pop” song on So and I have always lamented that I would love the album so much more if that weren’t on it!

I mean, listen to that next to Red Rain or In Your Eyes or Milgrams Seven or whatever that “Excellent Birds” song is…It’s like it’s not the same artist!

weezer - “hash pipe”

gorillaz - “clint eastwood”

a perfect circle…none of the songs really sound the same, never mind…

filter - “take a picture”…ugh…the worst filter song ever…

Fun topic! :slight_smile:

How about:

“Here With Me” by Dido on No Angel (though the rest of the CD is pretty good)

“Money” by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon

“Chop Suey!” by System of a Down on Toxicity

“Cannonball” by some female band from the early to mid 90’s, whose name escapes me because the rest of the album really was dreadful. Good song though.

“Lovefool” by The Cardigans, First Band on the Moon. Great album (except for their “Ironman” remake) but totally not what I expected.

You can easily ID those by going into the used CD store. If there’s a million copies of a CD, you can bet there’s a radio-friendly song unlike the rest of the album on it.

none of system of a down’s radio hits sound like the rest of the album…“sugar”, “spiders”…although, the intro to “aerials” and the intro to “spiders” sounds remarkably similar…

I am a huge Black Sabbath fan, but as soon as I really got in to them, I found myself hating “Iron Man” with a passion. That’s a shame, considering how much I like the rest of the album “Paranoid”. :War Pigs" is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Damn, it gets me going.

LC