# The hit song that doesn't sound like the rest of the album **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863 "2001-10-01T23:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/21 "2001-10-02T14:12:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\*“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. > \*\* That was the Breeders, with former Pixie Kim Deal and her twin sister Kelly. I disagree with you about the album, though–IMO, it had a lot of good songs. “Invisible Man,” “No Aloha,” “Divine Hammer,” “Do You Love Me Now?” and a few others. My favorite thing about the Breeders was the video they did for the title song from their EP “Safari.” It was an homage to the old Black Sabbath clip for “Paranoid.” ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/22 "2001-10-02T15:10:25Z")
A classic example of this is Extreme’s album that had “More than Words” on it. One schmaltz ballad in a sea of heavy guitar rock. Bet lots o’ “easy listening” fans were suckered into buying that one ---
**Author:** ![rayniday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@rayniday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayniday)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/23 "2001-10-02T19:59:51Z")
Wow, I’m surprised someone mentioned Barenaked Ladies. I thought I was gonna have to do it. 🙂 They’re the first people I thought of when i read the song thread. Although I adore the songs they released, the ones they DIDN’T release really do something for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/24 "2001-10-02T20:44:29Z")
I loved the rest of the Breeders’ “Last Splash.” None of the songs are exactly like Cannonball, but I’d say they’re mostly in the same vein. My contribution to the OP is Snow’s “Informer” from **Twelve Inches of Snow**. One cool-ass speed-reggae song and 11 laid-back cheeba tracks. Oy. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/25 "2001-10-02T21:01:39Z")
“Moondance,” on Van Morrison’s album of the same name. If it was a hit, that is. I like the other 9 songs, but not that one. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/26 "2001-10-02T21:20:19Z")
Cheap Trick’s “The Flame” ( I don’t remember the album name) sticks out from the rest of the album. Of course, that song wasn’t written by them and appears to be there just to get people to buy the album. In general, I don’t buy singles, but if there was one time I wished I had … This led to a years-long hatred of Cheap Trick by me, until someone explained to me that their earlier stuff wasn’t too bad, and by the time that came out, they’d been tempted by money into bad deals that drained out their creativity. Maybe true. I do like “Surrender” and “Stop This Game” but despise “I Want You to Want Me”. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/27 "2001-10-03T04:23:03Z")
“Time of Your Life” by Green Day, off the Nimrod album was the first thing I thought of. I actually heard of Green Day because of that single (which is apparently their only song which plays on mainstream radio) but I fell in love with them because of the songs from Dookie. Good thing I liked the rest of their songs a lot more then “Time of Your Life.” :rolleyes: I’m sure there’s more, but I can’t think of them at the moment. 🙂 (And I hate to go off-topic, but what the heck is up with the “happy orthodox jewish man”? I was just looking at the list of smilies and that’s pretty bizarre. What the heck is the POINT of that? Am I missing a joke?:rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/28 "2001-10-03T05:16:30Z")
“Hey, why didn’t you tell me that Green Day was a _punk_ band?!” ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/29 "2001-10-03T15:21:32Z")
On the other hand, it’s worse when you get the album and every song sounds _exactly_ the same as the hit single. The Lou Bega CD with Mambo #5 is the prime example. (Quit laughing! I bought it for the wife!) There are 10 or 12 tracks and two songs, each of which is repeated every other track with different lyrics and sometimes the same parts played on different instruments. In fact, you know how Mambo #5 starts “One, two, three-four-five”? There’s another track that starts “Six, seven, eight-nine-ten.” I kid you not! –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![WIGGUM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WIGGUM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WIGGUM)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/30 "2001-10-03T17:31:36Z")
“Freedom '90” by George Michael on his _Listen Without Prejudice_ album was quite different from the rest of the album. It was a funky dance track, and the rest of the album was very “jazzy”. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/31 "2001-10-03T18:21:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > \*\*On the other hand, it’s worse when you get the album and every song sounds _exactly_ the same as the hit single. The Lou Bega CD with Mambo #5 is the prime example. (Quit laughing! I bought it for the wife!) There are 10 or 12 tracks and two songs, each of which is repeated every other track with different lyrics and sometimes the same parts played on different instruments. In fact, you know how Mambo #5 starts “One, two, three-four-five”? There’s another track that starts “Six, seven, eight-nine-ten.” I kid you not! > > –Cliffy \*\* I’ve heard some of this album, and totally agree with you. I was surprised the other songs weren’t “Mambo 1-4,6-12” Just buy the single. It’s cheaper and if you have it, you have the album. ---
**Author:** ![gooti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gooti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooti)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/32 "2001-10-03T20:40:40Z")
I got fooled when **Smashmouth** first came out. I was expecting some happyfunmusic to dance around in my knickers to and all I got was a bunch of _really_ bad ska-core crap. That CD promptly found its way back to Media Play. These days I hate them because they pulled a **Sugar Ray** and ALL of their music sounds exactly like that one hit song. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/33 "2001-10-03T20:48:08Z")
Actually, a host of heavy metal bands fit this category, simply becuase, with rare excepions, heavy metal has never gotten much airplay on pop/top 40 radio stations. So, historically, many metal bands have included ONE lame, wimpy, romantic “power ballad” on each album, hoping to get some radio airplay. And, of course, a 13 year old girl (or 70 year old grandma) who liked that love ballad and bought the album, would find that the rest of the LP was NOTHING like the single! Recent example? Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” was a popular slow-dancing song at a lot of proms, but doesn’t sound much like the rest of the CD. Or what about hair-band hits like Cinderella’s “Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone”? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/34 "2001-10-03T22:22:28Z")
i got duped into buying “bettie servert- lamprey” after really digging the song “ray ray rain”. didn’t care for the album much at all. have to admit this is rare. i usually like most all the music i buy after hearing one or two songs. (now that i think about it, not too thrilled with jennifer kimball, either) ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/35 "2001-10-04T02:31:39Z")
My brother bought the Jimmy Eat World CD because he loves their “Bleed American,” which is relatively heavy, yet catchy stuff. The rest of the CD is sappy, acoustic sweetness. I enjoy the enitre CD, but it was most certainly misrepresented by the single and the video. ---
**Author:** ![saudade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@saudade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saudade)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/36 "2001-10-04T03:09:07Z")
No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” From Tragic Kingdom, the rest of the album was punky-ska. Would the Beatles’ “Yesterday” from Help! be the first example of such… “Tubthumping”… by Chumbawumba…sort of atypical of their entire work, at least in being so commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/37 "2001-10-04T03:15:53Z")
I doubt it ever counted as a “hit”, but Dream Theater’s song “Pull Me Under” was one I liked so much I bought the album it was on right away. The entire rest of the album left me profoundly underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/38 "2001-10-04T05:55:57Z")
Korn’s Follow the Leader was mostly the same crap as on their Life is Peachy album, but I still like listening to Got the Life. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/39 "2001-10-04T08:05:12Z")
Sheesh. The hit song “ **Follow Me** ” by **Uncle Kracker** sounds _nothing_ like the rest of the album. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863/40 "2001-10-04T08:56:54Z")
**Crazy Town’s** - _Butterfly_ sounds nothing like the rest of their album _Gift of the Game_. In fact _Butterfly_ was their **3rd** single off the album as the previous two got no airplay. They then pulled a Sugar Ray and their latest single _Revolving Doors_ (off an upcoming album I think) sounds like _Butterfly_ and nothing like what they actually sounded like on the album. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hit-song-that-doesnt-sound-like-the-rest-of-the-album/84863.md?page=3)