# Tracks that mess up good albums **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676 "2012-07-09T06:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/21 "2012-07-09T17:01:27Z")
I’d have to pick the double whammy of “Aumgn” and “Peking O” on Can’s classic _Tago Mago_. The album’s great up until then, and then it has two freeform noise experiments, seventeen(!) and eleven(!) minutes long respectively. If you’ve got the album on vinyl - and, let’s face it, _who hasn’t?_ - it means that poor old “Bring me Coffee or Tea” is trapped at the end of the second disc. Which is a shame, 'cause it’s good. In fact “Tago Mago” is a great example of a good double album that could have been slimmed down to a great single album by just _getting rid of the second disc_. Also, “Within You Without You”, slap-bang at the start of side two of _Sgt Pepper_. Even Indian people don’t listen to Indian classic music, why would they listen to a version of Indian classical music by George Harrison, and why should we? Then or now? You could play a game whereby you pick any track from _Sgt Pepper_ and pick _that_ as the weak link. Doesn’t matter which one, you can find a way to damn it. “When I’m 64” is just Paul McCartney being rubbish, same with “She’s Leaving Home”. And all the other McCartney tracks. It’s a McCartney-dominated album which is why it sucks. “With a Little Help from my Friends” is a solid song that needed Joe Cocker to make it come alive. “Mr Kite” and “Good Morning” are just a waste of Lennon’s talent. He must have been infected with Paul McCartney’s germs. “Day in the Life” has that rubbish McCartney bit in the middle. Oh how I hate him and his silly love songs. The two titles tracks aren’t properly-developed songs. “Lucy” is like the inferior twin of “Strawberry Fields”. You know, all those people who liked the album were _dead wrong_. I admit that I’m being Devil’s advocate. You’d have to hate the world and the sunshine to really dislike _Sgt Pepper_. It’s alive. But Paul should really have let Lennon have more say in it - he had more of an edge, more restraint on _Revolver_ and _Beatles_, perhaps the drugs made him too nice. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/22 "2012-07-09T17:15:22Z")
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” off of the Doors’ debut. Total buzz-kill. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/23 "2012-07-09T17:18:27Z")
I’ve never liked “Think About You” on Appetite for Destruction. It always seemed like filler, although Axl’s energy and delivery helps. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/24 "2012-07-09T17:31:18Z")
John Mellencamp’s 1987 release \*The Lonesome Jubilee \* is a rather haunting slice of blue-collar Midwestern life. Some of the tracks have a socio-political bent, others are simple tales of small-town disenchantment, and they all combine into a powerful and thought-provoking whole. Until you get to “Hotdogs and Hamburgers,” a clumsy, obvious screed about the white man’s treatment of Native Americans that actually borders on reverse racism. It’s the second-last track on the album, so if you’ve listened to the whole thing all the way through, this turd manages to tear apart the rich tapestry that’s been woven up to that point. It’s a shame. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/25 "2012-07-09T17:32:20Z")
I had the idea, when CDs first came out, that it’d be great if the user could somehow program their player to recognize a disk, and then play a single track, or the whole disk in a particular order, or skip a track. So, I’d explain, every time you put in your favorite CD, it’d skip that one song that ruins it. More than one friend said “You mean like _Motorcycle Mama_”? They’d all thought of Neil Young’s _Comes a Time_ album, that’s all quiet and deep and acoustic except for one raucous track. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/26 "2012-07-09T17:45:10Z")
OP, if you’re going to explain what an album is, could you also please explain what a track is? I think the term refers to tracking in a studio recording where each instrument and vocal is recorded seperately, as seperate tracks, and then put together for one track (the song). Or does track refer to the physical grooves on a record? My contribution, now, will be from _Achtung Baby_ by U2, one of the greatest (perhaps the greatest) albums of time, even though I actually don’t care for U2 overall. But the 2nd to last song on the album, “Acrobat,” is just noise. Luckily, I can skip that track, but it’s the only song on the album that requires a skip. ---
**Author:** ![DarkFire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@DarkFire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkFire)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/27 "2012-07-09T17:47:30Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’ve never liked “Think About You” on Appetite for Destruction. It always seemed like filler, although Axl’s energy and delivery helps. It’s the most beautiful song on the album. Much better than Sweet Child O’ Mine which is great but in a way nothing but a corny love song. But speaking of Gn’R… My world at the end of Use Your Illusion 2. There’s totally no need for that tagged on piece of rubbish. It makes listening to Revolution 9 fun. (I admit, there are times when I like listening to those random sounds, especially after I’ve read Helter Skelter) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/28 "2012-07-09T17:59:03Z")
Dating myself… On the _Kinks_’ _ **Arthur** _, “Young and Innocent Days.” On Warren Zevon’s _ **Excitable Boy** _, “Nighttime in the Switching Yard.” On the _Beatles_’ _ **Rubber Soul** _, “If I Needed Someone.” On Chuck Berry’s _ **Greatest Hits** _, “My Ding-a-Ling.” ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/29 "2012-07-09T18:07:06Z")
Album: Meddle Artist: Pink Floyd Song that ruins the album, Seamus. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/30 "2012-07-09T18:22:41Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Or does track refer to the physical grooves on a record? There is only one groove on each side of a record. I thought track was the universally accepted word for song when describing the contents of a CD, LP, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/31 "2012-07-09T18:26:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There is only one groove on each side of a record. Not according to “The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief” album. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/32 "2012-07-09T18:27:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No one’s mentioned “Revolution Number 9” yet? > [@Procrustus](#): > > Came here to post that. Good album, terrible song. I wouldn’t call it a “song.” I don’t mind it if it’s playing in my audio background, but can’t stand trying to actually _listen_ to it. Self indulgent audio collage filler. My candidate for the Turd In The Punchbowl Award is Greg Lake’s sappy/WTF “Still You Turn Me On”; deleting it makes ELP’s _Brain Salad Surgery_ my lifetime favorite album. . ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/33 "2012-07-09T18:46:04Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Ah, the famous “Four Sticks problem.” (That would be Zep 4). > [@Ludovic](#): > > I wouldn’t go so far as to say it “messes up” the album even though it’s the obvious weak track. I’d even go so far as to say it brings more balance to the album because it joins Goin to California in mixing straight up blues rock with mystic psychedelia-influenced stuff, as opposed to the other six tracks which are all completely one or the other. > > It’s just poorly written is all (but pretty well executed which saves it from being a genuinely bad track.) > [@JKellyMap](#): > > As for “Four Sticks”…yeah, I’ve come to appreciate that one, as well. But it’s clearly the one track on Zep 4 that doesn’t get all kinds of love from all kinds of folks. Four sticks grew on me until it became one of the songs I most enjoyed on that album. I know it isn’t widely known/played, but I know at least some other people who share my liking for it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/34 "2012-07-09T19:04:58Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There is only one groove on each side of a record. Just because a record has a groove don’t make it in the groove. Which reminds me: I nominate “Black Man” (or at least the shouted history lesson part) from Stevie Wonder’s _Songs in the Key of Life_. However, some of y’all’s suggestions are just wrong. For example: > [@bup](#): > > On the _Kinks_’ _ **Arthur** _, “Young and Innocent Days.” I think the song works wonderfully as the conclusion to Side 1, which is where I’m used to hearing it, since I first got _Arthur_ on a [cassette](http://www.8-track-shack.com/the-kinks-arthur-or-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-british-empire-spanish-import-pi-90667.html?osCsid=cd2007254fcc01524356bbae0df6d6e5) that (I later learned) had a different track ordering than on the official LP/CD release, an order that IMHO worked much better musically. If any tracks mess up that album (not that I’m saying they do!), it’s “Australia,” not because it’s a bad song but because it goes on too long compared to the rest of the album. A similar thing might be said about “Last of the Steam Powered Trains” on the otherwise concise _Village Green Preservation Society_. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/35 "2012-07-09T19:07:37Z")
“Leave a Tender Moment Alone” from _An Innocent Man_ ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/36 "2012-07-09T19:09:13Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I had the idea, when CDs first came out, that it’d be great if the user could somehow program their player to recognize a disk, and then play a single track, or the whole disk in a particular order, or skip a track. So, I’d explain, every time you put in your favorite CD, it’d skip that one song that ruins it. > > More than one friend said “You mean like _Motorcycle Mama_”? > > They’d all thought of Neil Young’s _Comes a Time_ album, that’s all quiet and deep and acoustic except for one raucous track. You CAN put a CD on “random”. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/37 "2012-07-09T19:18:02Z")
For a couple of weeks, _Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols_ was a perfect album. Then they had to go and add _Submission_ to the second pressing, and all pressings after that. Terrible, awful, fucking horrible song… ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/38 "2012-07-09T19:22:28Z")
[Earlier thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=561742) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/39 "2012-07-09T19:27:41Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Four sticks grew on me until it became one of the songs I most enjoyed on that album. I know it isn’t widely known/played, but I know at least some other people who share my liking for it. Also my favorite track. The album would be dull without it. \*\* Misty Mountain Hop\*\*, OTOH, blows. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/40 "2012-07-09T19:29:56Z")
**Rush** ’s _Signals_ is a great record. _New World Man_ was a minor hit, but it seems totally out of place on the album. And I hate that song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676.md?page=3)