# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/61 "2012-07-10T14:48:27Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Album: Meddle > Artist: Pink Floyd > > Song that ruins the album, Seamus. Oh come on, Seamus is great. The guys just have a sense of humour that’s all. I like the Mademoiselle Knobs version from the Pompeii video. Poor dog doesn’t seem that impressed with Gilmour’s harmonica skills. [![](https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/161920762-7c73e91546794c52fe7bfaeaf5cee47783eede5a323777356d097057c43bbaaa-d?f=webpion=us "Mademoiselle Knobs") ](https://vimeo.com/24679163) ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/62 "2012-07-10T14:51:54Z")
Speaking of R.E.M., I’d like to nominate “The Wrong Child” off _Green_. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/63 "2012-07-10T15:41:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Bob Dylan singing _Scarborough Fair_ in a duet with a croaking and off-key Johnny Cash on _Nashville Skyline_. That was indeed horrible, but it’s not “Scarborough Fair”; it’s Dylan’s own rewrite of that song, “Girl from the North Country”, which originally appeared on _The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan._ ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/64 "2012-07-10T16:15:35Z")
Man Size Sextet on PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me. It’s pointless and there were some awesome B-sides that could have made the album in its place. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/65 "2012-07-10T16:36:18Z")
> [@SanibelMan](#): > > Speaking of R.E.M., I’d like to nominate “The Wrong Child” off _Green_. Great song, IMHO. Unsentimental, yet heartbreaking, lyrics of a disabled child’s thoughts, set to a simple but appropriate mandolin and vocal performance. The only song I dislike on that album is “I Remember California”. Even the unnamed track is more interesting. (“Stand” is pretty annoying, now that I think about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Rudiger\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rudiger\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rudiger_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/66 "2012-07-10T18:01:48Z")
\*The Baby Song \* on Husker Du’s **Flip Your Wig**. Awful slide whistle crap on an otherwise great record. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/67 "2012-07-10T19:01:55Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > That was indeed horrible, but it’s not “Scarborough Fair”; it’s Dylan’s own rewrite of that song, “Girl from the North Country”, which originally appeared on _The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan._ Thanks for the correction. It’s not a bad song, but that was one awful duet. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/68 "2012-07-10T20:41:38Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > [Earlier thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=561742) OK, that’s almost creepy. I had forgotten there’d been a previous thread and I nominated exactly the same two songs. It’s like an autonomic response or something! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/69 "2012-07-10T23:28:11Z")
> [@Rudiger\_Simpson](#): > > \*The Baby Song \* on Husker Du’s **Flip Your Wig**. Awful slide whistle crap on an otherwise great record. Also from Husker Du, “How to Skin a Cat” on _New Day Rising_. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/70 "2012-07-11T00:20:41Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > If it’s any consolation for the fact that I dislike a song that you like, I’ve had “Operator” stuck in my head for the last two days. Hahaha and soon you will like it 😉 I will say it doesn’t have the same vibe as AB. It would have been more at home on Workingman’s Dead. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/71 "2012-07-11T01:43:47Z")
> [@Rudiger\_Simpson](#): > > \*The Baby Song \* on Husker Du’s **Flip Your Wig**. Awful slide whistle crap on an otherwise great record. Ooh, that’s a good one. That reminds me, didn’t Pearl Jam have some weird, random shout-song about bugs? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/72 "2012-07-11T01:59:57Z")
I’ve always felt that _Fortune Teller_ was the clunker on (one of the umpteen re-issues of) **Live At Leeds**. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/73 "2012-07-11T11:59:34Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Ooh, that’s a good one. That reminds me, didn’t Pearl Jam have some weird, random shout-song about bugs? Yup, it’s on Vitalogy as well, but it’s not nearly as bad as “Hey foxymophandlemomma, that’s me,” and not nearly as long. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/74 "2012-07-11T12:39:47Z")
“Within Without You” on The Beatles - Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band and “Love To You” on Revolver. I really, really dislike their sitar songs. To make matters worse “Within” the longest song on the album besides A Day in the Life. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/75 "2012-07-11T18:07:09Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve skipped “The Long and Winding Road” many times. It is not a bad song, but the original version is ruined by the dreadful schmaltzly strings that Phil Spector ladled all over it. The [Naked](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_it_be_naked) version is much better. Even in the Spector version, though, I have trouble seeing this as the one track that spoils a good album. “Let It Be” is not a good album, and has several tracks markedly worse than “The Long and Winding Road”. > [@GargoyleWB](#): > > More Beatles piling on… > > ‘Here Comes the Sun’ totally disrupts the flow of Abbey Road. A stinker on a whole sit through, and a stinker of a side 2 starter. It’s always sounded like something found on John Denver’s cutting room floor. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is the true turd of **Abbey Road**. You guys are crazy. Those are both great songs. There _is_ a stinker on Abbey Road, though: “Oh! Darling,” an unremarkable tune, and a forced sounding vocal that seems to be desperately trying to invest the vapid and repetitive lyrics with ersatz soulfulness. (I have wondered if the song is meant to be some sort of parody, but it does not work, even as that.) “I Want You (She’s so Heavy)” goes on a bit long too, and I am sure some people have bad things to say about about “Octopus’s Garden,” but even with them, “Abbey Road” is a great album (unlike even the “naked” version of “Let it Be”), and “Here Comes the Sun” and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” both contribute significantly to its greatness. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/76 "2012-07-11T18:27:11Z")
> [@jordanr2](#): > > Also from Husker Du, “How to Skin a Cat” on _New Day Rising_. Ugh. There are a couple outtakes from '85 (“Erase Today”, released on the _Blasting Concept Vol. 2_ compilation and “Stop To Listen”, unreleased) that both rock, and would have vastly improved on “How To Skin A Cat” and “The Baby Song”. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/77 "2012-07-11T18:40:28Z")
> [@Yaxche](#): > > _Fitter Happier_, off the otherwise perfect **OK Computer** , is the first thing that came to mind. I was thinking of “Electioneering” – I don’t think I’ve made it past 0:15 before skipping to the next song. “Black Hair” on Nick Cave’s **The Boatman’s Call**. I gather it’s supposed to be gut-wrenchingly emotional, but it’s so ridiculously over the top it makes me cringe and dive for the forward button. “Kommienezuspadt” off of Tom Waits’ **Alice**. On any other album it would be standard Waits-as-a-noisy-carnival-barker fare, but the rest of the album is so melancholy and exquisitely melodic that it is really jarring and unwelcome. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/78 "2012-07-11T19:19:55Z")
Rammstein’s _Reise, Reise_ album is one of my favorites for rocking out in the car, but I hate hate hate the placement of “Mein Teil”. The ending of the first song is very long, gradual and softening, and then Mein Teil starts with a very harsh loud intro. I think there’s something about that _specific_ intro, perhaps some tone or note, because it actually hurts my ears and agitates me (in a bad way), no matter the volume. Shame, because I was so excited they made a song about the infamous German cannibal who advertised for a victim. 😃 [sub]Though I think that _Reise, Reise_ and _Rosenrot_ got all jumbled together. I have a custom playlist, “Reisenrot”, that blends the best (IMO of course) of both albums. [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/79 "2012-07-11T19:29:43Z")
I think Stage Fright is one of The Band’s better albums, and it’d be that much better without All La Glory. I can’t fault Robbie Robertson for writing a song about his newborn daughter, but I can fault him for writing a bland song, and even worse, singing it himself. He has one of the least musical voices I’ve ever heard and The Band had three singers with memorable voices. > [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > I was listening to The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty today. If you’re familiar with it, it may not be surprising that I’m going to mention “Operator”, a track that makes me itch to press fast forward. I think it might be the vocals. There are some other arguably weak tracks on the album, but I can live with them. Definitely the weakest track on that album. I assumed they included it just to keep Pigpen involved. His health was fading at that point and the band was moving away from the bluesy stuff he’d brought to the table, so they probably felt they needed to throw him a bone. > [@voltaire](#): > > two that always greatly annoyed me, and immediately spring to mind, were from two different _Alice in Chains_ EPs, \*Sap \*and _Jar of Flies_. Swing On This isn’t great but it never bothered me much. Love Song shouldn’t be on the album (you notice they didn’t include a gag track like that on Jar of Flies). In fact I deleted it from my iTunes a while ago. I might want to listen to Sap, but I’ve never had an itch to hear that song. And yes, both albums are great. > [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Just a Touch is great! Isn’t Superman the more obvious choice? Superman has to be the pick there, IMO. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > 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_. The song is OK, but yes, the history lesson part feels like it lasts _forever_. And terms like “red man” have not aged well, which doesn’t help. > [@Yaxche](#): > > _Fitter Happier_, off the otherwise perfect **OK Computer** , is the first thing that came to mind. Nah. You can’t sit there and rock out to it, but I think it sums up the vibe and the themes of the album. For that matter Karma Police segues into Fitter Happier and Fitter Happier goes into Electioneering, but I don’t think it would sound right if it went straight from the noisy ending of Karma Police to the rattlesnake tambourine at the beginning of Electioneering. Electioneering is the track that got me into Radiohead and years later I think it almost has to be the weakest track on that album, qualified statement though that may be. > [@Chefguy](#): > > _Mother’s Lament_ on Cream’s Grammy-winning _Disraeli Gears_ album. Truly, what the fuck was _that_? Ugh, yes. This thread reminded me to delete that song, too. Cream recorded some of the dumbest stuff I’ve ever heard - I assume their intake of world class drugs is to blame. I think every album has at least one song that is just bewilderingly bad. Usually it’s the stuff Ginger Baker sang. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676/80 "2012-07-11T19:39:17Z")
Since someone else mentioned PJ Harvey, I have most of her music and I bought “Uh Huh Her” when it came out on CD. I listened to it for a few times, and was astounded at how bad the track “Who the Fuck” was. I felt that the CD was not that good at all. Eventually I transferred it to my iPod, but I left off “Who the Fuck” because I hated it. Turns out that without that song the rest of the CD is pretty good. I think that I hated the song so much that it made me hate the next few songs too due to carryover effect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracks-that-mess-up-good-albums/627676.md?page=5)