One of the marks of a great album is the way it ends, so I ask you all, what are your favorite album-closing tracks? I present my personal top twenty.
1. "Two-Headed Boy, Part 2" Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2. "Rock and Roll Suicide" David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
3. "Slim Slow Slider" Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
4. "All Apologies" Nirvana - In Utero
5. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
6. "The Circle Game" Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon
7. "Starless" King Crimson - Red
8. "Caroline, No" The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
9. "From the Morning" Nick Drake - Pink Moon
10. "Train in Vain" The Clash - London Calling
11. "Tomorrow Never Knows" The Beatles - Revolver
12. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" The Velvet Underground - Loaded
13. "Cowgirl in the Sand" Neil Young - Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
14. "In My Hour of Darkness" Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
15. "The Tourist" Radiohead - OK Computer
16. "The Biggest Lie" Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith
17. "Reservations" Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
18. "Moonlight Mile" The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
19. "Gold Dust Woman" Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
20. "I'm Not Home Anymore" Whiskeytown - Stranger's Almanac
HardcoreGamer4Ever
Title: I Am The God Of Awesome
Joined: Jun 28 2010
Location: Your Mom's Vagina!
Posts: 1295
Posted:
Nov 16 2013 10:41 am
Both by Nirvana, Something In The Way on Nevermind, and All Apologies on In Utero. Well, if you count the hidden tracks on each album, neither one of those are the closing tracks, but whatever.
That's a damn good one. A Day In The Life is another great one too.
I'd have to really think about it but four off the top of my head are:
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
"Battle Hymn" Manowar - Battle Hymns
"Won't Get Fooled Again" The Who - Who's Next
"Seasons In The Abyss" Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss
There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
Etch
Title: Intermittent Scribbler
Joined: Mar 15 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 588
Posted:
Dec 14 2013 09:05 am
Iced Earth, Burnt Offerings - "Dante's Inferno" - I love how it ends with the same notes that open the album.
Mastadon, Crack the Skye - "The Last Baron"
Edge of Sanity, Crimson - "Crimson" - seriously love the way it ends.
Spoonfed Tribe, ULIKDISEEGEOUGH - "Clarity"
Blind Guardian, A Night at the Opera - "And Then There Was Silence"
Black Sabbath, Paranoid - "Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots". But the whole album is awesome, so it probably doesn't really count...?
It is a waste of politeness to be courteous to the devil ~ William L. Garrison
JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
Posts: 3475
Posted:
Dec 20 2013 12:22 am
Etch wrote:
Mastadon, Crack the Skye - "The Last Baron"
That's a damn good song, and probably their best album closer.
A couple more off the top of my head:
"Whole Lotta Rosie" AC/DC- Let There Be Rock
"La Villa Strangiato" Rush- Hemispheres
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" The Rolling Stones- Let it Bleed
"Fight The Power" Public Enemy- Fear of a Black Planet
There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
Ross Rifle
Title: Rock N Roll God
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Location: Chilliwack, BC
Posts: 4844
Posted:
Dec 10 2014 09:14 pm
Paramore - All I Wanted from Brand New Eyes and Future from Paramore
Guns N Roses - Rocket Queen from Appetite For Destruction
Kiss - Black Diamond from KISS
And of course Freebird from Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Got My Mojo Working - Muddy Waters - Fathers and Sons
I've Been Everywhere - Johnny Cash - Unchained
Life By The Drop - Stevie Ray Vaughan - The Sky Is Crying
slapolakinkaido
Title: Illegitimate Son of God
Joined: Jul 14 2009
Posts: 1565
Posted:
Dec 11 2014 04:31 am
I hate most everything you guys posted there. No offense, but I'm pretty picky and hate most mainstream music.
http://youtu.be/ZHVkgagQP2Y
Doesn't look like youtube lets us embed anymore.
Cameron
Title: :O � O:
Joined: Feb 01 2008
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 4637
Posted:
Dec 11 2014 09:00 pm
slapolakinkaido wrote:
I hate most everything you guys posted there. No offense, but I'm pretty picky and hate most mainstream music.
http://youtu.be/ZHVkgagQP2Y
Doesn't look like youtube lets us embed anymore.
I didn't like much of it either, but hating Talking Heads is like hating life.
Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
Posts: 4098
Posted:
Dec 11 2014 09:42 pm
Here's a few
"Contact" (and/or "Horizon") - Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
"Outside the Wall" - The Wall, Pink Floyd
"Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon" - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips
"A Good Man is Hard to Find" - Blood Money, Tom Waits
"The Fine Print" - Take Me to Your Leader, King Geedorah
"Stop the Dams" - D-Sides, Gorillaz
"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."
"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!"
slapolakinkaido
Title: Illegitimate Son of God
Joined: Jul 14 2009
Posts: 1565
Posted:
Dec 12 2014 02:39 am
Cameron wrote:
slapolakinkaido wrote:
I hate most everything you guys posted there. No offense, but I'm pretty picky and hate most mainstream music.
http://youtu.be/ZHVkgagQP2Y
Doesn't look like youtube lets us embed anymore.
I didn't like much of it either, but hating Talking Heads is like hating life.
I hate life! .....no not really. I'm cool with Talking Heads, it's just most mainstream music.
Preng
Title: All right, that's cool!
Joined: Jan 11 2010
Location: Accounting Dept.
Posts: 1690
Posted:
Dec 12 2014 02:56 am
slapolakinkaido wrote:
Doesn't look like youtube lets us embed anymore.
You have to navigate through Share/Embed/Show More, then see if "Use Old Video Code" is available. I don't think they've removed it outright, but not all videos offer it...
Black Zarak wrote:
"Stop the Dams" - D-Sides, Gorillaz
I adore this song, though I personally get an off-putting vibe from the guest vocalist. Still agreed that it's a nice closer, though.
Massive Attack's Atlas Air from the 2010 Heligoland album is pretty righteous, if you are into electronic music and cryptic lyrics.
On the other end of the spectrum, Seals & Croft's Yellow Dirt from their 1972 Summer Breeze album is probably my most hated closing track. The whole album is pretty tight up into that point, and then you're suddenly bombarded by some weird accent vocals from left field.
Ross Rifle
Title: Rock N Roll God
Joined: Oct 29 2006
Location: Chilliwack, BC
Posts: 4844
Posted:
Dec 12 2014 09:53 am
I forgot about Contact! Shit, that's a great closer to a great album. One Shot At Glory off Judas Priest's Painkiller is badass as well
The best part of Contact is the actual NASA transmission at the beginning of an astronaut sighting a UFO (or part of their booster system catching the sun, whatever), fits the theme of the album really well.
Another good ending song is "We'll Meet Again" by Johnny Cash off The American IV, especially as the last song on his last album when he knew he wouldn't live to release another. All the album's guest stars joining in on the last chorus plus the message of "don't miss me because we'll see each other again soon" is just so powerful.
"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."
"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!"
Cameron
Title: :O � O:
Joined: Feb 01 2008
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 4637
Posted:
Dec 12 2014 11:50 pm
"Indifference" by Pearl Jam is probably the best one I can think of off the top of my head.
Etch
Title: Intermittent Scribbler
Joined: Mar 15 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 588
Posted:
Dec 13 2014 11:17 pm
slapolakinkaido wrote:
I hate most everything you guys posted there. No offense, but I'm pretty picky and hate most mainstream music.
http://youtu.be/ZHVkgagQP2Y
Doesn't look like youtube lets us embed anymore.
You can still take the 'ZHVkgagQP2Y' part and paste it into the old code to make it work. After '<embed ' (I put extra spaces in to show where)
It is a waste of politeness to be courteous to the devil ~ William L. Garrison
JRA
Joined: Sep 17 2007
Location: The Opium Trail
Posts: 3475
Posted:
Dec 17 2014 12:56 am
Some more for metal
"Strike of the Beast" Exodus- Bonded By Blood
"Crossing The Traingle of Flames" Darkthrone- Under a Funeral Moon
"Crucifixation" Deicide- Deicide
"Black Death" Destruction- Infernal Overkill
"Beyond The North Waves" Immortal- Sons of Northern Darkness
"Death Metal" Possessed- Seven Churches
"Ashes In Your Mouth"- Megadeth
There are a lot of what if's in life Donny. What if I hit you really hard in the face, knocked yo shit to the back of yo skull? What if I....had you girl gargle my nuts? The fact remains, you are a fuckin mutant.
Count_Akula
Title: Sir Galahad
Joined: Dec 19 2014
Location: Taiwan
Posts: 142
Posted:
Dec 21 2014 09:38 am
K, I got a few:
1. "All You Need Is Love" Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
2. "Beyond The Cemetery" Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated
3. "Pussy Planet" GWAR - America Must Be Destroyed
4. "Hurt" Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (best ending ever)
"Brain Damage/Eclipse" from The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.
Is it too typical to praise this here? Whatever. This is basically the crux of Pink Floyd's entire artistic statement, and it's beautiful to listen to. It says a lot implicitly and explicitly. Is it two songs? Probably, but I wouldn't be caught dead listening to one without the other.
"The End" from The Doors by... take a guess, I dare you.
It's long and it's interesting.
"La Villa Strangiato" from Hemispheres by Rush.
It's long and it's interesting. Why yes, it is a quarter of the album and it's probably cheating counting it. Shame is for the weak.
"The Court of the Crimson King" from In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson.
It's long and it's... you know what, remind me to listen to shorter music. Why is it easier to talk about in a blurb?
"Take It or Leave It" from Is This It by The Strokes.
This is catchy as all hell and satisfyingly Strokesy. I choose "take it."
"Yeah" from Made in Heaven by Queen.
Short, sweet, and to the point. A perfect encapsulation of everything to which Queen, and, indeed, human sentience itself, built toward.
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" from The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden.
One of my favorite songs, honestly. Storytelling through music is underdeveloped, and this is one of the best examples of which I know. It's already been said, but good enough to warrant being said again. That's how I'm justifying blatant copycatting, at least.
Probable Muppet
Joined: Aug 05 2008
Location: CA
Posts: 867
Posted:
Jan 20 2015 05:50 pm
I was going to say "Hurt" NIN but it looks like Akula beat me to it. Was just listening to The Downward Spiral yesterday.
LeshLush
Joined: Oct 19 2009
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1479
Posted:
Jan 20 2015 11:27 pm
It's fun looking back at the list I made to start this thread a year ago. A lot of it would stay the same, but a lot of it would not. Funny how opinions that can seem so strong at the time can change so quickly when dealing with something as subjective as art.
I can't believe I didn't have "This Must Be the Place" by The Talking Heads on there. What an oversight.
adamclark52
Joined: Feb 27 2015
Location: Keswick, Ontario
Posts: 2
Posted:
Feb 27 2015 05:13 am
Motherfucker=Redeemer (Part 2) off of Godspeed You! Black Emperors Yanqui U.X.O. album
thenose_knows
Joined: Feb 02 2015
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 44
Posted:
Feb 27 2015 07:41 pm
JRA wrote:
"Strike of the Beast" Exodus- Bonded By Blood
Exodus rules!
Definitely "Rock It" from Racer X's Street Lethal. After getting hammered by blitzing fast pieces throughout the album, it all ends with a real rockin', foot-stompin' rock tune. I cracked a smile the first time I listened to it. They actually ended a lot of their shows with this one, which I find fitting. There's one concert on YouTube where Jeff Martin and Paul Gilbert have a dueling guitar/kazoo segment. Totally Spinal Tap, and I love it.
Also, Speed Metal Symphony from Cacophony's first album. Great piece. On the topic of instrumentals to close, "Warning" from the first Black Sabbath record. Timeless.
