Track One
There is a lot of pressure on an opener. You need to engage the crowd and set the mood for the evening ahead. The same rules apply for albums. A good first track will pull in your listener, set the mood and keep them wanting to hear more, it will catch me off guard and I may enjoy it more than the hit single, unless the hit single is track one. Bury the radio hits and build a foundation for your listener. I took a poll to find songs that meet these criteria; the results are below. Are we missing some? Leave a comment and let me know. Alphabetical by artist:
“Back in the USSR”, The Beatles (White Album), The Beatles
“War Pigs”, Paranoid, Black Sabbath
“Five Years”, Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie
“Mojo Pin”, Grace, Jeff Buckley
“Satan is My Motor”, Prolonging the Magic, CAKE
“Janie Jones”, The Clash, The Clash
“Lonely Woman”, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman
“Jetstream”, Kingdom of Rust, Doves
“Rainy Day Woman 12 and 35″, Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
“The Old Trip to Jerusalem”, OOH, The Mekons
“Hog Calling Blues”, Oh Yeah, Charles Mingus
“3rd Planet”, The Moon and Antarctica, Modest Mouse
“New Born”, Origin of Symmetry, Muse
“The Poet and the Pendulum”, Dark Passion Play, Nightwish
“Silence Kit”, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, Pavement
“Once”, Ten, Pearl Jam
“Debaser”, Doolittle, Pixies
“Harborcoat”, Reckoning, R.E.M.
“Another Night”, Another Night, The Real McCoy
“Cherub Rock”, Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins
“Teenage Riot”, Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth
“Rusty Cage”, Badmotorfinger, Soundgarden
“Mambo Sun”, Electric Warrior, T. Rex
“Plane Crash”, Hell Below/Stars Above, Toadies
“Stinkfist”, Aenima, Tool
“Harmonic”, Unwritten Law, Unwritten Law
“It’s Time to Party”, I Get Wet, Andrew W.K.
“Baba O’Riley”, Who’s Next, The Who
“I am Trying to Break Your Heart”, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco
“Tired of Sex”, Pinkerton, Weezer
“Lowdown”, Pink Flag, Wire
“Soldier’s Grin”, At Mt. Zoomer, Wolf Parade
“Peaches En Regalia”, Hot Rats, Frank Zappa
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