It’s been 20 years, but the opening synth line that kicks off Radiohead’s Kid A
is still the most perfect mood-setter for not only that record, but the
band’s subsequent entire career. The somber, minor-key melody that
begins “Everything In Its Right Place” captures an entire aesthetic with
only a descending melody that hits a dark chord, then slowly tries to
rise again—as accurate a description of the British group’s output as
any I can think of. It lets you know just what kind of record you’re
about to experience, and it instantly creates a sense of foreboding and
anxiety. Huh, I wonder what about 2020 is reminding me of those emotions
again. [Alex McLevy]
164 Comments
I’d have to say Nirvana’s Nevermind album. It gets right to the point and never really lets up. It’s one of the few albums I can still listen to in its entirety and enjoy every song.
Never Mind the Bollocks – Holidays in the Sun
First one I thought of. It literally changed my life when I first heard it
1999
It’s more like 13 seconds, but this is my pick.
First piano notes on Mellon Collie. Grand opening to a masterpiece.
Yes! That intro is such a perfect way to start that album.
Let it Be – The Replacements comes to mind but also REM’s Document.
Oooh….REM ‘Chronic Town’…first few bars of “Wolves, Lower” are just sublime. Does a 5-song EP count, though?For their albums, I’d say ‘Fables of the Reconstruction’…those opening, eerie, notes of “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” just suck you into the mood (dark) of the whole record…I also love the way ‘Life’s Rick Pageant’ opens.
Life’s Rich Pageant — first thing that came to mind.
“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge…”Honestly, I’m not a huge NWA fan, or really a big hip hop fan….but holy shit. The first 10 seconds of “Straight Outta Compton” hit you like a fucking Mack Truck, and that whole album was just a bellwether for a seismic shift in, well just about everything.
That funky “Funky Drummer” is killah!
If you’re talking about the drum sample, it’s not Funky Drummer. It’s Amen, Brother by The Winstons.
Huh, didn’t know that. It really sounds like funky drummer to me. ETA: just listened to both again, and now I realize my mistake.
17 seconds, after Ice Cube’s first lines. What a fucking announcement of one’s arrival
Damn, good call.
I know people love to trash them around here, but YES Fragile.
who? who the fuck said anything bad about roundabout i will wreck them up
I’ve never said it, but I sure have thought it.
you SAID it now boy-oi’m in NYC too, whassup, i’ll punch up ya butt roundabout ten o clock
Only if you’re wearing a mask and have thoroughly Purelled your fist.
it’s lubricated, does that count
It’s far from my favorite Bowie album, but the Nile Rodgers-Omar Hakim tag team at the beginning of “Modern Love” on Let’s Dance is perfection. Unfortunately, the rest of the album never matches that moment.
What is your favorite Bowie album? For me, it’s Young Americans followed very closely by Earthling.
Station to Station, Hunky Dory and “Heroes” are my favorites. Young Americans has definitely grown on me despite the “Across the Universe” cover. I like Earthling but really like Heathen from that era.
Bowie’s covers are a bit wanting. On Heathen, I adore 5:15 the Angels Have Gone. Lodger is third best for me, and I think Hunky Dory is an underrated masterpiece.
Lodger. I adore the Berlin trilogy
For me it’s Station to Station, Low, Young Americans and Ziggy.
GnR – Welcome to the Jungle!
Was the first thing that came to mind.
Likewise. The moment I read the question the guitars kicked of in my head..
One of the more do-able instances of belatedly realizing half the notes are the guy’s delay pedal.
The Woods by Sleater-Kinney. It was the first album of theirs I listened to, and the opening of “The Fox” absolutely knocked me on my ass. Just a squeal of feedback before this impossibly heavy riff hits you like a brick.
That’s a good opening, I just wish I liked the rest of that first song as much as the beginning.
Led Zeppelin II. Robert Plant laughs and then “Whole Lotta Love” kicks off and WOOOOOOO
People can say it is trite, but the keyboard and guitar opening of the Joshua Tree album for Where the Streets Have No Name just grabs you. I can never relive the first time I dropped the needle and just was enveloped by an album so quickly.
I came to the comments to see if anyone would suggest this, though I’d probably choose “Sunday Bloody Sunday” on U2’s “War” instead. That drum opening gets me every time!
I hate how Meatloaf this band got for the mass public. They
just donated 1.5 million to help sound and lighting crews who are out
of work.
Bono is a whore, but he tithes 100 percent. He’s the Irish Springsteen.
I love U2s music but let’s not romanticise the generosity of Bono, an incredibly wealthy, unapologetic serial tax dodger. Which wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t spend his time lecturing governments on how to spend tax money raised from much poorer folk.At least the Boss has been paying taxes since he turned 30. Admittedly that was after the IRS took all his money over the taxes he hadn’t been paying.
AHAHAHAHAHA!!!Conceded.
Bono’s done a staggering amount for AIDS and hunger in Africa. Anyone who uses their fame and fortune to help the least fortunate deserves some credit.
He definitely deserves some credit for that, but a lot of that aid work comes in the form of telling governments how to spend foreign aid budgets, which he refuses to contribute to. He’s been caught time and again tax dodging (moving residency out of Ireland Panama papers, etc) and is totally unapologetic about it. The guy is worth over 700million. He can more than afford to contribute to foreign aid, schools, roads etc. That said, fair play to him caring at all. And I appreciate the work he does raising the profile of Amnesty etc.He’s not a bad guy but the hypocrisy rankles me.
They have so many good openings. My pick is the opening 10ish seconds of BAD from Wide Awake in America:
I too was going to mention War.
U2 has some fucking banger openings. Joshua Tree, War, All That You Can’t Leave behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb particularly.
Yes!U2 is super pop, but at least they were really good at it. Many of their albums grab you right from the start.
Came here to post this. Had the same experience, over and over again. But why trite?
Honestly, a stadium rock band should have a blow up lead in for an album. So some may say too easy.Also, U2 are considered by a lot of the readers here to be a rather overhyped band. I accept that though do not agree. I figure prefacing my choice by admitting it would move people past the “eww!” reaction and have them give it an honest listen.
If the cliché is the big blow up, wouldn’t that be the “easier” route though?And yes there is definitely a contingent that believe they are overhyped. Personally I think they earned it up to “Joshua Tree”, a perfect pop arc from “Boy” to there. After that they kind of sink into relative mediocrity. And unfortunately this poisons their early excellence.
“If the cliché is the big blow up, wouldn’t that be the “easier” route though?”But is that a bad thing?
Also, I
would go so far as to go up to Achtung Baby with that list. Going from
Stadium to Dance pop in the 90s was a good move and an amazing
transition.Though Pop did leave me cold. Bonos falsetto should be a seasoning, not the whole meal.
I guess my point is that the subtle lead in to Streets Have No Name was a pretty cool breaking of the cliché. And I think Achtung Baby was actually pretty cool. But that is about as far as I was willing to follow them, give or take a few songs (Beautiful Day, Electrical Storm).
There was a time in the 80’s and 90’s when U2 was the biggest band and it felt right. After Pop “bombed,” they gave up on the things that made them interesting and became more interested in U2 the brand. They wanted to be all things to all people and a lot of people only know the 00’s era, much blander, U2 instead of the earlier version. Since I grew up with the band that went from War to Unforgettable Fire and then to the JT, I always have a soft spot for them. But that version of the band is long gone.
I hate U2, so I guess take this with a grain of salt, but I just listened, and the first 45 seconds of that tune are just crescendo-ing keyboards. It sounds like a church organist getting warmed up.
I can see that. To little me with the big puffy headphones on and sitting alone in my room, it was the gates opening to Pop Heaven. Just the wave of the keyboard swishing from ear to ear until The Edge drops in with that jangly guitar and then Larry with the drums and Adam’s repetitive bass (fuck he is a repetitive bassist) before Bono begins to sing about escaping to a world where the streets have no name.That is solid MTV era pop.
to be fair, this album IS the one where they dove in headfirst into the deep myths and realities of the american dream, so the religious angle is partly by design.
This is an excellent call. The first time I heard it, I got goosebumps. No album that I can think of has such an epic, cinematic and grand opening.
A Love Supreme by Coltrane. The gong, the sax, the splashy drums going into the roll; I’m almost disappointed when the bassline kicks in. Almost.
“Only Shallow” still takes the cake for sheer bombast.Though “953″ is a pretty great opening statement too.
“Only Shallow” is awesome and one of my favorite things ever when it comes to album intros is how Beach House took that short drum riff (is it ok to call it a “riff”? English is not my first language so I really don’t know) at the beginning of Loveless and made it their own at the start of “7”, I love listening to both albums back to back and discovering how much DNA they share while remaining completely distinct. I think Beach House’s whole discography is a masterclass on how to properly assimilate your influences without ripping them off.
I actually have some (mildly nuts) theories on music and one of them is that pretty much every song is an exquisite corpse of a previous one. I like the idea that everyone is listening to everyone else’s music and getting so excited they start writing at the same time.
“Dude, we gotta fuckin’ write something new, c’mon.”
I don’t like that, so far off to a bad start.
Did not come to mind at first but this is the right answer
More like the first 15 seconds, but Outside of the Aviary rocks it.
An argument could be made for Runnin with the devil on the first album, too.
Ideally the first 25 seconds ..but even the first 10 are good enough to be my favourite.
Yep. That album had me hooked just a few notes into it. What a gorgeous, grand opening that sounded like nothing I had ever heard before or since.
Lateralus starts up with a barely audible sound of something revved up….then Jones, Carey and Chancellor go to work.
This album broke musical barriers in high school, starting with this song’s first few seconds.
The noise at the beginning of “Stinkist” that opens Ænima is also one of my favorite short intros ever. Although if I had to choose a Tool intro, it would be the first two minutes or so of “Eulogy”, so satisfying…
The opening of Elvis Costello’s first album, My Aim is True. ‘Welcome to the Working Week.’ The lone vocal that speeds up and crescendos (an early Costello trademark, to be sure) grabs you by the teenage angst and doesn’t let go. ‘Now that you’re picture’s in the paper being rhythmically admired/And you can have anyone that you have ever desired/All you gotta tell me now is whywhyWHYWHY!’
Addendum–it’s actually the first 13 seconds. My apologies.
I’d say the same with This Year’s Model.
Agreed. He did the cold vocal opening on his first three albums, although by Armed Forces, it was just the first word.
Armed Forces would be my call for this – seeing him live opening with Accidents Will Happen cements it.But if you stretch the question to 16 seconds, mine would be Half Man Half Biscuit’s Cammell Laird Social Club, with it’s brilliant opener The Light at the End of the Tunnel (is the Light of an Oncoming Train). Again seeing it open a live show makes all the difference.
The way, “I don’t wanna kiss you, I don’t wanna touch” is actually pretty low in the mix, pulling that old trick of getting you to turn it up, right before the rest of the band kicks in? Gets me pumped every time.
But with This Year’s Model, I’d go with side 2 as the opener, as the intro to “Hand In Hand” does it for me every time.
It might be as dumb as a box of rocks, but the opening 10 seconds of Lou Reed’s “Street Hassle” still makes me grin like a fool.And I still remember the very first time I put “After Murder Park” by the Auteurs on. Took less than 10 seconds of that filthy Albini mix to know it was going to be a blessed relief from the shiny, chirpy Britpop-soaked hideousness of the mid-90s.
Rumours. That oh so quiet running guitar that flat out jumps into the beat of Second Hand News is the perfect jolt into that album’s arguably bounciest track. (Pun definitely intended!)
Ludacris Word of Mouf. First ten seconds are pure glory.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpSaCumrVbF6ICsYukA6MOcr_Id1qlLT1Always and forever. Also “Sugar Kane” is STILL probably my all-time favorite song.
London Calling.
The first track on Morrissey’s Vauxhall & I album, “Now My Heart is Full.” It’s these watery-sounding strings that are both forceful and subdued. It’s so hypnotic as to be almost creepy.
Arrows of Desire by Matthew Good, came out during a particularly stressful time in my life but the opening guitar riff reminded me that I can always count on a new Matt Good record
I mean, come on. It’s gotta be American Football’s 1999 self-titled.
OK, it’s more like the first 40 seconds, but I always thought this one was pretty much the perfect intro song.
I know The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” has been used so much in sports arenas that it’s become almost cliche at this point . . . but it’s used that much for a reason.
I can’t not say Permanent Waves by Rush. Spirit of Radio’s intro gets me every damn time.
I gotta go with The Bedlam in Goliath, Mars Volta. Odd time signature, everything turned up all the way, and an amazing new drummer giving you a taste of what he’s got, all just out of nowhere, no warning. Not for everyone, but a real confident, ‘get on the train or get out of the way’ way to start an album.
I’ll cheat here a little because it’s a best of, but the first 10 seconds of Tom Petty’s Greatest Hits is the intro kick from American Girl, which is the best album intro you can have. Shame it took him a while to realize that since it’s the last song on the original album it was on.
Easy answer, but I can’t go past the plane landing at the start of the White Album. The Beatles saying “Here we are, get out of our way.” Kicking off with Back in the U.S.S.R. is incredibly funny and ballsy in the context of 1968.
“C’mon momma”Dang, that bass line.
this is the only correct answer
Easily Led Zeppelin 4
The opening to Turn the Page by The Streets, off Original Pirate Material. The best opening to an album, a song, nay a career (it was the debut album) I can think of.Run Away With Me is a great shout, too.
Original pirate material was so good.
Good mention.
‘What are your favorite first 10 seconds of an album?’Guided By Voices: TwoferHardcore UFOsBee Thousand [1994]****
A Salty Salute
Alien Lanes [1995]****Let The Good Times Roll
The Cars [1978]
****
Alien Lanes is an excellent choice.
fuck yeah, that Cars album is wall to wall good, but that opening…. wow.
wow. this is such a streaming culture question. I’ll take a pass on this one.Fascinating answers, though.
I listened to this record so much, but the opening horns are so evocative.I love how li-fi this is. I remember exactly how it felt to hear her the first time, from these opening notes.
Well, not a pop album, but the music soundtrack to ‘Jaws’ opens with the shark theme. Instant f-ing classic. The complete music soundtrack is great, but there’s a reason people still quote the Shark Theme.
My kind of music, maybe the vocals have kicked in in the first ten MINUTES and maybe they haven’t.
Instead of Nirvana, I’ve always loved the start of Hole’s Violet— it feels like I’m immediately on a runaway train, and the pace just keeps increasing.
Barenaked Ladies’ Gordon. A little soulful horn melody that descends into the acapella hook of Hello City… seconds later, the band chimes in, and we’re off to the quirky beginnings of an insanely deep pop album.
Not the opening of the album, but CHVRCHES’ Tether has one of my favorite 10 seconds of synth kick-ins ever.
“Supervixen” by Garbage. The full first phrase runs about 11 seconds, but honestly, within two measures and a count-in the wall of sound and sudden brakes, my heart just stopped.
Also, is it cheating if I point out that “Tank!” off the Bebop OST opens the album? Because those ten seconds do the same thing Supervixen does in a jazzier way.
Peerless…
THE BACK BONE OF THIS COUNTRY IS THE INDEPENDENT TRUCKTHE POWER OF THE TRUCKER COMES FROM HIS TRUCK
I had Everything in its Right Place as my wake-up song for about 18 months in 2010-2011. Fuck yeah.A-Ha – Take on Me from Hunting High and LowBob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone from Highway 61 RevisitedA new one but – Christine and the Queens – People, I’ve been Sad from La Vita Nuova.Coldplay – Don’t Panic from ParachutesCrowded House – Mean to Me from Crowded HouseGenesis – Dancing with the Moonlit Knight -Selling England by the PoundGenesis – Behind the Lines from DukePhil Collins – In the Air Tonight from Face Value.
‘Poison Root’ is one of my favorite Alex G songs, a fantastic opening to my favorite record of his.
I’m gonna go with ‘Cherub Rock’ for my pick, though.
I’d go with either Blue Sky Mining by Midnight Oil or The Crane Wife by The Decemberists. They’re both effective in that you can tell immediately what the album is trying to do. Midnight Oil is a very underappreciated band. Not everyone knows their music, but everyone who does really likes them. Blue Sky Mining is one of the most passionate albums I’ve ever heard. It makes me want to visit Australia. And the Decemberists album is great because it’s immediately catchy.
Diesel and Dust is the right answer. Those first few notes of “Beds Are Burning”? Perfection. Actually I love the whole album– probably a top ten all-timer.But yeah I think Midnight Oil is generally underappreciated. It’s weird, many bands do concept albums, but they’ve almost got a concept career.
All of those 10 seconds from this list did nothing for me. I thought of
Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell if anyone hasn’t posted that yet.
Only one right answer. Take a look at these hands.
This tends to be my go-to for a lot of these type of questions…
Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s. The intriguing fade in of crowd noise, the sounds of the orchestra warming up, and then that killer kick into a killer first song. A great concept album with virtually all killer, no filler. I was mesmerized the first time I placed the needle on the record of my parents cheap hifi stereo.
Oops, just realized I linked an alternate version, not the album version. Here is the version that actually starts like I described:
Born to Run was the first thing I thought of, but I’d also vote for the trippy, spaced-out keyboard trill that opens up Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. If the crash into the opening of “In the Flesh?” on The Wall had come just a few seconds earlier, I’d go with that in a heartbeat, but Wish’s cosmic opening just sets the perfect tone for what’s about to unfold.
Maybe it’s in the greys but baba O’Reilly from who’s next needs to be in this for sure.
I’m a sucker for short lead-in tracks like Pantala Naga Pampa on DMB’s Before These Crowded Streets or Everything is On from Asobi Seksu’s Citrus.
But a track 1 that I will never skip once I hear the first few seconds is Malibu Love Nest on Luna’s Rendezvous.
The Beatles. Revolver. That was easy.
Some good ones here, but I would think the first ten seconds of Who’s Next is the gold standard.
this right here comes to mind:
Pretty much any live album:
Live! Bootleg, Hot August Night, Rock ‘n Roll Animal, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out, Live At Leeds, Love At The Greek, Got Live If You Want It . . .
The intro to Steve Hackett’s first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, is incredible. It goes by so quickly I always need to rewind to hear the first five seconds again!
Simple Minds‘ Street Fighting Years.For the most promising new wave/synthpop group of 1985, U2’s Joshua Tree and Live Aid catalyzed a new way of looking at the world, which you can instantly recognize in the first 15 acoustic seconds of the album.
Usually, by the time I check the thread, someone’s beaten me to the answer I would’ve given, but not today.10 seconds of the Beastie Boys’ “Ill Communication” takes you into the instantly inviting flute loop and as far as the second “Cause you can’t, you won’t, and you don’t stop” of “Sure Shot”. Gold.
A couple that come to mind:Thirteenth Floor Elevators – The Psychedelic Sounds OfPere Ubu – The Modern Dance
We need some diversity up in here!! Janet Jackson Control! Hello! Being the younger sister of two acts that are legend must suck because she just doesn’t get the credit she deserves. I recall Casey Kasem using her twice during his trivia section. The first was for being the biggest selling teen artist of all time (not sure I’d that holds today) and second for being the female artist that broke radios two female lead vocal songs in a row rule. Prior to the success of Control’s singles, douche make run radio stationed had an unwritten rule that they wouldn’t play two women back to back. Others,Sinead O’Connor Fire In BabylonDee-lite World Clique
Red, Hot & Blue George Michael Faith
Mastodon/Remission/Crusher DestroyerIf we’re taking TEN seconds, and not cheating/extrapolating to ~30 seconds, good luck beating it.Awesome movie sample, awesome riff, first record, introducing the best American metal band of the new millennium.
Mastodon was my first thought as well, except I’d go with “The Wolf is Loose” off of Blood Mountain.
Starting with a long-ass drum fill is definitely peak-mastodon…. and on second thought, I would wanna cheat and extend my example to 14 seconds to catch an insane drum fill.
Seems like Mastadon really knows how to open an album:Blood and Thunder – it starts innocently, then pummels youOblivion – Sounds like a warning of impending dangerBlack Tongue – Great riff
Bob *wip-wip-wip* Bob Wood, national program director of the Chum Group worked with us in producing..
Disco Eterno in Soda Stereo’s El Último Concierto B That whole album is amazing but it hooks you from the intro. That and Cerati’s Bocanada which is a perfect album
I’m more into electronica and that makes a genre which starts their albums with long introductory pieces, but having said that, the way Roni Size’s “New Forms” starts immediately never fails to impress me, and I also love the bookends kind of intro like what good old great Todd Edwards did on “Full On Vol 1″ which is a compilation but ok.
David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World.The opening guitars to Width of a Circle are just perfection.
A lot of great picks here. Some others for consideration:- Jump, Little Children: Magazine- Kamasi Washington, The Epic- Michael Jackson, Bad – Arcade Fire, The Suburbs- Imogen Heap, Headlock- Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells
“Ah, it’s time to relax and you know what that means: a glass of wine, your favourite easy chair and of course this compact disc playing on your home stereo. So go on, indulge yourself. That’s right. Kick off your shoes, put your feet up, lean back and and just enjoy the melodies. After all, music soothes even the savage beast….’’
Recency bias for sure, but the first ~10 seconds of Run The Jewels 4 put a huge grin on my face every time
The Ramones – End of the Century with its radio collage to start “Rock n’ Roll Radio” always jumps out to me.
Much as I love skillful guitar playing, dreamy vocals, it occurs to me there are two songs -and segments of them- that really work because of the drumming.First, the closing of The Psychedelic Furs’ Love My Way, the wonderful drumming toward the end of that song…And then there’s the excellent and morose drums at the opening of David Bowie’s excellent Five Years…
Came here to post “Everything in its Right Place” from Kid A and left slideshow happy. After the aural onslaught that was OK Computer, to have such a tonal shift right off the bat of their follow up was mind-blowing. Thanks OP.
The correct answer is the opening audio montage that jump starts “Detroit Rock City” on “Destroyer” by KISS. Thank you for your time.
Them Bones by Alice in Chains was a vicious way to open Dirt, an amazing album.
“Horn Intro”, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, Modest Mouse.
Hundred-thirty comments and no love for “The Boy in the Bubble” from Graceland yet?It’s undoubtedly one of the simplest openings on this list, just solo accordion, but I could no more stop listening to that than to the buzzing of a wasp trying to get out of the inside of my skull, and then by the ten-second mark he adds a drum, and next thing you know 45 minutes have gone by and I’ve heard half a dozen things I’d never heard before and am ready for a second listen to the whole album.
It’s a bit on the nose, but I’ve always loved “The start / is the hardest part” from the Lucksmith’s Warmer Corners. No instrumental buildup, just the singers voice at its most warm and compassionate. This whole album is like listening to a hug from your best friend.
Wow, there are a lot of good ones in the comments! Picking between Elvis Costello (any of several albums), The Clash (London Calling, but even better…Combat Rock…”THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT….WITH GUITAR!!”…just awesome), Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed (really need a full minute on this one, the build up in the beginning of Gimme Shelter is sublime)…there’s so many more good ones than I expected.How about Public Enemy’s first? “Uh oh, Chuck, they out to get us, man…yo, we got to dust these boys off!” “In this corner with the 98, subject of suckers, object of hate…who’s the one, some think is great?” One of the best political rappers of all time, and the first song on the wax is about his car (ok, it does get political toward the end, and it could possibly be satire, but I don’t care…it rocks). Love, love, love…
The opening 10 seconds of Strength Beyond Strength by Pantera on Far Beyond Driven. Sums up the band and the album perfectly.
gotta say this is a long drive by modest mouse. love lonesome crowded west, moon & antarctica, and building nothing out of something, too. they know how to start an album.
the album i queue up when starting a race (though really it’s the first 26 seconds): my o.g. fave would be the beginning of boy in the bubble from paul simon’s graceland (and yes, the first drum beat hits before 10 seconds): also, you might say it’s not a true album but the opening of a decade of steely dan is the beginning of fm: