What is an amazing album with a (kind of) crap opening track?

LPManic

Was thinking about album sequencing today and how important a banger of an opening track is or was to an album.

But what are some famous or well respected or huge selling albums with (kind of) crap opening tracks? Or at least songs that are not in the same league as the rest of the album?

Three off the top of my head:

Taxman - Revolver
Hello - Morning Glory
EXP - Axis: Bold as Love

Any others?

Sporky

Probably doesn't meet your criteria, but JJ72s second album was pretty good except for the first track, which was excruciatingly bad. 

ICBM

The Beatles - Let It Be - Two Of Us. Should be Get Back. I actually think the whole album would be much more highly rated if it wasn't sequenced so badly.

ABBA - Arrival - When I Kissed The Teacher. Should be Arrival! Doh...

theatreanchor

LPManic said:

Was thinking about album sequencing today and how important a banger of an opening track is or was to an album.

But what are some famous or well respected or huge selling albums with (kind of) crap opening tracks? Or at least songs that are not in the same league as the rest of the album?

Three off the top of my head:

Taxman - Revolver
Hello - Morning Glory
EXP - Axis: Bold as Love

Any others?

Wow. Well, for me, neither Taxman and EXP are clearly not (kind of) crap. 

I assume Morning Glory is Oasis, but as I can’t stand them anyway you’re probably right. 

Blueingreen

I always found Brown Sugar and Bitch annoying even though Sticky Fingers is among my favourite albums.  I almost always skipped the first track on both sides when playing the album.

darthed1981

Rumours.

Jonathangus

Number of the Beast (Invaders)

distressed

LPManic said:

Taxman - Revolver

Huh?

idiotwind

Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde has a pretty weak opening 1-2 with Rainy Day Women #12&35 followed by Pledging My Time.

axisus

I listened to an album this we3k and thought to myself that the first track was poor, but damnit, I can’t remember what it was! I shall return if it comes to me …

ICBM

darthed1981 said:

Rumours.

Second Hand News? That's a good song.

distressed said:

LPManic said:

Taxman - Revolver

Huh?

That was my reaction too.

Funkfingers

peter gabriel 1 AKA Car

Opening track, Moribund The Burgermeister. Barely fit for release as the third bonus track on the B-side of a single.

For several reasons, the album should have opened with Solsbury Hill. 

1) Recognition from already being the single.
2) PG should have begun straight before exposing listeners to the weirder songs.
3) SH is the stand out track on the album. It is such a classic.

Similarly, Here Comes The Flood is a superb closing track.

RocknRollDave

The sound collage that lasts an eternity at the start of The Second Coming. The song proper, Breaking Into Heaven is a decent song, but the preamble is unbearable.

Wildest Dreams off Iron Maiden - Dance of Death

Redlester

INXS’s Kick-Guns in the Sky us an odd track. 

ICBM said:

The Beatles - Let It Be - Two Of Us. Should be Get Back. I actually think the whole album would be much more highly rated if it wasn't sequenced so badly.

ABBA - Arrival - When I Kissed The Teacher. Should be Arrival! Doh...

Try the Glyn Johns version of the album called Get Back if you can find it. Far superior track selection and sequencing. 

Boromedic

As said above, Invaders on NOTB is appalling as an opening track for such an amazing album.

stickyfiddle

Taxman, Hello and Second Hand News are all great. Y'all are weird. 

oh_pollo

Funkfingers said:

peter gabriel 1 AKA Car

That first Peter Gabriel album is *not* an amazing album. And I say that as a fan.

brojangles

Came in to say the same as @Redlester - Kick by INXS is a brilliant 80s pop album with an unaccountably duff opener.

It's quite hard to think of straight-up great albums with slightly crap opening tracks because I guess they wouldn't be great albums. 

ICBM

Sinéad O'Connor - Universal Mother

A great album almost ruined by a spoken intro track by Germaine Greer. I know she was trying to make a point which mattered to her, but after you’ve heard it once it’s just unnecessary and annoying. Thankfully it’s easy to remove from your iTunes library…

mudslide73

brojangles said:

Came in to say the same as @Redlester - Kick by INXS is a brilliant 80s pop album with an unaccountably duff opener.

It's quite hard to think of straight-up great albums with slightly crap opening tracks because I guess they wouldn't be great albums. 

Guns in the sky
Child grows up to see
Guns in the sky
Used to be on TV

I bought this album when I was 15 and forced my parents to listen to it in the car on the way home. Hutchence swearing on the first track led to a disussion, I can tell you. It's pretty awful.

bobeffect

RocknRollDave said:

The sound collage that lasts an eternity at the start of The Second Coming. The song proper, Breaking Into Heaven is a decent song, but the preamble is unbearable.

Wildest Dreams off Iron Maiden - Dance of Death

Was going to say exactly the same about The Second Coming 1st track....I always fast forward it 4mins & 30secs to get to the good bit.