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With the huge rise in digital music sales over the last few years, the power of YouTube and the prevalence of pre-release album streams, it is now possible to preview pretty much every song before you buy an album, or even purchase only the individual tracks that float your boat. The magic of ripping the packaging off a CD, sweaty little hands shaking in anticipation, lifting the shiny plastic disc out of its case and putting it into your CD player with absolutely no idea what will burst forth from your speakers, has, to some extent, been lost.
In some ways it is a shame that we no longer buy an album purely based on the strength of a couple of singles, a good live show or some amazing cover art. That said, album openers remain just as (if not more) important in showcasing a band’s music. Online streaming means that that first track is what decides whether we give the rest of the album a spin, and whether we’ll part with our hard-earned cash for a copy of our own.
There are so many different ways to start an album: an epic slow-builder or an in-your-face intro? An artistic statement or the album’s only good song? Hit the jump to get a taste of twenty perfect take offs.
Words by Confusion, Constant Gardner, Midas & Monster
The Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter” (Let It Bleed)
“You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge” – and with those words so begins the seminal gangsta rap album that is Straight Outta Compton. The kicking beat and the raw-as-fuck lyrics can make the nerdiest World of Warcraft fan feel as if they should be standing and mean mugging the camera on that iconic album cover. Play this is in your Yaris and suddenly you’re cruising in Compton with some bad bitches in the back instead of stuck in a traffic jam in the rain. Wherever and whenever this timeless song is played there’s really only one thing to say: “Daaayyyuuumm that shit was dope”.
