Top 50 Closing Cuts of All Time

After the popularity of my last post, I felt that doing the same exact post, except for closing tracks on an album, would also fair me well. I gotta' say that this one was a bit tougher to put together (that's why I had to make it 50 and not 40). Perhaps this is because of the fact that the closing track obviously comes after having context for the whole rest of the record that came previous to it. This meaning that a great closing track doesn't only need to be a great song, but also needs to best some up the rest of the record. A great closing track puts closure on your experience of listening to that particular album or maybe it doesn't...sometimes the best closing tracks leave you wanting more, making you want to hit repeat immediately.

Some extra notes: there are some fantastic songs that close albums that aren't nearly as great... most won't be making the cut for this list. This list is going to be chock full of albums that are great and therefore have great closing tracks.

Fun fact: There are 16 Albums to make both lists I have concocted: Nick Drake's Pink Moon, Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, The Clash's London Calling, Radiohead's OK Computer, XTC's Skylarking, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Prince's Purple Rain, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, The Who's Who's Next, Radiohead's Kid A, Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Bruce Sprinsteen's Born To Run, The Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed

50.) OK Go -- "Bye Bye Baby" --- OK Go

49.) The Allman Brothers Band -- "Little Martha" --- Eat a Peach 

48.) Green Day -- "Whatsername" --- American Idiot

47.) Joni Mitchell -- "The Last Time I Saw Richard" --- Blue

46.) My Bloody Valentine -- "Soon" --- Loveless

45.) GZA -- "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)" --- Liquid Swords

44.) The Replacements -- "Here Comes A Regular" --- Tim

43.) LCD Soundsystem -- "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down" --- Sound of Silver

42.) A Tribe Called Quest -- "Scenario" --- The Low End Theory

41.) The Grateful Dead -- "Truckin'" --- American Beauty

40.) Wilco -- "One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)" --- The Whole Love

39.) Joe Jackson -- "Got The Time" --- Look Sharp!

38.) Pixies -- "Gouge Away" --- Doolittle

37.) Bob Marley -- "One Love/People Get Ready" --- Exodus

36.) Radiohead -- "Motion Picture Soundtrack" --- Kid A

35.) Nirvana -- "All Apologies" --- In Utero 

34.) The Jimi Hendrix Experience -- "Bold As Love" --- Axis: Bold As Love

33.) XTC -- "Sacrificial Bonfire" --- Skylarking

32.) Led Zeppelin -- "When The Levee Breaks" --- Led Zeppelin IV

31.) The Who -- "Love, Reign O'er me" --- Quadrophenia

30.) The Band -- "I Shall Be Released" --- Music From Big Pink

29.) The Beatles -- "All You Need Is Love" --- Magical Mystery Tour

28.) David Bowie -- "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" --- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders
From Mars

27.) The Clash -- "Train In Vain (Standy By Me)" --- London Calling

26.) The Who -- "We're Not Gonna Take It" --- Tommy

25.) Public Enemy -- "Fight The Power" --- Fear of a Black Planet

24.) The Beach Boys -- "Caroline, No" --- Pet Sounds

23.) Elliott Smith -- "Say Yes" --- Either/Or

22.) Bob Marley -- "Redemption Song" --- Uprising

21.) The Beatles -- "Tomorrow Never Knows" --- Revolver

20.) Neutral Milk Hotel -- "Two-Headed Boy Part Two" --- In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

19.) Radiohead -- "The Tourist" --- OK Computer

18.) Bon Iver -- "re: Stacks" --- For Emma, Forever Ago

17.) The Rolling Stones -- "You Can't Always Get What You Want" --- Let It Bleed

16.) Bob Dylan -- "Buckets of Rain" --- Blood On The Tracks

15.) Prince -- "Purple Rain" --- Purple Rain

14.) The Rolling Stones -- "Moonlight Mile" --- Sticky Fingers

13.) Notorious B.I.G. -- "Suicidal Thoughts" --- Ready To Die

12.) Bruce Springsteen -- "Jungleland" --- Born To Run

11.) Marvin Gaye -- "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" --- What's Going On

10.) Wilco -- "Reservations" --- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot



9.) Nick Drake -- "From the Morning" --- Pink Moon


8.) Nirvana -- "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (Lead Belly Cover) --- MTV Unplugged in New York


7.) Bob Dylan -- "Desolation Row" --- Highway 61 Revisted


6.) Bruce Springsteen -- "New York City Serenade" --- The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle



5.) The Kinks -- "Waterloo Sunset" --- Something Else by The Kinks



4.) The Who -- "Won't Get Fooled Again" --- Who's Next



3.) The Doors -- "The End" --- The Doors


2.) Pink Floyd -- "Eclipse" --- The Dark Side of the Moon


1.) The Beatles -- "A Day In The Life" --- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Top 40 Opening Tracks of All Tme

The inspiration for this list came mostly from my lack of classic rock intake in recent years. My life has been so cluttered with new music for the last few years that making a list like this was therapeutic for me. Making this brought me back to some records I haven't listened to in quite some time. That being said, a great deal of this list is made up of older records (21 are from before 1980), but that doesn't mean I completely negated newer records on purpose. I just think that older records (the classic rock years) were conceived in such a way that gave a lot more thought to opening tracks. This isn't to say that music in general was better then, but rather that music was labored over in a much different nature than today. The opening track was (and should still be) the mission statement of a band. A good opening track shouldn't just be a good song; rather it should also be an opus for the rest of the record. A good opening track should change the mood your in and most importantly it should make you want to listen to the rest of the record from beginning to end.

40.) The Clash -- "Clash City Rockers" --- The Clash

39.) The Bad Plus -- "Big Eater" --- These Are The Vistas

38.) Coldplay -- "Don't Panic" --- Parachutes

37.) Nick Drake -- "Pink Moon" --- Pink Moon

36.) The dB's -- "Black and White" --- Stands For Decibels

35.) Damien Jurado -- "Ohio" --- Rehersals For Departure 

34.) Dusty Springfield -- "Just A Little Lovin'" --- Dusty In Memphis

33.) Neutral Milk Hotel -- "The King of Carrot Flowers Part One" --- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

32.) Elvis Costello -- "No Action" --- This Year's Model

31.) The Clash -- "London Calling" --- London Calling

30.) The Flaming Lips -- "Race For The Prize" (Mokran Remix) --- The Soft Bulletin

29.) Radiohead -- "Airbag" --- OK Computer

28.) Bill Callahan -- "Jim Cain" --- Sometimes I We Were An Eagle

27.) XTC -- "Summer's Cauldron" --- Skylarking 

26.) Bob Dylan -- "Tangled Up In Blue" --- Blood On The Tracks

25.) Chicago -- "Introduction" --- Chicago Transit Authority

24.) King Crimson -- "21st Century Schizoid Man" --- In The Court of the Crimson King

23.) The Strokes -- "Is This It" --- Is This It

22.) Boston -- "More Than A Feelin'" --- Boston

21.) Marvin Gaye -- "What's Going On" --- What's Going On

20.) Funkadelic -- "Maggot Brain" --- Maggot Brain

19.) John Lennon --  "Mother" --- Plastic Ono Band

18.) Arcade Fire -- "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" --- Funeral

17.) The Beatles -- "Come Together" --- Abbey Road

16.) Pink Floyd -- "In The Flesh?" --- The Wall

15.) Elton John -- "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy" --- Captain Fantastic And The
Brown Dirt Cowboy

14.) U2 -- "Where The Streets Have No Names" --- Joshua Tree

13.) The Beatles -- "Back In The U.S.S.R." --- The Beatles (The White Album)

12.) The Doors -- "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" --- The Doors

11.) Prince -- "Let's Go Crazy" --- Purple Rain

10.) Sonic Youth -- "Teen Age Riot" --- Daydream Nation


9.) The Rolling Stones -- "Gimme Shelter" --- Let It Bleed


8.) Wilco -- "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" --- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot


7.) The Who -- "Baba O'Riley" --- Who's Next


6.) Led Zeppelin -- "Whole Lotta Love" --- Led Zeppelin II


5.) Radiohead -- "Everything In It's Right Place" --- Kid A


4.) Bob Dylan -- "Like A Rolling Stone" --- Highway 61 Revisited


3.) Nirvana -- "Smells Like Teen Spirit" --- Nevermind


2.) The Beach Boys -- "Wouldn't It Be Nice" --- Pet Sounds

1.) Bruce Springsteen -- "Thunder Road" --- Born To Run

Beach House -- "The Hours"

Beach House, the dream pop duo out of Baltimore, have been making quite a bit of buzz the last few years. After a totally solid debut and sophomore album, 2010's Teen Dream was a total knockout. It was a record that everybody was in total agreement upon. However, their most recent album, Bloom, has not been as well received. While being most predictably adored  by Pitchfork, many music critics have been very mixed on this new record. For me, I like it a great deal, but is it as great as Teen Dream... eh maybe not. I will just say that I think many critics are being slightly luke-warm to this album simply because of the popularity that the band received with Teen Dream.  Music critics are a bunch of tools who often get upset when a super talented band like Beach House ends up "stealing" that sound the critic created in 94' in his mom's basement. "Dude, we like opened for some serious acts..." Sure you did buddy.

Sorry for the tangent. Anyway, while it takes a little bit of time to get into Bloom, if you peel back the layers of this record, you will find some serious gems. "The Hours" is by far the absolute standout on this record. It goes in so many different places at once. From that weirdo sample in the beginning, to those beautifully airy harmonies, to that rifffffffff. Oh man, that riff is easily the most killer guitar work I have heard all year. Then, about thirty seconds into the song, you are dropped right into Victoria Legrand's lap with that absolutely beautiful melody. Don't even get me started on the chorus. I have been humming the part where Legrand sings "don't care about me" every day since my first listen of this song. This may rival "Walk In The Park"  as my favorite Beach House song. Check it out!


Beach House -- "The Hours"

Spiritualized -- "Hey Jane"

Spiritualized, a psych rock band from across the pond, have just put out their seventh studio album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light - an album that I am totally hooked on. Sadly enough, I have only listened to the album maybe three times all the way through. I would give it more listens if it weren't for the fact that once the first track, "Hey Jane," finishes I immediately click the back button. This song hits on many aspects of songwriting that I absolutely adore: A.) It's sprawling B.) It has a false ending C.) It's catchy D.) It picks a groove and stays in it E.) It is totally anthemic F.) I love back-up singers ... I'm winded so I will just stop there. Moreover, this song is great. I can't get enough of it, but I suggest you get past this song and listen to the rest of the record which is also great.

Spiritualized -- "Hey Jane"

Bobby Womack -- "Please Forgive My Heart"

It goes without saying that Bobby Womack is a legend. However, many soul legends end up putting records out at the end of their careers that are just super lame. Fortunately, I don't think this notion is the case with Bobby Womack. Following in the footsteps of Mavis Staples (working with Jeff Tweedy on her last solo record) and the late great Gil Scott-Heron (PLEASE listen to his last record, I'm New Here) - legends who have put out fantastic records in the last few years, Bobby Womack is teaming up with the amazing Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and XL Records boss Richard Russell on his forthcoming album, The Bravest Man In The Universe. The first song to be released from the record, "Please Forgive My Heart," is an absolute knockout. It is a song that is just so unbelievably inventive. I have never in my life heard something so classic sounding and yet also so fresh. The production is just out of this world. This is a song that couldn't come out in any other year than 2012. The combination of a super angular and dope production, along with a fantastic and honest performance by Womack makes this easily the best song I have heard all year.