Best LP openers and closers

[muad'nin]

Had a poke around for a thread similar to this, but came up blanks…

So, here we go!

These are not necessarily the best songs ever written, or even your favourite songs by these artists. But, for you they work as tracks that, in context, fit perfectly on their respective albums as opening and closing tracks.

As of today, here are mine.

Opener -
The Cure - Plainsong (from “Disintegration”, 1989)


Closer -
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows (from “Revolver”, 1966)

[Erneuert]

[burnmotherfucker!]

Open



Close

[Erneuert]

Open



Close

First one says video unavailable.

Great choice with Clean. Higher Love is just as good.

[burnmotherfucker!]

First one says video unavailable.

Great choice with Clean. Higher Love is just as good.

Hmm, it still plays on my browser. My opening choice was One Hundred Years by The Cure from Pornography.

And this probably belongs over in the controversial thread but Songs of Faith and devotion just never clicked with me, I like Condemnation and the rest of it is just...ok to me. Whereas Black Celebration, Music for the Masses, and Violator is one of the best three album runs in history.

[Erneuert]

Hmm, it still plays on my browser. My opening choice was One Hundred Years by The Cure from Pornography.

And this probably belongs over in the controversial thread but Songs of Faith and devotion just never clicked with me, I like Condemnation and the rest of it is just...ok to me. Whereas Black Celebration, Music for the Masses, and Violator is one of the best three album runs in history.

In that case, let’s also add (by The Cure) the aptly titled “Open” and “End”. lol

[burnmotherfucker!]

In that case, let’s also add (by The Cure) the aptly titled “Open” and “End”. lol

Yeah, and I mean if we're going that route we may as well mention the perfect opening/closing track from Faith. The Holy Hour/Faith.

I would say that The Cure are experts at openers and closers, but I think what it comes down to is they are just great at making albums in general.

[neorev]

Opener


Closer

[muad'nin]

Opener

Great call! After ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Breathe’ came out prior to the LP, there was so much buzz about that album. And then the opening loop of ‘SMBU’ hits when the album finally comes out and it’s like a statement of intent for what’s to follow. It doesn’t set the template (there isn’t one on that LP), but it sets the aesthetic perfectly. Album defining, for sure.

[neorev]

Great call! After ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Breathe’ came out prior to the LP, there was so much buzz about that album. And then the opening loop of ‘SMBU’ hits when the album finally comes out and it’s like a statement of intent for what’s to follow. It doesn’t set the template (the isn’t one on that LP), but it sets the aesthetic perfectly. Album defining, for sure.

I heard Breathe and Firestarter a billion times before the album eventually dropped. Firestarter came out over a year before the album release and Breathe was several months before the album release. These days, I hate now with many bands, the first singles are literally the first tracks of the album. The Prodigy did this will their last 3 albums, they would drop tracks 1 and 2 ahead of their release. It kinda ruins the mystique of hearing an album for the first time when you've already played tracks 1 and 2 to death before it finally arrives. That mystique is gone. Luckily, with The Fat Of The Land, track 1 was an unknown (unless you saw them live beforehand). Breathe and Firestarter were already massive singles, played a ton all over. But when that opening riff of Smack My Bitch Up kicks in, and you have no clue what's about to happen, and that bass hits... adrenaline pumping. You're ready to take on the world when that track kicks in. One of the best opening tracks ever.

[shade]

Since just picking one each is hard enough but I don't want to flood this thread I'll also throw in a 28 minute opener and closer:

[piggy]

I had a really hard time choosing my very faves, so I chose a couple that are a bit unexpected...

OPENER (Brian Eno, "No One Receiving")


CLOSER (The The, "Lonely Planet")

[caca]

Top of my head:

Opener:




Closer:

[BRoswell]

Two that come to mind right now...

Opener:



Closer:

[burnmotherfucker!]

Closer:

Such a great track. I don't think I've really seen anyone talk about it but it's very underrated, as is the album.

Anyway, here's my round 2

Opener



Closer

[Soma]

Opener:

The last song on Speaking In Tongues is another classic banger:

[neorev]

Opener


Closer

[brotha52]

[eversonpoe]

i feel like i made a thread like this a long time ago but i love talking about stuff like this so i don't ever care haha. sorry i'm gonna list a lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

openers:

nin • somewhat damaged
king crimson • 21st century schizoid man / red
low • amazing grace / monkey
big black delta • put the gun on the floor
telefon tel aviv • fahrenheit fair enough / the birds
can • paperhouse
circa survive • holding someone's hair back
converge • first light/last night (they count as one song)
the cure • the kiss
david bowie • blackstar
deftones • hexagram
imperial triumphant • swarming opulence
interpol • pioneer to the falls
jimmy eat world • bleed american / futures
judas priest • sinner
mastodon • oblivion
pj harvey • rid of me
qotsa • keep your eyes peeled
tori amos • precious things (live version on "to venus and back")
young widows • young rivers
pan•sonic • rähinä (mayhem i)

closers:

frank zappa • the gumbo variations
fever ray • coconut
can • spoon
the cinematic orchestra • everyday
cocteau twins • musette and drums
nine inch nails • ripe (with decay)
the cure • sinking
daughters • the unattractive, portable head
dead can dance • how fortunate the man with none
dillinger escape plan • mouth of ghosts
isis • threshold of transformation
COIL • going up
pj harvey • ecstasy
poison the well • the first day of my second life
young widows • in and out of youth
mogwai • mogwai fear satan
king crimson • larks' tongues in aspic, part ii

[armogi]

[use you up]

Start,
Power Of Independent Trucking-Big Black
Stigmata/Thieves/NWO-Ministry
Mr Self Destruct-NIN
Resist-FLA
Rodent-Skinny Puppy

End,
Sorrow-Pink Floyd
Indoctrination-Dead Can Dance
Dagger-Slowdive
Faith-The Cure
40-U2

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

Great thread... My picks are already changing more than my Deftones album rankings.
Opener


Closer


Opener honorable mentions:
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
Radiohead - Everything in its Right Place


Closer honorable mentions:
NIN - Hurt
Jimmy Eat World - 23
Thursday - Stay True

[elevenism]

Opener:


I mean, that intro: BWOOooooooooowwww.

And then, closer:



This one is pretty much a lullaby. It's just this beautiful, hypnotic melody that gets softer and softer, until you can barley hear it, and you might fall asleep. I think that's part of the point of the track.

[Erneuert]

[burnmotherfucker!]

[muad'nin]

YES! This works on multiple levels ever so well. As a closer to “Blackstar”, it’s reflective and melancholic and a perfect note on which to end the LP. As a cap to a career it’s … just sublime. Its reference to/sample of ‘A New Career In A New Town’ surely is a certain thematic knowing nod to his mortality and … what he might be doing when he gets there.

Brilliant choice.

[brotha52]

[Erneuert]

Just noticed @MrLobster bumped the tweaker thread and remembered what an amazing closer this is. Her voice is goosebumpy.

”Oh, god… who are they?”

[Erneuert]

Cinematic outro.

[eachpassingphase]

NIN has a ton of excellent openers and closers. So I'll exclude those from this list because they would take up half of it.

Best Openers:
"The Suburbs" - Arcade Fire
"Rich" - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Dog Days are Over" - Florence + the Machine

Best Closers
"I Know the End" - Phoebe Bridgers
"Road to Joy" - Bright Eyes
"Motion Picture Soundtrack" - Radiohead
"Something in the Way" - Nirvana