Bands that never topped track #1 on album #1

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LemonMelon

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I'm listening to Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol right now. It's kind of sad to think of it, but I truly don't believe this band ever released a song that, for me anyway, could top Untitled. There are a few instances of this, and I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone else thought there were some bands that peaked very early. This is all highly debatable, so I think the discussion that springs forth will be heated and awesome.

My list would include:

Interpol - Untitled
Boston - More Than A Feeling
The Shins - Caring Is Creepy
Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
Joy Division - Disorder
Leonard Cohen - Suzanne
Big Country - In A Big Country
Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
Jesus And Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
Flying Burrito Brothers - Christine's Tune

There are probably 10,000 one-hit wonders that fit the criteria (see: Big Country, although I believe their discography is worth exploring), but it gets more difficult with artists that have 5-10 albums.
 
Siamese Dream isn't the Smashing Pumpkins' first album.

FAIL.

Also, the Jesus and Mary Chain topped Just Like Honey over and over again, same with Guns & Roses. Welcome to the Jungle is probably my least favorite song on Side One of that album.
 
Oh jeez, I always forget about Gish. Well, they only have one album in my opinion anyhow. That and a couple of good non-album singles called 1979 and Zero. They were taken over by a megalomaniacal, anthropomorphic cueball after that.

Make your own list so I can have something other than your facial hair and people skills to tear to shreds.
 
Oh jeez, I always forget about Gish. Well, they only have one album in my opinion anyhow. That and a couple of good non-album singles called 1979 and Zero. They were taken over by a megalomaniacal, anthropomorphic cueball after that.

Make your own list so I can have something other than your facial hair and people skills to tear to shreds.


I'm cynical, but not so much to have a list like that. I don't listen to bands that yield those kind of diminishing returns.

But agreed about the Pumpkins, nothing they did after comes anywhere close to Siamese Dream, even if you whittled down Mellon Collie to one album.
 
I'd throw the Black Angels in this conversation. Not that I don't like the other stuff, but "Young Men Dead" continues to be my favorite of their tunes. An argument could be made for "Delicate" being Damien Rice's best song. Some folks might campaign for "Death to Los Campesinos!" (not I). Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why" is an excellent choice. I'd campaign for St. Vinny's "Now Now," but she's only got two albums. "Sunday Morning" is my favorite VU track. That's just skimming the surface, so yeah, there are a lot of choices. Interpol are probably the perfect selection for this, though.
 
Coldplay: Don't Panic. They certainly have many other good tracks, but that's my favourite one.
 
K's Choice... ? lol, I only really know their song "Not an Addict" and it took me long enough to even think of that tune.

I'm not very good at this :sigh:
 
I'll bet some people would argue that "I Wanna Be Adored" is the Stone Roses finest moment. I don't know if I'd agree. It's definitely up there, though.

I don't know Black Sabbath's discography really at all, but probably my favorite thing I've ever heard by them is the opening track on their debut - the title track.

Other candidates (again, not saying I necessarily agree, but arguments could be made):

The Doors - Break On Through
Oasis - Rock N Roll Star
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (kind of a nice anthemic distillation of everything the band does and stood for?)
Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon (I absolutely love this band to death, and they have topped this in my mind, but it's certainly one of their most vital tracks)
The Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There

HaHA! Kidding with that last one. Or am I?
 
Agreed on The Stone Roses. That is SUCH a great song, but other than one or two songs I like (but not nearly as much), I really don't like anything else they've sone.
 
I'll bet some people would argue that "I Wanna Be Adored" is the Stone Roses finest moment. I don't know if I'd agree. It's definitely up there, though.

I don't know Black Sabbath's discography really at all, but probably my favorite thing I've ever heard by them is the opening track on their debut - the title track.

Other candidates (again, not saying I necessarily agree, but arguments could be made):

The Doors - Break On Through
Oasis - Rock N Roll Star
Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (kind of a nice anthemic distillation of everything the band does and stood for?)
Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon (I absolutely love this band to death, and they have topped this in my mind, but it's certainly one of their most vital tracks)
The Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There

HaHA! Kidding with that last one. Or am I?


Come on. The Doors are an easy target, and while Break On Through is one of their better songs, they don't belong on a list that seems to be made of artists who put out diminishing returns.

Having said that, even as someone who really liked The Stone Roses' sophomore effort, hard to argue with I Want To Be Adored as being their best song, and they clearly faded pretty quickly.
 
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit?
I don't personally think it's their best, but it's their biggest hit.

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

Does it have to be literally track #1? Because "Dream On" is track #3 on Aerosmith's first album, and I'd say it's arguably their finest song. Also, "Time After Time"
 
Coldplay: Don't Panic. They certainly have many other good tracks, but that's my favourite one.

Agree.

I actually think Leif Erikson is a better song than Untitled.

Like Eating Glass would indeed be a contender if it weren't for the fact that the entire fucking album is amazing. Bloc Party got progressively worse though I do love all their music...Silent Alarm will always hold a special place in my heart.

Looking through my iTunes no others screamed out at me, except maybe...Tearin' Up My Heart by Nsync? :wink:
 
The Verve's "Urban Hymns" topped number 1# in the UK, not the USA with #12. But surpringly, "Bittersweet Symphony" never topped #1 in the UK or the USA. It was such a megahit at that time, I thought surely, it would at least top # 1 in the UK if not the USA. But according to Wikipedia, it topped number #1 in Canada! But is Wiki reliable?
 
The Killers - Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine

is my favorite Killers song, not sure if many would also consider it their best song though.
 
Does it have to be literally track #1? Because "Dream On" is track #3 on Aerosmith's first album, and I'd say it's arguably their finest song. Also, "Time After Time"

Even though it's track 3, it's their first single, yes? Plus it's like the first song they ever did or something like that, I think. The point is, I think this is the biggest example of a band, in a LONNNNGGGGG career, never topping their first song.
 
Yeah, I love Untitled, but there are a ton of other tracks I prefer. Regardless, it's all LeMeL's opinion and such. I don't think he was implying any of it was FACT.

...or was he?!
 
Here's an interesting one

Arcade Fire - Tunnels

I think that says more about that song than it does about their output since
 
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