"Missed it by that much" - Albums that should have ended sooner.

[bono_212]

So, this might be a bit of a dead end of a thread, but I was listening to Exile on Main St. on my way home from work and I couldn't help but feel like that album completely fucks up by not ending with "Shine A Light". It's like, this is perfect, just...just stop. But no, they come back in for one more go. And "Soul Survivor" is a great song and it's perfect for this album and it could fit literally anywhere because this is one of the most cohesive albums of all time. I just don't get why it's the closer.

Another more popular/obvious example of this is "Her Majesty" closing Abbey Road when "The End" is so perfect.

What other albums out there have left you hanging with a great closer, only to go on one track too long?

 

[LemonMelon]

I just don't get why it's the closer.

Because Shine a Light is a bit of an island, you know? The gospel-inspired I Just Wanna See His Face is there, but ending a sleazy, grimy, ugly record largely concerning drug abuse and dissatisfaction with an uplifting gospel number would have been a cheat. A deus ex machina for people wanting a happy ending. Soul Survivor is a perfect closer.

A big one for me though: the spiritual, thoughtful October winding down with Scarlet...only to attempt to pick up steam for 2 minutes with Is That All. It's a terrible idea and fails miserably.

 

[DaveC]

So, this might be a bit of a dead end of a thread, but I was listening to Exile on Main St. on my way home from work and I couldn't help but feel like that album completely fucks up by not ending with "Shine A Light". It's like, this is perfect, just...just stop. But no, they come back in for one more go. And "Soul Survivor" is a great song and it's perfect for this album and it could fit literally anywhere because this is one of the most cohesive albums of all time. I just don't get why it's the closer.

Another more popular/obvious example of this is "Her Majesty" closing Abbey Road when "The End" is so perfect.

What other albums out there have left you hanging with a great closer, only to go on one track too long?

In the context of the Beatles' history though, the fact that Her Majesty is tacked on to the end of Abbey Road is cheekily fitting, in a similar vein to putting a dog whistle and random chatter at the end of Sgt Pepper's rather than ending with that chord.

Yellow Submarine should have been an EP with the title track, the incredible George songs, and Hey Bulldog. No All Together Now (what a waste of two and a half minutes that is), no random tacking on of All You Need is Love, and none of the soundtrack songs - although they are lovely, none of them is particularly memorable.

 

[DaveC]

A big one for me though: the spiritual, thoughtful October winding down with Scarlet...only to attempt to pick up steam for 2 minutes with Is That All. It's a terrible idea and fails miserably.

This was the first one I thought of actually, and was going to mention it until I remembered the last 10 seconds of Is That All where it sounds faintly like they hit the last note and immediately put their instruments down and walk out. It works, if you're listening for it.

But the transition from the ethereal, dream-like Scarlet to the (awesome) intro of Is That All should have been done a little better. It's a bit jarring.

 

[LemonMelon]

It's All Too Much

 

[DaveC]

It's All Too Much

ZooTV-era U2 would have done an incredible live cover of that song.

 

[liamcool]

A lot of albums during the 90s. Siamese Dream is a big offender here.

 

[lazarus]

Nope. I think Siamese Dream is pretty much fantastic from start to finish, and the big beating heart of Luna never fails to give me the feels. If anything is extraneous, it's the penultimate track Sweet Sweet.

And really ironic to mention that album when you're talking about the band that followed it with a double triple album with two 14-song discs, containing a great deal of filler.

 

[LemonMelon]

Siamese Dream fizzles out a bit, but in a pleasant way. I really enjoy Sweet Sweet and Luna.

 

[liamcool]

Sure, but I think all double albums have some filler (with the possible exceptions of Zen Arcade and Double Nickels on the Dime, but even then...)

 

[cobl04]

Cool thread, 212121212121

I love Soul Survivor as a closer. I think LM sums it up pretty well. Shine a Light is great but I might like Soul Survivor even better. It's just a fucking fun rock song.

A big one for me though: the spiritual, thoughtful October winding down with Scarlet...only to attempt to pick up steam for 2 minutes with Is That All. It's a terrible idea and fails miserably.

This was the first one I thought of actually, and was going to mention it until I remembered the last 10 seconds of Is That All where it sounds faintly like they hit the last note and immediately put their instruments down and walk out. It works, if you're listening for it.

But the transition from the ethereal, dream-like Scarlet to the (awesome) intro of Is That All should have been done a little better. It's a bit jarring.

No one has ever listened to me talking about Is That All? but I'll say it for the millionth time: it's an extremely rare example of a frustrated band recording something ramshackle and it remaining on the album. We've got a living document of how frustrating that period was. I love it.

 

[cobl04]

The first example that comes to mind for me is VU&N. Love much of the first nine tracks. Then you get ten minutes of dissonant noise. Literally - John Cale hits a stack of plates with a chair. Unpopular opinion I'm sure but it's an awful way to end a great album.

 

[Axver]

No one has ever listened to me talking about Is That All? but I'll say it for the millionth time: it's an extremely rare example of a frustrated band recording something ramshackle and it remaining on the album. We've got a living document of how frustrating that period was. I love it.

It just should've been a b-side. Scarlet would be a good closer and wraps up the album well in a thematic sense.

 

[bono_212]

I guess that's kinda my thought about "Shine A Light" as well. I mean, yeah the album is such a rush of a ride, and maybe it's a copout of an ending, I can see that point of view, but it definitely brings everything down and it seems to wrap it up to me. Like, we're done here. To go into one more song seems like an inability to let the album go almost. But, I can see where that's a good thing, and it also doesn't let you fall into a false sense of security that it's all OK.

 

[Kieran McConville]

It used to be hidden tracks were all the rage; album ends, but then turns out they're not quite done after all. I could live without most of those hidden tracks (especially the ones that come off sounding like the start of another album. PJ Harvey's Stories From The City Etc. is a good example).

 

[cobl04]

On 5ive's Invincible, there were about 55 10-second tracks of silence before the hidden track, Inspector Gadget.

 

[lazarus]

It used to be hidden tracks were all the rage; album ends, but then turns out they're not quite done after all. I could live without most of those hidden tracks (especially the ones that come off sounding like the start of another album. PJ Harvey's Stories From The City Etc. is a good example).

Only the UK and Japan had that bonus track.

My version of Stories ends with We Float, as it should.

Having said that, This Wicked Tongue is a great track, a shame she couldn't have squeezed it somewhere else on the album.

She actually opened with that song when I saw her before U2 back in 2002.

 

[cobl04]

This doesn't really count since it's still like an 8/10 track but I've always felt The Tourist is a slight bummer given some of the incredible songs that come before it.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Only the UK and Japan had that bonus track.

My version of Stories ends with We Float, as it should.

Having said that, This Wicked Tongue is a great track, a shame she couldn't have squeezed it somewhere else on the album.

She actually opened with that song when I saw her before U2 back in 2002.

Well and Australia too, presumably (though, who knows, maybe what I got back in the day was a general 'all points East' edition). Yeah, it's a solid track that's just way out of place.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Though, there is a reverse of this scenario. I bought an (Australian) edition of Beck's 'Mutations' back in the day, and for years was under the understanding that the album closed with a very spooky, chilly song called "Runners Dial Zero". An American friend clued me in. Well it should have closed with that; that shouldn't be a mere bonus track!

 

[djerdap]

For the very few FNM enthuasists here - Angel Dust is one of my favourite albums of all time, and I get what they were trying to do with Midnight Cowboy as the ending (something akin to music for ending film credits, since the whole album is so crazily cinematic), but Jizzlobber just seems like a perfect closer. But to make things really bad, fucking Easy became a hit and they slapped it at the end of every single reissue since 1993 as a bonus track. A song that tonally and sonically could not be more different. Oh well. They should know better with those tongue-in-cheek covers.

I agree with Siamese Dream. Great example.

This is also more of a bonus track thing, but Superunknown has She Likes Surprises as the closing track on every non-US edition, which is frustrating since Like Suicide is such a perfect closer and the other one is just an average b-side.

I always thought No Code would have been a perfect record if Present Tense was the closer. Around the Bend could have been saved as a Christmas single or something, and I couldn't care less for the other two.

Lifes Rich Pageant would have also been pretty much immaculate if not for that shitty cover at the end.

I wouldn't mind if Blues For the Red Sun did not include Mondo Generator. Yeah is a must though. Yeah is a classic song.

Again, more of a bonus track thing, but all CD editions of Evol have a crappy cover as the closer instead of the majestic Expressway to Yr Skull. Sister also has a throw-away bonus song from other sessions instead of White Kross. On the other hand, for both LP and CD, NYC Ghosts&Flowers finishes with... something, while the penultimate title track could have been a classic closer.

Cherry Tree EP should have finished with About Today. I believe this is a universal consensus.

 

[Axver]

Though, there is a reverse of this scenario. I bought an (Australian) edition of Beck's 'Mutations' back in the day, and for years was under the understanding that the album closed with a very spooky, chilly song called "Runners Dial Zero". An American friend clued me in. Well it should have closed with that; that shouldn't be a mere bonus track!

Let's not go past The Ground Beneath Her Feet closing the Aussie edition of ATYCLB.

It was the first album I ever bought that had an advertised bonus track, and the sticker just said there was one - not which song was the bonus. I figured it must be one of the intermediate tracks because TGBHF is such an excellent closer. Colour me surprised when I got online a couple of years later and found out TGBHF was the bonus track rather than shoddy songs like IALW, Wild Honey, or Peace on Earth.

I wouldn't mind if Blues For the Red Sun did not include Mondo Generator. Yeah is a must though. Yeah is a classic song.

Yeah.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Let's not go past The Ground Beneath Her Feet closing the Aussie edition of ATYCLB.

It was the first album I ever bought that had an advertised bonus track, and the sticker just said there was one - not which song was the bonus. I figured it must be one of the intermediate tracks because TGBHF is such an excellent closer. Colour me surprised when I got online a couple of years later and found out TGBHF was the bonus track rather than shoddy songs like IALW, Wild Honey, or Peace on Earth.

I already knew of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, quite well, courtesy of the previous year's Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack. In fact I think it got some radio play in its own right. So I was more like 'ok, you've just sat through a crap album; now here's The Ground Beneath Her Feet'. It's a great track, and it doesn't fit, sonically, thematically, in any way with what comes before.

 

[nielsgov]

Lifes Rich Pageant would have also been pretty much immaculate if not for that shitty cover at the end.

Cherry Tree EP should have finished with About Today. I believe this is a universal consensus.

Yes and yes.

This doesn't really count since it's still like an 8/10 track but I've always felt The Tourist is a slight bummer given some of the incredible songs that come before it.

And yes. The vocals are a bit too whiny.

Good Kid Maad City would have been even better without Real. It fits thematically yes but the ending of Dying of Thirst is a great way to end as well.

 

[djerdap]

Vocals too whiny? On a Radiohead track? That's like complaining that the sky is blue or the water is wet.

The Tourist is fantastic. Some of Jonny's best work is on that song.

 

[Axver]

I already knew of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, quite well, courtesy of the previous year's Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack. In fact I think it got some radio play in its own right. So I was more like 'ok, you've just sat through a crap album; now here's The Ground Beneath Her Feet'. It's a great track, and it doesn't fit, sonically, thematically, in any way with what comes before.

I wasn't aware of the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack until about 2002 or 2003, so TGBHF was entirely new to me. I think it actually makes some sonic sense after Grace... if you put aside the fact Grace is a really mediocre song.

It's not as if ATYCLB makes a heap of sense throughout anyway. Stuck into Elevation? Walk On, the obvious closer, fourth? Good work guys.

 

[Kieran McConville]

It's true, it's a little all over the shop, but I suppose the album does have a certain cleanish, watery aesthetic in common.
















On the subject of Thom Yorke I must object... 'whiny' might describe his imitators but not the quality his own voice has/had.

 

[djerdap]

Hey, I love Thom, but the guy is the epitome of whiny vocals.

Whiny does not necessarily equal bad of course.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah I'm actually believe it or not siding with djerdap on this one. If you don't like his whiny vocals I'm not sure how you could be a fan Although I've always been more annoyed by his refusal to finish words on Lucky. "We are standing on the eeeeeeeeee" "I feel my luck could chaaaaaaaannnn"

Good Kid Maad City would have been even better without Real. It fits thematically yes but the ending of Dying of Thirst is a great way to end as well.

Oh FUCK man, how did I not think of this. Agree 100 per cent. In fact nearly every time I've listened to the album I think I've stopped after Dying of Thirst. It should have just been a bonus track alongside Compton, The Recipe, Black Boy Fly and Now or Never.

 

[cobl04]

As much as it makes Laz have a cry I have always considered TGBHF to be the closer on ATYCLB. Works really well.

And I really like Grace anyway