10 Favourite albums with best opener and best closer!

[Zzzptm]

Like KDC, I hesitated with Rainbow Rising, same wish that Stargazer was the closer.

Respect for Signals, even though it lives in the shadow of Moving Pictures.

***

My album for today will be...



The first album of Freak Out. Opens with the driving beat of "Hungry Freaks, Daddy". Regardless of the cool stuff in between that and the last track, the last track is "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here", a kazoo-laden counterculture anthem that's just so damn much fun to sing along with.

[Charger]

I too had the same hesitation to be honest but then I went on and listenet to A Light In The Black again and turned out it really is a pretty damn good track, just coming after Stargazer makes it weaker than it actually is.

[Zzzptm]

I too had the same hesitation to be honest but then I went on and listenet to A Light In The Black again and turned out it really is a pretty damn good track, just coming after Stargazer makes it weaker than it actually is.

You are right there - and if it was just Tarot Woman / Light in the Black as a maxi-single, we'd be totally fine with them being absolute monsters.

[Charger]

For my final pick


SILICON MESSIAH

Kicks off with the insanely great riffage of Ghost In The Machine which gives a perfect beat to the album and you know what to expect.

Finishes off with probably Blaze's best ever track STARE AT THE SUN which is epic beyond belief. Blaze said that the band tried to shorten the song but it never worked so they left it as it was and what a blessing that was. A perfect song this one.

I'll put videos up for these ones

This is a fan made video but it is really really cool!

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

My last choice... I'll post later as I want to double check I haven't missed a great one.

[Vyn]

Yea, as I walk thusly through the maelstrom of modern society, I shall hold my head high for I bear the good news of Metal Church's debut release!

Opening herewith the holy groove, Beyond the Black, while I don't think it is their strongest song, is a killer opener. It follows the Sabbath template from THEIR debut, and really sets the tone for the entire record.

As an aside, I think Black Sabbath is hands-down a massively impactful album opener, and would have chosen that record, except Warning, despite being subjected to the Sabbath treatment, still carries a whiff of late '60's jam-aesthetic. Which isn't to say it's a bad song, but not a great closing tune, and especially so in the context of the record it appears on.

The non-bonus track Highway Star ends the sermon. And it is an amazingly adept cover of Deep Purple's classic (already called out, I believe!). What makes it a great finisher for this particular attempt at heavy metal proselytization is the shift in gears (haha) from the heavy, to something that still carries a lot of weight but is upbeat and makes a joyful noise It adds a wink of sorts and lets the listener know that whereas the band are true evangelists, they don't take themselves -too- seriously.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Ok, changed my choice for No. 10, good job I checked my collection!! I'll include my original selection with a bunch of other honourable mentions tomorrow!


King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King - 1969

The Opening track is:

21st Century Schizoid Man

I'm not quite sure how to describe this, is it really early prog or proto metal, I dunno, all I know is it is a fantastic starter.

The closing track is:

The Court of the Crimson King

This one is very much a prog classic and was a Blue Print for much that would follow over the next 5 or 6 years.

[Charger]

I'll throw in a couple of additional ones here.


PAINKILLER

Kicking things off with the fiercest song Priest has ever done and closing it out with One Shot At Glory which is great but not suberb!


ETERNAL IDOL

Starts with the masterful The Shining and ends with equally masterful title track. There are some so and so moments in between but goddamn does it start and end well!


PIECE OF MIND

The little drum intro that starts Where Eagles Dare is quite briliant. There's a funny story from Nicko that one of the first things Steve said to him was that he wants a drum intro to the song to start the album off and Nicko came up with this elaborate monster intro that lasted like a minute and then Steve just said yeah the first 5 seconds will do!

But the ending...To Tame A Land (or Dune as it should be known) is just a monster of a song. One of Maiden's best ones ever! Suberb track.


I really thought about Megadeth but eventhough they've had some incredible openers their closers have never been that good to be honest. So I couldn't include them.

I do think I probably missed a few but I am quite happy with my list.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I meant to do my Honourable mentions but I've not had much time, maybe tomorrow!

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Ok a few albums I could have included...

Paranoid -  War Pigs and Fairies Wear Boots are both in my 10 favourite Sabbath songs.

The Black Album by The Damned. I nearly included it but I would have been wrong!! I had forgotten that the CD version of the album is incomplete... The original 1980 double vinyl has a 4th side of live songs which don't appear on the subsequent CD release. Therefore, Wait For The Blackout is fine but Curtain Call is only the last track on the CD release!

I did mull over the idea of including Tyr but decided that while Anno Mundi and Heaven in Black are both nice they don't measure up to other albums like the aforementioned Paranoid and the album I did choose SBS.

I may add a couple more later.

[Zzzptm]

If I had to pick a Led Zeppelin album for this category, it would be Houses of the Holy.

WTFortyFive from Girlschool (released last year) is a right banger on the start and finish, gonna mention it here.

For a Rush album, I'd go with Caress of Steel - yes there's only one song on side 2, but there are several on side 1!

[Charger]

Paranoid wouldn't work for me...as much as I like War Pigs it's not a great opener...Paranoid would have suited that job better eventhough it's a much worse song in itself.


Tyr on the otherhand yes. Anno Mundi is a fantastic opener eventhough it's not fast and furious it still works with the quiet intro leading up to a great riff.
Heaven In Black is not among my favourites but it is a good tune...had Sabbath Stones been the closer then oh yeah!


I could throw in another Alice Cooper album in Along Came A Spider. A great opener with Prologue/I Know Where You Live and a very strong epical closer in I Am The Spider / Epilogue. And everything inbetween happens to be pure gold too!