Your all-time favorite opening songs on albums..

[Ayestrain]

A companion of sorts to the "favorite closing song on an album" thread. Name the album or not.

These are just dashed off the top of my head for starters..more to come--

"Intolerance" / Tool
"Serve The Servants" / Nirvana
"Shuffle Your Feet" / Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
"Strange Brew" / Cream
"Break On Thru (To The Other Side)", "The Changeling" / The Doors
"Gimme Shelter" / The Rolling Stones
"Overture", "Baba O' Reilly" / The Who
"21st Century Schizoid Man" / King Crimson
"Head Like A Hole" / Nine Inch Nails
"True Happiness This Way Lies" / The The
"One Of These Days" / Pink Floyd
"Planet Telex", "15 Step" / Radiohead
"Rusty Cage" / Soundgarden
"99th Dream" / Swervedriver
"Feiticeria", "My Own Summer" / Deftones

[echo_bravo]

Those are some good choices dude. I will have to think about what my favs are...

[Major Mojo]

Welcome To The Jungle- Appetite For Destruction- Guns N Roses.

The first few bars of that song hyped me up everytime I played that record...totally sets the tone.

[therealjohng]

Planet Telex - Radiohead - The Bends

[DarkKnight81]

Planet Telex- The Bends Radiohead

[Le_Big_Mac]

"Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan (Highway 61 Revisited)
"Tangled Up in Blue" - Bob Dylan (Blood on the Tracks)
"Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones (Let It Bleed)
"Sympathy for the Devil" - The Rolling Stones (Beggars Banquet)
"Brown Sugar" - The Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers)
"Baba O'Riley" - The Who (Who's Next)
"London Calling" - The Clash (London Calling)
"Teen Age Riot" - Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation)
"Purple Haze" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Are You Experienced?)
"Whole Lotta Love" - Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin II)
"Black Dog" - Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin IV)
"Only Shallow" - My Bloody Valentine (Loveless)
"I Saw Her Standing There" - The Beatles (Please Please Me)
"Help!" - The Beatles (Help!)
"Come Together" - The Beatles (Abbey Road)
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana (Nevermind)
"Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns 'N Roses (Appetite for Destruction)
"Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes (Elephant)
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" - Stevie Wonder (Talking Book)
"Like a Prayer" - Madonna (Like a Prayer)
"Summer Babe (Winter Version)" - Pavement (Slanted and Enchanted)
"Devil's Haircut" - Beck (Odelay)
"Debaser" - Pixies (Doolittle)
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" - The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds)
"1969" - The Stooges (The Stooges)
"Cherub Rock" - Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream)
"Rid of Me" - PJ Harvey (Rid of Me)
"Atrocity Exhibition" - Joy Division (Closer)
"Green River" - Creedence Clearwater Revival (Green River)
"Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2 (The Joshua Tree)
"Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes (Violent Femmes)
"The Queen Is Dead (Take Me Back to Dear Old Blightly)" - The Smiths (The Queen Is Dead)
"Five Years" - David Bowie (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars)
"Safe from Harm" - Massive Attack (Blue Lines)
"I Wanna Be Adored" - The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses)
"Head Like a Hole" - Nine Inch Nails (Pretty Hate Machine)
"Comfy in Nautica" - Panda Bear (Person Pitch)
"I Will Dare" - The Replacements (Let It Be)

[Ayestrain]

Come Together - Beatles

[a7xfan]

the pretender- foo fighters (echoes, silence, patience and grace)

[HannibalGuy]

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath. Thread wouldn't be complete without it.

[Sigur509]

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins(My favorite album opener)
Alone, Jealous and Stoned by Secret Machines
Sleeping Lessons by The Shins
Melatonin by Silversun Pickups
Everything In Its Right Place by Radiohead
Low Place Like Home by Sneaker Pimps
Stinkfist by Tool
Plainsong by The Cure
Underneath The Stars by The Cure
Candy Says by The Velvet Underground
Out of this World by The Cure
Race For The Prize by The Flaming Lips
Life In Technicolor by Coldplay
Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan
Pioneer to The Falls by Interpol
Untitled by Interpol
Disappear by Mazzy Star
Wordless Chorus by My Morning Jacket
Somewhat Damaged by Nine Inch Nails
Silence by Portishead
Airbag by Radiohead
Its a Hit by Rilo Kiley
Goodnight Rose by Ryan Adams

[jaw2929]

All For You - Our Lady Peace on "Gravity".

[notchreturns]

Thunder Road

[Ayestrain]

Thought of some more..

"Cinnamon Girl", "Tell Me Why", "Out On The Weekend", "My My, Hey Hey" / Neil Young
"Changes", "Five Years", "Space Oddity" / David Bowie
"Mother", "Imagine" / John Lennon
"Glad" / Traffic

[athf1980]

American Idiot-American Idiot
Enter sandman-Metallica
Hell Bells-Back in Black
Thunderstruck-Razor Edge
Highway to Hell-Highway to Hell
Thunder Road-Born to Run
Badlands-The darkness on the edge of town
Born in the USA-Born in the USA
Battery-Master of Puppets
Blackened-and justice for all

[Major Mojo]

American Idiot-American Idiot
Enter sandman-Metallica
Hell Bells-Back in Black
Thunderstruck-Razor Edge
Highway to Hell-Highway to Hell
Thunder Road-Born to Run
Badlands-The darkness on the edge of town
Born in the USA-Born in the USA
Battery-Master of Puppets
Blackened-and justice for all

Yes!!! AWESOME!!!

[redfiretruck]

"It's Britney, bitch." Best of all time.

[dennisv]

"You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire" - Songs for the Dead, Queens of the Stone Age
"All My Life" - One By One, Foo Fighters
"Like A Rolling Stone" - Highway 61, Bob Dylan
"Battery" - Master of Puppets, Metallica

[franky4fingerz]

"once"- pearl jam, ten
"7 nation army"- white stripes, elephant
"slow night, so long"- kings of leon, aha shake heartbreak
"bawitdaba"- kid rock, devil without a cause (you know its true)
"love me sexy"- jackie moon, semi-pro soundtrack
"nice to know you"- incubus, morning view
"my own summer"- deftones, around the fur
"I wanna get high"- cypress hill, black sunday
"stronger than me"- amy winehouse, frank

[chinton]

I would also have to go with White Stripe's Seven Nation Army for recent time. Its such a simple riff but its absolutely infectious and brilliant. Sets up Elephant well.

[Sidebot]

Savatage - 24 Hours Ago (Hall of The Mountain King)
Dream Theater - 6:00 (Awake)
Nightwish - Stargazers (Oceanborn)
Testament - D.N.R (The Gathering)
Jon Oliva's Pain - The Dark ('tage Mahal)
Virgin Steele - I Will Come For You (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Part One)
Dream Evil - The Book of Heavy Metal (The Book of Heavy Metal)
Uriah Heep - The Wizard (Demons & Wizards)
Neil Diamond - If I Don't See You Again (Home Before Dark)
Avantasia - The Seven Angels (The Metal Opera Part II)
Iced Earth - Burning Times (Something Wicked This Way Comes)
Rush - Cygnus X-1 Book II - Hemispheres (Hemispheres)
Saga - Thats As Far As I'll Go (Trust)

[Frosty_86]

.

[Art Vandelay]

While My Guitar Gently Weeps- The Beatles

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the 2nd to last song on the first side of the record of the White Album or something close to that? I do know that it's definitely not the first on the Album because that belongs to 'Back in USSR.'

To transition, this leads me to my personal favorite of Come Together on Abbey Road.

A few other favs:
Baba O'Riley - The Who, Who's Next
Don't Stop Till You Get Enough - Michael Jackson, Off the Wall
Wouldn't it Be Nice - The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Movin' Out - Billy Joel, The Stranger
Just Like Starting Over - John Lennon, Double Fantasy
Death on Two Legs - Queen, A Night at the Opera

[Jon Lyrik]

Neither is Money...

[Frosty_86]

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the 2nd to last song on the first side of the record of the White Album or something close to that? I do know that it's definitely not the first on the Album because that belongs to 'Back in USSR.'

To transition, this leads me to my personal favorite of Come Together on Abbey Road.

A few other favs:
Baba O'Riley - The Who, Who's Next
Don't Stop Till You Get Enough - Michael Jackson, Off the Wall
Wouldn't it Be Nice - The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Movin' Out - Billy Joel, The Stranger
Just Like Starting Over - John Lennon, Double Fantasy
Death on Two Legs - Queen, A Night at the Opera

You are very correct, Im an idiot I thought best openings to songs. I was going for the ones that grab me right off or as soon as I em I know em. I missread the forum title, Oops I am a jackass.

[Homyrrh]

The Boy in the Bubble from Graceland and The Obvious Child from The Rhythm of the Saints, both by Paul Simon.

I'd also like to, somewhat cheaply, add Iron Maiden's Paschendale because it's the first track on The Essential Iron Maiden. "In a foreign field he lay..."

[The Postmaster General]

"Break On Thru (To The Other Side)"- The Doors


Debaser - Pixies (Doolittle)

These both came immediately to mind, in that order.

Really no point in me mentioning any of the other ones I like since they've already been brought up list-style, and I'd just be repeating. I have a relatively large record collection, so I could make a pretty extensive list that would be only of interest to show how many different songs I'm privy to.

[TheHutch23]

"It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)" by AC/DC (High Voltage)
"Arcarsenal" by At The Drive-in (Relationship of Command)
"23" by Blonde Redhead (23)
"She's So High" by Blur (Leisure)
"Big News I" by Clutch (Clutch)
"From Out Of Nowhere" by Faith No More (The Real Thing)
"Demanufacture" by Fear Factory (Demanufacture)
"Bullet Ride" by In Flames (Clayman)
"Closer" by Kings of Leon (Only by the Night)
"Tell Me Why" by Neil Young (After The Gold Rush)
"Charlie Big Potato" by Skunk Anansie (Post Orgasmic Chill)
"Velvet Kevorkian" by Strapping Young Lad (City)
"Fight Test" by The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
"Queen Bee And Her Pals" by Thurston Moore (Psychic Hearts)
"The Wrong Way" TV On The Radio (Desperate Youths, Blood Thirsty Babes)

[DunlopolnuD]

Dream Theater - The Glass Prison (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence 1)

[HannibalGuy]

REM - What's the Frequency, Kenneth? (EVERY fucking line is a hook!)

[Badbird]

Savatage - 24 Hours Ago (Hall of The Mountain King)
Dream Theater - 6:00 (Awake)
Nightwish - Stargazers (Oceanborn)
Testament - D.N.R (The Gathering)
Jon Oliva's Pain - The Dark ('tage Mahal)
Dream Evil - The Book of Heavy Metal (The Book of Heavy Metal)
Avantasia - The Seven Angels (The Metal Opera Part II)
Iced Earth - Burning Times (Something Wicked This Way Comes)

Nice picks. But for Nightwish, I'd go with "She is My Sin;" Savatage would be "Of Rage and War;" Iced Earth would have to be "Wolf." I love "The Book of Heavy Metal" - that rare breed of metal song that actually made me LOL (..."To be or not to be in the Book of Heavy Metal!")


Kamelot - Center of the Universe
KMFDM - WWIII
Pig - Serial Killer Thriller
Ministry - NWO
Iron Maiden - Caught Somewhere in Time
Sonata Arctica - Weballergy
Demons & Wizards - Heaven Denies
Lucia - So Clever
Dokken - Kiss of Death
Primal Fear - Black Sun
Gamma Ray - Beyond the Black Hole
Bile - The Devil's Bile
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Rorscach Test - Satan

[speedbeaver]

Thunder Road-Bruce Springsteen-Born to Run

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground-The White Stripes-White Blood Cells

Great DJ-The Ting Tings-We Started Nothing

Once-Pearl Jam-Ten

Son of Sam-Elliott Smith-Figure 8

Sleep to Dream-Fiona Apple-Tidal

The Man Comes Around-Johnny Cash-American IV

Real World-Matchbox Twenty-Yourself or Someone Like You

Time to Pretend-MGMT-Oracular Spectacular

Bat out of Hell-Meat Loaf-Bat out of Hell

Trouble-Ray Lamontagne-Trouble

Step into my Office, Baby-Belle & Sebastion-Dear Catastrophe Waitress


yeah, there's probably a ton more, but thats all I can thing of off hand.

[Sidebot]

Nice picks. But for Nightwish, I'd go with "She is My Sin;" Savatage would be "Of Rage and War;" Iced Earth would have to be "Wolf." I love "The Book of Heavy Metal" - that rare breed of metal song that actually made me LOL (..."To be or not to be in the Book of Heavy Metal!")

All great songs as well. Savatage was a hard choice for me. With Nightwish though, Wishmaster was my least favorite album, something about it I just don't like as much as others, still a good album though. And yeah, Book of Heavy Metal is very LOL, its so awesome though, the second I bought that album and put it on, when I heard "METTTAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!" I just knew I was in for a treat.

Sonata Arctica - Weballergy
Demons & Wizards - Heaven Denies
Primal Fear - Black Sun
Gamma Ray - Beyond the Black Hole
Judas Priest - Painkiller

Also great choices. With demons & wizards I probably would have picked Crimson King over Heaven Denies, but I do prefer the self-titled waaaay more than the second album.