My Favorite Album-Closing Songs

A friend on Facebook has been actually using the stupid site in a clever and socially mature way; instead of hammering it with political beliefs and baby pictures, he has instead chosen to use it to interact with others and invoke discussion and debate, mostly about music. In a world of snap judgements and one line opinions, this is refreshing to an old soul like me. (After all, my motto is why use 10 words when you can write a novel and subtly beat someone over the head with prose?)

His most recent question posed was to list your five favorite "ending tracks to an album." A seemingly impossible task. I mean, off the top of my head I can list 10 without thinking too much, and then how do I take those 10 and cut it in half? And why?

At least that's what I asked myself, and since I have this blog that three or four people read, I figured I would include my entire list of album closers that I feel are stellar...hopefully this will at least introduce a few people to some new music and get people talking. Feel free to leave your favorites in the comments below. These are offered with no order in mind...

Burn Down the Mission 
Tumbleweed Connection - Elton John

I realize that Elton John has become our generation's Liberace, but with that label comes the talent (seriously take a second, and, ignore everything you think you know about Liberace and just appreciate this:



Back in the 70s, pre-disney songs and electric drum beats, Elton John knew how to write a song. If you don't believe me, please check out Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy,  and Madman Across the Water. All fantastic albums with the songs you've probably heard a million times on the radio. But there's a reason you've heard them that many times on the radio, right? Because they're classics.

But one of my favorites, and it comes off another great Elton John album, The Tumbleweed Connection, is Burn Down the Mission. Starting off simply, it packs the emotional punch you want in an album closer, as a way to cleanse your palate of what you just went through with the album.



Sadie
Wilderness Heart - Black Mountain

Sadie takes us to  the crossroads of hope and sadness. There are few better ways to end an album than with the open endedness of this song. Stoner rock from up north. Not as popular as they should be.



Indifference
Vs. - Pearl Jam

I think Vs. is the album that proved that Pearl Jam not only was around for the long haul, but that they had more to offer than the dreaded "alternative" rock. Indifference is a great introduction to the expanded universe that Pearl Jam went on to create.



Gimme the Car
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

Enjoy the ride this song offers. As a Violent Femmes song you know it's going to have weird sexual references and probably be about pain, but still, this song can throw just about anyone for a loop as it almost kinda sorta juxtaposes the sexual story of trying to hook up with the story of a kid standing up to the authoritative figure of his father. So there's that. I assume few people make it to the end of this album however, as they last right up until the "Why Can't I get just one Fuck" song before passing out.



Waiting on a Friend
Tattoo You - The Rolling Stones

Usually described as the best bar band in rock and roll, The Rolling Stones also knew how to write a nice song. Though this album is mostly made up of outtakes, which suggests there wasn't too much thought about the order or flow of music, I still like this "comedown" song after a night a heavy boozing, no? Feels like a great soundtrack ender to walk off into the sunset with.



Slapped Actress
Stay Positive - The Hold Steady

We are all performing for one another like actors on a grand stage. This final reveal couldn't come at a better time than at the end of the record, regardless of how uneven the record is. One of my favorite bands, The Hold Steady sing a lot about what it means to age.



Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
So Far - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Possibly one of the greatest songs ever recorded. And CSN&Y simply drop it off at the end of their classic album, So Far. While not a huge fan of these guys all together (I'll take my Neil Young in a tumbler, neat) the harmonies here are hard to hate.



Heaven 90210
Saturation - Urge Overkill

A great forgotten album (and band) of the 90s, Urge Overkill had a unique delivery and a fun take on music. That they could easily mix great musicianship with sardonic, pop culture infused musings, only hurts more that they aren't known by more people. Again, lumped into the "alternative" scene simply because rock critics and journalists of the nineties apparently weren't very descriptive, Urge Overkill sang like we were all in on the joke. And even when trying some sincerity, they couldn't completely ignore what got them to the dance.



Rock and Roll Suicide
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie

There are few songs better to close an album about the end of the world than Rock and Roll Suicide. Maybe that stupid REM song, but I don't know if that was at the end of the album it was on because I'm not an REM fan and there's no way that song is better than this one at signifying the end of the world and if you thought that or thought that I thought that then you're stupid. If you have never listened to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in its entirety, I ask that you please do, right now, if possible.



Janine
Ruby Vroom - Soul Coughing

Soul Coughing will always hold a special place in my heart. Chaotic music that still somehow held a melody together, Ruby Vroom is a cacophony of difficult music to listen to most of the time, until we get to the final track... a simple love song "duet" between Mike Doughty and someone on an answering machine. I like to think this entire album is what heroin feels like, and this is the whimsical come down period. It hurts so much when Mike Doughty denounces Soul Coughing as something he never wanted to do and was basically forced to, since this album had a profound impact on me when it came out. Difficult for many, sublime for some, it's last moment is such a fist-in-the-face of sweetness after a steady diet of unorganized despair that I still am never ready for it and I've listened to the album hundreds of times.



B-Boy Bouillabaisse 
Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys

What better way to end an album than with, basically another entire album. Paul's Boutique, littered with "New York-ness" ends with this opus, which pretty much encapsulates, in nine parts, how the Beastie Boys came to be. 9 parts!

(Sorry, couldn't find it on Youtube, here's a link to it on Spotify. But seriously just jam the whole album. I know you have it. I KNOW YOU HAVE IT. It's required to own this album if you ever want to discuss music. Sorry. Those are the rules.)

Muswell Hillbilly
Muswell Hillbillies - The Kinks

Nothing changes; it all stays the same. The poor stay poor; the rich get richer.



How Many More Times
Led Zeppelin I - Led Zeppelin

There aren't too many albums that stay as consistently awesome as Led Zeppelin I. How Many More Times isn't an end; it's simply a bash on the head to tell you what is still yet to come.



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

One of the greatest songs by one of the greatest prog rock bands. That it showed up in Children of Men only makes it better and that movie better.



Heart of the Sunrise
Fragile - Yes

More prog rock. If you need a good example of what prog rock is, Heart of the Sunrise is as good an example as any. Odd timing structures, sweeping genre changes, bizarre imagery. I know people make fun of Yes (and they deserve a lot of it) but they were strong musicians and probably offered more to music in general than we give them credit for. Fragile was one of the first CDs I owned, so it holds a special place in my heart. Heart of the Sunrise isn't my favorite track off the album, but it is a perfect way to close the insanity that precedes it, taking all the pieces that were laid out and bringing them back together to build something new.



Supper's Ready 
Foxtrot - Genesis

And you thought Heart of the Sunrise was the pinnacle of prog rock pretentiousness. I'll go out on a limb and suggest Genesis may have found the apex with Supper's Ready, the 22+ minute magnum. Again, it's like closing an album with another album. But I love it, and I won't apologize.



Brother John
Four - Blues Traveler

I make no apologies for enjoying Blues Traveler either, and enjoying this song. Yes, there's a lot of harmonica in Blues Traveler music and it can get a little weary after awhile; this song will remind you of what it can offer when executed well.



Glory Box
Dummy - Portishead

Blood spilling from your veins...pooling on the floor. Committing a murder. Planning a murder. Witnessing a murder. All things I would use to describe this song (and Portishead in general) if I were writing for Pitchfork.



Opium
Dither - moe.

A straightforward drug trip song. It's probably tougher to pull off than you think. But this is a great song to end an album with, or a late night, or a bad trip. It's got the highs and lows you will need to come down.



A Little Bit Ugly
Devil's Night Out - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

After a full album of skunking, you need a slight reprieve. That this song could be considered a reprieve, should tell you all you need to know about the Bosstones. (Related: if you're unfamiliar with the Bosstones, I implore your to listen to Hope I Never Lose My Wallet.)



Southtown Girls
Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady

A tired, world weary hush falls over the singer. Pushed forth by guitar, drums and keys, he grasps the strength...the strength to remember, the strength to feel it all over again, and to share the tale.

It's entering the middle ages at its finest.



Muffin Man
Bongo Fury - Frank Zappa et al

There's not much you can say about Frank Zappa, other than you know the last song he plays is the last as he wasn't a fan of encores. This "album" is a mix of studio and live tracks and might not even be considered a proper album, but whatever. Muffin Man is awesome.



Knights of Cydonia
Black Holes and Revelations - Muse

How do you end an epic album you've pushed to create pop music supremacy? You write the modern day version of an epic western. This is simply just a spoonful of crazy to end your meal of Muse.



Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five
Band on the Run - Wings

Full disclosure: I'm a Paul guy, and that includes his post Beatles catalog. And I believe the Band on the Run album is a classic.




Bold As Love
Axis: Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix

It's probably easy to say that any Hendrix song at the end of an album would qualify for this list, but Bold As Love somehow seems somehow more appropriate. Less about the guitar work, it starts as a full fledged song with Hendrix sing-speaking verses, before diving into an instrumental crescendo, allowing us one more toe dip into what made the album so fantastic, and letting us go (and most likely starting the album all over again from the beginning).



Steal the Crumbs
Anodyne - Uncle Tupelo

Just a pretty song from Uncle Tupelo. Sure, their break up gave us Wilco and Son Volt, but can you imagine a world where they could have gotten along and kept the band together?

(Couldn't find it on youtube: Here's the Spotify link.)

Pigs on the Wing (Part 2)
Animals - Pink Floyd

The second bookend that holds together my favorite Pink Floyd album. There's not much better music that establishes and then holds a mood than the music on Animals.



Killer Parties 
Almost Killed Me - The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady again. I don't know, this song feels like a wrap up to me; a look back of the events of a stupid life that someone managed to somehow survive. There's no better placement than the end.



Cowgirl in the Sand
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young and Crazyhorse

Sure, everyone knows Down by the River, but did you know that wasn't the best song on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere? Mr, Young saved the best for last, a sprawling, messy song about love and possibly sexual liberation, and how the two can be mistakenly intertwined. At least that's my interpretation.



Debra
Midnite Vultures - Beck

The whole album is a one spastic fuck fest, with electronic beats and beeps subbing in for thrusts and moans, leading up to the ultimate proposal song, done only as Beck can do. I feel Beck's discography fits in perfectly with a person of my generation, and could be a soundtrack to our lives. The awkwardness of finding and going for the beauty found everywhere this song portrays only strengthens that belief.



Tomorrow Never Knows
Revolver - The Beatles

How a song can both immediately close the door and possibly one of the best albums out there, and open the door to music that changed the game forever is something that will probably never happen again. This is one more reason why I believe the Beatles are underrated still.



A Day in the Life
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

Perfectly encapsulating what the Beatles were are and will be with one song.



How A Resurrection Really Feels
Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady

What better way to end an album filled with biblical allusions and references than with a song about Hallelujah (the kids call her Holly) coming back from...well something I guess.

Cool Shit 7/3

How about a homemade death star destruction scene from the original Star Wars to start your morning?



Or perhaps you'd rather listen to a new single from Beck?



Ranking Stephen King's television endeavors.

If you have any interest in the Battle of Gettysburg, or alternately, cool interactive shit on the internet, this link is for you.

I consider myself a Val Kilmer fan and even I had never heard of this movie. But any project devised as a global warming thriller has my attention.

Cool Shit 6/5

Not one, but 2 new albums from Beck? I'll take it. Also, here's a song he just released that will be on neither of the 2 new albums. Because it's Beck.



Not only is this a time lapse video, it's a time lapse video of a fireworks competition in Vietnam. Also - fireworks competition?



There's a new documentary coming out on the life of Morton Downey Jr., a controversial television talk show host from the late 80s who some say paved the way for modern talking heads such as Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. If you don't know much about him, you can read this.

These aren't photographs!

The gross secrets of companies on how they make our groceries. I love the fact that the byproduct of Greek yogurt is toxic sludge.

Cool Shit 3/6

A look at the varied career of Beck - one of my favorite artists. I wish I could hear his most recent release, but since it is simply sheet music and not actually recorded, I will have to simply want and never have. Unless he does indeed record it one day.

While a list boasting the "50 best albums you've never heard," is absurd, it's almost delightfully absurd. Delightful in the fact that while it's boasting an impossibility, it still manages to uncover some cool things, and let you enjoy new treasures.

Tom Sizemore has been in a lot of movies, and has worked with a lot of great directors. A lot.

Existing movies you will probably never see. The Day the Clown Cried is still one of my favorite go-to punchlines.

Most petitions people start are stupid. But not this one. Can I get a toot toot?

Having a bad day, feel a little stressed? Sit back and enjoy this beautiful time lapse of Lake Hallstatt in Austria.

'The Lake' from geoff tompkinson on Vimeo.

Cool Shit 2/13

Whoa. Dan Harmon, the creator of Community, is a complete whack job. And that is completely awesome.

Wired asked some fairly famous fans of the Star Wars movies what makes a good Star Wars movie. Here are their answers. Also, if you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this complete breakdown of the battle on Hoth, and how stupid the rebel forces were.

I'm not sure I can get behind Chicken & Waffles or Cheesy Garlic bread flavors, but sign me up for Sriacha flavored potato chips!

Trailer for the movie Computer Chess - a faux documentary (I think) about people in the 70s developing the first artificial intelligence to beat a chess grandmaster. I think. Actually, just read this if you're interested.



Dirty pool or capitalism at its apex? The war between big brewery and micro craft beers in the shopping sphere.

And finally, a look at a cover of a song - but you're going to have to work with me a little bit here. So please, don't skip to the second one - (re)acquaint yourself with the original song first. It gives much needed context...

David Bowie's song Sound and Vision, from the album Low is a nice little song, with a rather difficult arrangement. You can take a listen here:



But that of course would never stop Beck from attempting to perform it live...with a full orchestra and choir. Take a listen to that right here (and I know it's over 9 minutes long, but try to stay to the end - it's worth it):



(Mildly related: I now am on a quest to get that awesome jacket Beck is wearing)

Beck Interview

Regardless of what you think about Pitchfork, they're very much relevant in the overall scene. So much so that they scored this interview with Beck. The most interesting thing to me was talking about some recent stuff he was doing and what it may or may not sound like, going all the way back to Odelay...

Pitchfork: I was wondering if the schizophrenic, 10-minute "Harry Partch" tribute song you put up on your website earlier this year contained bits of new material.

BH: I don't know-- I'd actually have to ask somebody. That song was maybe a bit more hyper. But it's similar to this other project that I've been working on for years, which started with a song I did in '95 called "Inferno". We left it off of Odelaybecause it ended up feeling like this weird rap-rock thing. A lot of the tracks we turned in for that album were pretty confusing for people at the record company, so we thought "Inferno" would just alienate them completely [laughs]. We ended up putting it on the Odelay deluxe reissue. But I'd always wanted to do a longer piece of music like that with all these different sections.

Yeah, I hate the fact that there might be record execs out there that have a say in what Beck music I can and can't hear.

Links of Interest 8/12

The director of District 9, Neil Blomkamp, is interviewed.

Well I’m certainly interested when Mitch Hurwitz and Will Arnett talk new project.

Sometimes when there’s an app for that, Apple wigs out.

How a black box in a crash can tell the story of what went wrong.

The food industry is evil. More evil than you even think.

V is coming back!

Beck interviews Will Ferrell. Of course.

Rainn Wilson speaks to Vanity Fair.

Why Letterman is better than Conan.

4chan. The website that can’t clearly be defined, but might just represent that last pure form of the Internet.

Links of Interest 7/9

What? No Addams Family? What is this, amateur hour?

Beck interviews Tom Waits. Yeah, as weird as you might think.

A breakdown of the sexual fantasies R. Kelly would like, based on his new album.

Plan on winning the lottery soon? Here’s a few tips of what you should do.

Don’t be these people when you fly on a plane.

Interview with Jason Bateman.

An argument that Ghostbusters is the best movie ever made?

Baseball players’ superstitions.

The ethics of affecting climate change can hit very close to home.

No, really, where are all the women at?

Podcast 10.009 Recap -- Pics, Vids, Links, and More!

After more aborted beginnings than a Planned Parenthood yard sale, The Popcorn Trick finally started spurting digital chatter into your collective podholes. To ease us back into things, we tackled some broad topics and even a few topics about broads.

Intro:

10+ days after the Popcorn Trick and most of their fanbase attended the Drive-By Truckers show, we kicked off the show with a live recording from that show, as captured in this video:

In case you haven't already, you can check out Goose's review of the show and my treatise on what it meant for the future of the Truckers.

 

As the music faded, we seamlessly rejoined the light banter our fans have come to know and envy. And we totally didn't have a better opening segment deleted due to technical difficulties, in case you were wondering.

The Best

5 months between podcasts, and we both went with something fresh in our memories for our respective The Bests.

I kicked things off recounting a late-night trip to an apparently legendary jazz club north of Harlem (not really Upper West Side as I initially though) called St. Nick's Pub (also this). Drinks were shared, stories told, business cards swapped, sandwiches made, and other people laid.

An exterior shot:

A little Latin flavor:

Not great video, but this is a decent approximation of what I remember in terms of music and visibility:

Jayne Kennedy's daughter doing some jazz vocals:

After trying to sow seeds of distrust between me and my alleged girlfriend, Goose went on to detail his The Best. You can't go wrong with the mad genius that is R. Kelly. Especially on The Popcorn Trick.

This is Kels' latest video, or as it some day may be known, Exhibit A:

A little taste of the brilliance of Trapped in the Closet:

And then,this:

Musical Interlude

We kept it broad, and directly in Goose's wheelhouse by going with songs that have horns in them. All of them, in some form or another can be listened to via this here thing:

podcast 10

Other stuff:

• Good Onion article (mentioned by me in a deleted scene) about songs nearly ruined by saxophone.
• Marah doing Can't Hardly Wait (sans horns):
  
• Fathead has a reunion show 1/24/09 at the North Star
• More info on the Elephant 6 collective, which includes one of Goose's choices (Neutral Milk Hotel)
  • Wiki entry
  • A guy involved with Elephant 6 shuffles through his iPod (AV Club's Random Rules)
• Neutral Milk Hotel
  • Weird MS Paint video for an NMH song:
  • NMH's Jeff Mangum doing Holland, 1945:
• Beck doing "Debra" live
• Trailer for documentary (Dig!) about the Dandy Warhols & the Brian Jonestown Massacre:
• Spiritualized

  • Live version of "Come Together" from earlier this year :
  • John Prine's "Sam Stone", which had a few lyrics borrowed for "Come Together"
    
• Phil Collins

  • I couldn't find any clips of him acting, but here's what he looked like when he was on Miami Vice and what he sounded like when he was singing songs from Buster:
    
    
    
    

Underrated Hotties

We kept it broad, this time going with the vague concept of "Underrated Hot Chicks". Whether it was someone well known but under-lusted-after or someone who is obviously hot, but less famous, these are some of the people we would love to handcuff to our mental radiator.

• Angela from the Office
  • 
• Christa Miller
  • 
    
• Maura Tierney
  • 
  • 
• Jordana Brewster (DEBS - other chick)
  • 
    
• Jill Ritchie (from D.E.B.S, Arrested Development, and being Kid Rock's sister)
  • 
• Cobie Smulders
  • 
• Jenny Lewis
  • 
    
• Michelle Obama
  • 
  • 
• Mary Steenburgen
  • 
  • 
  • Slightly NSFW striptease vid
• Diane Kruger
  • 
• Dana Delaney
  • 
  • NSFW Sex Scene

Enjoy!

Links of Interest 6/24

Grace Jones is an enigma to me. This article doesn't do much to dispel that. I do wish she was working on a follow-up to A View to a Kill.

When people start talking about the possibilities of living longer, the debate about whether people want to always comes up. And I don't understand why - I want to live longer, and would have no problem living until I'm 1000. If I ever had enough, I could take myself out.

Beck is one of those guys that does new things and doesn't care too much about what other people think. His new ideas sometimes work, and sometimes fail, but i have to give him credit for trying out new ideas. This is a "trailer" for his new album.

Here's a new art exhibit of top secret spy satellites...something tells me there are people in Washington that aren't thrilled with this idea. Think this guy can sell some cool ideas to the...well whoever doesn't like the Americans?

A part of me died a little while watching this...so of course I'm going to link to it. Who knew Celine Dion couldn't cover AC/DC? Everyone!

Links of Interest 5/14

Can Beck be considered underrated? Probably not with the critics, but I don't think he gets the credit he deserves with the buying public. And that's a shame, because I can't think of too many artists out there right now to rival him. So you can imagine how excited I am to hear his new album might be coming out in June.

What kind of idea is this. I remember being horrified when I saw 'Bad Lieutenant." But that doesn't mean I didn't respect it. For lines to be crossed, there are few that come close to this one. And now they're remaking it. Are they going to water it down? Because if so, then what's the point really?

It probably says a lot about who you are if you're known for "bathing in blood." And I'm not even sure that's the worst of this list! I do like the fact that neither the Taliban nor Al Qaeda are on this list. I guess they might be considered terrorist groups and not gangs, but where's the line that divides the two? And I'm guessing it's a minor quibble to try and classify these groups in either of those two.

So the National Archives over in Great Britain decided to start releasing its records on UFOs. So far, it seems like all it is is a bunch of stories from people out in the country talking about how they were abducted. Hey, if I wanted that I would rent Communion.