Worst Mix-Tape Ever
Blender's Top Wusses countdown was so inane, Rolling Stone's decided to post a list everyday. First up: Terrible Songs on Great Albums (great topic!).
Here are their staff's selections:
The Beatles, "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer" (Abbey Road)We'll let them handle classic rock. What indie rock non-gems stick out to you?
The Who, "Squeeze Box" (The Who By Numbers)
The Police, "Be My Girl - Sally" (Outlandos D'Amour)
The Velvet Underground, "The Gift" (White Light/White Heat)
James Brown, "Spinning Wheel" (Sex Machine)
Led Zeppelin, "In The Light" (Physical Graffiti)
Pink Floyd, "Waiting for the Worms" (The Wall)
Simon & Garfunkel, "Voices of Old People" (Bookends)
AC/DC, "Let Me Put My Love Into You" (Back In Black)
Run-DMC, "Perfection" (Raising Hell)
And remember, Listening to bad music can be as fun as listening to good music.
Posted at 10:52 AM
That first song on CYHSY sucks. Real bad.
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What's wrong with "The Gift"?!
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as does the whole album michael
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Pearl Jam - Bugs (Vitalogy)
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this must be high fidelity fallback syndrome for any and or all music mags...
stereogum needs to compile a list...
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Perfection to D...is quite essential...it has to live up to his potential...
i got a dog, a cat, a mouse, a rat, a fly (he won't die) and a little gnat...
i effin' loved that song...wtf, RS? stop tickin me off
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"The King of Carrot Flowers Pts II, III".
Love the song, but try turning someone on to the album using it.
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"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is bad? What? How can a song with a great McCartney verse-interrupting laugh, and a sweet vintage Moog solo be bad?
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"maxwells" is a great song. by the way, the reason for the laugh-- john mooned paul
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Maxwell & the Gift? Please. They're as bad as the Blender douchebags.
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whatever lol
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"Turn You Inside Out" by REM (from Green, and no, I don't mean "Stand")
"Within You Without You" by the Beatles
I like "Squeezebox" and "The Gift".
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M83's "Car Chase Terror" wins by a long shot.
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Magazines publish lists now?!? Who knew.
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"Let Me Put My Love Into You" was my husband's suggestion for our first dance at our wedding reception.
He's a sweetheart.
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"Electronic Renaissance" on Belle & Sebastian's Tigermilk album. Wretched.
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"The Gift," is the best song on White Light/White Heat? What do those former Maxim writers know anyway?
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I know what gets my vote for worst song on a great indie rock record: "Mother" on the first Red House Painters self-titled is one of the most ridiculously overwrought and self-indulgent songs ever recorded. I don't know a single RHP fan that actually likes that song.
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I actually do think "The Gift" and "Maxwell's" suck as well, even if they mainly suck in context; "Be My Girl- Sally" is really not funny unless you're deeply into inflatable dolls, although I bet it was different then, and "The Gift" in particular is a punchline and a story you need only hear once, really, which is the definition of a disposable song, like a lame rap skit.
but that isn't even why I'm writing. I'm writing because James Brown's "Spinning Wheel" is awesome, and to my knowledge, that was accepted conventional wisdom on it too. so fuck Rolling Stone after all:) -jd
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I'll vote for "Andy Warhol" on David Bowie's "Hunky Dory" album, if only for the annoying sound effects at the beginning. Blech.
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> "Mother" on the first Red House Painters
> self-titled is one of the most ridiculously
> overwrought and self-indulgent songs ever
And "Mother" on Synchronicity! It's way worst than "Be My Girl - Sally."
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"Be My Girl" would be a perfect little proto-pop-punk song if it weren't for the "Sally" interlude.
I'm just sayin'.
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wow, maxwell's silver hammer definately doesn't suck.
people have mentioned this already, i know. but it fits in perfectly where it is... i can't imagine abbey road without it. sure it's goofy, but the beatles have a lot of goofy songs. that's like saying yellow submarine didn't fit in on revolver. wait - it kinda didn't.
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You're right. Listening to "Synchronicity" on my cruddy tape recorder in 1983. . . it was always apparent that Stuart's contribution was really holding the album back.
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'Dance Hall'- modest mouse. terrible.
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new Strokes album - 15 Minutes/Fear of Sleep
(lose those two tracks and the album raises a full letter grade)
Gnarls Barkley - Boogie Monster
new Secret Machines - I Want to Know
couple shitty songs on the first Hot Chip album
Wolfmother - Woman (it's a monster instrumental, but come on, what's with the lyrics? "She's a woman--you know what I mean?" Uh, I think I have an idea.)
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The 2nd Movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto in F. The rest of it rocks the house, especially the bassoon counterpoint in the adagio section, but dude--when I forget to skip that track whilst DJ'ing at my local publick house? and that lameass timpani kicks in? The gals cease to shimmy and come to a complete halt, groove-wise.
Unforgiveable, Mr. R; unforgiveable.
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The Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood 4 (7 Kettles)." Who doesn't skip this song when they're listening to the album?
It's not even a bad song. It just doesn't hold up to the rest.
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I'm going to join the chorus... say it with me now...
"THE GIFT"!?
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good one, virgil. good one.
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A lot of these songs aren't really that bad. If I were to pick a lousy Beatles song, I'd go with "Bungalow Bill." And "Mother" is wayyy worse than "Be My Girl - sally". Good call Scott.
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what? "Electronic Renaissance" is one of the highlights from Tigermilk
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i always skip radiohead's "pulk/pull revolving doors" off of amnesiac
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'Beyond the Sunrise' by Belle & Sebastian. Granted, it's debatable whether FYHCYWLAP is a classic (i.e. it's not), but talk about a song that kills an album stone dead. It nearly did for their career as well....
A few more:
Rainy Day Women
Love You To
Digsy's Dinner
Electioneering
Silverfuck
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Arcade Fire - In the Backseat
Bloc Party - Compliments
Two great bands. Two fantastic albums. Both have a last song that absolutely blows when compared to the rest.
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For the Beatles: "The Long and Winding Road" on Let it Be, for sure, and "Octopus's Garden" is much more annoying than "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". In fact, if you just take out those two tracks, you can fit Let it Be and Abbey Road on to one disc...
For indie albums, offhand, I'd nominate "Underneath the Sleeping Willow" (Sophtware Slump); and "Death of a Shade of a Hue" (Sunlandic Twins).
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I actually do think "The Gift" and "Maxwell's" suck as well, even if they mainly suck in context; "Be My Girl- Sally" is really not funny unless you're deeply into inflatable dolls, although I bet it was different then, and "The Gift" in particular is a punchline and a story you need only hear once, really, which is the definition of a disposable song, like a lame rap skit.
but that isn't even why I'm writing. I'm writing because James Brown's "Spinning Wheel" is awesome, and to my knowledge, that was accepted conventional wisdom on it too. so fuck Rolling Stone after all:) -jd
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I really like "The Gift", but sometimes it's better to listen to only one of the two stereo tracks and just groove on the pleasant music. It's a cool song with or without the words.
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Jerry - I adore "In the Backseat." I didn't at first, but it grew on me over the last year. I agree with Jonathan, really the only song I skip on the record is "Neighborhood 4"... it seems strangely out of place of place to me.
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Beatles - Within You Without You - I can't stand that on Sgt. Pepper
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I have a hardened, almost tumor-like spot in my heart reserved for "Staring at the Board" off Spoon's "A Series of Sneaks." Even spending one of the 33 minutes of the full album to listen to it is a waste. Otherwise, it's nearly perfect.
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GOOD CALL on Car Chase Terror...everytime I hear that song I flex my WTF face.
Not gonna lie, I skip Handjobs for the Holidays on the new BSS record. It suxx.
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Rainy Day Women is exactly right.
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Definitely "Ignoreland" off of Automatic For the People. I can't even think of that album as a classic because of that song.
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Steve Mac - "Rainy Day Woman" by Dylan? Are you kidding? Man, what a great song!
And I also like "Neighborhood 4" a lot. Took a while, but it's an incredibly beautiful song if you give it a chance.
There are quite a few hip-hop albums with one shitty song. Diamond's Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop is perfect, except for "Confused."
There's also that one track on Young Team that gets unbearably loud in the end. And since the rest of the album is mixed so low, you probably have the volume jacked up way high, so you always have to be standing by with volume control in hand.
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"Golden Lights" by the Smiths. It makes me want to hurt someone.
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Fo real, "The Gift" is the shit.
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"Devil's Workday" by Modest Mouse
Anything on the new Beirut album (eckhh!!)
"Lolita" by Elefant
Entirety of new Strokes album
That new Killers song is pretty wretched as well
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um fitter happier?
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To add to closers that disappoint.. "Those to Come" on Chutes Too Narrow. I nearly always end the album early.
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To whoever said that "Neighborhood 4 (7 Kettles)" is the worst song on Funeral, I think "Crown of Love" is just miserable. So:
"Crown of Love" - Arcade Fire
"Clap Your Hands!" is just a terrible way to start an album. Maybe us indie dirtbags would like it better if they spelled it "Clap Yr Hands".
"Digsy's Diner" Already said but right on.
"Pulk/Pull"
"Lilac Wine" - Jeff Buckley. Its on such a perfect record but this song just keeps it from being a flawless record. He should've replaced this song with "Forget Her", an amazing B-side.
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'bungalow bill' is the ish. 'maxwells silver hammer' is horrible.
nothing on funeral warrants getting skipped.
'fitter happier' and 'electioneering' can go, as can 'treefingers', obviously.
and 'frankly mr. shankly' on 'the queen is dead' too.
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on grace, i'd say the only tracks that detract are 'corpus christi carol' and 'eternal life'. 'lilac wine' is pretty damn good in my opinion, and 'forget her' is good too, but too conventional and predictable to have fit in with the rest of the album.
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"Squeeze Box" is bad? What?
And I happen to like "Those to Come", actually. And "Neighborhood #4 (Kettles)". But I hate "Electronic Renaissance"
Here's my list:
The White Stripes, "Passive Manipulation" (Get Behind Me Satan)
Belle & Sebastian, "For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea" (The Life Pursuit)
Interpol, "Take You On A Cruise" (Antics)
The Postal Service, "Clark Gable" (Give Up)
Beck, "Qué Onda Guero" (Guero)
Beirut, "After the Curtain" (Gulag Orkestar)
Shout Out Louds, "Go Sadness" (Howl Howl Gaff Gaff... it's not so much that this is a bad song, but they used a horrible version of it on the album)
Belle & Sebastian, "The Boy Done Wrong Again" (If You're Feeling Sinister)
Radiohead, "Optimistic" (Kid A... I don't know why I don't like this song, I just don't.)
Rilo Kiley, "Accidental Deth" (More Adventurous)
The Clientele, "Losing Haringey" (Strange Geometry... does anyone actually like spoken word tracks?)
The Libertines, "I Get Along" (Up The Bracket)
Sleater-Kinney, "The Fox" (The Woods)
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the gift is great! i love it, even if it is a little demented... that's the reason i love it i think.
pull/ pulk is shite yes, i'd agree with that one. ruined a pretty good album. treefingers is good though, it's all about context...
i always tend to skip 'get what you gave' off of plaid's 'spokes' and 'let me in' by rem off of monster. eurgh.
'tonebank computer' by holy fuck warrants skipping. only because the rest of the album is just so fucking great. ditto for 'thrills' by lcd soundsystem...
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"Mother" is way worse than "Be My Girl - Sally". That song was Andy's fault, not Stewart's. His B-side "Someone to Talk To" is even worse. Stewart's songs are rather unappreciated, and usually entertaining.
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nirvana - nevermind - "lounge act"
radiohead - ok computer - "fitter happier"
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Crazy Beat, from Think Tank by Blur.
That song was just silly. Maybe if they took the creepy voice out of the background.
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the whole new beirut album? are you kidding me? there may be a couple of songs that feel out of place, but no the whole damn thing. its really quite good.
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Cat Power - Where Is My Love
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Wilco - Less Than You Think (A Ghost Is Born)
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I'm not that fond of "Me and the Major" on "If You're Feeling Sinister," the "Christmas at the Zoo" song on "Clouds Taste Metallic," the Superman song on "The Soft Bulletin," "Communist Daugher" by Neutral Milk Hotel, "War Pigs" on Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and the anthem of a teenaged girl on "You Forgot It in People."
Maybe "Dancing Days" on Houses of the Holy.
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Squeeze box is great, I sing along in my car when that comes on.
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I like "Clark Gable" and "Frankly Mr. Shankly"....
I always kinda get pissed how "Loose Translation" isn't anywhere close to the rest of the songs on Electric Version by the New Pornographers.
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jaime's right about 'i get along' by the libertines , its always seemed just plain wrong, and is a fine reason to end the record a track early.
the title track of the raconteurs effort has only ever had one play on my stereo. eurgh. minsky.
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Don's mention of "Dancing Days" reminded me of how "Living Loving Maid" is widely regarded as the worst song on II.
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Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
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i'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but i'd like to nominate "broddy bounce" from the captain & tennille's seminal 1975 debut, "love will keep us together," otherwise arguably the greatest artistic work of modern times, not counting cremaster.
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"The Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood 4 (7 Kettles)." Who doesn't skip this song when they're listening to the album?"
I don't. It's a lovely come down from the ridiculously high energy of "Power Out."
Someone beat me to mentioning "Pulk/Pull" on amnesiac. So I'll pick "Monsoon" from Trail Of Dead's "Source Tags & Code"; not because it's terrible, but just because it is one I tend to skip when playing through the album (at that point, I'm anxious to get to "Relative Ways" and the album's closer).
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Oh, oh, oh. I just thought of another, better suggestion. Two, really:
"I Love A Magician," on Dismemberment Plan's "Emergency & I" (Must. Get. To. "You Are Invited" ...). And similarly, "Automatic" on their final album, "Change."
"Automatic"? More like "YAWN-OMATIC." Zing!
Actually, the song's okay. It's just not one I'm in the mood for very often.
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"In The Backseat" - Awful on the album (which is otherwise amazing, 'natch) and only slightly less awful live. Nothing else comes close.
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wolf parade - "this heart's on fire"
how do you end 'apoligies' on something other than 'dinner bells'
I don't skip neighborhoood 4, and in the backseat is a let down given the strength of the album as a whole.
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Boy, am I in a minority here because I have always liked "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". For those of you who are counterpoint fans, there are two incredible Mellotron lines deep in the mix (0:59 to 1:27 and 2:11 to 2:40) that demonstrate McCartney's ability to juxtapose two "competing" melodic lines. That's a technique typically used by classical composers, and it's something we don't hear much of in rock. McCartney, with his genius for melody, uses this technique a lot with many of his best songs. As for the song as a whole, there's just something screwy and weird about it. I've always liked it even though I wouldn't put it my Top Ten list of Beatles songs penned by McCartney.
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""She's a woman--you know what I mean?" Uh, I think I have an idea."
This made me laugh.
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How can anyone NOT like Arcade Fire - In The Backseat?
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The Chills - "Look For The Good in Others And They'll See The Good in You" (from the otherwise perfect Brave Words).
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Hands down: 'Little Miss Strange' on Hendrix's 'Electric Ladyland'. The horrible sound of what would have happened if Noel Redding had become the lead instead of Hendrix. The only thing that saves it is, of course, Jimi's solo -- dubbed in after the song was finished.
And I'll join the chorus: 'The Gift' is as awesome as the rest of the album.
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Daft Punk - Rock 'n Roll
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I'll ignore the fact that it's uncool to be a Death Cab for Cutie fan 'round these parts...
"Death Of An Interior Decorator," off Transatlanticism. WTF was this, anyway?
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""In The Backseat" - Awful on the album (which is otherwise amazing, 'natch) and only slightly less awful live. Nothing else comes close."
I think maybe you went and saw some other band and they covered it badly, or something 'cause both times I went and saw the Arcade Fire (Logan Square in Chicago in ought four, and The Riv in Ought Five), they ended the show with it, and it was _perfect_ as a show-ender.
I will accept dislike of the song on record, though I strenuously disagree. I think it's about as perfect an album closer as it is a concert closer. But, y'know, I just don't think they can do wrong live. I guess maybe they have off nights like everyone else. I just have yet to witness it (either in person, or on various concert recordings).
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Steve Mac, I have to disagree with you on "Electioneering" and "Silverfuck." Didn't Radiohead actually play "Electioneering" on the Tonight Show 9 years ago? If you have to pick a song to skip on OK COMPUTER, it's "EXIT MUSIC."
But COME ON! There isn't a BAD song on either OK COMPUTER or the PUMPKINS' Siamese Dream record, two of the top albums of the '90s. Heck, there ain't a technically BAD song on either Radiohead or Smashing Pumpkins' first THREE records as far as I'm concerned.
There's a reason the Pumpkins ended many a shows with "Silverfuck" over the years: it ROCKS! Live and on record. Just because it's long and there's a psycehdelic interlude doesn't make it bad.
Remember people, we're talking about badly written songs here, not songs that you're just not in the mood for or would rather skip for another time cuz it interrupts the flow of an album.
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I always thought "I'm in love with my car" on Queen's A Night at the Opera was pretty pathetic next to the rest of the songs on the album. I know they were trying to cover different genres of music, and that was supposed to be the big 'rock' song, but I still think it is weak next to ANY of the other songs on the album.
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Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl?!?!?! That's one of my favorite songs on that record. I couldn't disagree more- the song works wonderfully regardless of what emotional state you're in.
Pulk/Pull, totally. I disagree on Fitter Happier though - I feel like that song exhibits exactly the type of frustration with modern life that the album aimed to portray.
How about From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) off of the Decemberists' Picaresque. Anyone else think Colin Meloy sounds like a dying goat with he sings the word "me" in the chorus? Just terrible.
Or how about the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battle the Pink Robots PT. 2? That terrible shrieking sound is enough to make me throw things at the stereo.
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you people are out of control...
first of all, to say ANY song on Funeral sucks is fucking blasphemy.
second of all, how can you put Silverfuck on this list?!?!?!?! that song OWNS!
and yeah maxwell's hammer rules...how bout Octopus' Garden!?!?!?!?! what a waste of space on the best album of all time...
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I think many of you would be surprisingly less satisfied with the OK COMPUTER as a whole if "Fitter Happier" was not on it. It's the intermission. FH takes the message and the concept of OK Computer and reads it to you. Plain and clear. Personally, I believe that Fitter Happier is what takes OK Computer from great album to experience.
And Treefingers is kick-ass. If you don't know how that song was made, look it up on greenplastic.com . Pure beauty and genius on a guitar.
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Yes, The Gift is excellent but this "mash-up" of The Gift and Steven Tyler is even better.
http://philcobrothers.blogspot.com/2006/07/billy-goats-gift.html
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most of jenny lewis and the watson twins
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I couldn't imagine Apologies to the Queen Mary without "This Heart's On Fire." Are you crazy?
I totally agree with Kevin about Radiohead's interlude songs. They compliment the atmosphere perfectly and they're great spaces for transition.
I skip "Neighborhood #4" most times and I happen to love "In the Backseat." I do, however, agree that "Crown of Love" is a little irritating.
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What is the point of answering a question of what tracks are bad on great albums by saying the entire album is bad? Here, take this quarter down to the corner and buy a clue or put it on layaway. I hate the Strokes haters because they cannot even be witting and charming in their disdain.
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