Albums with fantastic songs, that suffer from poor sequencing

What is an album that had potential due to the strength of its material, but fell flat due to bad sequencing, or even song selection? And how would you suggest fixing that?

At least to me, I can cite Jazz, by Queen, due to starting with Mustapha instead of Let Me Entertain You, as well as other minor mistakes, and Let it Be by the Beatles, which feels more like a random collection of tunes rather than an album.

What about you? Any others?

 

Love Jazz as is.

 

This is a minor example, and does not in any way fit the criteria of "ruining" the album.

But as I've brought up before, the original LP release of The Dwight Twilley Band's second album, Twilley Don't Mind, started off Side One with "Here She Come," a perfect opening track. The title track was the first one on Side Two.

When the album was issued on CD, these tracks were inexplicably switched, and ever since, the album has begun with its title track, with "Here She Come" now falling in the middle of the sequence.

I guess it was felt the title song should lead, but in terms of the impact of the album and flow of the songs, it was a boneheaded decision.

 

Surrealistic Pillow, I would have opened with White Rabbit instead of She Has Funny Cars and closed the album with anything but Plastic Fantastic Lover, that is such a weak song that just leaves you waiting for more but there’s nothing more to offer, because that’s the end of the album. Maybe Today or Comin’ Back to Me would have been better choices.

 

I disagree to an extent. I think opening with "White Rabbit" would have been a mistake. I think "She Has Funny Cars" works just fine, with the drum intro leading into some powerful chords. It's greatest advantage is that it shows off the Airplane as a complete package, with everyone contributing. "White Rabbit" does not — no harmony vocals, no lead guitar work to speak of, not a notable Jack Casady bass line.

I can agree about ending with "Plastic Fantastic Lover," though. I don't dislike the song, but it's not one of their strongest. Your suggestion of ending with "Comin' Back to Me" might work, given that it would separate it from "Today." Both are great songs, but putting them one after the other wasn't a very good idea. So maybe swap it out with "Plastic Fantastic Lover." Ending with "Comin' Back to Me"'s long, pastoral fadeout might have been a good way to go.

 

May get some flak for this one, but

Egypt Station - Paul McCartney

Love the album for its individual songs, but other than the last two tracks (and Opening I and II), the rest of the album could have been reorganized to flow much better.

 

I agree with MikeM: She Has Funny Cars is a brilliant opening, but Plastic Fantastic Lover doesn't make for a good closer. Comin' Back to Me might work, but I'd have to try it out. As for Jazz, it ended up like this:

Side One:
01 Let Me Entertain You
02 Fat Bottomed Girls
03 Jealousy
04 Bicycle Race
05 If You Can't Beat Them
06 Dead on Time
07 Mustapha
08 Coming Soon
09 Dreamer's Ball
10 In Only Seven Days
11 Fun It
12 Leaving Home Ain't Easy
13 Don't Stop Me Now

 

Thought the exact same thing about NEW.

Had to throw in the bonus tracks and reorder the whole thing before I could listen to it.

 

Well, I think White Rabbit has that hauting Grace Slick vibe that would set the expectations high. As for the closer, I wouldn’t have sequenced Comin’ Back to Me and Today together. It’s either CBTM or Today. But I feel like the first would have worked out much better. Anyways, what the album really needed was strong closer, like they did on Crown of Creation with “House at Pooneil Corners”.

 

I'm not much one to join in on the resequencing discussions around here but I can tell you that living with/listening to the original Get Back album for 6-7 months prior to the release of LIB left me disappointed with the official release. The kickoff of One After 909/Don't Let Me Down (with a bit of jamming and Save The Last Dance For Me)
was a much stronger album starter than Two Of Us/Dig A Pony (with the horrible edit job.)

 

I agree. If I wasn’t such a big McCartney fan I probably wouldn’t have made it past the first handful of songs on the album. It seems as though most of the best songs are in the second half of the record, plus it’s too long and some of the more “modern production” songs don’t really even fit into the overall atmosphere.

 

Great idea for a thread.

Stevie Wonder's My Cherie Amour is totally hamstrung by the four (count 'em) covers that come one after the other on side one. It's a soul album, but because of the sequencing it starts to seem like an oldies revue right at the start.

Side two contains a handful of excellent original compositions that displayed Wonder's growing maturity as a composer. How about scattering the cover tunes around and movinge some of the originals to side one, like "Somebody Knows, Somebody Cares" and the fantastic "Angie Girl?"

 

'Coming Soon' might've been written at that time, but it wasn't recorded until a year after Jazz (hence it came to the album The Game).

 

I have another one. Husker Du's Flip Your Wig, which closes with two instrumentals, "The Wit and the Wisdom" and "Don't Know Yet."

This weakens the impact of both tunes, since it comes of like they're saying "We just threw a bunch of stuff at the end to fill space." But "Don't Know Yet" is pretty great, with its backwards guitar lead. It deserved better. I think it would have made a great opener to side two, sort of coming off like The Jam's backward guitar intro to "Dreamtime," which opens side two of Sound Affects.

 

Men At Work - Business As Usual.

Usually I think album sequencing is OK but this one seems ineffective to me. Side 1 ends oddly, Side 2 begins oddly and it ends with two down songs. I would change it this way.

Side 1
1. Who Can It Be Now
2. Touching The Untouchables (from B3)
3. Down Under
4. People Just Love To Play With Words (from B1)
5. I Can See It In Your Eyes (from A2)

Side 2

1. Be Good Johnny (from B2)
2. Underground (from A4)
3. Catch A Star (from B4)
4. Helpless Automaton (from A5)
5. Down By The Sea

 

Actually, the basic track was recorded during the Jazz sessions, and was later overdubbed (with the blasphemous synths!) for inclusion on The Game

 

I agree on jazz.
U2 unforgettable fire - love the songs, but the album didnt quite gel for me

 

I'm going to get flamed for this, and apologies if I cause offence, but whenever I play Revolver through it always sounds like a playlist on random to me - all brilliant songs but it's all over the place stylistically. Tomorrow Never Knows is definitely in the right place though.

 

Agree with you. Always re-sequence my deluxe copy to produce a 12-track album that is like Ram meets Wings. Get Started gets bumped up to start my 'side two'.

 

Love Angie Girl. One of the great b-sides.

 

Really? Okay, I didn't know that.^^

 

If the studio documentation is right, and Barry Gibb's "The Kid's No Good" would've begun with 'Born' and ended with 'Mando Bay' - that would've been a huge mistake.

I say IF it was right, because bootlegs have it the other way around; "Born" is an obvious final track.

 

I think "A Kind Of Magic" can be improved, because One Vision is such a strange and cumbersome opener, also this flows better imo:

A Kind Of Magic
Friends Will Be Friends
One Year Of Love
Pain Is So Close To Pleasure
One Vision

Gimme The Prize
Don't Lose Your Head
Who Wants To Live Forever?
Princes Of The Universe

 

Agreed. I think Taxman belongs at 1 too though.

 

U2's Pop

The album should have gone with the same sequencing as the tour. Opening with "Pop Muzik" segueing into "Mofo".