Worst Closing Tracks From Albums

Love Between the Buttons overall; but I've never cared for the closing track. Anyone care to defend it?

 

It's the slightly older cousin to "On With The Show," but with a more memorable (but not altogether great) melody? The Stones do music hall. In both instances, not my cup of Stones' tea, with or without sugar lumps. So... No?

It's got more charm than "On With The Show," but that's setting a pretty low bar.

 

I agree with all the posts regarding "Remain In Light" by The Talking Heads.

As an ardent follower of the band at the time, that album was recorded in July/August 1980 and was a huge stylistic leap from the previous "Fear of Music", yet sonically logical, with the proliferation of African polyrhythms on such amazing tracks as "Born Under Punches", "Crosseyed and Painless", "The Great Curve", "Once In A Lifetime", and "Houses In Motion".

Curiously, however, the last three tracks on that LP display a more atmospheric and somber tone - as if announcing midstream that the constantly evolving band was morphing yet again, albeit very rapidly in typical rock band terms.
(Typically we witness many groups achieving a creative and critical peak, and dig that goldmine for all its' worth, until bone dry... But evidently in this case the creative muse was too strong.)

Or rather, depending on who you believe were the main musical protagonists (namely David Byrne and producer Brian Eno), those closing tracks were a critical stylistic link to "My Life In the Bush of Ghosts" which increases the usage of musical and vocal samples, and loops. Byrne and Eno worked on those tracks from August 1979 to October 1980, which logically means all the tracks from both albums can provide a larger creative tapestry, when considering what The Talking Heads were working on with Brian Eno.

 

The Stranglers "Mad Hatter" at the end of Aural Sculpture...sheesh, even the lamest b-side from the assorted singles from the album were better than this throwaway.

 

I want to make it clear that I absolutely love all the songs proceeding Once in a Lifetime. Even The Overload. Great album, it's probably in my top 10 of all time as is, but the last three do drag a little. On somedays, however, I actually prefer side 2 to 1. Crazy, I know lol..

 

No question, "Rio de Tenampa", the last track on Kiko by Los Lobos. Nothing like the rest of the album, and just some out-of-tune joke that punctures the rest of the album like a needle in a balloon. Still a perfect album even with this non-perfection on it; that's how good the rest of Kiko is.

 

"Worst closing tracks" from otherwise good albums are the biggest musical offenders, and stick to our collective cerebellums like dog droppings clinging to the soles of our favorite shoes.

How so?
For "albums that stink on ice from beginning to end" from the Kid Rocks or Insane Clown Posse's, we can easily toss those in a figurative incinerator without any remorse nor regret.

However, for those "almost greats" we can only post in ponderous wonderment about what may have been....

 

I've got 2 more.
The first is "Seattle Yodel" from the fourth Gorillaz album "The Fall". It's absolutely awful. Luckily, it's only about 30 seconds. And seeing as it comes right after a great penultimate track, you could easily just take it off the album.

The second is a bit controversial. "Optigan I" off of Blur's album "13". Now, I absolutely love this track. And I think it would've been a great closing track... Had it not come right after "No Distance Left To Run", which I think would've been the perfect song to end the album with. I expect a large amount of disagreement about this one.

 

Yeah, eveytime I'm listening to Revolver & I get to Yellow Submarine, I think to myself "man, this could have been Rain or Paperback Writer I'm listening to right now.." and a little piece of my heart breaks knowing one of the greatest albums of all time could have been better. At least they mastered the art of the album closer on this album

 

Masoko Tanga - The Police (Outlandos d'Amour)
The Other Way of Stopping - The Police (Zenyatta Mondatta)

 

Before I ever heard "Something Happened To Me Yesterday" I read a description of it as "the most accurate LSD song ever written". I was excited to hear this psychedelic masterpiece, so I was surprised when it turned out to be a swinging old time song (indeed about LSD). But I've always enjoyed it for that - it's like a news report from the period about the changing times and the new experiences. Keith sounds good on it; leave it to the magic of swinging 1966 London to make corny first person/third person perspectives by two singers ("I"/"he") humorous and cool somehow. Nice way to wrap up such an inspired and adventurous album.

 

Goodnight - White Album

 

I never cared a great deal for the final songs on R.E.M.'s Green and Out Of Time, "Untitled" and "Me In Honey". But I'm glad they're unobtrusively last; neither is an abomination but it's nice they keep to themselves and don't bring their sibling songs down too much. Love the albums.

 

Time for an unpopular opinion...

Completely disagree. For such a weird album, the experimentalness of Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast works great at the end. Now, I may be a bit biased considering that it's one of my all-time favorite Pink Floyd tracks, but I stand by my stance that it's one of their best album closers. Sure, the breakfast sounds and all are weird, but concerning the music itself, the "Morning Glory" section makes a great finale. I can wholeheartedly say I wouldn't like Atom Heart Mother as much as I do if Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast didn't close it.

 

Another bad album closer in my opinion, is "Warning" from Black Sabbath's debut album.

 

I quite like "Something Happened to Me Yesterday." Zany, incredibly British and the first Stones song to feature solo Keith vocals. So, historical if nothing else!

 

Procol's Ninth ends with a lame cover of "Eight Days s Week."

 

I never listen to Anthem off Millennium's Begin.

I don't like Los Endos off Genesis's A Trick of the Tail. Did Genesis have any good closers after Supper's Ready? None that I can think of, although the one on Lamb is okay.

I'm none too fond of I Am the Resurrection, easily the weakest track on The Stone Roses' classic debut.

 

Without "Her Majesty" it would be a pretentious ending - tacking it onto the end after a long break is brilliant and much like the end of Sgt. Pepper.

 

I just remembered that one of my favourite-ever albums, If I Should Fall From Grace With God by the Pogues, ends with this:



Though this random Internet actually quite helps it out.

 

Can't top Les Boys, but as an honorable mention:

From Anathema/A Fine Day to Exit:

"Temporary Peace" proper fades into the sound of waves crashing and finishes at about 5:50. More crashing waves follow with the sound of footsteps, voices, and piano chords beginning at about 7:52 and going on until about 10:22. That's followed by just over five minutes of silence; at about 15:27 the hidden acoustic track "In the Dog's House" (3:00) starts.

Prog Rock

 

How Many Say I - Van Halen
Brandon - Motley Crue

Those terrible songs are the third and fourth I thought of, my top two picks have already been mentioned. Those being My World by Guns 'n Roses and Inside by Van Halen.

 

Genesis The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway "it"

 

As much as I tried to find a track that would fit this thread in Amy Grant's studio album discography of songs that are out of place as closers, I can't think of any as so many of her best album tracks are the closing tracks.

 

I'm just curious, why is that?