Songs or albums where the intro is better than the rest of it.

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

Case in point: Metallica - Blackened. The intro to this song is so good. A slow fade in of dueling guitars rising and falling until they meet in the middle and you're think that this is going to be the best metal album everrrrr and then...the song kicks in and it's the driest recording on an album ever with the bass nowhere to be seen. The rest of then song and album are okay, but don't really live up to hype of that intro.

[bloodycheekymonkey]

Thats bizarre, when i read the title of this thread And Justice For All popped into my head, I thought...Ooooo I'll have to mention that...but see you have done already. When i have this CD on in my car I listen to the intros then skip to the next one.

[actwithoutwords]

Hmmn, the immediate recent one that jumps into my mind is Funeral by Band of Horses. Love the delicate intro and was really thinking it was going to be something special, but then the OTT emo-ness takes over and it lost me completely. Annoying.

[Captain Crunch]

The first one I can think of is Scorpionica by Orange Goblin which kicks off the Big Black album.  The album is fantastic, don't get me wrong, it just never tops the blistering intro of the first song.

[fanny splendid]

Poison by Alice Cooper always makes me sit up, but then I realise it's fucking Alice Cooper.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

O.O.B.E the first track on UF Orb. The beginning is so good it gives the impression "Jesus, this is going to be the best album ever." and then it sort of collapses into something else after about 2 minutes, that isn't nearly as good. That's the main gripe with that album as well, it doesn't really know when its onto a good thing or not. Compare that to the distinctiveness of the first album where they were happy to let the tracks stay in one place and work around the underlying melodies.

[boki]

Case in point: Metallica - Blackened. The intro to this song is so good. A slow fade in of dueling guitars rising and falling until they meet in the middle and you're think that this is going to be the best metal album everrrrr and then...the song kicks in and it's the driest recording on an album ever with the bass nowhere to be seen. The rest of then song and album are okay, but don't really live up to hype of that intro.

Have you heard that intro 'the right way around'?  Sounds pretty cool both ways.  Somebody put it up on a site somewhere, and the same chap recorded some bass parts over a few Justice tracks too.

The one that jumped straight into my head for this thread was 'Somebody Told Me' by The Killers - great intro, ok verse but by the end of the chorus your IQ's halved.

[Pseudopath]

Might be a bit contentious, but I've always preferred the organ intro of "Won't Get Fooled Again" to the main song.

[GetTheeBehindMeStan]

I've always preferred the organ intro of "Won't Get Fooled Again" to the main song.

I think it's the anticipation of that first crash as the rest of the band comes in. But you're right, it is just ever so slightly disappointing.

[sam and janet evening]

'Private Number' by William Bell and (I think) Judy Clay.
The intro's got a really slinky groove, minor key and slightly spooky. And then the fucking song starts, it all goes horribly 'show-soul' like some awful "Tonight at the Holiday Inn we have 'Tammi Lewis and the Silk Sensations' down in the Tabasco Lounge, free cocktail when you present this voucher - one per customer only please" type club act.
And the fucking lyric's just stupid. In a nutshell, Bloke loves Bird, Bird seems to have vanished, Bloke upset. Bird turns up, bird still loves bloke but was being bothered by other blokes calling so Bird changed number. and didn't tell Bloke (ie true love of Bird's life) because...well I dunno, because the songs Fucking stupid that's why.
but the intro's great.

Also, 'Don't you forget about me' Simple Minds. BAM BAAAAM, hey hey hey hey, BAM BAAAAM, oooooooooooh oh oh...."gosh! this song sounds quite exciting...oh wait, no it's not."

[Catalogue Trousers]

Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell. Glory, glory, that's one hell of an intro, and the somewhat weedy vocals that Mr Loaf then breaks into plus the rather limp-wristed instrumental attempts to match that opening over the next 7 or so minutes just can't reach the sheer giddy majesty of those first 1 or 2.

[Ciarán2]

O.O.B.E the first track on UF Orb. The beginning is so good it gives the impression "Jesus, this is going to be the best album ever." and then it sort of collapses into something else after about 2 minutes, that isn't nearly as good. That's the main gripe with that album as well, it doesn't really know when its onto a good thing or not. Compare that to the distinctiveness of the first album where they were happy to let the tracks stay in one place and work around the underlying melodies.

Ooh, no - that's my favourite one on the album! What's the spoken sample in the middle? Is it something to do with Karl Popper? I've never managed to catch all of it.

[mothman]

That Babylon Zoo song?

Well, someone's gonna mention it!

[Paul's Boutique]

"1984" by Van Halen - nice synth intro followed by nightmarish cock-rock.

[Morrisfan82]

That Babylon Zoo song?

Well, someone's gonna mention it!

Ha ha, the shift in quality between intro and song is forever etched on the faces of that fateful TOTP audience.

[boki]

Oh yeah, don't all kill me at once, but...







'Good Vibrations'

[Catalogue Trousers]

That Babylon Zoo song?

But even the intro's crap!

[trotsky assortment]

Poison by Alice Cooper always makes me sit up, but then I realise it's fucking Alice Cooper.

Fucking sub-Bon Jovi Alice at that.  It still amazes me how he could have released this stuff at the end of the 80s...

1971's 'Killer' album is fucking amazing.

EDIT:  Ooh. I'm sweary-trotters today.

[V]

"1984" by Van Halen - nice synth intro followed by nightmarish cock-rock.

And Hot for Teacher. Great intro that always makes me drive like a lunatic, until it drops into the toe-curling "dudes chewin' the fat" section. ARGH!

[trotsky assortment]

Agreed.  That drum intro on 'Hot For Teacher' is amazing.

[Captain Crunch]

'Poison' '1984' and 'Hot For Teacher' are all brilliant and I'll bite anyone who says otherwse!

[V]

I was going to slag off Starship next, but I'll think twice about it now.

[Paaaaul]

Seems like a lot of hair-rock bands here, so I'll add
Pink Bubbles Go Ape by Helloween.
Quite a nice jaunty acoustic tune followed by 45 minutes of naff mettahl.

[samadriel]

Sweet Child o' Mine is a blazing, Eye-of-Sauron-obvious example of this.

Also 'World of Sleaze' by Regurgitator, but you probably don't know that one.

[Bingo Fury]

The first Lloyd Cole album - "Rattlesnakes", was it? Some great intros there, the kind that make you sit up and rub your hands together, thinking, "Mmm, this is going to be good." But no, it's just another dire Lloyd Cole song, rhyming "Mailer" with "tailor" for no bloody good reason at all. And then on the following album they even dispensed with the good intros.

Forgive me if I'm being unfair: I'm relying on memories that are over 20 years old now. But I bet it's still shit.

[Toad in the Hole]

Yeah to be fair "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?" is a bit of an exercise in name-dropping.  Great guitar intro though.

Rattlesnakes is the album - the song of the same name I like, though that also is name-dropping Eva Marie Saint, de Beauvoir etc.  It's an album I don't mind once in a while.