The second-to-last cut on an album is a tough place. Early slots, of course, are usually label or artist favorites, and often the last cut is some kind of "statement" or post-script. The guy before that track is the loser position - a deep cut that neither the artist nor studio is all that excited about.
Case in point: The Saturday Night Fever album opens with "Staying Alive" and closes with "Disco Inferno". Next to last? The disco anthem "K-Jee"... Am I overstating my point? Sure I am, mostly because I've got nothin' to say about "Good Advices". Interesting lyrics (if not necessarily great advice, if you meet a stranger look at their shoes?), but musically it's bland. Sounds like someone fed chords into an REM generator and this tune crapped out.
Ok, confession time. The lame SNF comparison is because in my research, my theory was exposed as a fraud. I looked up second to last tracks on the following albums, and they're all winners:
Beatles - Revolver
Led Zeppelin - IV
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Who - Who's Next
Look 'em up, all solid tunes. I've now spent more time on "Good Advices" than the band did in creating it.
No comments:
Post a Comment