Albums where the lead single was the least best/worst song

[KevShmev]

Go.

[Elite]

Images & Words








but yeah, Images & Words.

[Kotowboy]

Gonna have to scroll through my iTunes...

[KevShmev]

I actually do not agree with that, Elite.  Under a Glass Moon, as great as it is, is I&W's least best song, IMO.

Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth is what inspired this thread.  Really good album where the lead single was trash, but the rest of the album is really good.

Some might say Styx's Cornerstone because of Babe, but I would submit that, while a cheese bag song, it is still better than First Time, which is far worse.

[home]

Not sure about when something is considered a lead single but here are some I can think of:

Coldplay: Viva la Vida - Viva la Vida (I did just hear this particular song too often perhaps)
Lorde: Pure Heroine - Royals (same as Viva la Vida)
Mastodon: Emperor of Sand - Show Yourself
Pain of Salvation: In The Passing Light of Day - Reasons

[Kotowboy]

Pretty sure we heard Sultan's Curse first although Show Yourself did get a video.

[AngelBack]

I'll go with Yes 90125, Owner of a Lonely Heart.  It was the highest charting single but my least fave on the album.  But maybe that is in hindsight because of the 10,000 times I heard it on the radio.

[home]

But maybe that is in hindsight because of the 10,000 times I heard it on the radio.

This is the reason I sometimes skip singles when listening to an album if they've been played too often, they just get less exciting to listen to then the rest of the album.

Pretty sure we heard Sultan's Curse first although Show Yourself did get a video.

You are right about that  Just thought Sultan's Curse might be considered the lead single because it's the only one that got a video.

[Grappler]

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (Eva)
Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful (Elan)

[millahh]

Pearl Jam - Vs. is a contender here.  "Go" isn't bad per se, but it is certainly one of the weaker tracks on what is a very strong album.

[MirrorMask]

Give or take, all the post-reunion Maiden albums

[ChuckSteak]

I'd say most albums with singles have the lead single as not the best song. I wouldn't say worst song, but definitely not the best either.

I've never liked singles anyway. I think it is a waste.

[Stadler]

My biggest dilemma is remembering what the lead single(s) were! 

"Let's Get Rocked" from Adrenalize?

For me, "Highway To Hell" from "Highway to Hell".
"Jailbreak" from "Dirty Deeds..."
"Hard Luck Woman" from "Rock and Roll Over" (though I dislike "Baby Driver" more)

[ozzy554]

Megadeth - Super Collider.

I actually enjoy this album but I really did not like the song Super Collider.

[Anguyen92]

Well, this is easy for me to state.  Alter Bridge's Blackbird.  My goodness, for the majority of the fans, this is Alter Bridge's best album loaded with top-notch songs, imo, like Blackbird, Brand New Start, Come to Life, Wayward One, and Buried Alive. 

The lead single was Rise Today, a song that is far away does not stack with what I listed in terms of quality and some fans just groins at it as it is still the closing song of the live shows to this day. 

Now, in all fairness, when I first heard the song back in 2007, it sounded great and had a compelling presence to me and that it being a theme song for a WWE PPV sealed the deal for me getting more into Alter Bridge.  10 years later as a fan and hearing all the albums from them on regular rotation, since then, the buzz over Rise Today has been gone.  Still a fine song.  I just don't think it's as good as a must-play Alter Bridge live song like Blackbird, Come to Life, and Metalingus.

[mikeyd23]

Well, this is easy for me to state.  Alter Bridge's Blackbird.  My goodness, for the majority of the fans, this is Alter Bridge's best album loaded with top-notch songs, imo, like Blackbird, Brand New Start, Come to Life, Wayward One, and Buried Alive. 

The lead single was Rise Today, a song that is far away does not stack with what I listed in terms of quality and some fans just groins at it as it is still the closing song of the live shows to this day. 

Now, in all fairness, when I first heard the song back in 2007, it sounded great and had a compelling presence to me and that it being a theme song for a WWE PPV sealed the deal for me getting more into Alter Bridge.  10 years later as a fan and hearing all the albums from them on regular rotation, since then, the buzz over Rise Today has been gone.  Still a fine song.  I just don't think it's as good as a must-play Alter Bridge live song like Blackbird, Come to Life, and Metalingus.

You think Rise Today is the worst song on BB? Worse than One By One or Break Me Down, etc...?

[Podaar]

Take that, Rise Today!

[jammindude]

We're Not Gonna Take It from Stay Hungry
Leader of the Pack from Come Out and Play
Round and Round from Out of the Cellar
Smoking in the Boys Room from Theater of Pain
Cold Blood from Blow My Fuse


Heck, almost any classic hair metal album.

[Evermind]

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (Eva)
Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful (Elan)

Nice, Elan is my favourite from EFMB along with Weak Fantasy, and I think Eva is in the top half of DPP for me. Tastes!

[Cool Chris]

For me, "Highway To Hell" from "Highway to Hell".

What? One of the greatest rock songs of all time?

Anything released in the past 10 years I'm probably going to have a hard time remembering, or even knowing, what the lead single was.

[Kotowboy]

I l ike REM's New Adventures in HIFI - but Ebow The Letter was a dreary single.

[DragonAttack]

Not even a close horse race.....'Body Language' from Queen's 'Hot Space' laps the field.  On the heals of the success of 'The Game', it somehow managed to reach #11 on the charts.  It was never included on any of their two following double LP 'Greatest Hits' releases.  It was also dropped from their set list part way through that North American tour.

[Anguyen92]

Well, this is easy for me to state.  Alter Bridge's Blackbird.  My goodness, for the majority of the fans, this is Alter Bridge's best album loaded with top-notch songs, imo, like Blackbird, Brand New Start, Come to Life, Wayward One, and Buried Alive. 

The lead single was Rise Today, a song that is far away does not stack with what I listed in terms of quality and some fans just groins at it as it is still the closing song of the live shows to this day. 

Now, in all fairness, when I first heard the song back in 2007, it sounded great and had a compelling presence to me and that it being a theme song for a WWE PPV sealed the deal for me getting more into Alter Bridge.  10 years later as a fan and hearing all the albums from them on regular rotation, since then, the buzz over Rise Today has been gone.  Still a fine song.  I just don't think it's as good as a must-play Alter Bridge live song like Blackbird, Come to Life, and Metalingus.

You think Rise Today is the worst song on BB? Worse than One By One or Break Me Down, etc...?

I actually like One by One a lot.  But yeah, Break Me Down is indeed a pretty average song for them.  I don't say Rise Today is the worst song or a bad song, it's probably bottom 3 of the album to me. I just think Come to Life would have made a better lead single for them at the time.

[RoeDent]

Not even a close horse race.....'Body Language' from Queen's 'Hot Space' laps the field.

I actually heard this on the radio the other night (a show where they play seldom-heard-on-radio 80s songs).

Ummm....yeah. OK then......as you were.

[Kotowboy]

I can think of a few songs where the lead single was amazing but the parent album was crap.

All My Life by Foo Fighters most notably.

[LudwigVan]

UFO - Obsession - "Only You Can Rock Me"

[mikeyd23]

I actually like One by One a lot.  But yeah, Break Me Down is indeed a pretty average song for them.  I don't say Rise Today is the worst song or a bad song, it's probably bottom 3 of the album to me. I just think Come to Life would have made a better lead single for them at the time.

That's cool man, I was just curious to hear your opinion on it. It's definitely near the bottom of the album for me, along with One by One, Break Me Down, and a couple others.

I definitely would not call it my least favorite on the record though.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Black Clouds & Silver Linings. A Rite of Passage is one of Dream Theater's worst songs.

[Mosh]

Most Dream Theater singles, really. Especially in the Roadrunner era it feels like there is one song (usually the single) that was written with the purpose of being the lead single and doesn't really represent the album or band at all.

[Adami]

I'd say the lead single is often on the lower end of the song list, but absolute worst? Struggling here.

Even with DT. I'd call Rite of Passage, or On the Backs of Angels or what not pretty low on the list, but there's still worse songs.


Hmmm, I'll have to go through my albums.

[Nel]

Foster The People's "Coming of Age" from their second album comes to mind. I was actually concerned before the album came out because it sounded more like a Killers song than anything from FtP's debut. Which isn't a bad thing, but I just didn't want them to devolve into a generic clone band after a stellar first album with their own sound.

Luckily, not only was that song not even close to indicative of the rest of the album's overall sound, it's one of the weaker tracks on there. Not sure why they didn't use something else.

[pogoowner]

First thing that popped into my head was "Now," from Paramore's self-titled album.

[The King in Crimson]

Wasn't Lucky Animals the "lead single" off of Epicloud? If so, that one, that one, that one.

[Architeuthis]

I'll go with Yes 90125, Owner of a Lonely Heart.  It was the highest charting single but my least fave on the album.  But maybe that is in hindsight because of the 10,000 times I heard it on the radio.

Same thing with Big Generator. The title track is the worst song on the album.

[SoundscapeMN]

Foals - Total Life Forever...Spanish Sahara is not only the best song on that album, but pretty much the best song the band has ever wrote.

edit: oops, I misread the title being" the lead single is the best or worst." I will say, the 2nd single "This Orient" is to me clearly the worst song on TLF. So it almost fits this topic in a way.