DreamTheaterForums.org Dream Theater Fan Site
General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: nicmos on November 28, 2022, 04:34:16 PM
-
Album closers have a tendency to be quality songs. In particular, some of them tend to pack more of an emotional punch than the average track on the album.
Curious what you all think the most powerful album closers are. Not just the best, but in particular the most powerful. For example, Brain Damage/Eclipse or When the Levee Breaks are course a wonderful way to close an album, but I don't know that they're the most emotionally powerful I can think of (see below).
Also, there's many cases where Epics or multi-part songs are at the end. I am going to stay away from those, as there are any number that might qualify. I'm more thinking of songs that are roughly on equal footing with the other songs on the album.
To start, here's some possible picks off the top of my head. Many of them are from ultra-popular bands, but they don't have to be.
60's: Beatles - A Day in the Life
70's: The Who - Love Reign O'er Me
80's: Metallica - Damage Inc.
90's: Live - White, Discussion
00's: ??
10's: Devin Townsend Project - Angel
20's:??
Curious what you all think. I was having trouble thinking of non-epics from the 00's.
-
Does 'White, discussion' count as Throwing Copper has 'Horse' as a final secret track on the CD - and is now listed on streaming services
For the 80's I'd throw Hallowed be thy Name and Purple Rain into contention.
As for the 00's I'd go with Comforting Sounds by Mew.
-
For 00's my favorites are:
Rush - Crossroads
Johnny Cash - We'll Meet Again
Dream Theater - Losing Time Grand Finale
Spock's Beard - Made Alive Again / Wind at My Back
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Genius in France
Iron Maiden - The Thin Line Between Love & Hate
Avenged Sevenfold - MIA
Oysterhead - Owner of the World
System of a Down - Aerials
-
Are we purposely avoiding epics? Because Finally Free seems like it would be my choice for the 90s...
-
For 00's, I would go with either:
Gojira - Global Warming
Coheed and Cambria - The Final Cut
For 20's:
Mastodon - Gigantium
Coheed and Cambria - Window of the Waking Mind
Porcupine Tree - Chimera's Wreck
-
For 00's, I would go with either:
Coheed and Cambria - The Final Cut
For 20's:
Mastodon - Gigantium
Coheed and Cambria - Window of the Waking Mind
Can't fault these choices at all! Global Warming is great ad well, just not as good as these three!
-
I actually made a playlist to my favorite ending album songs titled, "The End is Everything. "
(https://i.postimg.cc/BvHcKMY5/Screenshot-20221129-134940-Spotify.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/d7QyMmKD)
(https://i.postimg.cc/wTMXV64j/Screenshot-20221129-134950-Spotify.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Lndg4MMc)
(https://i.postimg.cc/tT9PVyVy/Screenshot-20221129-134958-Spotify.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/sB01tkc0)
-
'60s: The Beatles - Day Tripper (not a lot of competition here)
'70s: Yes - Awaken or Ritual
'80s: Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land or Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys
'90s: Dream Theater - Learning to Live
'00s: Dream Theater - Octavarium
'10s: Fates Warning - And Yet It Moves
'20s: ??
-
'60s: The Beatles - Day Tripper (not a lot of competition here)
'70s: Yes - Awaken or Ritual
'80s: Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land or Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys
'90s: Dream Theater - Learning to Live
'00s: Dream Theater - Octavarium
'10s: Fates Warning - And Yet It Moves
'20s: ??
Do you mean "A Day In The Life"? "Day Tripper" was originally only released as a single. Good call with "Learning to Live", though.
-
70s: King Crimson - Starless
80s: Queensryche - Eyes of a Stranger
90s: Marillion - King
00's: Transatlantic - Stranger In Your Soul
10's: Big Big Train - Curator of Butterflies
20's: Marillion - Care
Others from the 70s:
- Genesis - Los Endos
- Genesis - Afterglow
- Steve Hacket - Icarus Ascending
- Camel - Ice
- Yes - To Be Over
- King Crimson - Islands
Others from the 80s:
- Rush - Available Light
- Tears for Fears - Famous Last Words
- The Blue Nile - Automobile Noise
- Talk Talk - Wealth
- Marillion - The Last Straw
- Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
- Journey - Why Can't This Night Go On Forever
- Camel - Long Goodbyes
- U2 - MLK
- Rush - Between the Wheels
Others from the 90s:
- Dream Theater - Trial of Tears
- The Flower Kings - The Road Back Home
- Eric Johnson - Venus Reprise
- King's X - Life Going By
- Kip Winger - Here
- Queensryche - Someone Else?
- Rush - Everyday Glory
- Winger - Who's the One
- Dream Theater - Learning to Live
- Peter Gabriel - Secret World
- Toad the Wet Sprocket - I Will Not Take These Things for Granted
- The Blue Nile - Soon
- Genesis - Fading Lights
Others from the 00s:
- Spock's Beard - The Great Nothing
- Enchant - Comatose
- Big Big Train - Summer's Lease
- Peter Gabriel - The Drop
- Porcupine Tree - Collapse the Light Into Earth
- Ty Tabor - I Don't Mind
- King's X - Move Me/Move Me Pt. 2
- Mike Keneally and Beer for Dolphins - Kedgeree
- Neil Finn - Into the Sunset
- Mew - Comforting Sounds
Others from the 10s:
- The Clientele - The Age of Miracles
- Spock's Beard - Beginnings
- Marillion - The Sky Above The Rain
- Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
- The Fringe - Yours to Steal
- Big Big Train - Telling the Bees
- Fernando Perdomo - Gold
- Sweet Billy Pilgrim - These Sudden Stars
Others from 20s:
- Dyble Longdon - Heartwashing
- Big Big Train - Endnotes
- Tears for Fears - Stay
- Dim Gray - Meridian
-
I have to give a +1 to QR's Someone Else. I think it may be my favorite recorded vocal performance of all time.
-
OK let's do this...
60s -
The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (yea I always consider this as one song)
70s -
Pink Floyd - Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pt. 2
80s -
Metallica - The Call of Ktulu
Honourable Mentions:
Slayer - Raining Blood
90s -
Megadeth - Rust in Peace...Polaris
Honourable Mentions:
Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
Pantera - The Art of Shredding
The Offspring - Pay the Man
2000s -
Coheed and Cambria - The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut
Honourable Mentions:
Children of Bodom - Downfall
Coheed and Cambria - 2113
Opeth - Isolation Years
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Tenacious D - Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)
Turisas - Miklagard Overture
The King Blues - What if Punk Never Happened
Scar Symmetry - Ghost Prototype II: Deus Ex Machina
Opeth - Hex Omega
Trivium - Shogun
Mastodon - The Last Baron
Metallica - My Apocalypse
2010s -
Haken - Visions
Honourable Mentions:
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Justice for St. Mary
Haken - Celestial Elixir
Dream Theater - Illumination Theory
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Han-tyumi and the Murder of the Universe Suite
Caligula's Horse - Graves
Mastodon - Jaguar God
Avenged Sevenfold - Exist
Leprous - The Sky is Red
2020s -
Coheed and Cambria - Window of the Waking Mind
Honourable Mentions:
Mastodon - Gigantium
Frank Turner - Farewell to My City
-
I don't really know much from before the 90s, so I'll just be ranking my favorites from the 90s, 00s, and 10s. Some of these are emotionally powerful in different ways than one might expect, but I love all these album closers a lot.
1990s:
1. Devin Townsend - Things Beyond Things
2. Dream Theater - Finally Free
3. Dream Theater - Trial of Tears
4. Dream Theater - Learning to Live
5. Dream Theater - Space-Dye Vest
6. Liquid Tension Experiment - Three Minute Warning
2000s:
1. Dream Theater - Octavarium
2. Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany
3. Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
4. Porcupine Tree - Glass Arm Shattering
5. Riverside - Hybrid Times
6. Transatlantic - Dancing With Eternal Glory/Whirlwind (Reprise)
7. Porcupine Tree - Collapse the Light Into Earth
8. The Dear Hunter - Vital Vessels Vindicate
9. Transatlantic - Stranger in Your Soul
2010s:
1. Dream Theater - Illumination Theory
2. The Dear Hunter - A Beginning
3. Haken - Visions
4. Haken - Somebody
5. The Dear Hunter - Lost But Not All Gone
6. Between the Buried and Me - The Grid
7. Lemm - ASTER
-
'60s: The Beatles - Day Tripper (not a lot of competition here)
'70s: Yes - Awaken or Ritual
'80s: Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land or Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys
'90s: Dream Theater - Learning to Live
'00s: Dream Theater - Octavarium
'10s: Fates Warning - And Yet It Moves
'20s: ??
Do you mean "A Day In The Life"? "Day Tripper" was originally only released as a single. Good call with "Learning to Live", though.
No. I don't really care for A Day in the Life. My '60s catalog is limited to Beatles albums and the first two Zeppelin albums. I'm not a big fan of How Many More Times or Bring It on Home, so I ran through the Beatles catalog and mostly came up empty. However, while Day Tripper was originally released as a single, it's also the last track on the Yesterday and Today album (the one with the butcher cover). If it weren't that, I'd go with Tomorrow Never Knows or Get Back.
-
A couple not mentioned by the looks;
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Between the Buried and Me - White Walls.
-
'20s
Trivium - The Ones We Leave Behind
Foo Fighters - Love Dies Young
-
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Maiden was particularly strong here.
- Hallowed Be Thy Name
- To Tame a Land
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Alexander the Great
- Fear of the Dark
-
I'm going to play...A few off the top of my head..
60's: Before my time ;D
70's:
Alice Cooper-Killer
Kiss-Black Diamond
UFO- Love To Love or Martian Landscape
80's:
Thin Lizzy-It's Getting Dangerous
Iron Maiden-Hallowed Be Thy Name
Helloween-Keeper Of The Seven Keys
Megadeth-My Last Words
90's:
Dream Theater-Learning To Live, Space Dye Vest, Finally Free
Iron Maiden-Fear Of The Dark
Gary Moore-Business As Usual
Michael Kiske-Do I Remember A Life?
Metallica-The Outlaw Torn
00's:
Dream Theater- Octavarium, The Count Of Tuscany
Iron Maiden-The Thin Line Between Love And Hate, The Legacy
10's:
Lost Domain-...In The Waiting Room Of Death
Iron Maiden-Where The Wild Wind Blows
20's:
Iron Maiden-Hell On Earth
Michael Schenker-In Search Of The Peace Of Mind
Dream Theater-A View From The Top Of The World
-
I mean, a ton of fantastic closers already mentioned here...Can't disagree with Maiden, Rush, Queensryche in the 80s...Dream Theater in the 90s...
(also great call on High Hopes, a truly stunning "final" song...and I'm not even much of a Floyd fan)
Difficult to add to this, but here some I haven't seen that I like. A bit random at times, but trying to avoid repeats:
80s:
Marillion - The Space...
Skid Row - Midnight/Tornado
90s:
Blind Guardian - The Last Candle
Blind Guardian - And the Story Ends
Alice in Chains - Would?
Everon - Until the Day Breaks
Conception - Would It Be the Same
Amorphis - Summer's End
00s:
Tori Amos - Gold Dust
Nevermore - The Godless Endeavour
Dredg - The Canyon Behind Her
Sentenced - No One There
Sentenced - End of the Road
Ra - Sky
Paradise Lost - Over the Madness
Imogen Heap - The Moment I Said It
10s:
Rush - The Garden
Metallica - Spit Out the Bone
Unleash the Archers - Apex
Voyager - As the City Takes the Night
20s:
Ghost - Respite on the Spitalfields
-
70's: The Who - Love Reign O'er Me
That is one cathartic end to a fantastic musical journey.
-
10s:
Rush - The Garden
I'm shocked it took 19 posts for this to show up.
-
10s:
Rush - The Garden
I'm shocked it took 19 posts for this to show up.
I am too, though I don't say that with any sort of lament. It's not even in the top three RUSH closers (Something For Nothing, La Villa Strangiato, Mystic Rhythms, Countdown, and Available Light all are at least as good), let alone for an entire decade.
-
10s:
Rush - The Garden
I'm shocked it took 19 posts for this to show up.
I am too, though I don't say that with any sort of lament. It's not even in the top three RUSH closers (Something For Nothing, La Villa Strangiato, Mystic Rhythms, Countdown, and Available Light all are at least as good), let alone for an entire decade.
I think High Water, You Bet Your Life and Carve Away the Stone are the only Rush closers I'd rank below The Garden. Rush's closing game was ridiculously strong:
- Working Man
- In the End
- The Fountain of Lamneth
- The Voyage
- La Villa Strangiato
- Natural Science
- Countdown (for me at least)
- Between the Wheels
- Available Light
- Everyday Glory
- Out of the Cradle
-
Available Light is probably my favorite Rush closer, though maybe I put La Villa and the longer tracks in a separate category.
-
A couple not mentioned by the looks;
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Between the Buried and Me - White Walls.
Two great ones here. Not sure you can beat White Walls for 'powerful' album closer, the way that song climaxes is epic.
And Hallowed is the great song of all time :)
-
Diary Of A Madman
Spiral Architect
Fading Lights
-
Diary Of A Madman
Spiral Architect
Fading Lights
Yes! Good call on that one...and I don't think it had been mentioned yet.
(Diary of a Madman is fantastic, of course)