›

Side 2 is Way Better

JRootJRoot 861 Posts
edited December 2007 in Strut Central
I was listening to The Brockingtons self-titled LP and thinking to myself, "Man, this record is really terrible. Why did I keep it...or even buy it in the first place?" Then I flipped it over, and side 2, with the cover of "Natural Woman" and two solid originals, "I just got to know" and "Pretty Thing" made the whole experience worthwhile. But I don't see myself listening to much of side 1 ever again.What other LPs have a good side and a bad side?

  Comments

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    I was listening to The Brockingtons self-titled LP and thinking to myself, "Man, this record is really terrible. Why did I keep it...or even buy it in the first place?" Then I flipped it over, and side 2, with the cover of "Natural Woman" and two solid originals, "I just got to know" and "Pretty Thing" made the whole experience worthwhile.

    But I don't see myself listening to much of side 1 ever again.

    What other LPs have a good side and a bad side?

    - Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny & Mutation
    - Love - Da Capo (no-brainer - if you're gonna do a one-song side, better have something to say - Love evidently didn't)
    - MC 5 - Kick Out The Jams

    With all three of these LP's, side ONE is way better.
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    I was listening to The Brockingtons self-titled LP and thinking to myself, "Man, this record is really terrible. Why did I keep it...or even buy it in the first place?" Then I flipped it over, and side 2, with the cover of "Natural Woman" and two solid originals, "I just got to know" and "Pretty Thing" made the whole experience worthwhile.

    But I don't see myself listening to much of side 1 ever again.

    What other LPs have a good side and a bad side?

    - Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny & Mutation


    With all three of these LP's, side ONE is way better.

    I used to think this, but side 2 of T&M is as bad ass as the first side...true, there arent any immediately catchy tunes as "Red and the Black" and "hot Rails", but the second side is intense, dark and just as killer as side one...damn near a perfect rock record.
  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    I was listening to The Brockingtons self-titled LP and thinking to myself, "Man, this record is really terrible. Why did I keep it...or even buy it in the first place?" Then I flipped it over, and side 2, with the cover of "Natural Woman" and two solid originals, "I just got to know" and "Pretty Thing" made the whole experience worthwhile.

    But I don't see myself listening to much of side 1 ever again.

    What other LPs have a good side and a bad side?

    - Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny & Mutation
    - Love - Da Capo (no-brainer - if you're gonna do a one-song side, better have something to say - Love evidently didn't)
    - MC 5 - Kick Out The Jams

    With all three of these LP's, side ONE is way better.

    It makes some sense to me to have side one be better. After all, we're kinda programmed to start listening with side one. Side two can be all filler, but you'll still recommend the record your friends just after hearing side one. Which is why it's even more remarkable that the brockingtons put all the heat on side two.

    And I agree about MC5 - side one of that record is way better.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    It makes some sense to me to have side one be better. After all, we're kinda programmed to start listening with side one.

    For that reason, unless it's live, or there's something specific I want to hear, or the songs are sequenced in some kind of order or something, I don't make a big deal out of "sides" when I put on a record. Whatever side is face up in my hands, that's the side I'll play. If a song is really good, it should stand out even if it's buried towards the end of side two.
  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    If it's the first time I've ever heard a record, I will always listen to side one first. I usually don't know enough about the record or the artist to know whether the songs were sequenced in a deliberate order, but out of respect for the idea that they could be, I listen to them in the order of release. Usually, it doesn't make a difference, and then when I go back to the record I could start with side two just as well as side one (and with the Brockingtons, I am unlikely to return to side one).

    If a song is really good, it should stand out even if it's buried towards the end of side two.

    That's really the point.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Another one: a self-titled Five Royales compilation on Gusto. It was bad enough that some of the songs were edited, but they had to divide it into a "fast" side and a "slow" side.

    The slow side sucks.

    And it happens to be Side 2, which backs up J. Root's theory of lame second sides.

    The Five Royales had some classic R&B ballads, but they don't sound so good one right after another like that.
  • KineticKinetic 3,739 Posts
    I forget which side it is, but Bohanon's 'stop and go' LP has one side of pure fire and another side of pure drivel.
  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    I had to bring this back because I just had one the bigger "side 2 is way better" moments I've ever had with this Gal Costa record...

Sign In or Register to comment.