13 Great Album-closer Songs
A great album-closing song not only stands alone as a great song, but is an effective final statement of a piece of art. It’s a fitting conclusion to a coherent multi-movement body of work.
Here are some of the greatest album-closing songs of all time. (Note that I ignored the hidden tracks that come after a couple of these.)
1. The Beatles: “A Day in the Life” (from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band)
2. The Rolling Stones: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (from Let It Bleed)
3. The Who: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (from Who’s Next)
4. Bruce Springsteen: “Jungleland” (from Born to Run)
5. The Clash: “Train in Vain” (from London Calling)
6. Neil Young and Crazy Horse: “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” (from Rust Never Sleeps)
7. Nine Inch Nails: “Hurt” (from The Downward Spiral)
8. Megadeth: “Rust in Peace… Polaris” (from Rust in Peace)
9. Alice in Chains: “Would?” (from Dirt)
10. Pearl Jam: “Release” (from Ten)
11. Nirvana: “Something in the Way” (from Nevermind)
12. Tool: “Third Eye” (from Ænima)
13. AFI: “God Called in Sick Today” (from Black Sails in the Sunset)
I can’t believe “I am the Resurrection” and “Champagne Supernova” didn’t make this list…
It’s a pretty “mainstream” list, but for what it’s worth, the North American edition of The Stone Roses’ self-titled that I grew up with, ended with Fools Gold. Didn’t know until the internet age that the original release lacked Elephant Stone and Fools Gold.
I always like Lawerence of Arabia from David Bowie’s album “Heroes”. Not a hit, but a great catchy song that doesn’t seem to fit on that album.
Always thought Jungleland was closing side 1 or opening side 2. And thought Train In Vain was a hiidden track huh. May or may not change everything.
I had The Downward Spiral on cassette shortly after it was released and nearly wore it out, but oddly enough, I never really got into “Hurt” until Johnny Cash covered it.